Craziest Leaders of All Time

When it comes to having a position that comes with extraordinary power, it seems as though being insane is also a job requirement. Some of us would survive when given the role of supreme leadership and maybe most of us would be incompetent at best. But as most of us know, incompetence is not just the worst trait a leader can have because some of them are so disturbed that they are totally dangerous.

In fact, several rulers through history let their powers get into their heads and went mad with it. That’s why in this article, we are going to list down the craziest leaders of all time. Because it turns out that with great power comes great responsibility, sadism, delusion, cruelty, and sexual deviancy.

  • Emperor Justin II

Emperor Justin II is the Emperor of Byzantine from 565 to 576. And he reportedly lost his mind near the end of his reign. Emperor Justin II was said to be pushed around the palace on a wheelchair while he was snapping at his attendants as he passed by them. Some story says that he even ate a few of his attendants.

  • Ibrahim of the Ottoman Empire

Ibrahim, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, is known for having an obsession with fat women to the point where he instructed his men to track down the fattest women possible. It is also said that he drowned his 280 concubines in the ocean when he found out that they had slept with another man. History also say that Ibrahim regularly feeds coins to fish in the palace pool.

  • King Charles VI of France

Before being king, he was known as Charles the Well Loved, but afterward, he suddenly became Charles the Mad. King Charles VI reportedly killed his own knights after one of them accidentally dropped a spear. This king also did not like to take a bath for a long time because he believed that he was made of glass

  • Anna of Russia

Anna of Russia

Anna of Russia assumed her place on the throne because of the old nobles who believed that she would be a great figurehead. Anna of Russia was believed to love making cruel jokes especially on the nobles who appointed her.

  • Erik XIV of Sweden

Erik XIV of Sweden is known to be insanely paranoid. Reports say that he was known to execute people who laughed in his presence. Erik XIV also believed that he was his own brother for some time. His thoughts and fears caught up to him and it eventually led him to commit suicide by drinking poison. He also accused the entire prominent Sture family of treason for no apparent reason and eventually, he sentenced them all to death and killed one of the family members personally.

  • Farouk of Egypt

Farouk was the last ruling king of Egypt and he was once called as a “stomach with a head” because of his extreme love for food which made him grew to over 300 pounds. What’s more weird about this king is he was kleptomaniac, it was so severe that he stole a watch from Winston Churchill once. King Farouk also suffered from nightmares of him being chased by an angry lion which led to the incident where he went to the zoo and shot down two lions in their cage.

  • Quin Shi Huang of China

Quin Shi Huang of ChinaQuin Shi Huang was so afraid of being assassinated that he never sleeps in the same place twice. On top of all that, he didn’t just only fear humans, he is also terrified of sea monsters as well.

  • Joana of Castile

Joana of CastileAlso known as Juana la Loca, Joana of Castile was the wife of Philip I. Despite having an arranged marriage, Joana fell in love with Philip that’s why she didn’t take his sudden death that well. In fact, it is said that she would often go to his tomb and have it reopened so she could spend time with her husband while she was kissing and caressing his dead body.That’s why her son eventually took the power from her and threw her to a nunnery for the rest of her life.

  • Christian VII of Denmark

Christian VII of DenmarkChristian VII of Denmark assumed the throne when he was just sixteen years old. That was also the time when he began to masturbate very frequently that his doctor thought that it would leave him infertile. When he wasn’t masturbating, Christian VII enjoyed walking around Copenhagen and stabbing random people with a spiked club. He also liked to leapfrog over the backs of visiting dignitaries whenever they bowed to him and he also had the habit of slapping people for no apparent reason when they are in the middle of a conversation

  • Alexandra of Bavaria

Alexandra of Bavaria

Ny.III,G, Alexandra v. Bayern, Ny.G 53

Princess Alexandra of Bavaria grew up thinking that she swallowed an entire glass grand pianowhen she was a child and that the instrument was still inside of her. This resulted in her walking through doors sideways so that it would not damage the piano inside of her. She also had OCD. Alexandra was obsessed with cleanliness that’s why she only wore white clothes.

  • Prince Sado of Korea

Prince Sado of KoreaPrince Sado was disliked by his father and shunned him when he was just a child and that contributed to Sado’s mental problems as he grew older. Prince Sado had an obsession with clothes where he believed that his outfit was to blame whenever something bad happens to him. That is why he was always presented with thirty new clothes whenever he got dressed. After he makes his choice, his servants will burn the rest of the clothes as an offering to the spirits.

Prince Sado was also fond of torture, rape, and murder so much so that bodies were being carried out of his palace every day.

His father finally had enough of his vicious behavior and he decided to exile Prince Sado in a rice chest and left him to starve to death.