Forget royal weddings and coronations. Europe’s real drama came from the monarchs who went completely off the rails. These weren’t just eccentric nobles with bad tempers; they were tyrants, schemers, and megalomaniacs who shaped wars, religions, and dynasties through pure chaos. Their stories are shocking, darkly funny, and way more binge-worthy than another true crime series. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Absolute power can make people bold, brilliant, or a little terrifying. These eight rulers did all three, sometimes in the same week.
8. Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia, 1431–1503 AD)
Claim to Crazy: He threw orgies in the Vatican, sold church offices for cash, and used poison as a political strategy.
Rodrigo Borgia became Pope Alexander VI in 1492 and quickly turned the papacy into his personal empire. He openly acknowledged his many children, married them off strategically, and filled church ranks with his allies. Rome under his rule was rich, corrupt, and dangerously entertaining. He may have strengthened papal control in Italy, but his greed and scandals gave the Church one of its darkest reputations.
Claim to Crazy: Married six times, killed two wives, and founded the Church of England just to get a divorce.
Henry VIII ruled England for nearly 38 years, from 1509 to 1547, and his desperate need for a son changed the country forever. When the Pope refused to annul his first marriage, Henry established the Church of England, dissolved the nation’s monasteries, and seized their incredible wealth. In his later years, he became an obese, paranoid tyrant who executed close advisors and even wives who displeased him, leaving a legacy of both religious transformation and brutal paranoia.
6. Commodus (161–192 AD)
Claim to Crazy: Declared himself a living god, fought in rigged gladiator matches, and renamed Rome after himself.
Commodus inherited the Roman Empire from his philosopher father, Marcus Aurelius, but the wisdom didn’t rub off. Preferring the arena to the senate, he spent his days “battling” gladiators who weren’t allowed to fight back and charging Rome’s treasury for his victories. He renamed Rome “Colonia Commodiana,” plastered his image as Hercules everywhere, and executed anyone who mocked him. His rule ended when his inner circle strangled him in his bath.
Claim to Crazy: He murdered his own mother and his pregnant wife, then castrated a young boy whom he married in a public ceremony.
Nero’s reign started with promise and ended in chaos. The last of the Julio-Claudian emperors, he fancied himself an artist more than a ruler, forcing Rome’s elite to sit through his long musical performances. Behind the curtain, he was ruthless — executing family members, murdering his pregnant wife, and staging elaborate tortures for sport. After the Great Fire of 64 AD, he deflected blame onto Christians, launching brutal persecutions. His extravagance and paranoia bankrupted Rome and ended with his suicide, reportedly after crying, “What an artist dies in me!”
4. Heliogabalus of Rome (204–222 AD)
Claim to Crazy: Married a Vestal Virgin, served guests fake food at feasts, and tried to have himself surgically turned into a woman.
Ruling for just four years, from 218 to 222 AD, Heliogabalus managed to shock even the Romans with his behavior. He installed the Syrian deity Elagabal as Rome’s chief god, a move that horrified the traditionalist elite. His personal life was just as scandalous; he married and divorced five times, including a sacred priestess whose vow of chastity was central to Roman religion, and prostituted himself in the imperial palace. Ultimately, his religious and sexual disregard for tradition was too much, and he was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard at age 18.
👉 Visit the Palatine Hill to uncover the short, shocking reign of Rome’s wildest teen emperor.
3. Caligula of Rome (12–41 AD)
Claim to Crazy: Planned to make his horse a consul, held dinner parties during executions, and declared himself a god.
Caligula began his rule beloved by the Roman people, but within a year, he descended into madness. He bankrupted the empire with games, palaces, and golden ships, while treating the senate like his personal joke. He demanded worship as a living god and made public appearances dressed as divine figures. Even his inner circle wasn’t safe — he killed family members and humiliated nobles for sport. When he wasn’t terrorizing Rome, he doted on his horse, Incitatus, preparing a marble stable and servants to attend him. His reign ended violently when the Praetorian Guard decided they’d had enough.
2. Ivan the Terrible (1530–1584 AD)
Claim to Crazy: Created a secret police to terrorize his people and killed his own son in a fit of rage.
Ivan IV’s long reign, from 1547 to 1584, saw Russia expand into an empire, but his moniker “the Terrible” was well earned. Plagued by paranoia, he established the Oprichnina, a black-clad force of enforcers who carried out mass purges, public executions, and land seizures on his behalf. His violent temper culminated in the infamous 1581 incident where he struck and killed his eldest son, Ivan Ivanovich, an act that doomed his dynasty and plunged the country into chaos after his death.
1. Vlad the Impaler (1431–1477 AD)
Claim to Crazy: He terrified his enemies by creating a “Forest of the Impaled,” where he displayed the bodies of thousands of executed prisoners on massive wooden stakes.
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia, is best known as the real-life inspiration for Dracula, and his methods were just as horrifying as the legend. Ruling a region of modern-day Romania, he used unimaginable cruelty to consolidate power and defend his lands from the encroaching Ottoman Empire. His preferred method of execution was impalement, and he famously created a gruesome forest impaled Ottoman soldiers to repel an invading army. Tales from his time claim he would dine among the dying, dipping his bread in their blood.
Guided Tours Through Europe’s Wild Past
Love the royal drama? These tours reveal the scandals, power plays, and dark secrets behind Europe’s crowns.
Europe’s monarchs didn’t just wear crowns—some wore madness like a badge of honor. From Rome’s blood-soaked arenas to London’s beheading blocks, these rulers left a mark that shaped kingdoms and terrified generations. Their actions remind us how fragile the line between genius and insanity can be, especially when no one dares to say “no” to the person on the throne.
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