Killer Kings

john lied, betrayed and murdered his way to the throne, before invoking such wrath among his subjects that he was forced into signing a document which changed the world in so many ways, the Magna Carta. In the last 100 years, historians have sometimes attempted to portray John as unfairly maligned and misrepresented.

Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich - Ivan the Terrible - was the first grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and later ruled as the "Tsar of all Russia" until his death in 1584. Back in the 16th Century when the suffix Terrible was first bestowed on Ivan, it meant ‘awe-inspiring', ‘powerful' and ‘formidable'. By the end of his reign, most of his subjects probably felt the word as we understand it today was more apt.

Emperor Nero, the Antichrist who killed Christians for fun. Nero was 17 when he ascended to power in AD 54 following the death of his step-father, Claudius. Fourteen chaotic, blood-spattered years later it was all over, Nero dying - perhaps by his own hand - at the climax of a rebellion against his rule.

The case against King of Judaea Herod the Great, best known for his attempt to remove his rival, the 'King of the Jews' by ordering the execution of all male infants in Bethlehem shortly after the birth of Jesus Christ. He was also accused of murdering his own wife, children and countless other innocents.