10 Most Brutal and Cruellest Dynasties in History

WatchMojo

Power, bloodshed, and fear were the currencies of history's most notorious ruling families... Join us as we explore the ruthless dynasties that dominated their eras through terror and brutality! From beheadings and bloody massacres to torture chambers and genocide, these royal houses wrote their legacies in the blood of their enemies and sometimes their own families.

Transcript

00:00It was so powerful, anything was possible for her.

00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at dynasties throughout history

00:07that gained or kept power through conquest, cruelty, or bloody family rivalries.

00:12Bring it up.

00:14The House of Tudor.

00:16It can often prove difficult keeping track of various royal lineages throughout history,

00:21but Henry VIII is one of those English monarchs whose legacy, for better or worse, remains secure.

00:27Until I saw it for myself, I'd never realized the scale of Henry's ambition.

00:33His reign was just one belonging to the House of Tudor,

00:37which was also led by Henry VII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.

00:42The dynasty was infamous for their brutality and punishment,

00:46incorporating methods such as drawing and quartering to rule by intimidation and fear.

00:51I hurt no man. I do no wrong.

00:54The Reigns also became known for their religious intolerance after Henry VIII established the Church of England

01:00when the Catholic Pope wouldn't grant him a divorce.

01:03Still, two of his six marriages ended in execution.

01:06So now I believe, with all my heart, that I will take another wife.

01:17The House of Medici.

01:19We fail to imagine a world where a family dynasty as powerful and influential as the Medici's of Italy

01:25achieved their strength through anything less than unscrupulous means.

01:29By the mid-15th century, the Medici family had fought their way to power in Florence.

01:36This prestigious banking family admittedly did support creativity and the arts throughout their years of influence,

01:43although they also often went to extreme lengths to retain their influence.

01:48Those that rose up in opposition to the Medici's often had their personal lives and reputations ruined by slander.

01:54You bribed, you killed, you intimidated, in order to win friends and influence people.

02:02Many were eliminated entirely with fatal prejudice.

02:06Not even the papacy was safe from being purchased by the Medici money,

02:10while Catherine de' Medici's reputation for cruelty is remembered today for instances such as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

02:18Capetian dynasty.

02:28Capetian dynasty.

02:29The history books contain many bloody stories of betrayal, punishment, and death.

02:34The tour de Nellefer very negatively affected the familial strength of France's Capetian dynasty during its later years.

02:41This is the story behind the liaison that caused the Hundred Years' War.

02:46This story of political marriages, adultery, discovery, and punishment reads like a how-to manual for a TV show like Game of Thrones.

02:56Complete with a cruel and bloody ending, the daughters-in-law of King Philip IV were imprisoned for life,

03:02and shaven bald for allegedly cheating on their royal spouses.

03:06But this was nothing compared to the fates that awaited their lovers.

03:10These cuckolding knights were said to have been castrated prior to their brutal torture and execution.

03:16The House of Romanov, one of the most brutal revolutionary executions in history,

03:21is also yet another example of a heinous wrong not making a right.

03:25The family and entourage of Nicholas II, the Tsar of Russia,

03:36was mercilessly killed and brutalized in the wake of Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik revolution.

03:42This was a reprisal of the House of Romanov's own history of unjust cruelty,

03:46their list of offenses assisting in lighting the fuse for said revolution.

03:50Nicholas II may not have enjoyed a reputation for cruelty as infamous as Peter the Great's filicide,

04:03but the Romanov rule consistently repressed dissent, punished disobedience with death.

04:08Some attribute the misfortunes of their descendants to a curse.

04:12Family found themselves captive, back at the Alexander Palace.

04:16But even here, the world was turned upside down.

04:20Ptolemaic Dynasty

04:21Ptolema I ascended to rule Egypt after serving under Alexander the Great,

04:26then proclaimed himself an earthly embodiment of the gods.

04:31The Ptolemaic Dynasty began under the rule of Ptolemy,

04:34whose goal was to make Egypt great again.

04:37The legacy of his lineage was anything but ordained, however,

04:40as evidenced by the cruelty placed upon the heads of Egypt's people and members of Ptolemae's own family.

04:46Cleopatra understood the power of chemical warfare, but man, was she brutal at times.

04:51There was a constant struggle for power over the course of the Ptolemaic Dynasty's nearly 300-year reign.

04:57These bloody familial confrontations spilled over into how this family line forced citizens into slavery

05:03and taxed them relentlessly, all to line the coffers of Egypt's ruling elite.

05:08It's the old story.

05:12Roman greatness built upon Egyptian riches.

05:15You shall have them.

05:16You shall have them all, and in peace.

05:19But there is only one way.

05:22My way.

05:22Qin Dynasty

05:23China's first imperial dynasty may have only lasted between 15 and 16 years,

05:29but it managed to eliminate the importance of individual freedoms in deference to the state.

05:34The text sets down rules that governed every part of every citizen's daily life.

05:40And the penalties for transgression.

05:44The Qin Dynasty's ruling philosophy was known as legalism.

05:47Construction on the Great Wall may have occurred during this era,

05:51but life under the tyrannical Qin Shi Huang saw an anti-intellectualist front

05:55that involved book burning and scholars' executions.

05:58Find out who's responsible, and have them killed.

06:04Still, the imperial doctrines instilled by Qin Shi Huang didn't die with the emperor.

06:09Some of the harshest policies from the 200s BC carried on into the 20th century.

06:15Qin Shi Huangdi left a legacy, the like of which has never been seen before or since.

06:22Ottoman Empire

06:22Not all empires of cruelty belong to the ancient world or pre-20th century history.

06:28By the end of the 14th century,

06:30the Ottomans had conquered or subordinated most of the Anatolian Baliks,

06:35as well as the Balkans.

06:36The influence of the Ottoman Empire endured for over 600 years,

06:40not coming to an end until the aftermath of the First World War.

06:44This essentially means that there exists a long and winding road map

06:48with which to eye this empire's legacy of brutality and cruelty.

06:52The Greek genocide comes to mind,

06:54which took place during the Ottoman Empire's twilight years.

06:58Don't let the memory of what happened to these Greeks of Asia Minor be forgotten.

07:02However, both the Assyrian and Armenian peoples

07:05also suffered greatly in genocides perpetrated under Ottoman rule.

07:09To this day, the Turkish and Azerbaijani governments officially deny these crimes.

07:15The Kurds in Turkey have a historical debt to the Armenians and other minorities

07:19because at the time, they were manipulated by the state

07:22and essentially had a role in the genocide.

07:25Neo-Assyrian Empire.

07:27It's virtually impossible to boil down and contextualize the legacy

07:31of a dynasty with as much far-reaching influence as the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

07:36Considered by historians to be the first true empire,

07:39Assyria's innovations laid the groundwork for every superpower that's followed.

07:43Still, this worldwide empire retains a reputation for cruelty that endures today,

07:49despite the significance of its influence on how future Middle Eastern empires would develop

07:54their ideologies.

07:55There was no quarter given to enemies on the battlefield or in politics during this time.

08:00Assyrians were military innovators and merciless conquerors.

08:04Torture and fear-building served as important tools within the arsenal

08:08of the Neo-Assyrian Empire's rise to power during the 10th century BC.

08:13Mongol Empire.

08:14It may be known primarily for the legacy of the ruler Genghis Khan,

08:18but the Mongol Empire was more than just one man.

08:21Genghis Khan believed that Tengeri wanted him to conquer the entire world in his name.

08:26With the nomads of the Mongolian plain united, this seemed within reach.

08:31It was a complicated and history-making empire that, at its peak, stretched to 9 million square miles.

08:38This meant that any city that stood in the way of the Mongol expansion

08:41risked utter decimation should any resistance be offered against the empire.

08:46Very often, thousands upon thousands of his enemies would surrender because of fear

08:54rather than having to endure the attacks by the Mongols.

08:59Additionally, there was no course of action that was considered forbidden by the opposition,

09:03as the Mongol hordes would execute entire tribes of people without any mercy.

09:08I would like to say,

09:10to the extent that the country is the only one who is the only one who is the only one who

09:14is the only one who is the only one who is the only one who is the only one who is the only one.

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09:30House of Habsburg

09:34Political houses such as that of Habsburg aren't usually whittled down to a single authoritative figure.

09:40Yet, Elizabeth Bathory wasn't just any countess.

09:43She had cousins and brothers who were princes and bishops, but also who were, in a way,

09:47mass murderers, who would torture the peasants, who would kill their opponents in the most

09:52brutal and savage manner.

09:53She was the subject of a legend that alleged she bathed in the blood of young women in order

09:58to preserve her youth. Historians today, meanwhile, often debate how much truth lies within these

10:04claims against Bathory's character. This wasn't the only alleged example of

10:16Hasberg cruelty, however, as evidenced by their efforts within Spanish colonialism and the Thirty

10:22Years' War. Threats to their influence or political control were crushed by any means necessary.

10:28What do you think is the most interesting period in history for chaotic political dynasties?

10:38Let us know in the comments.

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