Dig Those Crazy Royals! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Queen Victoria

Victoria (1819-1901) was devastated by Prince Albert's death, and blamed it on his disappointment in the behaviour of their oldest son, Edward. She could not be convinced that her husband had actually died of typhoid, and declared that she could never look at her son again "without a shudder". She often expressed the opinion that it would be best if Edward died before she did, because she was convinced that he would make a terrible King. She was of course dead wrong -Edward turned out to be an excellent King.

After Prince Albert's death Victoria was so inconsolable that there were concerns for her sanity. Many people called for her abdication so that she could mourn Albert in private, but that would have made the despised Edward King. At least partly in order to prevent this Victoria pulled herself together, swathed herself in black crepe and got on with her duties as best she could.

At the same time she insisted that her entire household behave as if her husband was still alive -- among other bizarre practices cocoa would be brought to his room at the precise time he was accustomed to drink it, his fire would be lit in the morning as if to warm the room before he got out of bed, his clothes for the day would be carefully laid out and his sheets would be changed daily, although no one ever slept on them. When Edward finally became King one of the first things he did was to give orders to stop this morbid practice, which had gone on for forty years.

Answer: Charles VI

Charles VI (1368-1422) became King at a very early age during the hundred years war, and the first part of his reign was dominated by a self-serving regency (which did not include his locked-up mother) intent on enriching themselves through the protracted war with England. He asserted his own authority in his middle teens, married the beautiful Isabella of Bavaria, and earned the name "Charles the Well-Beloved" because of his reforms and solid governing ability. Then he went insane.

What Charles probably suffered from was porphyria, a rare inherited blood disorder. What is certain was that his caregivers had no idea what to do about it. They locked up the King for months at a time, leaving his brother and wife in charge of running the country. However, the two of them were serial adulterers, having dozens of affairs both with one another and others, and several children were born to Isabella that could not possibly have been the King's - in fact, it is thought in some circles that the next King of France, Charles VII, was not his son at all. Isabella hired a woman who looked like her for the sole purpose of sleeping with the King, and thus Charles actually believed that he had fathered all of his wife's children, even when he was lucid.

When he was not lucid Charles could be violent and suffered from various delusions, including the thought that he was made of spun glass and as such, would shatter if touched by anyone. He was more-or-less locked up and neglected, along with Isabella's many children, none of whom she had much time for.

When Henry V of England married Charles' daughter Katherine it was thought to be a brilliant match. However, it also brought porphyria into the English royal family. Their son Henry VI is thought to have suffered from it, and several descendants of his half brother (through Henry's mother Katherine) probably had it too. These people are thought to include Margaret Tudor, Mary Queen of Scots, James I, George III and possibly George IV, his wife Caroline of Brunswick (another descendant of Charles VI) and Queen Victoria.

Answer: No

Mary (1516-1558), the product of an abusive childhood and religious mania, was extremely modest about her body. Her half-sister Elizabeth, on the other hand, was known to expose her breasts occasionally to visiting ambassadors.

It is of course possible that Mary inherited mental instability either through her paternal great-great-grandfather, Charles VI of France or from her maternal great-grandmother, Queen Isabella of Portugal but it seems much more likely that her problems stemmed from abuse suffered during her teen years.

Her father, Henry VIII, was incensed that Mary continued to support her mother's (Katherine of Aragon) cause over his own. Partly as a show of loyalty to her mother, and probably also as the result of strong religious beliefs, Mary stubbornly refused to give up papal Catholicism and recognize her father as the new head of the English church. Henry, feeling extremely vindictive towards his disobedient daughter and wanting to please his second wife, Anne Boleyn, seriously considered having Mary beheaded, and Mary knew this very well. She managed to outlive Anne and her lot improved immeasurably because her father married four other, kinder women who interceded for her as best they could, but the relationship with her father remained strained. However, she was loyal to the memory of her abusive Dad until her own death. It's no wonder she was so messed up emotionally.

Mary had a very tragic life and is to be pitied, but the fact remains that she is personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of her Protestant subjects. This was due to her desire to force England to return to Catholicism. To help her achieve this ambition Mary married Phillip II of Spain, another fervent Catholic. Soon after her marriage it was announced that Mary was pregnant, but this proved to be an hysterical pregnancy. This was embarassing enough, but Mary managed to convince herself that she was pregnant a second time, although most people doubted it. The sceptics were right - Mary was not pregnant, but may have been suffering from ovarian cancer. She died lonely and disappointed, but still convinced that God wanted her to burn more heretics. Her persecution only served to make the English people even more determined to stay away from Catholicism, and when Mary died the moderate Protestant Elizabeth was welcomed with open arms.

Answer: She believed that she had swallowed a piano, and there was no other way to get through doors

As strange as it seems, Princess Alexandra (1826-1875) was convinced that as a child she had accidentally swallowed a grand piano, which was made of glass. In her mind this piano made her too wide to enter a room in the normal way, so she had to turn sideways to fit through doors. She was also very concerned about bumping into things in case the piano shattered inside her.

Many people tried to talk her out of this delusion, but the Princess remained convinced of the piano in her stomach until her dying day.

Answer: Ivan IV

Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584) was a mass of contradictions. Very intelligent and well-educated, he was extremely religious and in some ways not a bad administrator, passing good laws and reforming the abuses of the aristocracy. However, he was also personally responsible for mass murder, rape and torture on a grand scale, often gleefully participating himself. After his sadistic frenzies he would usually be horrified by his own viciousness and go into a sort of religious hysteria, praying and flagellating himself for days on end.

In 1584 he and the czartivich Ivan quarreled violently, and Ivan whacked his son on the head with his heavy iron staff to shut him up. The younger Ivan died on the spot. Appalled by what he had done, Ivan IV never really got over it. In an effort to atone for his past misdeeds he posthumously forgave all those he had executed and paid for prayers to be said for their souls. Before his death less than two years later, Ivan was re-christened as the monk Jonah and in a last-ditch effort to gain admitance to heaven, left orders to be buried in his habit.

Answer: Robert III

Robert (1337-1406) was past middle age when he became King, and known to be a gentle, kind and warm-hearted guy who had trouble making decisions and a tendency to melancholy. This melancholia became a severe depression once Robert became King, because he just did not have the war-like qualities needed to rule a turbulent place like Scotland. In addition Robert's health had never been very good, he had sustained a severe injury in a riding accident which made him lame and the strain of being King made his physical problems worse.

King Robert III retreated more and more into himself, and was probably suffering from a clinical depression.

After his older son was murdered Robert thought it would be a good idea to get his other son James to France for his own protection. However, Robert's treacherous brother tipped off the English and James' ship was captured. The heir to the Scottish throne was imprisoned in the Tower of London and kept there for 18 years. When Robert heard about his son's capture he turned his face to the wall of his room, refused to eat and died within a few days. At his own request he was not buried with the other Kings of Scotland because he did not believe himself fit for such an honour.

Answer: Akhenaten I

Akhenaten's (r.1352-1336 BCE) new religion was based on the God of the Sun, The Aten. Only he or members of his immediate family could communicate directly with the Aten, which effectively put the priests of the old state religion out of a job - and they were far from pleased about being unemployed and losing their lucrative income. In addition he systematically began destroying the old temples and records of other Gods, which annoyed the general populace as well.

Akhenaten was a religious visionary, and completely obsessed by his devotions. He left the running of Egypt to his chief advisor Ay and head general Horemheb, both of whom later became pharaoh. These two officials no doubt kept as much as they could under control in a discreet manner while Akhenaten pursued his philosophical and religious interests, but there were many things that needed the pharaoh's direct attention. As a result of this neglect Egypt slid into an economic depression and its enemies began attacking the borders. Ay and Horemheb probably did their best in some respects, but they each had their own agendas and both are prime suspects in the alleged murder of Akhenaten's son, Tutankamen.

Akhenaten's religious mania was directly responsible for the end of the 18th dynasty, because when he died the kingdom was in the hands of a 10 year old boy - and the Egyptian people, who had probably been quietly worshiping their own Gods all along, wanted to go back to the traditional religion. Tutankamen was a pawn in the hands of two powerful men, both of whom were anxious to make peace with the priests of Thebes - and they didn't care for Akhenaten or any of his relatives. The experiment was over. Akhenaten and later Tutankamen were erased from history and Akhenaten was declared a heretic king.

Akhenaten was a religious fanatic, and he may have had the megalomania seen in cult leaders today. Although it cannot now be proven of course, he is generally thought to have been insane, or at least to have had a personality disorder.

Answer: Richard II

Richard II's reign (1377-1399) was one of the worst in English history, and many people trace the origins of the War of the Roses to this time. He became King during the Hundred Years' War and much to the chagrin of his people, had little interest in continuing the war.

Once he assumed personal rule Richard did his best to make peace with France but this angered his subjects. As time went on Richard, who was never terribly popular due to his artistic temperament (the English prefered war-like kings at the time), enrichment of his favourites and rumoured bisexuality, became more and more suspicious of everyone and arbitrary in his rule. He also rained money and property on his favourites, causing much dissatisfaction among the other nobles. So unpopular were these favourites that Parliament refused to vote Richard any more money until he dismissed them. He refused, and so they created a commission to oversee his activities. When Richard declared these measures treason, Parliament, lead by a group of nobles called "The Five Lords Appellant," outlawed Richard's closest friends, some of whom were executed.

Richard was infuriated, but pretended to co-operate - he waited more than eight years for his revenge. He gradually formed another stronger party of supporters, and when he was ready, arrested and executed two of the five Lords who had opposed him. The other three he banished. Richard then made sure he was granted revenues for life and had the powers of Parliament delegated to a committee. It appeared that he had beaten his enemies, and could now do whatever he pleased.

Unfortunately for Richard, one of these banished Lords was his cousin, the energetic and very popular Henry of Bolingbrooke. When Henry's father died Richard stole his inheritance and distributed it among his supporters. Henry, not surprisingly, was quite annoyed by this. He invaded England, captured Richard, forced him to abidicate and declared himself King. The fact that Henry could get away with this is testament to just how unpopular Richard really was.

The former King was sent to prison, from which he kept trying to escape. After four months Henry was forced to eliminate Richard in order to avoid uprisings on his behalf, and so Richard after a short period of time died. Rumours claimed that Richard II had been starved to death, bludgeoned, or poisoned, with the latter most likely being the cause of his death.

Answer: Eric XIV

Eric (1533-1577) was probably a paranoid schizophrenic. His father was also possessed of a violent nature, and it's possible the mental problems were inherited. Eric worried a great deal about being deposed, and as his reign went on, got more and more paranoid. Like Ivan the Terrible, Eric swung between violent frenzies and abject repentance.

Sudden movements could trigger his irrational rage, and he had two of his own guards sentenced to death for 'annoying the King'. Smiling, whispering, or clearing one's throat were seen as obvious signs of plotting against him. Eric took to patrolling the castle corridors with his sword drawn, looking for people who were conspiring to oust him. More than once he put good-looking or neatly dressed servants to the sword, as they were "obviously intent on seducing the ladies of court". When his half-brother John married a Polish Princess without Eric's permission he was imprisoned for a time and feared for his life.

Eventually his half-brothers John and Karl had enough, and deposed Eric, imprisoning him and his family. John became the next King, but felt insecure on the throne because there were plots to bring back Eric and if that happened he knew he was as good as dead. After a couple of years John arranged for Eric to be poisoned by mixing arsenic in his pea soup. The former King died a very painful death after several days, but the official word was that he had died after a long illness. His widow and children were given a pension and allowed to live quietly in the country.

Answer: Frederick William I

It's probable that Frederick William (1688-1740) inherited porphyria through his mother's side of the family. Whether this is true or not, he was always a raging bully and he just got worse with drink and age.

He regularly patrolled the streets, attacking people at random and viciously beating them with the rattan stick he carried everywhere. At home he beat his children, threw plates and attacked the servants. He often starved his children or spat in their food and then forced them to eat it. He especially disliked his son, the future Frederick the Great, and delighted in beating him up in public. When Frederick attempted to run away from his father's court Frederick William forced him to witness the execution of his best friend and accomplice to his plan of escape.

The only things that pleased Frederick William at times were beer and his collection of giants, press-ganged from Prussia or purchased or kidnapped from all over the world. Men unlucky enough to be six feet tall or over were literally in danger of being grabbed, stuffed into a box, and shipped to Prussia. Once in Potsdam, they were constantly drilled and beaten regularly for not performing up to snuff. Desertions happened all the time, but Frederick William sent bounty hunters after these tall men - if they were recaptured their noses and ears were sliced off and they were thrown into prison. Many of Frederick William's grenadiers resorted to suicide and mercy killings of other guards, and mutinies were common. Several times they attempted to burn down Potsdam in the hope of killing the King as well, but they were unsuccessful.

Frederick William I died at the age of 52, arguing with his doctors about his imminent demise and weighing nearly 300 pounds. When news of his death spread there was a great celebration in Prussia, not so much because there was a new King on the throne, but that the old one no longer occupied it.

Answer: Henry realized that Margaret had been unfaithful to him

Henry (1422-1471) and Margaret were married eight years before she finally got pregnant. This was probably due to Henry's belief that sensual pleasure was sinful, even in marriage. Margaret's enemies (and there were many) jumped on the fact that Henry's illness came on while she was pregnant, saying that it was because he knew that he couldn't possibly be the father.

However, Henry knew about Margaret's pregnancy long before he became ill, and after recovering he accepted Prince Edward as his son, even though he also claimed that Edward was a child "of the Holy Spirit". One has to remember that Henry was a very sheltered, simple-minded and extremely religious man - some have speculated that he may not have known how babies were made.

At any rate, there is no reason to believe that Henry's illness was caused by Margaret of Anjou being unfaithful - there is no evidence that she ever was, or that she poisoned his Uncle.

However, later in the War of the Roses she did agree to give Berwick (a fortified town on the England/Scotland border) to the Scots in return for money and soldiers, making her more unpopular than ever with her subjects. Henry however didn't mind Margaret's deal-making because it was done to keep him on the throne of England.

Answer: Ludwig II

Ludwig II (r. 1864-1886) is thought by medical experts to have either been suffering from schizophrenia or congenital syphilis.

His obsession with Wagner began as a teenager - Ludwig identified with the Swan King of his idol's opera, even going so far as to have costumes and armour made for himself so he could pretend he was the Swan King. Ludwig rained money and property on Wagner, much to the annoyance of his advisors but the delight of Wagner and his relatives. No one, even Wagner himself, understood Ludwig's interest - the man apparently had no ear for music and may even have been tone deaf, but something about the medieval world of Wagner's operas appealed to his imagination.

As he got older Ludwig became more eccentric. He began to build fantastic mock-medieval castles, using both his own and the public's money. Some of these castles were not even real buildings - they were just facades housing empty shells of rooms within, and they were never meant to be lived in.

By his late twenties the hallucinations and voices that Ludwig had heard since childhood became more frequent, and he became even more reclusive. He took to eating alone, but having enough food set for four so that he wouldn't be lonely at dinner. He also frequently commanded private performances of his favourite plays at theatres - with himself as the only member of the audience. He became obsessed with Louis XIV, imitating his walk, forging his signature on documents, and making his servants dress in period constumes for middle of the night balls.

He also began to get violent towards his attendants, and made long lists of protocols that were almost impossible to follow. Failure to adhere to his rules resulted in severe punishments. At one stage all of his aides had to dress as Chinese courtiers and approach him on all fours as if he was the Emperor of China. Eventually his servants had to communicate with their King through locked doors using a form of tapping code on the woodwork. Sometimes they only pretended to carry out some of his more bizarre requests, such as the time he gave orders to kidnap the Prussian Crown Prince and keep him captive in a nearby cave. He casually ordered floggings and executions, none of which ever took place.

Eventually the Bavarian government got tired of funding his building projects and tried to cut off Ludwig's supply of money. Ludwig decided that if this was how they felt, he would sell the place - Bavaria - and buy himself another smaller country with the proceeds where he could build whatever he wanted. He hired a bureaucrat to scout out a small kingdom for him to purchase but was finally told that no suitable place was for sale. A disappointed Ludwig resigned himself to being stuck with Bavaria for life.

Shortly after this the Bavarian government had had enough. The country was almost bankrupt from Ludwig's building schemes, his support of Wagner, and their role in the Franco-Prussian war (which Ludwig had seen as an annoying intrusion into his life) and their King was an international embarassment. He was certified insane and persuaded to abdicate in favour of his brother Otto (who had been certified insane years before). Three days later Ludwig and the psychiatrist who had declared him mentally incompetent drowned under mysterious circumstances.

Some of Ludwig's castles still stand, and ironically, they bring in millions in tourist dollars every year. The beautiful Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the most photographed buildings in the world and was the inspiration for the castle in Disney's "Sleeping Beauty".

Answer: Elizabeth

The Empress Elizabeth (r. 1741-1761) was a daughter of Peter the Great. She definitely had an addictive personality, and like both of her parents, was an alcoholic. She was also a nymphomaniac, a compulsive shopper, gambler, and eater. An enthusiastic spender, Elizabeth never knowingly wore the same dress twice once she gained power. At her death she owned more than 15,000 dresses, many of them encrusted with jewels, and more than 5,000 pairs of shoes.

She also owned a whole line of men's clothing, most of it very tight-fitting to show off Elizabeth's legs, which she was very vain about. Every week she held balls called "metamorphoses" where she and all of her courtiers dressed up as the opposite sex, complete with the appropriate undergarments, shoes, wigs and makeup.

While Elizabeth never married, it is thought that she gave birth to around eight illegitimate children. However, she was succeeded by her nephew, Peter III, husband of Catherine the Great. When Elizabeth died Peter threw a party that lasted over a month. He himself was desposed by his wife six months later and quietly murdered.

Answer: George III

George III (1738-1820) was arguably the most personally decent of the Hanoveran Kings of England. Unlike his forebears and sons he was a faithful husband, and he did at least try to do his duties conscientiously, even if he got things very wrong sometimes. However, he was rigid and cold towards his family and never got close to any of them - no one, not even his own children, was allowed to sit in the presence of the King and Queen without express premission or speak unless first spoken to by one of their parents.

This of course did not make for good family relations, and when the boys hit puberty they went wild with orgies of lust, drink, and spending. Their father was heartily embarassed by them, but was unable to do much to stop their excesses - they just ignored their stodgy old Dad and did whatever they pleased - at one stage George III was grandfather to 57 children, 56 of whom were the illegitimate progeny of his sons. People of the period referred to the princes as "The Royal Vampires" and they were universally hated, but none more so than George, Prince of Wales.

When his father first became ill with porphyria the future George IV was very excited at the possibility of becoming Regent. In fact, the plans for this were all in place when the King disappointed his son by making a remarkable recovery. He continued to alternate shorter periods of illness with lucidity until 1810 when sanity left the King for good. George III was locked up in Windsor Castle and son George finally got to serve as Regent until his father's death ten years later.

Answer: Juana

She was known as "Juana the Mad" because of her obsessive love for her husband, Phillip "the Handsome" of the Holy Roman Empire.

Actually, the seeds of madness were sown long before she ever met Phillip - Juana (1479-1555) had always been difficult to deal with, and her mother Isabella must have wondered if Juana had inherited her own mother's insanity.

Phillip was something of a heel, and although he made Juana pregnant regularly, he had many affairs. Juana was beside herself with jealousy, and not above attacking women she thought were even looking at her husband. Phillip had her locked up, but then Juana's mother died and she became Queen of Castile and it was necessary to let her out again. Shortly afterwards Phillip died suddenly, some said of poison administered by his father-in-law Ferdinand who wanted Phillip out of the way so that he could rule Castile in Juana's name.

The effect on Juana was devastating. She refused to leave the side of her dead husband, and would not let any other women come near his casket. Although it was said that she regularly opened the casket to kiss and embrace her fast-decomposing spouse, it was not entirely true - she did open the casket a few times, but only to convince herself that his body had not been stolen. Her hysteria and melancholy grew as the funeral made its way to Phillip's final resting place, but Juana never made it there. Her father had heard of Juana's behaviour and seized his chance to take control of the government of Castile. Juana was confined to a Spanish castle until her death nearly 50 years later.

Unfortunately she and Phillip had produced several children, and being Hapsburgs, they intermarried with their close relatives. Juana and Phillip's marriage brought insanity into the already genetically compromised Hapsburg gene pool, so over the next several generations their inbred descendants produced gross physical and mental abnormalities.

Answer: Maria I

Maria may have had porphyria, or was suffering from religious mania compounded by depression. When her husband and several children died one after another she retreated into uncontrollable grief. Physically she was afflicted by stomach pains, fever and insomnia, but emotionally she was in a much worse state. Her melancholy fits and recurring nightmares increased, and news of the revolution in France affected her very badly. Around 1790 she sank into a state of permanent melancholia, and began to dress in children's clothing in honour of her now deceased children.

In 1792 her ministers concluded that she was insane and asked her oldest surviving son, John, to "assume the direction of public affairs". In the meantime, they summoned the same quack who had treated George III of England to cure the Queen. At first Maria seemed to show some signs of improvement, but under the brutal "treatments" she soon took a turn for the worse. The doctor from England left Portugal in 1793 without making any improvement in her condition. Maria ran about the palace corridors in a state of delirium dressed as a little girl, pitifully wailing and making the palace in which she was confined echo with her cries.

It took the Portuguese government until 1799 to create John Prince Regent, but when Napoleon invaded Portugal eight years later the Royal family was forced to flee to Brazil. When the ship finally landed after a harrowing journey the natives welcomed the family warmly, but Maria was terrified of the dark-skinned people dancing around her chair. She got hysterical, screaming that she was in Hell with devils pursuing her.

The Royal family settled near Rio de Janero and Queen Maria was confined to a convent, where she died in 1816 after 24 years of insanity. Her only surviving child became King Joao VI.

Answer: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury

Their argument was about the relative rights of church and state. Henry and Thomas had been great friends at one time, and this was the main reason that Henry choose Thomas to be the new Archbishop - he thought Thomas would co-operate with his plans to reform the canon laws in England, and possibly divert some of its money to the crown at the same time. To the complete surprise of everyone, but especially Henry, Thomas reformed his character upon becoming Archbishop and intended to do his job by the book - and without reference to the King. Exasperated after several years of bickering, Henry burst out one night, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"

Many people heard this outburst, and unfortunately for both Henry and Thomas, four knights interpreted his words as an order to eliminate the Archbishop. They left for Canterbury immediately. By the time Henry cooled down and realized what they intended it was too late - messengers he sent to stop them did not catch up to the knights until after Becket was dead - murdered in his own cathedral. All of Europe was shocked at what had happened, and while it seriously damaged Henry's reputation, Thomas was elevated to near sainthood.

Chastened and genuinely sorry, Henry was forced to do public penance at Canterbury cathedral, and heavily fined by the church authorities - a fine that continued to be paid annually by his successor until the mid 1900s.

Thomas Beckett did become a saint, and his shine at Canterbury was a place of pilgrimage until 350 years later, when Henry VIII wanted to make a point to his subjects. Henry had the long-dead Thomas Becket dug up and beheaded for disobeying his King. Afterwards his bones were burned and scattered.

All this because Henry II lost his temper after dinner one night. He really might have benefited from some psychotherapy and anger management techniques.

Answer: Phillip V

Phillip V (1683-1746) was obsessed by these two things to the exclusion of all else. He may have had porphyria, or as seems more likely, been a manic-depressive. He was a deeply religious, serious-minded, shy and retiring person, somewhat fearful and suspicious by nature - a quality that increased as he got older. To complicate matters he geniunely believed that intercourse outside marriage was sinful, so he did not engage in it. Therefore, it fell to his wife to look after his needs. Even this he considered sinful, so he spent all of his time running between the bedchamber of his wife (of which there were two - the first dying early of exhaustion and the effects of childbirth) and the confession box.

As a result, very few decisions about ruling were made by Phillip - his attention was fully engaged elsewhere. He seemed to realize that he was losing his mind because in 1724 he abdicated in favour of his oldest son, but Louis I died of smallpox a few months later, leading the government to recall Phillip.

As a result of his exertions Phillip aged prematurely, looking and acting like a very old man while still relatively young. He began to suffer from bouts of mania alternating with depression - at times lethargic, other times passionate and excitable, behaving violently towards his caretakers. When his second wife tried to curb his religious devotions, he beat her up. At one point he thought that he could not walk because his feet were different sizes, and refused to have his hair or toenails cut or his beard shaved for months on end.

From 1732 Phillip would not get out of bed even to have his meals, and refused to change his clothes for nineteen months. He would not see ministers or sign documents, again leaving Spain without government.

Queen Elisabeth now completely dominated Phillip, and to her credit she tried to interest him in music and other diversions to alleviate his depression, at the same time making sure he heard only what she wanted him to hear about the running of the country. By 1738 Philip was so obviously insane that great measures were taken to prevent people from even accidentally witnessing his behaviour. His miserable existance was finally brought to an end by a stroke in July 1746.

Answer: Peter the Great

Peter (1672-1725) was not quite so great as he is made out to be. True, he did drag Russia into the 18th century, personally helped to build a formidable navy, and commissioned the building of St. Petersburg, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but there is a much darker side to Peter I - he was an out-of-control alcoholic, and may have had encephalitis as well.

Among other horrors Peter was responsible for the deaths of thousands of peasants forced to build St. Petersberg in a swamp during the Russian winter, the brutal "doctoring" of his subjects with his own ham-fisted surgery and dentistry and for drunkenly trashing palaces all over Europe while studying at various universities.

The incident of the pickled head came about because Peter suspected his second wife, the Empress Catherine, had had an affair with his chamberlain. He had the man arrested on trumped-up bribery charges, executed in front of Catherine, and a few weeks later placed the pickled head in a jar beside her bed. The nerveless Catherine bore all this without flinching, and affected not to notice the grisly ornament. Peter, who was probably hoping she would do or say something to condemn herself, was eventually forced to admit defeat and had the jar moved to Russia's Museum of Fine Art where a horrified Catherine the Great came across it 50 years later.

Peter was extremely disappointed in his son, whom he regarded as lazy and useless. Peter put so much pressure on Alexis to be more warlike, inquisitive, learn the art of governing and to generally become a second edition of his father that Alexis ran away from home. Once reaching the relative safety of Naples (and against all advice) the foolish Alexis allowed himself to be persuaded to return to Russia, with the promise of amnesty if he gave up his claim to the throne. Alexis agreed to the terms offered by his father, who publicly pardoned his son.

However, Peter was convinced there was a wider conspiracy. Alexis was questioned as to who knew about his flight to Naples, and these people were rounded up and tortured for information - but there wasn't much to tell. Not satisfied, Peter expanded his search for the truth and this led him eventually to arrest Alexis, whom he then had tortured for the truth about the non-existent conspiracy. Alexis died as a result of a particularly brutal flogging less than two weeks later, having paid the ultimate price for running away from home.

Answer: It was not entirely true. In 1802 some actually were insane, some later developed mental illnesses, and others were just mentally deficient

The reason for all these insane and mentally deficient monarchs was inbreeding. The royal families of Europe had at this point been marrying their close relatives for centuries and had passed down haemophilia, the Hapsburg jaw, porphyria, and various other physical ailments and forms of madness to their descendants. Every royal person in Europe was closely related to every other royal - usually multiple times - for example, the modern Count of Paris is said to be descended from Henri IV in over 100 different ways. Obviously mental capabilities were going to deteriorate, but the practice of marrying other royals is still followed to this day (in a somewhat modified form - they are a bit more careful about close affinities).

Reigning monarchs in 1802 included George III of England, Maria I of Portugal and Alexander I of Russia (who was not insane in 1802, but became more disturbed as he got older). In Sweden King Gustavus IV was mentally unbalanced, Christian VII of Norway suffered from schizophrenia, Charles IV of Spain was considered weak and and lacking in even average mental powers, Frederick William III of Prussia was said to be weak, vacillating and not very bright, and the Austrian Emperor Franz I (a.k.a. the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II) was considered "eccentric" and rather slow on the uptake.

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