best/worst monarch in history

Thanks for posting, Arie. They missed Caligula, Roman Emperor

Hi Erica, I couldn't find the actual survey itself but apparently it was rather limited (only 60 names in total) and very English-biased. And without specific criteria for "good" and "bad" there are probably many more contenders for both ends of the spectrum.

For example, Napoléon I, emperor of the French has a bad reputation, but in France he is almost a saint nowadays. And to be honest, he took most of Europe out of the Middle Ages into the modern era, with the exception of Britain (which is basically still a medieval country)

Lol! 'Still a medieval country'. I sometimes wish we were still a medieval country! We have medieval streets trying to cope with modern traffic in our town - the two don't mix well.

Interesting

The eye of the beholder. Thanks for this opinion poll.

Hmm for me there would be a tie between the contenders for best and worst.

Best:

- Ashoka the Great
- Frederick the Great

Worst:

- Elagabalus
- Christian VII of Denmark-Norway

Quite why Alexander the Great makes anyone's list of "best monarchs" beats me. Granted that he was a great general, and his conquests (divvied up between his subordinates on his death) saw a spread of the Greek language, which some would think was a good thing; he was also a megalomaniac, a drunkard, and a murderer, with no obvious purpose to his conquests which were too big for any monarch to manage effectively at the time. Difficult to think of anything he did which lasted, except to leave a legend behind him to spur on other megalomaniacs to (usually) disaster. Even the Greek cities which his father had subjugated split up again into squabbling independent entities and were thus easily taken over by the Romans.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a visionary whose legacy should be viewed without the ridiculous English Eyeware that we Americans favor for some unfathomable reason especially for a country colonized largely by British political refugees and deportees.

What was his vision, then? And why couldn't he get on with it quietly in France?

Ya, he wasn't some wonderful. Kind of a promious horses butt.

personal view of napoleon from a member of a noble family ,french canadian.

napoleon was a tyrant was a war man ..he endorse meritocracy
i got a nice song

Meurs Bonaparte
meurs infâme tyran
pour que tu partes (can also say creve)
j'invoquerai satan (can say also j'implorerai)
la fièvre quarte
et l'enfer qui t'attend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSoOJiPWeXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p11prSplr8w

Aren't most monarch horrible up until the last century? It appears to me that they were responsible for almost all wars? Therefore millions of innocent lives were killed by monarch. All have blood on their hands which sad to say these were great grandparents of mine. Proud to say i have no blood on my hands like them.

Here are Napoleon's top 5 hits to get you started: http://napoleononline.ca/about/napoleon-rocks/

There are hundreds of books written on Napoleon and his role in the formation of Modern Europe. He was a complex character who still inspires heated debate, but the debate is generally over just how much credit to give him. No real scholar would attempt to trivialize the man.