Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II (German: Friedrich II.. 24 January 1712 - 17 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, later declaring himself King of Prussia after the annexation of Royal Prussia from the Polish - Lithuanian... read more A great musical composer (seriously, as long as you like Baroque music, you need only to search on Google or YouTube), one of the greatest generals of all time despite his dislike of war, patron of the arts, philosophy, and the sciences. He ended torture, reformed the legal system, almost abolished the death penalty, abolished serfdom on all crown-owned lands. He was admired by and a friend of some of the greatest scientists and philosophers of his day (D'alembert, Voltaire), brought some of the greatest mathematicians of his time to Berlin (Euler, Lagrange), opened most of the higher government posts to people of non-noble birth. He was religiously tolerant (which was a rarity at the time) and proud of it. Speech was freer than in any other part of Europe during his reign. He established in Prussia one of the first mandatory school systems in history with the aim to eliminate illiteracy and to provide certain technical skills and was over a century ahead of countries like Britain and France. And the list goes on and on.
Granted, he wasn't perfect. He held nobles in higher esteem than he did commoners and he wasn't free from prejudice against certain religious groups and minorities either (despite his tolerance), but taking the sum total of his actions into account, there can be no doubt that he was one of the most remarkable people of the 18th century (and, for that matter, of all time) and one truly deserving of the title "The Great".
Robert I of Scotland
Pacal I of Palenque
Gustav II Adolf of Sweden
Gustav II is the most powerful king Northern Europe has ever seen. He founded the Swedish empire. I'm proud to be Swedish. Take that, Danes.
David of Israel
Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil
Constantine the Great
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria. May 24, 1819 - January 22, 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837, until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and seven months, known as the Victorian era, was marked by industrial, political, scientific, and military... read more She was the most powerful woman in history. She ruled half the world.
Senusret III
King Solomon
Solomon, also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ruler of all Twelve Tribes of Israel under an amalgamated Israel and Judah. The greatest peacetime ruler in history.
The Newcomers
? Amanullah Khan
? Matthias Corvinus
The Contenders
Catherine the Great
Catherine II, born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst on May 2, 1729, is most commonly known as Catherine the Great. She reigned as the Empress of Russia from 1762 until her death on November 17, 1796. Catherine came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III.
Peter the Great of Russia
Peter I (born June 9, 1672 - February 8, 1725), known as Peter the Great, was the Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From that year, Peter was an absolute monarch, an autocrat... read more Come on! Nobody from that list raised his country to a new, completely new level! He transformed wild, medieval Russia into one of the strongest empires. At the beginning of his rule, Russia did not have a navy and only had access to one northern sea. Russia did not have powerful trading until his rule. I'm Russian, and I think that he is the greatest Russian of all time. He made most of our great history.
He is the creator of the most beautiful city in Europe.
Xiaowu of Liu Song
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (July 20/21, 356 BC - June 10/11, 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was the King of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He created one of the largest empires in history by the age of thirty, stretching from Greece to northwest... read more
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. 21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, who later became King George VI... read more
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (September 7, 1533 - March 24, 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from November 17, 1558, until her death. Her reign, known as the Elizabethan Era, is noted for the English Renaissance, the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the early growth of English colonial expansion.
Margrethe II of Denmark
Akbar of the Mughals
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV (5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), known as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand) or the Sun King (le Roi-Soleil), was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a major... read more
Haile Selassie
Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III ruled Scotland from 1249-1286 and, in 1266, after defeating the Norwegians at the Battle of Largs, gained the Hebrides and the counties of Caithness and Ross for Scotland.
Henry V of England
He would have become king of France, simply through guts, determination, and some great commanders, had he not died so early. He led the English at the Battle of Agincourt, one of, if not the greatest, victories in the country's history. He's my favorite king and English monarch. My favorite queen and monarch of any other nation is Isabella of Castile.
Christina, Queen of Sweden
Independent and strong. A female source of inspiration in many aspects.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator, known to history simply as Cleopatra, was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the recently established Roman Empire.