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.
