Curated category
Monarchs who abdicated
- NapoleonListen to the story of Napoleon, the Corsican outsider who rose through a revolution and rewrote the laws of a continent. Follow the thread to St Helena.
- Charles V, Holy Roman EmperorCharles V was born during a ball in Ghent on the 24th of February 1500, and before he drew his last breath he had ruled more of the world than any Christian…
- Philip V of SpainPhilip V of Spain holds a record no other Spanish monarch has matched: he ruled for 45 years, 9 months, and 8 days, longer than any king or queen in the…
- Mary, Queen of ScotsMary, Queen of Scots was six days old when she became queen. Her father, King James V of Scotland, died on the 14th of December 1542 before he ever truly…
- Henry IV, Holy Roman EmperorHenry IV stood barefoot in the snow outside Canossa Castle for three days in January 1077, dressed in sackcloth, waiting for a pope to forgive him.
- DiocletianDiocletian retired from the most powerful office in the world and went home to grow cabbages. When rivals begged him to return to the throne in 308, he wrote…
- Carol II of RomaniaCarol II of Romania left his country on the 6th of September 1940 with a train loaded with 30 truckloads of his personal fortune.
- Louis BonaparteLouis Bonaparte told the people of Holland that he was their Konijn van 'Olland - their Rabbit of 'Olland - rather than their King.
- Charles IV of SpainCharles IV of Spain was born on the 11th of November 1748 in Naples, where his father was then ruling as King of Naples and Sicily.
- Joseph BonaparteJoseph Bonaparte arrived in the United States in the summer of 1815, hiding aboard a merchant vessel called the Commerce under the false name M. Bouchard.
- Alfonso XIIIAlfonso XIII was carried naked to the prime minister on a silver tray moments after he was born, already a king. His father, Alfonso XII, had died the…
- Louis Philippe ILouis Philippe I stepped onto the throne of France in August 1830 having already lived more lives than most kings ever get.