10 legendary medieval kings

No matter what anyone says, history is still made by great people. And for a long time of the existence of mankind (with all its migrations of peoples, wars for territories and power, political squabbles, revolutions, etc.), each current state has known many outstanding personalities.

Of course, in our time, people who “make the world a better place” are highly respected: various scientists of “peaceful” specialties, environmentalists, human rights activists, animal rights activists, philanthropists, peacemaker politicians, etc.

But once the most respected people were considered great warriors – kings, leaders, kings, emperors – capable of not only protecting their own people, but also getting new lands and various material benefits for them in battle.

The names of the most famous kings of the Middle Ages over time became so “overgrown” with legends that nowadays historians have to make considerable efforts to separate the semi-mythical person from the person who existed in reality.

Here are just a few of these legendary characters:

10 Ragnar Lodbrok | ? — 865

Yes, dear fans of the Vikings series: Ragnar is a very real person. Not only that, he is the national hero of Scandinavia (there is even an official holiday here – Ragnar Lothbrok’s Day, celebrated on March 28) and a real symbol of the courage and courage of the Viking ancestors.

Among the kings of our “ten” Ragnar Lothbrok is the most “mythical”. Alas, most of the facts about his life, campaigns and daring raids are known only from the sagas: after all, Ragnar lived in the 9th century, at which time the inhabitants of Scandinavia had not yet recorded the deeds of their jarls and kings.

Ragnar Leatherpants (so, according to one version, his nickname is translated) was the son of the Danish king Sigurd Ring. He became an influential jarl in 845, and began to make his raids on neighboring countries much earlier (from about 835 to 865).

He did ravage Paris (around 845), and indeed died in a pit of snakes (in 865), captured by King Ella II when he tried to take over Northumbria. And yes, his son, Bjorn Ironside, became the king of Sweden.

9. Matthias I Hunyadi (Mattyash Korvin) | 1443 – 1490

There is a long memory of Matthias I Corvinus in Hungarian folk art, as the most just king, the “last knight” of medieval Europe, etc.

How did he get such a warm attitude towards himself? Yes, first of all, by the fact that it was under him that the independent Kingdom of Hungary survived its last (and very powerful) rise after decades of chaos and “squabbling” of local feudal lords for power.

Matthias Hunyadi not only restored a centralized state in Hungary (allowing unborn, but smart and talented people to manage the administrative structures), he ensured its relative safety from the Ottoman Turks, created an advanced mercenary army (where every 4th infantryman was armed with an arquebus) , annexed some neighboring lands to his possessions, etc.

The enlightened king willingly patronized people of science and art, and his famous library was the largest in Europe after the Vatican. Oh yes! Its coat of arms depicted a raven (corvinus or korvin).

8. Robert Bruce | 1274 – 1329

Even those of us who are very far from the history of Great Britain have probably heard the name of Robert the Bruce – the national hero of Scotland and its king since 1306. The first thing that comes to mind is Mel Gibson’s film “Braveheart” (1995) with him in the role of William Wallace – the leader of the Scots in the war for independence from England.

As could be easily understood even from this film (in which, of course, historical truth was not respected too much), Robert the Bruce was a rather ambiguous character. However, like many other historical figures of that time … He betrayed both the British several times (either swearing allegiance to the next English king, then rejoining the uprising against him), and the Scots (well, just think, what a trifle to take and kill his political rival John Comyn right in the church, but after that Bruce became leader of the anti-English movement, and then the king of Scotland).

And yet, after the victory at the Battle of Bannockburn, which secured Scotland’s long-held independence, Robert the Bruce, without a doubt, became its hero.

7. Bohemond of Tarentum | 1054 – 1111

The times of the crusades are still heard in European legends by the names of the most valiant crusader knights. And one of them is the Norman Bohemond of Taranto, the first prince of Antioch, the best commander of the First Crusade.

In fact, Bohemond was ruled by no means by a devout Christian faith and concern for the unfortunate fellow believers oppressed by the Saracens – he was simply a real adventurer, and also very ambitious.

He was attracted mainly by power, fame and profit. A small possession in Italy absolutely did not satisfy the ambitions of a brave warrior and a talented strategist, and therefore he decided to conquer territory in the East in order to establish his own state.

And so Bohemond of Tarentum, having joined the crusade, conquered Antioch from the Muslims, founded the Principality of Antioch here and became its ruler (he mortally quarreled over this with another crusader commander, Raymond of Toulouse, who also claimed Antioch). Alas, in the end, Bohemond could not keep his acquisition …

6. Saladin (Salah ad-Din) | 1138 – 1193

Another hero of the Crusades (but already on the part of the Saracen opponents) – the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, the great commander of the Muslim army that opposed the Crusaders – earned great respect even among his Christian enemies for his sharp mind, courage and generosity to the enemy.

In fact, his full name sounds like this: Al-Malik an-Nasir Salah ad-Duniya wa-d-Din Abul-Muzaffar Yusuf ibn Ayyub. Of course, no European would be able to pronounce it. Therefore, in the European tradition, the glorified enemy is usually called Saladin or Salah ad-Din.

During the Third Crusade, it was Saladin who delivered especially large “sadness” to the Christian knights, utterly defeating their army in 1187 at the Battle of Hattin (and at the same time capturing almost all the leaders of the crusaders – from the Grand Master of the Templars Gerard de Ridefort to the King of Jerusalem Guy de Lusignan), and then recapturing from them most of the lands where the crusaders managed to settle: almost all of Palestine, Acre and even Jerusalem. By the way, Richard the Lionheart admired Saladin and considered him his friend.

5. Harald I Fair-Haired | 850 – 933

Another legendary northerner (again we recall the “Vikings” – after all, the son, and not the brother of Halfdan the Black) is famous for the fact that it was under him that Norway became Norway.

Having become king at the age of 10, Harald, by the age of 22, united most of the separate possessions of large and small jarls and hevdings under his rule (a series of his victories culminated in the great battle of Hafrsfjord in 872), and then introduced permanent taxes in the country and reined in the defeated jarls who fled the country, settled on the Shetland and Orkney Islands and from there raided the lands of Harald.

Being an 80-year old man (for that time this is an unprecedented record!) Harald transferred power to his beloved son Eirik the Bloody Ax – his glorious descendants ruled the country until the XIV century.

By the way, where did such an interesting nickname – Fair-Haired come from? According to legend, in his early youth, Harald wooed a girl named Gyuda. But she said that she would marry him only when he became the king of all Norway. Well then – so be it!

Harald became a king over the kings, and at the same time he did not cut his hair and did not comb his hair for 9 years (and he was nicknamed Harald the Shaggy). But after the Battle of Hafrsfjord, he finally put his hair in order (they say he really had beautiful thick hair), becoming Fair-Haired.

4. William I the Conqueror | OK. 1027/1028 – 1087

And again we return to the Vikings series: do you know that Guillaume Bastard – the future King of England William I the Conqueror – was a descendant of the first Duke of Normandy Rollo (or Rollon)?

No, in fact, Rollo (or rather, the real leader of the Vikings Hrolf the Pedestrian – he was nicknamed so because he was huge and heavy, because of which not a single horse could carry him) was not the brother of Ragnar Lothbrok at all .

But he really captured most of Normandy at the end of the XNUMXth – beginning of the XNUMXth century and became its ruler (and actually married Princess Gisela, the daughter of Charles III the Simple).

Let’s return to Wilhelm: he was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy Robert I, but nevertheless, at the age of 8, he inherited his father’s title, and then was able to stay on the throne.

The guy from a young age had very considerable ambitions – in Normandy he was a bit cramped. And then William decided to get the English throne, especially since a dynastic crisis was brewing in England: Edward the Confessor had no heir, and since his mother was (very fortunately!) William’s great-aunt, he could easily claim the English throne. Alas, diplomatic methods failed to achieve the goal …

I had to use military force. Further events are known to all: the new king of England, Harold, suffered a crushing defeat from the troops of William at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and in 1072, Scotland also submitted to William the Conqueror.

3. Frederick I Barbarossa | 1122 – 1190

Frederick I of Hohenstaufen, nicknamed Barbarossa (Redbeard), is one of the most famous kings of the Middle Ages. During his long life, he earned the fame of a wise, just (and very charismatic) ruler and a great warrior.

He was very strong physically, strictly adhered to the knightly canons – after Barbarossa became the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1155, the German chivalry experienced an unprecedented flowering (and it was under him that the strongest army in Europe was created from heavily armed horsemen).

Barbarossa sought to revive the former glory of the empire of the times of Charlemagne, and for this he had to go to war 5 times against Italy in order to rein in her cities that had become too recalcitrant. In fact, he spent most of his life on campaigns.

At the age of 25, Frederick took part in the Second Crusade. And when Saladin won back all the main acquisitions of the crusaders in the Middle East, Friedrich Hohenstaufen, of course, gathered a huge (according to sources – 100 thousandth!) Army and went with him to the Third Crusade.

And it is not known how events would have turned if, while crossing the Selif River in Turkey, he had not fallen from his horse and choked, unable to get out of the water in heavy armor. Barbarossa at that time was already 68 years old (a very respectable age!).

2. Richard I the Lionheart | 1157 – 1199

Indeed, not so much a real king as a legend! We all know Richard the Lionheart from books and movies (starting with Walter Scott’s novel “Ivanhoe” and ending with the 2010 film “Robin Hood” with Russell Crowe).

To be honest, Richard was not at all a “knight without fear and reproach.” Yes, he had the glory of an excellent warrior, prone to dangerous adventures, but at the same time he was distinguished by deceit and cruelty; he was handsome (tall blond with blue eyes), but immoral to the marrow of his bones; knew many languages, but not his native English, because he had practically never been to England.

He betrayed his allies (and even his own father) more than once, earning another nickname – Richard Yes-and-No – because he was easily swayed to either side.

For all the time of his reign in England, he was in the country for no more than a year. Having collected the treasury to equip the army and navy, he literally immediately left for the crusade (distinguishing himself there with particular cruelty to Muslims), and on the way back he was captured by his enemy Leopold of Austria and spent several years in the Dürstein fortress. To redeem the king, his subjects had to collect 150 silver marks.

He spent his last years in wars with King Philippe II of France, dying of blood poisoning after being wounded by an arrow.

1. Charles I the Great | 747/748-814

The most legendary king of the ten is Carolus Magnus, Carloman, Charlemagne, etc. – is loved and revered in almost all countries of Western Europe.

He was already called great during his lifetime – and this is not surprising: the king of the Franks from 768, the king of the Lombards from 774, the duke of Bavaria from 788 and, finally, the emperor of the West from 800, the eldest son of Pepin the Short for the first time united Europe under one rule and created a huge centralized state, the glory and majesty of which thundered throughout the then civilized world.

The name of Charlemagne is mentioned in European legends (for example, in the “Song of Roland”). By the way, he became one of the first monarchs who provided patronage to people of science and art and opened schools not only for the children of the nobility.