Kings of Naples, Counts of Provence and Forcalquier (1343 - 1633)
1343 - 1400: Giovanna (House of Capet-Anjou) [1]
1400 - 1431: Hedwig (House of Capet-Anjou) [2]
1431 - 1444: Paul I (House of Colonna) [3]
1444 - 1459: Peter I (House of Colonna) [4]
1459 - 1471: Peter II (House of Colonna) [5]
1471 - 1506: Alfonso I (House of Colonna) [6]
1506 - 1539: Peter III (House of Colonna) [7]
1539 - 1584: Boniface I (House of Colonna) [8]
1584 - 1621: Peter IV (House of Colonna) [9]
1621 - 1633: Boniface II (House of Colonna) [10]
Kings of Italy (1633 - )
1633 - 1644: Boniface II (House of Colonna) [10]
1644 - 1672: Paul II (House of Colonna) [11]
1672 - 1703: Alfonso II (House of Colonna) [12]
1703 - 1754: Julius I (House of Colonna) [13]
1754 - 1799: Julius II (House of Colonna) [14]
1799: Alfonso II (House of Colonna) [15]
1799 - 1821: Carlo (House of Colonna) [16]
1821 - 1824: Interregnum and Civil War [17]
1824 - 1830: Alessandro (House of Mancini-Colonna) [18]
[1] Giovanna was the eldest surviving child of Charles, Duke of Calabria (eldest son of King Robert (the Wise) of Naples), and Marie of Valois (a sister of King Philip VI of France), she was known for being a kind queen and was very loved by the people of Naples, she married Andrew, the brother of Louis of Hungary.
[2] Giovanna was succeeded by her niece Hedwig, who was also Queen of Poland.
[3] After Hedwig's death without bearing a child the Neapolitan throne became contested by a number of royal houses, most notably the Kings of Spain and France. However the brother of Pope Martin V, Paul the Prince of Salerno managed to outmaneuver his distant opponents by having planted his loyalists in Naples a few years prior. Paul became King with their support, however the French and Spanish were both preparing for war and as Paul readied his new Kingdom for the conflict he died under mysterious circumstances.
[4] Brother of Paul, Peter claimed the throne of Naples after his brother's mysterious death which it was rumoured he caused. During the reign of Peter I, Naples defeated France in war but was still at war with Spain when his reign ended. He was succeeded by his son Peter II.
[5] It was left to Peter II to finish his father's work and push Spain out of Italy. While successful, both the French and Spanish monarchs maintained their claims to Naples, which Peter himself expected would cause problems in the future. He then dedicated the rest of his reign to rebuilding the Neapolitan Kingdom and improving it's military forces.
[6] Alfonso was a brilliant diplomat, sealing alliances with England, Portugal and Papal and was able to marry Infanta Catherine, daughter of King Edward of Portugal. He was also a mighty defender, during his reign he saw off an invasion from Charles VIII of France in 1494 and then both Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1501, when he died in 1506, he left a kingdom highly defended.
[7] Peter III used the stability left by his father's reign to consolidate his power. During this time, a movement called Pietism surged through Europe, a reaction to the rampant corruption of the Church. While Peter did not break away, nevertheless his designs on the Papal territory made him a de facto ally of the schismatics. His balancing act allowed Naples to keep its prosperity whilst Europe geared for war.
[8] It was under Boniface I that the problems within the Church exploded into a European wide war, in the Holy Roman Empire a Pietist named Martin Luther published a number of books that led to the birth of a more radical movement, the Protestants. The recently invented printing press allowed the growing number of Protestant preachers to spread their message across the continent. Boniface I leaned towards the Pietists and desired to remain within Catholism, however the Spanish decided that this would serve as pretext enough to invade Naples, again. However much to the shock of Europe, Boniface found an ally of the least likely nation imaginable, the Ottoman Empire. The Neapolitan-Ottoman Alliance defeated Spain in a series of naval battles before they could even arrive in Italy, then after the Pope excommunicated Boniface for allying with 'the vile heathen Turk', the alliance invaded the Papal States, successfully seizing Rome and forcing the Pope into exile in 1567. Boniface was then forced to content with an incursion from the other Italian states (supported by France) and fended them off. Due to the excommunication, Boniface (reluctantly) became a Lutheran and launch a campaign of reform to bring Naples and the newly acquired Papal States in line. He did have to give the Turk a 'present' of gold annually for the rest of his reign, but this was waived in the last year of his life. Boniface died and left the newly expanded Neapolitan Kingdom in the hands of his grandson, Peter IV.
[9] Peter IV continued his grandfather's policies in regards to Lutheranism and saw off another invasion from the Italian states.
[10] During Boniface II's reign the wars in Europe grew even worse, while the Holy Roman Empire fell into the Thirty Years War, the French fell into Civil War between a Catholic claimant for the throne and a Calvinist claimant, England and Scotland fell into their own civil war due to the incompetence of their shared King, and while Spain did send an invasion force into Italy to 'return' Naples to Catholism and support the northern Italian states. However Spain was also dealing rebellion in Burgundy, having to support the German Catholics, pirate raids in the New World, Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean, and it's royal family was suffering the consequences of their inbreeding and hampering the decision making process. As a result Boniface was able to seize the Republic of Lucca and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany with ease. With over half of the Italian peninsula in his grasp, Boniface felt bold enough to proclaim himself 'King of Italy', a title that he would pass on to his son, Paul.
[11] Paul, whilst not the ambitious, conquering monarch his father was, was nevertheless a learned man, earning the epithet "the Wise". With Europe tired of religious wars, Paul learned to leverage Italy's power as an arbiter of the fragile balance of power. He was well-loved by his people, and his funeral after his death at the age of 70 was attended by thousands of his subjects.
[12] Alfonso II was known as 'The Witch-King' due to his obsession with the occult and the new sciences being developed in the universities of Europe. He promoted education and the arts and had the city of Rome undergo significant repair and restoration after centuries of Papal neglect, eventually Alfonso moved the capital to Rome and appropriated the former Papal palace, the Quirinal Palace for himself. Alfonso also acquired new lands for Italy when the Duke of Modena died unexpectedly, leaving his sister Maria (and Alfonso's Queen) as the reigning Duchess. This made the remaining independent Italian states even more nervous, and had them turning to foreign powers such as France, Spain, and Austria for support.
[13] The reign of Julius I saw the uncovering of the Corsican Conspiracy, a (possibly fabricated) series of intrigues that, according to primary sources, was intended to depose Julius I and install his half-witted cousin, Charles, as King. While largely a dud--most of its backers very quickly disavowed knowledge of the affair, and the only person to be conclusively proven to have taken part was the sister of Julius' lover, who was quickly pardoned--the episode began a period of xenophobia and paranoia which had only begun to peter out upon Julius' death.
[14] The reign of Julius II was quiet at first, Julius proved himself a skill diplomat by playing France, Spain, and Austria off against each other while forming alliances with England and several German states to improve his position. A small war broke out between Genoa and Italy, but Genoa's ally Spain was weak and did not provide much support. Genoa was quickly seized and made part of the Italian Kingdom. However it was revolution breaking out in France in the twilight of Julius's reign that would dominate European politics for years. Reluctant to get involved, Italy stayed out of the Coalitions formed to destroy the First French Republic, sparing Italy from invasion.
[15] Also known as "the Eight Days King," Alfonso II ruled for barely more than a week before dying of a probable stroke, leaving the throne to his brother, Carlo.
[16] Carlo would only rule in Italy for a few years as the Coalitions initially failed to stop France. France would invade Italy to "spread the revolution" and the royal family was forced to flee. Eventually Polish led coalition forces defeated France and restored the royal family. After seeing the destruction of liberal ideas Carlo became heavily reactionary, leaving the Kingdom as an absolute agnatic monarchy. He donated Isola Sacraand the town of Fiumicino to the Papacy as their new home and funded the creation of a new papal palace. As he only had daughters the throne was to pass to his also reactionary cousin, though at the time of his death it was unclear.
[17] When it found out that Carlo was assassinated by his heir apparent, it lead to calls of abdication. The movement against him was so great that several other claims by sons-in-laws were legitimized. Within the first year, the house of Colonna was made extinct as rebels stormed the palace and cleared house. The next two years the factions of rebels spent fighting against themselves.
[18] The new monarch, Alessandro, assumed the throne as a compromise candidate. Tracing his descent in the female line from a cadet branch of the Colonna, Alessandro's reign was relatively calm as all sides of the recent civil war were largely too battered to continue fighting. His reign was uneventful, although he made some quiet suggestions to certain European allies for an alliance in the event that the recent unpleasantness were to happen again...
Kings of Arabia (Muhammad converts to Miaphysitism) (620 - 777)
620 - 633: Muhammad ibn Abdullah (Banu Hashim)
633 - 650: Rashid Bin Mohammed (Banu Hashim)[1]
650 - 675: Abdullah Bin Rashid (Banu Hashim)
675 - 697: Sulaiman bin Manaf (Banu Hashim) [2]
697 - 714: Rashid bin Abdullah (Banu Hashim) [3]
714 - 719: Dawud bin Rashid (Banu Hashim) [4]
719 - 759: Abdul Turki Bin Saud(Banu Hashim)[5]
759 - 761: Yusuf Bin Saud(Banu Hashim) [6]
761 - 764: The Ridda Wars
764 - 777: Khalid ibn Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [7]
Emperors of the Romans in the Far East (777 - 1018)
777 - 824: Khalid ibn Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [7]
824 - 849: Dawud bin Khalid (Banu Makhzum) [8]
849 - 881: Yusuf bin Dawud (Banu Makhzum) [9]
881 - 902: Muhammad bin Yusuf (Banu Makhzum) [10]
902 - 920: Rashid bin Muhammad (Banu Makhzum) [11]
920 - 924: Muhammad bin Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [12]
924 - 929: Damyanah Al-Batani (Ghulam) [13]
924 - 989: Sulaiman ibn Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [14]
989 - 991: Ibrahim ibn Khalid (Banu Makhzum) [15]
991 - 994: The Imperial Civil War [16]
994 - 1012: Akhnas ibn Jahsh (Thaqif) [17]
1012 - 1013: Aali ibn Akhnas (Thaqif) [18]
1013 - 1018: Ahmad ibn Akhnas (Thaqif) [19]
1018 - 1019: Imran ibn Dawud (Thaqif) [20]
Kings of Arabia (1019 - )
1019 - 1027: Imran ibn Dawud (Thaqif) [20]
[1] Conquered Mesopotamia from the Persians and the Romans.
[2] Was forced to contend with instability and power struggles among the Arab tribes. Sulaiman was murdered in his sleep by an unknown assassin.
[3] Rashid was the son of Abdullah and was the person chosen by the Arab tribes to succeed Sulaiman.
[4] Dawud died fighting in the sudden and unexpected invasion of Mesopotamia by an alliance of Persia and Byzantium.
[5] Brother of Dawud, Abdul was able to repress the invasion of Mesopotamia, his forty years was spent defending his kingdom from Persia and Byzantium.
[6] Youngest brother of Dawud and Abdul, Yusuf's sudden death from illness left the Banu Hashim line with no male heirs.
[7] Descendant of Muhammad's eldest daughter Fatimah and of Khalid ibn al-Walid. After the three-year struggle between the three lines of Muhammad's daughters, Khalid ibn Rashid and the Banu Makhzum won.
The man was ambitious. He saw instability in the Empire of the Romans caused by his coreligionists. After rebuilding the land for 13 years, he took the chance and declared himself Emperor of the Romans.
[8] It was under Dawud ibn Khalid that the 'Arabian Rome' that both Persia and Byzantium suffered crisis due to the collapse of their dynasties, allowing him to seize large swaths of their territory. A large part of Asia Minor and nearly half of Persia fell under Dawud's rule, in order to keep his new lands he constructed a series of good roads and military outposts along them, and had the roads lead to his new capital city in Mesopotamia, the city of Third Rome, formerly known as Baghdad.
[9] Dawud's son Yusuf oversaw a further expansion of territory and with it the first forays of Miaphysite forces into southern Italy.
[10] Muhammad bin Yusuf continued the raids into southern Italy and expanded the Empire into Egypt, which was Miaphysite and alienated from Byzantium. The remaining independent portions of Persia began paying tribute under Muhammad's rule. Muhammad is also notable for using 'Muhammad I' in some documents, the first Arab ruler to use a regnal.
[11] Rashid's reign, while free of wars abroad, saw religious controversies come to the fore. As the champion of Miaphysitism, the Empire saw many missionaries come from Europe, debating with Miaphysite priests and attempting conversions. Things came to a head when in 918 Rashid issued an edict expelling non-Miaphysite Christian priests from the Empire. While Byzantium made no move at this time, itself wracked by religious tensions, war was imminent.
[12] Muhammad bin Rashid (known in the west as Muhammad II) led the Empire against Byzantium in the First War of the Faith, the first of several religious wars waged against the European Christians over faith and territory. The first war proved to be brutal, brief, and ended in an unsatisfactory stalemate between Byzantium and Arabia. But Muhammad did not get to savor what victories he did gain due to dying from eating poisonous mushrooms.
[13] Damyanah Al-Batani, was a renowned general, gaining most of the victories for the Empire during the First War of the Faith, however he did not believe that Muhammad bin Rashid, deserved the right to be called the Emperor of the Romans in the Far East and poisoned him.
Damyanah saw to it that the Second War of the Faith, was stacked in his Empires favour and was able to gain land from the Byzantium.
He died of a heart-attack, a month after the cease fire of the SWotF.
[14] Brother of Muhammad ibn Rashid. Known as the Good Emperor to his people, and to the West, as Solomon the Healer (to his contemporaries, as the Heretic).
He took the Empire back from Damyana Al-Batani and executed the man's brothers and their adult male children, with the help of another branch of the Ghulam clan.
He was a patron of the arts and sciences and built Baghdad into a worthy heir to Rome.
But the most important part: he worked to bring the Five Churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Armenian, Nestorian) together, and allowed all those who followed Christ into Jerusalem. He even called for an Ecumenical Council in Jerusalem in the 979 (the first since the days of the Apostles).
Still, though the tension eased and Suleiman ruled over an era of peace and prosperity, the tension was still there. And when he died and left the throne to his eldest grandson, the tensions began again.
[15] The crisis during the short and troubled reign of Ibrahim began after the arrival of an emissary from the Christian faithful in Ethiopia, requesting aid against an invasion by pagan raiders. While an expeditionary force was being assembled to intervene, its general, Ismail, abruptly attempted to seize power from Ibrahim. The Emperor's household guards were able to fend off the coup long enough for their liege to escape, an event dramatized in the classic film The Gates of Baghdad (note the use of the traditional name; the Schwarzschild-Henderson Company was forbidden by the Censors of the Republic from referring to the Imperial pretensions Old Regime). In any case, Ibrahim never returned to the city of his birth; he died in exile as the Empire entered a period of bloody civil war, an event watched with horror by the crowned heads of Europe.
[16] The Imperial Civil War, a conflict that would last four and a half years very nearly shattered the Empire. Several Arab Clans, Persian princes, the Byzantine Emperor, and would-be adventurers all tried to claim the throne or seize territory for themselves. The city of Third Rome changed hands four times in this period before the last sword was sheathed and Akhnas ibn Jahsh was the uncontested Emperor.
[17] Some measure of stability returned to the Empire as Akhnas ibn Jahsh, a young officer from the village of Ta'if, managed to reunite most of Arabia under his banner. Although he proclaimed himself Emperor, his legitimacy was damaged by the continued foreign occupation of Third Rome, and he died in battle attempting to retake the city from Persian warlords from the Jalayirid family.
[18] Akhnas' son, Aali would continue his father's the siege for the Third Rome, in which he would perish months later from disease in the army.
[19] Next in line was the young child, Ahmad. He would die early on, but his lord protector decided to keep up a ruse that he was still alive claiming that he had went away to study. Not many people questioned that a young king did not want to see anyone. Eventually the ploy was discovered and the lord protector executed.
[20] Imran, the cousin of Akhnas, managed to hold the throne, and eventually came to a truce with the Jalayirids of Persia--unfortunately, in order to secure peace he gave up all pretensions to the Imperial dignity, and allowed the Jalayarids to retain Third Rome and its hinterland. Despite the widespread desire for stability, this was not a popular decision.
1343 - 1400: Giovanna (House of Capet-Anjou) [1]
1400 - 1431: Hedwig (House of Capet-Anjou) [2]
1431 - 1444: Paul I (House of Colonna) [3]
1444 - 1459: Peter I (House of Colonna) [4]
1459 - 1471: Peter II (House of Colonna) [5]
1471 - 1506: Alfonso I (House of Colonna) [6]
1506 - 1539: Peter III (House of Colonna) [7]
1539 - 1584: Boniface I (House of Colonna) [8]
1584 - 1621: Peter IV (House of Colonna) [9]
1621 - 1633: Boniface II (House of Colonna) [10]
Kings of Italy (1633 - )
1633 - 1644: Boniface II (House of Colonna) [10]
1644 - 1672: Paul II (House of Colonna) [11]
1672 - 1703: Alfonso II (House of Colonna) [12]
1703 - 1754: Julius I (House of Colonna) [13]
1754 - 1799: Julius II (House of Colonna) [14]
1799: Alfonso II (House of Colonna) [15]
1799 - 1821: Carlo (House of Colonna) [16]
1821 - 1824: Interregnum and Civil War [17]
1824 - 1830: Alessandro (House of Mancini-Colonna) [18]
[1] Giovanna was the eldest surviving child of Charles, Duke of Calabria (eldest son of King Robert (the Wise) of Naples), and Marie of Valois (a sister of King Philip VI of France), she was known for being a kind queen and was very loved by the people of Naples, she married Andrew, the brother of Louis of Hungary.
[2] Giovanna was succeeded by her niece Hedwig, who was also Queen of Poland.
[3] After Hedwig's death without bearing a child the Neapolitan throne became contested by a number of royal houses, most notably the Kings of Spain and France. However the brother of Pope Martin V, Paul the Prince of Salerno managed to outmaneuver his distant opponents by having planted his loyalists in Naples a few years prior. Paul became King with their support, however the French and Spanish were both preparing for war and as Paul readied his new Kingdom for the conflict he died under mysterious circumstances.
[4] Brother of Paul, Peter claimed the throne of Naples after his brother's mysterious death which it was rumoured he caused. During the reign of Peter I, Naples defeated France in war but was still at war with Spain when his reign ended. He was succeeded by his son Peter II.
[5] It was left to Peter II to finish his father's work and push Spain out of Italy. While successful, both the French and Spanish monarchs maintained their claims to Naples, which Peter himself expected would cause problems in the future. He then dedicated the rest of his reign to rebuilding the Neapolitan Kingdom and improving it's military forces.
[6] Alfonso was a brilliant diplomat, sealing alliances with England, Portugal and Papal and was able to marry Infanta Catherine, daughter of King Edward of Portugal. He was also a mighty defender, during his reign he saw off an invasion from Charles VIII of France in 1494 and then both Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1501, when he died in 1506, he left a kingdom highly defended.
[7] Peter III used the stability left by his father's reign to consolidate his power. During this time, a movement called Pietism surged through Europe, a reaction to the rampant corruption of the Church. While Peter did not break away, nevertheless his designs on the Papal territory made him a de facto ally of the schismatics. His balancing act allowed Naples to keep its prosperity whilst Europe geared for war.
[8] It was under Boniface I that the problems within the Church exploded into a European wide war, in the Holy Roman Empire a Pietist named Martin Luther published a number of books that led to the birth of a more radical movement, the Protestants. The recently invented printing press allowed the growing number of Protestant preachers to spread their message across the continent. Boniface I leaned towards the Pietists and desired to remain within Catholism, however the Spanish decided that this would serve as pretext enough to invade Naples, again. However much to the shock of Europe, Boniface found an ally of the least likely nation imaginable, the Ottoman Empire. The Neapolitan-Ottoman Alliance defeated Spain in a series of naval battles before they could even arrive in Italy, then after the Pope excommunicated Boniface for allying with 'the vile heathen Turk', the alliance invaded the Papal States, successfully seizing Rome and forcing the Pope into exile in 1567. Boniface was then forced to content with an incursion from the other Italian states (supported by France) and fended them off. Due to the excommunication, Boniface (reluctantly) became a Lutheran and launch a campaign of reform to bring Naples and the newly acquired Papal States in line. He did have to give the Turk a 'present' of gold annually for the rest of his reign, but this was waived in the last year of his life. Boniface died and left the newly expanded Neapolitan Kingdom in the hands of his grandson, Peter IV.
[9] Peter IV continued his grandfather's policies in regards to Lutheranism and saw off another invasion from the Italian states.
[10] During Boniface II's reign the wars in Europe grew even worse, while the Holy Roman Empire fell into the Thirty Years War, the French fell into Civil War between a Catholic claimant for the throne and a Calvinist claimant, England and Scotland fell into their own civil war due to the incompetence of their shared King, and while Spain did send an invasion force into Italy to 'return' Naples to Catholism and support the northern Italian states. However Spain was also dealing rebellion in Burgundy, having to support the German Catholics, pirate raids in the New World, Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean, and it's royal family was suffering the consequences of their inbreeding and hampering the decision making process. As a result Boniface was able to seize the Republic of Lucca and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany with ease. With over half of the Italian peninsula in his grasp, Boniface felt bold enough to proclaim himself 'King of Italy', a title that he would pass on to his son, Paul.
[11] Paul, whilst not the ambitious, conquering monarch his father was, was nevertheless a learned man, earning the epithet "the Wise". With Europe tired of religious wars, Paul learned to leverage Italy's power as an arbiter of the fragile balance of power. He was well-loved by his people, and his funeral after his death at the age of 70 was attended by thousands of his subjects.
[12] Alfonso II was known as 'The Witch-King' due to his obsession with the occult and the new sciences being developed in the universities of Europe. He promoted education and the arts and had the city of Rome undergo significant repair and restoration after centuries of Papal neglect, eventually Alfonso moved the capital to Rome and appropriated the former Papal palace, the Quirinal Palace for himself. Alfonso also acquired new lands for Italy when the Duke of Modena died unexpectedly, leaving his sister Maria (and Alfonso's Queen) as the reigning Duchess. This made the remaining independent Italian states even more nervous, and had them turning to foreign powers such as France, Spain, and Austria for support.
[13] The reign of Julius I saw the uncovering of the Corsican Conspiracy, a (possibly fabricated) series of intrigues that, according to primary sources, was intended to depose Julius I and install his half-witted cousin, Charles, as King. While largely a dud--most of its backers very quickly disavowed knowledge of the affair, and the only person to be conclusively proven to have taken part was the sister of Julius' lover, who was quickly pardoned--the episode began a period of xenophobia and paranoia which had only begun to peter out upon Julius' death.
[14] The reign of Julius II was quiet at first, Julius proved himself a skill diplomat by playing France, Spain, and Austria off against each other while forming alliances with England and several German states to improve his position. A small war broke out between Genoa and Italy, but Genoa's ally Spain was weak and did not provide much support. Genoa was quickly seized and made part of the Italian Kingdom. However it was revolution breaking out in France in the twilight of Julius's reign that would dominate European politics for years. Reluctant to get involved, Italy stayed out of the Coalitions formed to destroy the First French Republic, sparing Italy from invasion.
[15] Also known as "the Eight Days King," Alfonso II ruled for barely more than a week before dying of a probable stroke, leaving the throne to his brother, Carlo.
[16] Carlo would only rule in Italy for a few years as the Coalitions initially failed to stop France. France would invade Italy to "spread the revolution" and the royal family was forced to flee. Eventually Polish led coalition forces defeated France and restored the royal family. After seeing the destruction of liberal ideas Carlo became heavily reactionary, leaving the Kingdom as an absolute agnatic monarchy. He donated Isola Sacraand the town of Fiumicino to the Papacy as their new home and funded the creation of a new papal palace. As he only had daughters the throne was to pass to his also reactionary cousin, though at the time of his death it was unclear.
[17] When it found out that Carlo was assassinated by his heir apparent, it lead to calls of abdication. The movement against him was so great that several other claims by sons-in-laws were legitimized. Within the first year, the house of Colonna was made extinct as rebels stormed the palace and cleared house. The next two years the factions of rebels spent fighting against themselves.
[18] The new monarch, Alessandro, assumed the throne as a compromise candidate. Tracing his descent in the female line from a cadet branch of the Colonna, Alessandro's reign was relatively calm as all sides of the recent civil war were largely too battered to continue fighting. His reign was uneventful, although he made some quiet suggestions to certain European allies for an alliance in the event that the recent unpleasantness were to happen again...
Kings of Arabia (Muhammad converts to Miaphysitism) (620 - 777)
620 - 633: Muhammad ibn Abdullah (Banu Hashim)
633 - 650: Rashid Bin Mohammed (Banu Hashim)[1]
650 - 675: Abdullah Bin Rashid (Banu Hashim)
675 - 697: Sulaiman bin Manaf (Banu Hashim) [2]
697 - 714: Rashid bin Abdullah (Banu Hashim) [3]
714 - 719: Dawud bin Rashid (Banu Hashim) [4]
719 - 759: Abdul Turki Bin Saud(Banu Hashim)[5]
759 - 761: Yusuf Bin Saud(Banu Hashim) [6]
761 - 764: The Ridda Wars
764 - 777: Khalid ibn Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [7]
Emperors of the Romans in the Far East (777 - 1018)
777 - 824: Khalid ibn Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [7]
824 - 849: Dawud bin Khalid (Banu Makhzum) [8]
849 - 881: Yusuf bin Dawud (Banu Makhzum) [9]
881 - 902: Muhammad bin Yusuf (Banu Makhzum) [10]
902 - 920: Rashid bin Muhammad (Banu Makhzum) [11]
920 - 924: Muhammad bin Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [12]
924 - 929: Damyanah Al-Batani (Ghulam) [13]
924 - 989: Sulaiman ibn Rashid (Banu Makhzum) [14]
989 - 991: Ibrahim ibn Khalid (Banu Makhzum) [15]
991 - 994: The Imperial Civil War [16]
994 - 1012: Akhnas ibn Jahsh (Thaqif) [17]
1012 - 1013: Aali ibn Akhnas (Thaqif) [18]
1013 - 1018: Ahmad ibn Akhnas (Thaqif) [19]
1018 - 1019: Imran ibn Dawud (Thaqif) [20]
Kings of Arabia (1019 - )
1019 - 1027: Imran ibn Dawud (Thaqif) [20]
[1] Conquered Mesopotamia from the Persians and the Romans.
[2] Was forced to contend with instability and power struggles among the Arab tribes. Sulaiman was murdered in his sleep by an unknown assassin.
[3] Rashid was the son of Abdullah and was the person chosen by the Arab tribes to succeed Sulaiman.
[4] Dawud died fighting in the sudden and unexpected invasion of Mesopotamia by an alliance of Persia and Byzantium.
[5] Brother of Dawud, Abdul was able to repress the invasion of Mesopotamia, his forty years was spent defending his kingdom from Persia and Byzantium.
[6] Youngest brother of Dawud and Abdul, Yusuf's sudden death from illness left the Banu Hashim line with no male heirs.
[7] Descendant of Muhammad's eldest daughter Fatimah and of Khalid ibn al-Walid. After the three-year struggle between the three lines of Muhammad's daughters, Khalid ibn Rashid and the Banu Makhzum won.
The man was ambitious. He saw instability in the Empire of the Romans caused by his coreligionists. After rebuilding the land for 13 years, he took the chance and declared himself Emperor of the Romans.
[8] It was under Dawud ibn Khalid that the 'Arabian Rome' that both Persia and Byzantium suffered crisis due to the collapse of their dynasties, allowing him to seize large swaths of their territory. A large part of Asia Minor and nearly half of Persia fell under Dawud's rule, in order to keep his new lands he constructed a series of good roads and military outposts along them, and had the roads lead to his new capital city in Mesopotamia, the city of Third Rome, formerly known as Baghdad.
[9] Dawud's son Yusuf oversaw a further expansion of territory and with it the first forays of Miaphysite forces into southern Italy.
[10] Muhammad bin Yusuf continued the raids into southern Italy and expanded the Empire into Egypt, which was Miaphysite and alienated from Byzantium. The remaining independent portions of Persia began paying tribute under Muhammad's rule. Muhammad is also notable for using 'Muhammad I' in some documents, the first Arab ruler to use a regnal.
[11] Rashid's reign, while free of wars abroad, saw religious controversies come to the fore. As the champion of Miaphysitism, the Empire saw many missionaries come from Europe, debating with Miaphysite priests and attempting conversions. Things came to a head when in 918 Rashid issued an edict expelling non-Miaphysite Christian priests from the Empire. While Byzantium made no move at this time, itself wracked by religious tensions, war was imminent.
[12] Muhammad bin Rashid (known in the west as Muhammad II) led the Empire against Byzantium in the First War of the Faith, the first of several religious wars waged against the European Christians over faith and territory. The first war proved to be brutal, brief, and ended in an unsatisfactory stalemate between Byzantium and Arabia. But Muhammad did not get to savor what victories he did gain due to dying from eating poisonous mushrooms.
[13] Damyanah Al-Batani, was a renowned general, gaining most of the victories for the Empire during the First War of the Faith, however he did not believe that Muhammad bin Rashid, deserved the right to be called the Emperor of the Romans in the Far East and poisoned him.
Damyanah saw to it that the Second War of the Faith, was stacked in his Empires favour and was able to gain land from the Byzantium.
He died of a heart-attack, a month after the cease fire of the SWotF.
[14] Brother of Muhammad ibn Rashid. Known as the Good Emperor to his people, and to the West, as Solomon the Healer (to his contemporaries, as the Heretic).
He took the Empire back from Damyana Al-Batani and executed the man's brothers and their adult male children, with the help of another branch of the Ghulam clan.
He was a patron of the arts and sciences and built Baghdad into a worthy heir to Rome.
But the most important part: he worked to bring the Five Churches (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Armenian, Nestorian) together, and allowed all those who followed Christ into Jerusalem. He even called for an Ecumenical Council in Jerusalem in the 979 (the first since the days of the Apostles).
Still, though the tension eased and Suleiman ruled over an era of peace and prosperity, the tension was still there. And when he died and left the throne to his eldest grandson, the tensions began again.
[15] The crisis during the short and troubled reign of Ibrahim began after the arrival of an emissary from the Christian faithful in Ethiopia, requesting aid against an invasion by pagan raiders. While an expeditionary force was being assembled to intervene, its general, Ismail, abruptly attempted to seize power from Ibrahim. The Emperor's household guards were able to fend off the coup long enough for their liege to escape, an event dramatized in the classic film The Gates of Baghdad (note the use of the traditional name; the Schwarzschild-Henderson Company was forbidden by the Censors of the Republic from referring to the Imperial pretensions Old Regime). In any case, Ibrahim never returned to the city of his birth; he died in exile as the Empire entered a period of bloody civil war, an event watched with horror by the crowned heads of Europe.
[16] The Imperial Civil War, a conflict that would last four and a half years very nearly shattered the Empire. Several Arab Clans, Persian princes, the Byzantine Emperor, and would-be adventurers all tried to claim the throne or seize territory for themselves. The city of Third Rome changed hands four times in this period before the last sword was sheathed and Akhnas ibn Jahsh was the uncontested Emperor.
[17] Some measure of stability returned to the Empire as Akhnas ibn Jahsh, a young officer from the village of Ta'if, managed to reunite most of Arabia under his banner. Although he proclaimed himself Emperor, his legitimacy was damaged by the continued foreign occupation of Third Rome, and he died in battle attempting to retake the city from Persian warlords from the Jalayirid family.
[18] Akhnas' son, Aali would continue his father's the siege for the Third Rome, in which he would perish months later from disease in the army.
[19] Next in line was the young child, Ahmad. He would die early on, but his lord protector decided to keep up a ruse that he was still alive claiming that he had went away to study. Not many people questioned that a young king did not want to see anyone. Eventually the ploy was discovered and the lord protector executed.
[20] Imran, the cousin of Akhnas, managed to hold the throne, and eventually came to a truce with the Jalayirids of Persia--unfortunately, in order to secure peace he gave up all pretensions to the Imperial dignity, and allowed the Jalayarids to retain Third Rome and its hinterland. Despite the widespread desire for stability, this was not a popular decision.
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Haakon I (House of Fairhair)*[1]
