Our sympathy and handling of mental malady has boost quite a bit over the centuries – and give thanks good for that . It was n’t so long ago that people who had been take for " mad " ( among other thing ) were routinely locked up and fundamentally left to rot away in wretched conditions . It was take shameful and unenviable to have an insane person in the crime syndicate .
But what if that somebody happened to be the most sinewy person in the country ? Dealing with amad monarchtakes more than a little finesse . He or she could choose to execute the royal medico for suggesting that he or she might not be set to rein . Meanwhile the nation is fall into ruin . And in many places , the crowned head was considered to have been divinely appointed , so questioning authority is akin to question one ’s god .
This is why chronicle is full of royal who may not have been diagnose asmentally illby a medical professional , but whose natural action and behaviour have restrict as " crazy " to the secular . We ’ll start with a possible pillowcase of mistaken identity element just to complicate things .
10: Nabonidus of Babylon
Nabonidus was the last king ofBabylon , prevail from 556 to 539 B.C.E. , and though he is n’t mentioned in the Bible , many expert believe he was the real Babylonian tycoon who break sore and acted like an fauna rather thanNebuchadnezzar .
According toDaniel 4:25 , Nebuchadnezzar , had a disturbing dreaming which his interpreter Daniel tell him meant , " You will be labor off from masses and will live with the wild animals ; you will exhaust locoweed like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven . Seven fourth dimension will pass by for you until you recognize that the Most High is independent over all kingdoms on earth . "
So said , so done . One sidereal day Nebuchadnezzar was brag about his greatness ; the next , he was drive from his home , living with wild animals and eating grass . Seven yr later , he recovered his saneness and praise God [ root : Easton ’s Bible Dictionary ] .
But legion Babylonian Ketubim and other ancient texts – let in theDead Sea Scrolls– make it unmortgaged that Nabonidus was the king with the unstable mind . So why the change ? Some student believe that it ’s due to mistakes in the translation . Others guess that it was a deliberate choice on the part of the editors of Daniel to advantageously advance their ideals . Nebuchadnezzar was a very powerful king who destroy the first temple in Jerusalem , so if the story was about him instead of Nabonidus , it ’s one of penalization and redemption [ seed : Bledsoe ] .
9: King George III of England
By the metre he die , King George III could neither see nor take heed , and was considered completely mad . His piddle was reportedly tinged grim and/or red , and narration had circulate about crazy conduct such as attempting to shake hands with a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree because he cerebrate it was the King of Prussia [ seed : Johnson ] .
King George III rule from 1760 to 1820 , and his other claim to renown apart from his insaneness , was that theAmerican Colony were lostunder his reign . He was also cultured and conscientious , and unlike many of the other kings on this list , devoted to his wife[source : The Royal Household ] .
Modern diagnosing of the cause of the B. B. King ’s insanity have included schizophrenia , bipolar disorderliness , sexual defeat or the patrimonial blood upset porphyria . Porphyriacan mimic the symptoms of madness , causing confusion as well as red urine . Perhaps the arsenic in the medications kick in to him may have spark or exacerbate the disease [ source : Johnson ] .
Scholars who believe that the king was truly mentally ill stop to the disparate difference in his writing and behavior . In " frenzied " periods , for example , he had turmoil and wrote and talked excessively – to the degree that he foamed at the lip . These scholar impute his blue water to the plant gentian , often used in medication [ beginning : BBC ] .
In the last decade of King George ’s sprightliness , Britain was actually ruled by his Logos , the Prince of Wales , as regent [ source : The Royal Household ] .
8: Charles VI of France
Charles VI has gone down in account as both " Charles the Beloved " and " Charles the Mad . " So how did he get both titles ?
He received the first after restore order to France . He became Billie Jean Moffitt King at age 11 in 1368 , but his uncles rule until he was 21 , ruining the finances of the country and causing numerous insurrection . Charles then took over , got rid of the uncle and reinstated his father ’s trust advisers [ sources : Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia , France.fr ] .
regrettably , the glad full point only lasted about four twelvemonth before he began to clear his second title .
While pursuing the man who attempted to assassinate an consultant , Charles became convinced that he was being chased by enemy . at last he drink down several of his own knights and almost murdered his brother . His periods of limpidity became briefer over the years , as he sometimes did not recognize his wife or menage , or did n’t even remember that he was the Martin Luther King . He croak long full point without bathing , ran through the corridors of his castle at all hours , and claimed that he was Saint George [ source : Rohl et al . ] .
But Charles VI ’s most celebrated hallucination was that his body was made ofglass . He pass up to be touched and required that special protective vesture be made to keep him from shatter [ sources : Fink and Tasman , Sommerville ] . Today it ’s thought that he probably had bipolar disorderliness , but at the prison term his illness was considered God ’s will because he had hold theantipopeClement VII [ source : Fink and Tasman ] .
7: Maria I of Portugal
Maria I also had two different titles : " Maria the Pious " and " Maria the Mad . " She was the first queen in Portugal to rule in her own right hand ( rather than as a trustee for a venial or choir ) . Her reign begin in 1777 and lasted for 39 eld . Maria I was considered to be a good and competent rule until becoming delirious in 1786 . Her husband Peter III ( who was also her uncle ) pop off that year , and her son passed aside in 1791 [ source : Livermore ] .
profoundly spiritual to the point of manic disorder , Maria I was also devastated by the death of her confessor in 1791 . She consider herself damned , in turns ranting , torment , screaming and wailing [ source : Roberts ] . Treatments included bloodletting and enema – " physic " that were commonly used to treat insanity . The queen did not willingly submit to these , and who can blame her ?
Dr. Francis Willis , who had treated George III , came to the courtyard in Portugal and diagnose her as insane . His treatments were even worse – straitjacketing , virulent and ice bath . Willis want to take her to England , away from the royal court and priests that he accurately count to be negative influence on her mental health – but not surprisingly , the courtyard objected . Her son Prince João took over as regent in 1799 . regrettably the prince was n’t suited to the job , and the motor inn fled to Brazil after France invaded Portugal . Queen Maria I died there in 1816 [ germ : Roberts ] .
6: Justin II
have ’s manoeuvre back to ancientness with a unbalanced emperor , Justin II . He harness from 565 to 578 and became emperor moth under somewhat fishy setting . His uncle Justinian I pass forth and his chamberlain Callinicus claim that Justinian designated Justin II as his successor on his deathbed . Callinicus want to be political allies with Justin , so he may have fabricated the story .
At first , Justin II seemed to have the conglomerate ’s dear interests in head – he took care of the fiscal goal and was resistant of a minority group of Christians ( although he later persecuted them ) . Then he decided to finish paying other rural area around the conglomerate to keep the peace , and his decision led to the loss of part of Italy as well as war with Persia [ source : Encyclopedia Britannica , Evans ] .
Perhaps these failure triggered his genial illness ? disregarding , by 574 his married woman was acting on his behalf . She convinced him to make a full general in his army , Tiberius , his take Word and heritor . Justin II remain emperor in name only until his death , with Empress Sophia and Tiberius ruling as co - regents . Those last few years of his life were dreadful . He tried to throw himself out of the windows of his castle , shout , howled , babbled and bit his chamberlains . write up pass around that Justin had actually eaten two of them . To soothe him , servants wheeled him around on a wagon for hours while electric organ music play [ sources : Evans , John of Ephesus ] .
5: Joanna of Castile
History has given this queen the sobriquet of Juana la Loca or " Joanna the Mad . " But many question today whether she was really insane . Joanna get married Phillip the Handsome ( he fare better with the titles , obviously ) in 1496 . She was deeply in dearest with him , but he had numerous mistresses , and Joanna was green-eyed [ source : Encyclopedia Britannica ] . Her succession to the throne was murky . She became regent ( temporary swayer ) of Castile after the death of her female parent Isabella I in 1504 , but her father , Ferdinand II of Aragon , did n’t accept this and convinced the courts that she was too ill to reign . polite war in Castile made him alter his tune , and although his son - in - constabulary Phillip ab initio agree that Joanna was mad and unable to rule , Phillip reneged as shortly as Ferdinand left for Aragon [ beginning : Andrean ] .
The courts recognized the couple as rulers , but after Phillip died , Ferdinand II returned and became regent , although not with Joanna ’s consent . She travel through Granada for eight months with her married man ’s coffin and was bruit to buss and caress the corpse . Her Fatherhood confined her to a convent , where she stay through his death and the sovereignty of her boy Charles I over both Castile and Aragon – a menstruum of 50 years [ sources : Gomez et al . ,Andrean ] . She may have had melancholia , schizophrenia or depression . But it ’s also potential that she was n’t insane at all . Instead , her father and Logos successfully perpetuate the idea to keep her from rule [ source : Gomez et al . ] .
4: Erik XIV of Sweden
Legend has it that King Erik XIV ’s last meal was a bowl of poisonedpea soup[source : Öhrström ] . But we ’re getting beforehand of ourselves . He ascended to the throne in 1560 but only ruled for eight years . The king was know to be intelligent and well - read . Erik proposed marriage to several royal cleaning lady over the years ( including Queen Elizabeth I ) before finally marrying his schoolmistress , a peasant cleaning lady name Karin Månsdotter in 1567 [ source : Mäkelä - Alitalo , Encyclopedia Britannica ] .
Erik XIV was very challenging and sought to extend his kingdom , an unpopular perspective . His half - blood brother Duke John also wanted to expand his soil and Erik had him jail for high treason in 1563 [ source : Glete ] . Apparently the king began render signs of madness and ferocity around this fourth dimension . He order the execution of five nobles of the Sture family line , already put away for cabal against him . He personally stabbed Nils Svantesson Sture [ sources : Cronholm , Encyclopedia Britannica ] .
This human activity proved to be too much for the other nobleman , and Erik was dethrone in 1568 . Duke John became rule of Sweden , as John III . John was refer about Erik getting out of prison , and ordered that guards should kill Erik if there was any try at unblock him [ source : Mäkelä - Alitalo ] . The pea soup , lace with arsenic , took care of that .
3: Christian VII of Denmark
Officially , Danish Riley B King Christian VII reign from 1767 until his last in 1808 , but for a large part of it , he was king in name only . Christian was reckon clumsy not only due to his wild night life ( he caroused with prostitutes in brothels ) but also because of his mood swings , paranoia , hallucination and self - mutilation . Some modern researchers have hint that he had schizophrenic psychosis . Others that he had porphyria [ source : Rohl , Langen , Danish Royal Collection ] . at long last he was mostly proficient for gumshoe stamping various decrees set forth by members of his royal court . He married the sister of King George III ( yes , Mad King George ) , Princess Caroline Matilda , around the time he was crowned .
Christian ’s physician Johann Friedrich Struensee gained the assurance of the queen and a portion of index . Christian gave him the deed of conveyance of State Councilor in 1768 , and Struensee made numerous progressive reform to modernize the nation . That goodwill went off once Struensee began an affair with Caroline Matilda , and her divorce was finalized in 1772 . Later that year , Struensee was executed [ rootage : Toyne ] .
Both moves were orchestrated by Christian ’s power - thirsty stepmother , dowager Queen Juliane Marie . She fundamentally ruled from 1772 until 1784 , when Christian ’s Logos Prince Frederick VI took over as regent . Christian is rumored to have died of a heart attack or stroke after being frighten by the arrival of Spanish ships he thought were hostile . But there ’s not much trial impression to actualise that [ source : Schioldann ] .
2: Farouk of Egypt
Royals in Europe do n’t hold a monopoly on crazy behavior . Case in point : King Farouk of Egypt , who ascended to the throne in 1936 . He was said to havemysophobia , an acute fear of pollution that caused him to look for for imaginary bits of grease . He only drove ruby cars and blackball anyone else from owning a red one . He purportedly shot out the tires of fomite that seek to slide by him on the road . Farouk was also reportedly a packrat and a kleptomaniac , and legend has it that he stole Winston Churchill ’s watch [ sources : Crompton , Scriba ] .
Though celebrated by nobility in his early years , Farouk ’s subjects did n’t deal for his shopping fling , intellectual nourishment indulgences , wild expenditures and corrupt government . They also were distressed with the loss of most of Palestine after the 1948 Arab - Israeli War and its occupation by British forces [ source : Cavendish ] .
The king was subvert during the Egyptian Revolution in 1952 , and his infant son was declare ruler – although in true statement the country was governed by a nationalistic group of officers within Egypt ’s U. S. Army . The monarchy was fade out in 1953 , and Farouk died of a heart attack in Italy in 1965 after eat up a Brobdingnagian dinner of a dozen oyster , lobster thermidor , a double part of roast lamb with fried potatoes and a with child serving of trifle for dessert [ source : Cavendish , Scriba ] .
1: Zhu Houzhao, Emperor Zhengde
We ’ll end our look at just a few of the unbalanced rulers in history ( you’re able to feel long inclination of many more , trust us ) by going to China . Zhu Houzhao is the personal name of the tenth Saturnia pavonia of the Ming Dynasty , who hold the name of Zhengde when he ascend the throne in 1505 .
Zhengde had no sake in occasion of the state , opt affairs of the heart . His vast harem was n’t enough , so he picked up adult female on the street and had cyprian in the regal castle . He relish drinking , learn languages , pretending to be a common person , and travel incognito as much as possible . He also liked hunt wild beast almost as much as hunting people ( both adult female for his hareem and enemies , real and imagined ) Once Zhengde was nearly killed by a tiger he was attempting to domesticate [ germ : Theobald , Encyclopedia Britannica , Huang ] .
The factual governance of the country was left to high - rank castrate and friends , who intemperately task the people and fundamentally sell public office to the highest bidders . Anybody interview Zhengde ’s unusual behaviour might be exiled or even killed . Eleven officials were whip so much they later conk out of their whacking [ sources : Theobald , Encyclopedia Britannica ] .
But this foolhardiness could n’t last for long . He had a boating accident at age 31 and pass away a class subsequently . genuinely unrestrained or only flakey ? It ’s hard to say , but it ’s obvious that Zhengde was n’t cut out for the throne .
Lots More Information
I enjoy history and I ’m particularly fascinated by the historical diagnosis and discourse of mental illness , but I still did n’t jazz much about several of these so - called sore royals until researching them . Choosing just 10 was difficult , and I have several imperial biographies on my reading list now ( as if it was n’t long enough already ) .
