Children are scared of the monsters that could be under their bed. But in the past, monsters were very much real and ruling over countries and empires.
Written & Illustrated by Benjamin Chew
“Off with their heads!” says the Queen of Hearts in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. Here are four infamous examples of the most wicked members of nobility whose deeds were more inhumane than fictional characters for all the history buffs.
Qin Shi Huang, 259 BC-210 BC
Notorious for constructing the longest graveyard in the world, Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of a unified China. Throughout his reign, he burnt classic literature and buried the 460 Confucian scholars who created those works alive to avoid criticism of his empire.
Additionally, he indirectly killed an estimated 400,000 workers through overexhaustion from building the Great Wall of China. Ultimately, his obsession with immortality caused his demise; he passed away from mercury poisoning at 49.
Ranavalona, 1828–1861
Born a commoner’s daughter, Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar went from rags to riches. When she was crowned queen, Ranavalona used harsh methods to eliminate Christianity from her empire. Christians were tortured, poisoned, and even sold into slavery to boost her country’s economy.
Ranavalona used increasingly inhumane trial methods for the smallest offence, dumping criminals into boiling water or burying them alive. Her reign of terror was so vast that the population of Madagascar halved from five million to two and a half million by the end of her rule.
Caligula, AD 12–AD 41
Roman emperor Caligula, who was once a charming ruler, became increasingly cruel and paranoid after falling ill. Suspecting even his family to be treasonous, he executed them on that basis.
Caligula lived extravagantly by spending on elaborate celebrations and sumptuous feasts, causing his empire to fall into debt. On one such occasion, he arranged for hundreds of merchant ships to line up and form a three mile long makeshift bridge across the bay of Baiae, on which he paraded back and forth for days.
Ivan the terrible, 1547–1584
Born into power, Ivan the Terrible grew up in Russia without a parental figure in his life. Eventually, he became a sadistic monarch who egotistically believed he was God’s chosen subject, and used that belief to justify his violence.
His “bodyguards”, the Oprichniki, served to protect him. They were given the power to act against the boyars, the highest of feudal nobility. Ivan would justify his attacks on these nobles by claiming they were conspiring. His biggest transgression was the Novgorod Massacre, where he murdered a whole city on the grounds of treason.