Two days earlier, Queen Elizabeth II had just surpassed a monarch in Liechtenstein, a 19th-century European country, to become the No. 3 on the list of the longest reigning monarchs in world history. So how long will it take her to surpass the top two monarchs? Who are the longest-reigning monarchs in the history of the world? Which countries are they monarchs? How long have they been in power? Today we will talk about it.
However, before going into detail, the peach blossom stone miscellany still needs to be explained here, that is, the monarch mentioned in this article is a monarch who is truly recognized in the history of faith, excluding the monarchs in legends or who have reigned too long, and modern monarchs who have no conclusive theory of their reign. Because if you include those people, then the top ranking will probably be a legendary figure like Danjun, who reigned for 1500 years in Korean legend, and this ranking will become a mythological ranking.
Sobuza II served as monarch for 82 years
In addition, monarchs who are not independent countries are not taken into account, because in both ancient and modern history, monarchs of many vassal states of powerful countries have also reigned for a long time, such as in 1899 AD, the monarch of the small African country Eswatini monarch Sobza II, who inherited the throne of Eswatini four months after his birth, and then reigned for more than 82 years until his death at the age of 83. If he reigned purely according to the number of years of reign, he can be said to be the longest reigning monarch in the world during the Xinshi era. The problem was that Eswatini had been a British protectorate until 1968, so he was not a monarch of an independent country until 1968, so the previous years were not met. After explaining the conditions, let's take a look at the longest-reigning monarchs in the history of the world:
10th Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty of China
The Kangxi Emperor is very familiar to everyone, he is the fourth emperor after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the second emperor after the Entry of the Qing Dynasty, and the first Qing Emperor born in the Forbidden City in Beijing. Kangxi succeeded to the throne on 5 February 1661, during which time he first captured the power of Ao Bai and gained pro-government power. Later, he successively pacified the separatist forces such as San Francisco and the Zheng clan, defeated Kaldan, weakened the Dzungar department, and sent troops to defeat Tsarist Russia in the northeast, consolidating the territory of northeast China, so it was also regarded as one of the more important emperors in Chinese history. On December 20, 1722, Kangxi died and served as emperor of the Qing Dynasty for 61 years and 318 days, ranking 10th among the longest reigning monarchs in world history.
The Kangxi Emperor
Ninth Emperor of Japan Showa
The Japanese emperor's reign was preceded by a period of Japanese militarism, during which the Japanese military also committed numerous crimes of aggression in China and other Asian countries, but after the war, the Japanese emperor was not stripped of the throne and continued to serve as Japanese emperor until his death on January 7, 1989. From 25 December 1926, when he succeeded to the throne, he served as Emperor of Japan for a total of 62 years and 13 days, ranking 9th among the longest reigning monarchs in world history.
Showa visits the Dutch scene
8th King Jaime I of Aragon, Spain
The Kingdom of Aragon was a kingdom established by the ancestors of the Spaniards in 1035 AD in present-day northeastern Spain. Jaime I became king of the Kingdom of Aragon in 1213 at the age of 5. During his reign, he seized a large amount of land from the Islamic forces that occupied the southern region of present-day Spain at that time, and to some extent strengthened the national strength of the Kingdom of Aragon. His reign as King of Aragon lasted until his death on 27 July 1276, 62 years and 319 days, making him the 8th longest reigning monarch in world history.
Isei Umiume Images
Seventh place Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom is one of the most important monarchs in British history. She became Queen of England on 20 June 1837 at the age of 18, during which time the British Empire expanded around the world and entered its heyday. Although the United Kingdom had already implemented a constitutional monarchy at that time, and the monarch had no real power in name, Victoria was still believed to have had a major influence on many policies and officials of the British government. Moreover, after marrying her cousin Prince Albert during her reign, she raised at least nine children, who were spread to various European royal families through a series of political marriages, so that her descendants later spread throughout the European royal family, and she was later known as the European grandmother. She served as King of England for 63 years and 216 days until her death on 22 January 1901, ranking 7th among the longest reigning monarchs in world history.
Queen Victoria
6th King Ferdinando I of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies of Italy
In fact, when this monarch became monarch on October 6, 1759 AD, he was not the king of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, but the monarchs of the Kingdom of Naples in southern Italy and the Kingdom of Sicily in Sicily. During his reign, he fought many wars with Napoleon's France, and although he was defeated many times and once lost control of Napoli, he always maintained the position of king of Sicily. In 1815, Ferdinand regained control of Naples and merged it with the Kingdom of Sicily the following year to form the Two Sicily Kingdoms. After this, he served as King of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until his death on 4 January 1825 AD. Added up, he served as monarch for a total of 65 years and 90 days, ranking 6th among the longest-reigning monarchs in world history.
Ferdinando I
Fifth Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph I
In fact, this monarch is also quite famous in China, but he is famous because of another identity, that is, the husband of Princess Sisi. He became Emperor of Austria on 2 December 1848 when he was 18 years old. Six years later, he married his aunt and cousin, Lord Elizabeth, who was princess Sissi, who was well known to many friends. During his reign, the Austrian Empire experienced a series of crises, a significant decline in national strength, and in 1867 was forced to give Hungary, which it had originally ruled, equal status, and transformed the state into a dual monarchy, turning the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After this, he also experienced a series of family changes such as the suicide of the prince, the separation from Sissi and the assassination of Sissi. Crown Prince Ferdinand, who he appointed later in his reign, was assassinated in 1914, leading to the outbreak of World War I. The Austro-Hungarian Empire suffered several crushing defeats in World War I, and Joseph I died on November 21, 1916, in the midst of internal and external troubles. Shortly thereafter, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had been defeated in World War I, completely disintegrated. Joseph I served as Emperor of Austria and Austria-Hungary for 67 years and 355 days, ranking fifth among the longest-reigning monarchs in world history.
Princess Sissi's husband, Joseph I
Fourth place John II, Prince of Liechtenstein
Although Liechtenstein was a miniature state in Europe, it became a sovereign member of the Holy Roman Empire on January 23, 1719 AD, and the Holy Roman Empire at that time could be said to be a confederation, so its sovereign members were de facto independent states. John II became Prince of Liechtenstein on 12 November 1858, when he was 18 years old. At one point he wanted to send troops to support Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, but austria was defeated before he could take substantive action. He then decided to abolish his own army and declare Liechtenstein a permanent neutral country, which became an important turning point in Liechtenstein's history. He served as Prince of Liechtenstein until his death on 11 February 1929, lasting 70 years and 91 days, the 4th longest reigning monarch in world history.
John II
3rd Queen Elizabeth II
In fact, just a few days ago, Elizabeth II had just surpassed John II, which means that her position in this ranking has just risen from fourth to third. Elizabeth became Monarch of the United Kingdom on 6 February 1952 and, because of the remnants of the British Empire, she is also the titular head of state of canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica and Papua New Guinea. However, although Elizabeth is still the titular head of state of more than 10 countries, during her reign, Britain lost all the relatively populous overseas colonies in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Oceania, and it can be said that her decades of reign also witnessed the final demise of the British Empire. But Elizabeth II herself still enjoys a high reputation both in the UK and abroad, and there is relatively little negative public opinion against herself. As of this writing date (11 May 2022), Elizabeth has reigned for 70 years and 94 days, ranking 3rd among the longest reigning monarchs in world history.
Elizabeth II
2nd place King Rama IX of Thailand
Rama IX, whose real name was Bhumibol Adulyadej, became King of Thailand on 9 June 1946 at the age of 19. Thailand is also a country with a constitutional monarchy, but the Thai king has relatively more power than most other constitutional monarchs. During the reign of King Rama IX, he also received high respect from the Thai people, so he always played a relatively large influence in Thailand. During his reign, he experienced the rule of 30 Thai prime ministers and mediated many political disputes in Thailand. Rama IX died on 13 October 2016 and reigned for 70 years and 126 days, currently ranking second among the longest-reigning monarchs in world history.
Scene of Rama IX's accession to the throne
1st place King Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV was an important monarch of the Bourbon dynasty of France, who became King of France on May 14, 1643, when he was 5 years old. The history books record that he was very diligent during his reign and personally took care of the government for 8 hours a day. By eradicating corruption and by getting the government to develop and implement a series of measures to promote France's economic and technological progress, he has enabled the French economy to grow by leaps and bounds. Abroad, he defeated the Netherlands through the Franco-Dutch War and became the biggest winner in the War of the Spanish Succession, establishing the Spanish Bourbon Dynasty, making France the hegemon of Europe and making the European nobles proud to speak French. In addition, he established the absolute monarchy of France and promoted the birth of the French national state. But years of war also caused huge casualties to France, and his profligacy in his later years brought the French economy to the brink of bankruptcy and accelerated the later decline of the Bourbon dynasty to some extent. He died on 1 September 1715 and served as King of France for 72 years and 110 days, currently ranking first among the longest reigning monarchs in world history. (The image is from the Internet, and the copyright of the picture belongs to its original author)
Louis XIV