The Middle Ages is the time when most of the states of Europe and Asia were ruled by the most cruel rulers. They possessed an inexorable thirst for domination, a strong character and indomitable cruelty towards all those around them.
The Middle Ages are the most complex and contradictory period in the history of mankind. For many of us, he is associated with the fires of the Inquisition, torture and tyranny. Look at the most bloodthirsty rulers of the time of bloody wars and great discoveries.
1. Genghis Khan (1155-1227)
The famous commander and founder of the Mongolian empire, who managed to unite all the Mongolian tribes and conquered China, Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. His style of government was characterized by excessive cruelty. Genghis Khan is credited with the massacres of the civilian population in the countries they seized. One of the most famous examples is the extermination of the aristocracy of the state of Khorezmshah.
2. Tamerlane (1370-1405)
The Central Asian Turkic commander and founder of the Timurid empire, for whom Genghis Khan was the role model. His aggressive campaigns were extremely cruel to the civilian population. By order of Timur, about 2,000 residents of the city they captured were buried alive. On the territory of modern Georgia for one day, 10,000 people were dropped into the abyss, including women and children. And one day, to punish the insurgents, Tamerlane organized a massacre and ordered the laying of high minarets out of 70,000 cut off heads.
3. Vlad Tepes (1431-1476)
He is also Vlad Dracul - Romanian prince, who served as a prototype of the protagonist in the novel by Brem Stoker "Dracula" 1897 edition. His methods of government were marked by extreme unbalance and cruelty. The prince's victims were about 100,000 people, all of whom were tortured. Calling to him 500 boyars, Tsepesh ordered them to be put on all counts and dig around their quarters. And one day the despot ordered to nail the caps to the heads of foreign ambassadors for not removing them, entering the prince.
4. Ferdinand II (1479-1516).
King of Castile and Aragon, known as the creator of the Spanish Inquisition, whose victims were from 10 to 12 million people. During his reign, 8,800 people were burned at the stake. Many Spanish Jews were forced to leave the country or forcibly baptized.
5. Thomas Torquemada (1483-1498)
Known as the Grand Inquisitor at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, he created tribunals in the cities, finalized and collected 28 articles as a guide for other inquisitors. During the stay of Thomas Torquemada as Grand Inquisitor, torture was permitted to obtain evidence. He is personally responsible for the deaths at the stake around 2,000 people.
6. Selim I the Terrible (1467-1520)
The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire is known for its inhuman cruelty. Only over the first two years of his reign, more than 40,000 civilians were executed.
7. Enrique I (1513-1580 gg.)
The King of Portugal "became famous" for his cruel treatment of Jews and heretics. On his orders in 1540, the first auto-da-fe (the public burning of the Jews) took place in Lisbon. During the reign of Enrique, the auto-da-fe feast as a solemn religious ceremony, including the burning of heretics, was held several times.
8. Charles V (1530-1556 gg.)
Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charles V after a quarrel with the Pope decided to take Rome by storm. As a result of this massacre, 8,000 city residents perished overnight.
9. Henry VII Tudor (1457-1509)
The King of England, who created an extraordinary tribunal called the Star Chamber. The number of victims of this organization was thousands. Sophisticated torture forced many people to commit suicide, so as not to fall into the hands of executioners.
10. Henry VIII Tudor (1509-1547)
English king, whom the Pope excommunicated from the Catholic Church. In response, Henry VIII founded the Anglican Church and proclaimed himself its head. This was followed by brutal repression in order to coerce the English clergy into new orders. During the reign of Henry VIII in England, 376 monasteries were destroyed. More than 70 thousand people were victims of the tyrant. Also, the king went down in history due to his numerous marriages and public executions of wives.
11. Queen Mary I (1553-1558)
The English queen is more known as Bloody Mary - the daughter of the odious King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. After the death of his father, Mary I began the restoration of Catholicism. She became famous for her brutal policy towards the Protestants, exposing them to mass burning at the stake. During several years of her rule, hundreds of innocent people were victims of her violence. Bloody Mary was so hated that the day of her death was celebrated as a national holiday.
12. Catherine the Medici (1519-1589 gg.)
Queen and regent of France. This woman with particular cruelty led the mass terror against the Huguenots, which she organized. During the famous Bartholomew's Night on August 24, 1572, only about 3,000 people were killed in Paris, and the number of victims throughout France reached 10,000. In the people, Catherine de Medici was called the Black Queen.
13. Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584 gg.)
The Russian Tsar Ivan IV, nicknamed the Terrible, went down in history as the most cruel ruler in Russia. About his sophisticated torture is written in the annals. The king held feasts under the screams of people who were torn by specially trained bears. Ivan the Terrible introduced oprichnina and for seven years in the Moscow state there was turmoil, famine and devastation. The number of victims of the despotic king reached 7,000. In addition, Ivan the Terrible was cruel to his own wives and children. In 1581 he beat his pregnant daughter and killed his son Ivan when he tried to intercede for his sister. The story tells of the unprecedented cruelty of Ivan the Terrible during the massacre of the citizens of Novgorod, accused of treason. For many days adults and children were cruelly tortured and thrown from the bridge into the river. Those who tried to swim were pushed with sticks under the ice. The question of the number of victims of this massacre still remains controversial.
14. Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Queen of England Elizabeth I, the heiress of Henry VIII, was famous for her cruelty towards the vagabonds, having issued a law according to which they were massively hung without trial "in full rows".