16 Rulers who Reigned for less than 50 Days

15. Lady Jane Grey was Queen of England, if informally, for 13 days before being deposed by Mary I.

Lady Jane Grey, also known as Lady Jane Dudley or, incorrectly, as the “Nine Days” Queen, was briefly the Queen of England from July 10, 1553 CE, until July 19. The eldest daughter of Frances, Duchesses of Suffolk, herself the eldest daughter of Mary Tudor, Lady Grey was born in either late-1536 or early-1537 as a direct descendant of Henry VII, Henry VIII and the first cousin of Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. A respected intellectual and devout Protestant, in June 1553 the ailing Edward VI nominated Lady Grey and her male heirs as the formal successors to the Crown in repudiation of his half-sisters. This named Mary and Elizabeth as illegitimate in spite of the Third Succession Act (1543) and Treason Act (1547), which made attempts to subvert the succession punishable by death. The “Devise of the Succession” nonetheless placed Lady Jane Grey as the heir apparent to the terminal king.

After Edward’s death at the early age of 15 on July 6, 1553, a reluctant Lady Grey was formally proclaimed Queen of England four days later and awaited her coronation at the Tower of London as per convention. However, despite the late Edward’s wishes, support rapidly grew for Mary over Jane and on July 19 the Privy Council proclaimed Mary as the rightful queen. Jane was deposed and imprisoned for treason, whilst her supporters, notably the Duke of Northumberland, were executed. Denounced by parliament as a usurper on August 22, 1553, Lady Grey was convicted of high treason in November 1553. Sentenced to “be burned alive on Tower Hill or beheaded as the Queen pleases”, Mary initially commuted her sentence to imprisonment until Lady Grey’s father and brothers joined Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion against the Catholic Queen’s plan to marry Philip II of Spain, whereupon she became viewed as too great of a threat to her position. Consequently, on February 12, 1553, both Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, were executed.

14. Sigeric became a Visigoth king in 415 CE after the assassination of his predecessor, before being himself murdered after just seven days as the new ruler

King Sigeric was a Visigoth king who ruled for approximately seven days in 415 CE. After the sudden death of Alaric in the same year, the Visigoths elected his brother-in-law, Ataulf, as king. This stopped the invasion into southern Italy, Ataulf expanded the Visigothic Kingdom into southern Gaul and Hispania, solidifying and broadening the lands under his control. Feuds were common within the Visigoths, with several competing rival factions and kingdoms existing concurrently. One of the major disputes endured between Ataulf and Sarus, a continuation of a longstanding feud between Sarus and Alaric. In 413, Ataulf attacked, captured, and executed Sarus. Unbeknownst to Ataulf, believing he had won the disagreement, upon his return to Hispania he inadvertently employed one of Sarus’ followers in disguise. In 415, at the royal palace in Barcelona, this unknown individual assassinated Ataulf whilst he bathed.

In the aftermath of Ataulf’s death, a branch of the Amali clan to which Sarus belonged sought to usurp the throne, naming Sigeric, brother of Sarus, as the new king. In his first act as ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom, Sigeric ordered the “inhuman murder” of Ataulf’s six children who were under the protection of a local bishop. Sigeric also “treated with cruel and wanton insult” the widow of Ataulf, also the daughter of Roman Emperor Theodosius, forcing her to walk more than twelve miles on foot ahead of the mounted king as part of a victory procession. These incidents rallied support against the vicious usurper and Sigeric himself was subsequently assassinated after just seven days as king. He was replaced with Wallia, a distant relation by marriage of Alaric.

13. Sayyid Khalid bin Barghash Al-Busaid was Sultan of Zanzibar for three days, culminating in the shortest war in recorded history

Sayyid Khalid bin Barghash Al-Busaid was the eldest son of the second Sultan of Zanzibar, Sayyid Barghash bin Said Al-Busaid, and the sixth Sultan of Zanzibar in 1896 CE. After the death of Sultan Sayyid Hamad bin Thuwaini, commonly presumed to have been poisoned by Khalid, on August 25, 1896, Khalid himself sought to seize power in the sudden crisis. A protectorate of the British Empire since 1890, the conditions of which demanded approval for any ascension to the throne, Great Britain subsequently refused to recognize Khalid’s claim to the Sultanate of Zanzibar instead preferring the more favorably inclined Hamud bin Muhammad. The failure to uphold the obscure treaty requirement from 1866 was distorted by the British as a casus belli, who issued an immediate order for surrender and resulted in the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, the shortest war in recorded history.

Lasting between 38 and 45 minutes, after Khalid had rejected the British ultimatum to surrender and barricaded himself and his men inside the royal palace at Zanzibar Town, on August 27, the British Royal Navy initiated a bombardment against the Zanzibari. On one side were three cruisers, two gunboats, 150 marines, and 900 local militia, whilst Khalid retained approximately 2,800 predominantly untrained local civilian supporters. Disabling the defending artillery and sinking the royal yacht HMS Glasgow, British troops stormed the palace. In the course of the fighting Khalid’s forces suffered an estimated 500 casualties, whilst only one British sailor was injured. By 0940 the fighting was over, with Khalid fleeing capture and escaping to the German consulate for asylum. Concurrently, the British installed Hamud as the new Sultan albeit with greatly reduced independence signaling the dramatic increase of British control over the protectorate. Khalid was smuggled to German East Africa, where, in 1916, he was eventually captured by the British at Dar es Salaam. Exiled to the Seychelles and Saint Helena, Khalid was finally released and allowed to return to East Africa, dying in Mombasa in 1927.

12. Dục Đức was Emperor of Vietnam for just three days, before being deposed for his allegedly inappropriate behavior

Dục Đức was the fifth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty and who served as Emperor of Vietnam from July 20 to July 23, 1883. Upon the death of Emperor Tự Đức, widely considered to have been the last Emperor of Vietnam to rule genuinely independent of colonial interference, the three imperial regents – Nguyễn Văn Tường, Tôn Thất Thuyết, and Tran Tien Thanh – unanimously declared that the thirty-one-year-old, now called Dục Đức, would succeed his uncle as Emperor of Vietnam. This move was controversial within the Vietnamese imperial court, as, unbeknownst to the wider public, Tự Đức had amended his will to name Kiến Phúc as his heir. It is believed that Tự Đức disapproved of Dục Đức’s lifestyle and thought that he was too decadent to rule effectively. Nevertheless, the Tam Cung – an alliance of powerful palace women – strongly supported Dục Đức and convinced the regents to posthumously alter the late emperor’s will in his favor.

Despite this intervention, Dục Đức only reigned as Emperor of Vietnam for just three days before he was deposed and sentenced to death by the very regents who had proclaimed him. The precise reasons for this sudden reversal remains unclear, but the most subscribed to theory is that the new emperor acted in such a debauched and inappropriate manner at his coronation that the regents felt compelled to revert to the late emperor’s opinion. It is equally proposed that the regents feared the limiting of their influence at court, and so acted against the new monarch to protect their own interests. Either executed and buried in an unmarked grave or imprisoned and left to die in captivity, Dục Đức was succeeded as Emperor of Vietnam by his uncle Hiệp Hòa before he too was deposed and killed.

11. Gordian I and Gordian II served as joint Emperors of Rome, ruling together as father and son, if only for 21 days

Gordian I and Gordian II were both Roman Emperor for a period of just three weeks in 238 CE, also known as the Year of the Six Emperors: a year of particular political turbulence in the history of the Roman Empire. A family of modest backgrounds, the elder Gordian gradually climbed the rungs of the Roman imperial hierarchy to the rank of Senator. Gordian I is also known to have served in the military, commanding the Legio IV Scythica in Syria and serving as Governor of Britain in 216. Garnering a reputation for avoiding political scheming and uncharacteristic honesty in Roman political life, Gordian I served as a Suffect Consulship – filling a vacant consulship for the remainder of the term – before being appointed the governorship of Africa Proconsularis in 237. However, just prior to formally assuming his appointment Maximinus Thrax murdered Emperor Severus Alexander and assumed the imperial throne.

This violent usurpation, in addition to the new emperor’s efforts to induce heightened taxation in Africa, resulted in a mass uprising and a popular demand that Gordian replace Maximinus. Although protesting that at 79, he was far too old to become emperor. After insisting his son, Gordian II, be appointed as joint-emperor alongside him, Gordian I relented and assumed the title of Gordian Africanus Augustus on March 22, 238. Initially beginning his reign smoothly from the city of Carthage, the Senate confirmed his position on April 2, and Maximinus’ march on Rome faltered. Eventually, besieged in the city of Aquileia, Maximinus’ soldiers revolted, assassinating the deposed emperor and carrying his head to Rome in tribute. However, despite the support of many provinces, Numidia continued to oppose the Gordian joint-enterprise. Governed by a supporter of Maximinus, Capelianus, Numidia invaded Africa Proconsularis with the only Roman legion stationed in the region: Augusta III. Rallying an army of untrained militia, Gordian II fought, lost, and died in the Battle of Carthage on April 12, 238. In response to the death of his son, after only 21 days as emperor Gordian I committed suicide by hanging himself with a belt.

10. Emperor Mo was the imperial ruler of Jin China for less than a day, killed in action against the Mongols in 1234 CE

Emperor Mo of Jin, born Wanyan Chenglin, was the last Emperor of the Jurchen Jin dynasty of Northern China. A distant descendant of Helibo, the father of Emperor Taizu, the founding emperor of the Jin dynasty, Chenglin served as a military general under his familial imperial relations. Refusing, unlike many ministers, to abandon the emperor and committing to defend the empire from the Mongols who had waged a near-continuous assault on the Jin kingdom since 1211 CE, Chenglin followed his emperor as he abandoned the capital, Kaifeng, in 1232 and relocated to the city of Caizhou. Chenglin’s elder brother, who served as the Grand Chancellor, was killed in these attacks, falling the same year at Pucheng. Despite the best efforts of Chenglin, faced with the combined forces of the Mongols and Southern Song Caizhou was besieged in 1234.

Upon realizing that his fate was sealed, on February 9, 1234, Emperor Aizong announced his decision to abdicate the imperial throne. Upon the objections of Chenglin, Aizong offered two reasons: firstly, that he did not wish to be remembered as the last emperor of his dynasty, and secondly that Chenglin had a better chance of survival. Commanding Chenglin to accept the throne, informing the general that “this is my wish”, Aizong confessed to his loyal follower that “I am fat and unable to ride on horseback into battle. If the city falls, it will be difficult for me to escape on horseback. You, on the other hand, are physically fit and strong. Moreover, you are a talented military leader. If you manage to escape, you can ensure that the dynasty lives on, and make a comeback in the future.” In the course of the abdication ceremony, in which Chenglin reluctantly took part, the Mongols breached the city walls. In response, Emperor Aizong fled into an adjoining room wherein he later hung himself. Refusing to flee for his own safety, Chenglin gathered the remnants of the imperial forces and engaged the invading army in the streets of Caizhou. As the Mongols gradually occupied the city, at an unknown point during the fighting that day Chenglin was killed in action and with him, the Jin dynasty ended.

9. Pope Urban VII was the shortest serving Bishop of Rome in history, reigning for just 12 days before dying of malaria

Pope Urban VII, born Giovanni Battista Castagna, served as the Bishop of Rome from September 15, 1590, CE until his death on September 27. Born in Rome to a noble Genoese family in 1521, Castagna was a studious individual, obtaining a doctorate in civil and canon law at the historic University of Bologna through which he entered the Roman Curia during the reign of Pope Julius III as the Referendary of the Apostolic Signatura.

After the death of Pope Sixtus V, Castagna was elected by the Papal Conclave on September 15, 1590, and chose the pontifical name “Urban VII”. However, this tenure was short-lived, for on September 27 Castagna died of malaria. Despite the brevity of his papacy, as Urban VII Castagna succeeded in leaving a surprisingly noteworthy legacy. Enacting the first public smoking ban in history, threatening to excommunicate anyone who “took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe, or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose”, Urban VII also instituted a subsidy for Roman bakers to enable the provision of under cost bread to the poor. His estate, valued at 30,000 scudi, was also bequeathed as a dowry for the poor young girls of Rome.

8. John I was the youngest King of France and the only monarch to have carried the title from birth

John I, also known as John the Posthumous, was King of France and Navarre between November 15, 1316, and November 20, 1316. The youngest person to ever hold the throne of France, and the only monarch to retain the title from birth, John was also the only person to reign for the entirety of their lifespan in addition to possessing the shortest reign of any French king. The first son of Louis X, born to Louis’ second wife Clementia, Louis died whilst his wife was still pregnant. This uncertainty raised complicated questions surrounding the succession, as a son would have primacy over Louis’ 3-year-old daughter, Joan of Navarro, whilst a daughter would merely be a competing claim to the throne. As a result, and for the first time in over three hundred years since the election of Hugh Capet, the French royal succession was interrupted and halted, with Louis’ brother Philip the Tall named as regent for five months in anticipation of the royal birth.

Despite the birth of a son on November 15, and hence the immediate ascension of the newborn John to the throne, the question of the succession was far from solved as the infant king died just five days later. The reasons behind his sudden death remains shrouded, as infant mortality was indeed immensely high in medieval Europe and John might simply have died of natural causes. Perhaps understandably, given the timing as well as the suspicious demise of his regal father, it was (and continues to be) speculated that the child was poisoned on behalf of his uncle, regent, and ultimately successor, Philip. In the wake of his nephew’s death, Philip ascended to the throne as the fifth of his name and enshrined the continuation of Salic law in the French succession: the exclusion of immediate female descendants from the line of succession in preference of any living male relatives.

7. Sweyn Forkbeard was the first Danish King of England, but only lived to enjoy his momentous accomplishment for a few weeks

Sweyn I of England, also known as Sweyn Forkbeard, was the King of Denmark (r. 986-1014 CE), King of Norway (r. 986-995; 1000-1014), and served as the shortest reigning King of England (r. 1013-1014). Sweyn was also father to King Harald II of Denmark, Queen Estrid Svendsdatter, and King Cnut the Great. The son of legendary Danish King Harald Bluetooth, the first Scandinavian king to be baptized, in the mid-980s Sweyn rebelled against his father’s religious beliefs, seizing the throne and driving his father into exile.

After the incursion and subsequent defection of Thorkell the Tall, who joined Æthelred after successfully sacking Canterbury, Sweyn, enriched beyond measure by the raids, led an army in a full-scale invasion of England in 1013. Sailing his armies along the Trent River, the Kingdoms of Northumbria and Lindsey swiftly yielded along with the Five Boroughs. After capturing the historic capital of Winchester and the city of Bath, Sweyn finally marched against the resisting London. Fearing Sweyn’s retribution should they continue to support Æthelred, the city surrendered. Understanding all was lost, Æthelred sent his sons, including the future Edward the Confessor, into exile, retreating to the Isle of Wight before later joining them in Normandy. On December 25, 1013, Sweyn was declared the first of his name and King of England. Organizing his new realm out of Gainsborough, Sweyn died just five weeks later for reasons unknown. He was succeeded by Cnut, who was briefly driven out of England by Æthelred but regained control in 1016 and became King of Denmark in 1019.

6. The Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei was, for a few hours, the first female Emperor of China

The Daughter of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei, the name of whom remains unknown, was briefly the Emperor of Northern Wei and part of the Xianbei dynasty which ruled Northern China between 386 and 534 CE. Empress Dowager Hu, one of the consorts of Emperor Xuanwu (r. 499-515), was the mother of Xuanwu’s only male heir and consequently, upon his untimely death in 515, the five-year-old Yuan Xu, later known as Emperor Xiaoming, ascended to the imperial throne. Hu, in her capacity as the imperial mother, successfully became regent and ruled in her son’s place, even referring to herself with the imperial first-person pronoun. On February 12, 528, Consort Pan gave birth to a daughter. Hu, instead of recognizing this fact, declared the child to be, in fact, a son. On March 31, despite his young age, Emperor Xiaoming suddenly died in Xianyang Palace, with suggestions of foul play lingering to this day. In response to the death of her son Hu initiated her plan, proclaiming the 50-day-old infant girl as the new emperor and herself as her regent on April 1.

However, just hours later the Dowager Empress changed her mind, issuing an edict revealing the gender of the child and dethroning her. Instead, Yuan Zhao, the three-year-old son of the deceased Yuan Baohui, Prince of Lintao, was installed on the throne by Hu with her, once again, serving as regent. In response to these machinations and deceptions, Xiaoming’s loyal General Rong rebelled against the Dowager Empress claiming that she had deceived the Imperial Court and offended Heaven by allowing a girl to be proclaimed. Attacking the capital, within two months Rong had captured both Hu and the infant puppet emperor and, in 507, declared a son of Xiaowen’s brother Yuan Xie, Yuan Ziyou, as emperor. Rong subsequently purged the Chinese Imperial Court, massacring thousands of officials who had served under the Dowager Empress, as well as their families, in what became known as the Heyin Incident. Hu and Yuan Zhao were both sentenced to death and drowned in the Yellow River for their treason.

5. Michael Megas Komnenos was Emperor of Trebizond on two occasions, the first of which lasted just a single day

Michael Megas Komnenos was the son of Emperor John II of Trebizond and himself reigning as Emperor of Trebizond on two separate occasions. The second lasted from May 3, 1344, CE to December 13, 1349, whilst the former spanned less than a single day: July 30, 1341. In 1341, Michael returned from exile with the support of a political faction to assume the imperial throne, which was at that time inhabited by his niece: Anna Anachoutlou. Arriving in Trebizond on July 30, 1341, Michael was greeted as the legitimate heir and with the support of the populace and much of the nobility was proclaimed Emperor. But the public support of the nobility proved to be little more than a facade, not wishing to be ruled by a competent and mature male ruler and preferring instead his young niece. Consequently, on his first night as emperor Michael was imprisoned, his supporters scattered, and the following day Michael was sent into exile and captivity under the Byzantine Grand Duke John the Eunuch. This imprisonment endured even when Michael’s son, John III, became emperor in September 1342.

However, John III proved an incompetent monarch and was rapidly deposed, resulting in the freeing of Michael and his coronation on May 3, 1344. Yet this still change in status proved of limited value to Michael, for Niketas, the noble who had orchestrated his ascension, forced the new emperor to elevate him to the rank of Grand Duke and sign away much of his power to his ministers. Although Michael successfully fought back, imprisoning Niketas in 1345, Trebizond entered a period of significant decline. The Turkmen attacked the Empire in 1346, the Black Death decimated the population in 1347, and the city of Kerasous was lost to the Genoese in 1348. In poor health and advancing age, the discredited Michael was deposed on December 13, 1349, fittingly, by Grand Duke Niketas, and forced to become a monk. Despite attempting in 1355 to regain his throne one last time, he was refused entrance to his own former capital city and died in exile in Constantinople.

4. Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson was the King of Mann and the Isles for less than a month in 1249 CE, the last Norse king to suffer regicide

Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson was a member of the Crovan dynasty, the son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of Mann and the Isles, and himself King between May 6 and May 30, 1249 CE. Although kings in their own right, the King of Mann and the Isles typically paid homage and tribute to the King of Norway as a higher authority. Upon the death of King Óláfr in 1237, Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson’s eldest brother, Haraldr, assumed the throne, continuing to fight with several family members before being lost at sea in 1248 whilst returning home from Norway. In the course of the voyage, it is recorded the ship foundered off the coast of Shetland with all aboard killed. In response to the vacated position, Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson claimed the crown and formally became King of the Isles on May 6, 1249.

However, his reign was short-lived, for on May 30, King Rǫgnvaldr was slain by a knight named Ívarr. Although the precise identity of Ívarr is unclear, historical evidence strongly suggests that he was in the employ of Rǫgnvaldr’s first cousin Haraldr Guðrøðarson, who conspired against his relative to seize the throne himself. Despite this long history of factional violence, Rǫgnvaldr’s murder was the last known instance of regicide in the Norse-Gaelic territories. Haraldr’s own reign did not last long for in 1250 he was recalled to Norway to answer for his unjust seizure of the kingdom and Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson’s brother, Magnús, was seated in his stead.

3. Thong Lan reigned as King of Ayutthaya, ascending to the throne before being violently murdered just seven days later by Ramesuan, the monarch his father had deposed decades earlier

Thong Lan, son of Borommarachathirat I and a member of the House of Suphannaphum, was King of Ayutthaya, an ancient kingdom of modern-day Thailand. The Kingdom of Ayutthaya was jointly founded by the royal houses of Uthong and Suphannaphum, who were related by marriage, during the mid-14th century. Positions in the emerging kingdom were distributed among the two family’s members, with Boromrachathirat I, a relative of the first reigning Ayutthaya monarch Ramathibodi I, named ruler of Suphan Buri.

Upon the death of Ramathibodi I in either 1369 or 1370 CE, his son Ramesuan, of the House of Uthong, sought to claim the throne. A year later, Borommarachathirat I rallied an army and marched on the capital, whereupon Ramesuan generously “presented” the throne to Borommarachathirat. Succeeding his father as King of Ayutthaya at the age of 15 in either 1388 or 1389 after the former died from an illness contracted during a military campaign against Chakangrao, Thong Lan reigned for only seven days before being deposed in a coup led by Ramesuan. Ramesuan, after decades of patient waiting, exacted his revenge, murdering Thong Lan at the Buddhist temple “Wat Khok Phraya” by breaking his neck with a Sandalwood club – a traditional south Asia method of regicide – and making him the first monarch of Ayutthaya to be executed.

2. Sultan Al-Malik al-Mansur Sayf ad-Din Abu Bakr reigned as the Mamluk Sultan for 49 days before being deposed and later executed

Al-Malik al-Mansur Sayf ad-Din Abu Bakr, more commonly referred to as simply al-Mansur Abu Bakr, reigned as the Mamluk Sultan in 1341 CE. Born in or around 1321, the son of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad (r. 1310-1341), Abu Bakr was the eldest of three brothers begat from his concubine mother, Narijis. Limited information is available concerning his early childhood, with the first recorded mention of the future sultan from 1332 at which time Abu Bakr had been sent to the fortress of al-Karak for military training and later joined his father to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.

Recalled to Cairo in 1335 and elevated to the rank of emir, Abu Bakr returned to al-Karak in 1339 to replace his half-brother, Ahmed, as regional governor and who had fallen out of favor for succession. In 1340, an-Nasir Muhammad had his emirs swear oaths of allegiance to Abu Bakr as their crown prince and future monarch. On June 4, 1341, the ailing an-Nasir Muhammad summoned his emirs to recognize the transfer of the sultanate and personally coronated his son as “al-Malik al-Mansur”. This transition formally occurred upon the death of an-Nasir Muhammad on June 7. On August 5, 1341, Qawsun had Abu Bakr arrested on charges of frivolity and, along with six of his brothers, was imprisoned in Qus in Upper Egypt. This arrest was followed by execution in November, whereupon Abu Bakr’s infant half-brother, Kujuk, was installed as the sultan with Qawsun serving as his regent. However, victory was short-lived for Qawsun, facing a rebellion by Abu Bakr’s half-brother Ahmad who successfully defeated the regent. Both Qawsun and the governor of Qus were executed in early 1342 for their treasonous actions.

1. Tirigan was an ancient ruler of Sumer, reigning for only 40 days before being conquered by the rival city of Uruk in 2050 BCE

Tirigan was a member of the Gutian dynasty of Sumer, succeeding Si’um as the 19th and last ruler mentioned on the historic “Sumerian King List”. According to the ancient record, “Tirigan ruled for 40 days. 21 kings ruled for 124 years and 40 days. Then the army of Gutium was defeated and the kingship was taken to Uruk.” The earliest inclusion on this list, dating to 2050 BCE, extremely little is known from this period, even about the kings and rulers of the time, but it is believed that Tirigan was defeated by Utu-ḫeĝal of Uruk, a rival Sumer city and home of the legendary Sumerian king Gilgamesh during the 3rd millennium BCE.

According to surviving texts, Utu-ḫeĝal occupied both banks of the Tigris before advancing against Tirigan, closing off roads, blocking the rivers, and strangling the enemy’s lines. Capturing the generals Ur-Ninazu and Nabi-Enlil, who had been sent to Sumer as envoys, Utu-ḫeĝal continued his advance, whereupon Tirigan sought to flee. Running away on foot to Dabrum, believing the people would protect him there, they instead arrested him and presented him before their new ruler. Whilst his ultimate fate is uncertain, it is recorded that Utu-ḫeĝal publicly shamed the former king, making him kneel before him and, although unclear, most likely executed his predecessor.

Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:

“The Tudor Law of Treason”, John Bellamy, Routledge: Kegan and Paul (1979)

“The Sisters Who Would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey”, Leanda de Lisle, Ballantine Books (2009)

“Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery”, Eric Ives, Wiley-Blackwell Publishers (2009)

“The Goths: From the earliest times to the end of the Gothic Dominion in Spain”, Henry Bradley, G.P. Putnam’s Sons (1883)

“History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”, Edward Gibbon, Strahan & Cadell, London (1789)

“Britain’s Forgotten Wars”, Ian Hernon, Sutton Publishing (2003)

“The Last Emperors of Vietnam: From Tu Duc to Bao Dai”, Oscar Chapuis, Greenwood Press (2000)

“A History of the Vietnamese”, K.W. Taylor, Cambridge University Press (2013)

“De Imperatoribus Romanis”, Michael Meckler (2001)

“The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine”, Pat Southern, Routledge (2001)

“Imperial China 900-1800”, Frederick Mote, Harvard University Press (2000)

“The Jurchen in Twelfth-Century China”, Jing-shen Tao, University of Washington Press (1976)

“The Death of the Popes”, Wendy Reardon (2010)

“The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal, 1300-1500: A Biographical Dictionary”, Clayton Drees, Greenwood Press (2001)

“France in the Middle Ages, 987-1460: From Hugh Carpet to Joan of Arc”, George Duby, Blackwell Publishers (1993)

“The Danish Empire and the End of the Viking Age”, Niels Lund, in “The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings, P.H. Sawyer, Oxford University Press (2001)

“The Armies of Swein Forkbeard and Cnut”, Niels Lund, in “The Christianization of Scandinavia”, Birgit Sawyer (1986)

“Trebizond: The Last Greek Empire of the Byzantine Era”, William Miller, Argonaut Publishers (1926)

“Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles”, G. Broderick, B. Stowell, Edinburgh University Press (1973)

“Max Kingship in its Irish Sea Setting, 1187-1229: King Rǫgnvaldr and the Crovan Dynasty”, R.A. McDonald, Four Courts Press (2007)

“The Sons of al-Nasir Muhammad and the Politics of Puppets: Where Did It All Start?”, Frederic Bauden, Mamluk Studies Review (2009)

“A Turning Point in Mamluk History: The Third Reign of Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun (1310-1341)”, Amalia Levanoni, Brill Publishing (1995)

“Tirigan”, in Encyclopaedia Britannica.