9 Rulers From History Who Really Needed to Chill Out a Bit

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the royal chambers

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. But that doesnt mean you have to make it everybody elses problem! Throughout history, there have been a number of unfortunate populaces unlucky enough to be born into an era where their ruler was a class-A bunghole. Unfortunately, when the guy with the attitude problem also has absolute power, it most likely means a whole bunch of people are getting thrown in a pit.

Here are nine historical rulers who could have stood to be a little more chill…

Caligula

Louis le Grand

How many of your friends birthdays do you have memorized? Well, if you were unlucky enough to count the Roman emperor Caligula among them, you might want to mark that day on your calendar, because tales say he executed two consuls who forgot his big day. Seems like a “birthday week” guy anyways.

Ivan the Terrible

Public Domain

Insecurity is a terrible trait to have as a king. It very quickly turns into paranoia, and when youre in charge, the fact is, probably at least some people want you gone. Ivan the Terrible had numerous methods of execution for anyone he deemed to be possibly plotting against him, including cooking them alive in literal giant frying pans. Buddy, how about you fry yourself up a giant sandwich, because your blood sugar seems low?

Sultan Ibrahim

Public Domain

Love can make a man do crazy things. Jealousy can make someone completely unrecognizable. I would, however, say that as an excuse, it still doesnt quite cover having 280 concubines drowned because they wouldnt tell you what outsider had slept with one of your precious harem. Even if somebody cheated, that leaves you with 279 pairs of concubine shoulders to cry on. Itll be okay!

Erik XIV of Sweden

Public Domain

Let me tell you, the guy didnt get the nickname “The Butcher King” because of his impressive speed in breaking down an animal carcass. On the bright side, he was an intensely loyal friend. When a personal secretary bad-mouthed one of Eriks buddies, he gave them a real talking to, by which I mean he killed him with a fire iron. I imagine his friend responded to the news with a “thanks, I guess?”

Zhu Houzhao

Public Domain

Plenty of men in power throughout history have a fraught relationship with women. One ever-so-slight advantage most have over the Zhengde Emperor, born Zhu Houzhao, is that they never kept a bunch of them imprisoned in a converted zoo. You catch more flies with honey than with cages, my man! Well, partly because the bees can fly through the bars, but my point stands!

Henry VIII

Livioandronico2013

Its a commonly quoted statistic that almost half of all marriages end in divorce. We should just be glad that all those husbands arent Henry the VIII, or wed be looking at an even grimmer 50 percent decapitation rate. He famously had two of his six wives beheaded, even though he was the head of the brand new Church of England, meaning he could cancel his own marriages with probably nothing more than a signature and pressing some wild-looking ring into a bit of wax. Forgive and forget, big fella!

God

Pixabay

Enough with the plagues and the smiting from upstairs! Clouds seem comfy, maybe take a quick nap before you decide to unleash another horror.

Scroll down for the next article