Who was the most successful ruler in history?

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Original post by Plantagenet Crown

There are simply too many factors and considerations to objectively assess this across all countries and all time periods.

But rulers that I admire and who I think did a fairly decent job are Henry II of England, Edward I, Edward IV, Alfonso VIII of Castile and Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain.

Ok,if the factor was long term legacy,who would you pick ?

Reply 41

34908seikj

Original post by Plantagenet Crown

But rulers that I admire and who I think did a fairly decent job are Henry II of England, Edward I, Edward IV, Alfonso VIII of Castile and Ferdinand & Isabella of Spain.

Obligatory

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 42

Grand High Witch

Original post by Kadak

Ok,if the factor was long term legacy,who would you pick ?

If legacy is judged by books, research media and film, then I think Elizabeth I and Henry VIII take that crown (pardon the pun).

Reply 43

Fullofsurprises

Original post by 41b

He was a repulsive heretic who was responsible for the ascendance of Buddhism and the sidelining of Masculine Hindu India. Without his demonic influence, India may well have been able to resist the Muslim invasions.

Gosh, yes, foolish old Ashoka, he should have realised that 800 years after his time Islam would arise and not only that, if he'd been half decent, he'd have realised that the Delhi Sultanate would arise 1400 years after his death. :teehee:

Take that Ashoka, you worthless piece of neo-Buddhist grand visionary imperial modernising and remarkable humanist for his day trash.

Reply 44

Fenice

I am utterly gobsmacked that noone else has yet suggested Napoleon

Reply 45

Fullofsurprises

Original post by Plantagenet Crown

Henry II, yes, clever, full of ambition and energy - owed a lot to Eleanor though, despite his terrible treatment of her most of the time.

Edward I - ruthless and imperialistic, seems to have been vain but tough.

Edward IV - very effective at fighting but also a bit of a collector and quite a good ruler - will give you that one up to a point, although generally the country was a chaotic mess under his rule.

Ferdinand / Isabella - fairly horrible oppressive people, persecutors of the Jews and other foreigners who both made their country a superpower but also sowed the seeds of its later long stagnation and decline due to obsessive religiosity and the encouragement of placing all wealth in the hands of a corrupt aristocratic class.

Reply 46

41b

Original post by Fullofsurprises

Take that Ashoka, you worthless piece of neo-Buddhist grand visionary imperial modernising and remarkable humanist for his day trash.

Reply 47

Fullofsurprises

Original post by Fenice

I am utterly gobsmacked that noone else has yet suggested Napoleon

Indeed, if we are talking one-man rulers who both gained territory and also achieved wider goals, he has surely to be near the top of the list, if not right at the top.

In modern times, I would suggest FDR, he took the US from being an isolationist, depressed and inward-looking half-power to global dominance, defeated two great enemies and brilliantly inspired the country and the world on a moral level.

Reply 48

Josb

Original post by Fenice

I am utterly gobsmacked that noone else has yet suggested Napoleon

Because France was smaller when he abdicated than when he took power.

Reply 49

||TheUnknown||

What happened to Gorbachev? :K:

Reply 50

ZuluK

Before I get any hate, I'm not saying the following person was a good person and yes, everything he did was wrong!!

But successful leader, in my opinion, would have to be Hitler. He rose and climbed the ladder and got an entire nation behind him for his cause (which was disgusting just to add) but led and ruled many people and even started WW2!!! Just one man and his ideology and how he wanted the world to be like, he saw his vision and tried to make it happen and Ngl he nearly did succeed! So yep successful ruler even though he was a dictator and a ****! :redface:

Reply 51

Xelfrost

This legend tbh... Look at him, does it look like this man could do anything wrong?

Reply 52

spidle

Original post by ZuluK

But during his reign Germany also got destroyed by the allies and his legacy was a divided and weakened Germany.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Daenerys Targaryen (Khaleesi), obviously.

Reply 55

HelpusPleasus

Original post by Kadak

Ok,if the factor was long term legacy,who would you pick ?

Genghis Khan.
Legacy is still around today-
"
~10% of the men who reside within the borders of the Mongol Empire as it was at the death of Genghis Khan may carry his Y chromosome, and so ~0.5% of men in the world, about 16 million individuals alive today, do so.
"

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/08/1-in-200-men-direct-descendants-of-genghis-khan/

Very advanced Kingdom, nearly unstoppable.

Reply 56

TheGreatPumpkin

Emperor Justinian of the Byzantine Empire

Reply 57

username1292215

Nigel Farage :colone:

Reply 58

Alextaylor6

More of a general, but Sun Tzu is bae

Reply 59

34908seikj

Original post by Krokodilo

Daenerys Targaryen (Khaleesi), obviously.

That's Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen. The first of her name, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, to you.