A Brief History
On September 1, 1715, King Louis XIV of France died after having ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of a king or queen of any major European country. Many Frenchmen were born and died during his time on the throne and never knew any other monarch. Here 10 of the longest-reigning leaders of countries or other institutions are listed, in no particular order.
Digging Deeper
10. Howard Stern, “King of All Media,” 1986-Present.
Howard became the soi-disant (self-proclaimed) “King of all Media” in response to Michael Jackson’s claim to be the “King of Pop.” Stern went national in 1986 after having been fired from WNBC in New York, and he became an instant sensation. He has also successfully done television shows such as America’s Got Talent, recordings and even movies. In 2004, he signed a $500 million contract with Sirius to have his own satellite channel. Honorable mention to Larry King.
9. Elvis Presley, “King of Rock and Roll,” 1956-1977.
To this day, the man often addressed simply as the “King” has ruled the radio. In his day, he also ruled the concert halls and record sales. He is still the best-selling artist of all time, and even now, although having been dead for 37 years, he has his own Sirius/XM satellite radio station. (He even died on the “throne”…).
8. Sobhuza II, King of Swaziland, 1899-1982.
The longest-reigning monarch in history, Sobhuza’s reign of almost 83 years eclipses Queen Victoria’s by about 20 years! He became Chief/King at only 4 months! In 1968 he successfully managed the transition of Swaziland from a British colony to an independent country. Despite his distractions and duties as King, he managed to find the time to acquire 70 wives and to sire 210 children.
7. Hirohito, Emperor of Japan, 1926-1989.
With a reign of almost 63 years, Hirohito is the longest-reigning monarch in Japanese history. After presiding over the disaster of World War II, he lived to see Japan recover to heights even greater than its peak in early World War II and become the second-largest economy on earth (in the meantime surpassed by China). Despite many calls for him to be tried for war crimes, Hirohito was protected against such prosecution by Douglas MacArthur and the US occupation government of Japan so that he could be used as a focal point of unity and control for the post-war re-development of Japan.
6. Frederick III, King of Germany, 1424-1493.
The longest serving ruler of Germany (1440-1493), “Fred” was also Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 to 1493, although by that time being Roman Emperor did not mean the same as it did in ancient times. Fred had been born in Innsbruck, Austria and was the Archduke of Austria (1424-1493). Also known as Frederick the Peaceful, he was notable mostly for his long time on his various thrones, being somewhat hesitant and cautious rather than dynamic and bold. Honorable mention to Franz-Joseph I, Emperor of Austria-Hungary from 1848-1916.
5. Constantine The Great, Roman Emperor, 306-337 AD.
Also known as Saint Constantine or Constantine I, he was the second longest reigning of all the Roman emperors after Augustus (unless Basil III who was emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire for 56 years is counted). Augustus did have a 51 year reign, but was not called “emperor”, although we refer to him as the first emperor of Rome. Constantine was the longest reigning of those that actually had the title. At least Constantine was in charge when the empire was one entity. The first Christian Roman emperor, Constantine had the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (or sepulcher) built in Jerusalem, the holiest site in Christianity. He is also considered the founder of the Byzantine Empire, and Byzantium was renamed Constantinople in his honor, though it is now called Istanbul (“Even old New York was once New Amsterdam!”).
4. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1837-1901.
Not only the longest-reigning monarch of Britain, she was also the longest reigning of any queen in history. (In about one year’s time, Queen Elizabeth II is set to overtake the record of her great-great grandmother.) A member of the House of Hanover, she was of German origin. The Victorian Era named for her is characterized by ultra-moral prudishness and suppression of all things sexual. Her reign saw the rapid advance of the industrial revolution and the modernization of Britain.
3. Louis XIV, King of France, 1643-1715.
Louis was king for so long that an entire era of furniture is named after him. During his reign, he saw scores of European monarchs come and go, Louis being the one constant in the equation. A member of the House of Bourbon, Louis was known as the Sun King (le Roi-soleil) and as Louis the Great (Louis le Grand). His direct heirs died before he did, so he was succeeded by his great-grandson. Louis believed that the religion of the King should be the religion of the country, so he logically revoked the Edict of Nantes that provided for tolerance of Protestantism. He also permitted slavery, but decreed that slave families should not be split up, that slaves (Africans) could only be owned by Catholics and that the slaves must be baptized. Napoleon Bonaparte, a revolutionary who helped overthrow Louis XVI, praised only one King of France, that being Louis XIV, whom he referred to as a “great King.”
2. Joseph Stalin, Dictator of the Soviet Union, 1924-1953.
His mundane-sounding title of “General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union” does not properly describe his absolute control of the country. A paranoid, ruthless and bloodthirsty thug, Stalin may have been responsible for more civilian deaths than Hitler, having starved 6 million or more Ukrainians among other atrocities. He may well have murdered his wife, and in turn it is speculated that he himself may have been murdered. Born Iosef (or Ioseb) Jugashvili (or Dzugashvili) he was of Georgian origin.
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, 1933-1945.
The only man elected to the U.S. Presidency more than twice, FDR was elected 4 times in a row. Had he not died early in his 4th term, he would have held the top job for at least 16 years. His time in office was dominated by the Great Depression and World War II, and his most profound legacy is probably the enactment of Social Security. History and Headlines Fact: FDR’s wife, Eleanor, whose maiden name was also Roosevelt, was more closely related to Theodore Roosevelt than to FDR, to whom she was a distant cousin.
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For more interesting events that happened on September 1, please see the History and Headlines articles: “Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon, Dies” and “10 Great Sea Stories.”
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Wilkinson, Richard. Louis XIV (Routledge Historical Biographies). Routledge, 2007.
The featured image in this article, a painting formerly attributed to Nicolas de Largillière (1656–1746) of Louis XIV and his family, is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.