The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1896-11-20
THE EGISAND INTELLIGENCER.
EUROPEAN RULERS.
THERE WE'RE KINGS WHO REIGNED
FOR OVER SEVENTY YEARS.

Rulers Who Exercised a Lasting Influence
Over Their Country and In Some In
stances the Whole WorId-Notes From
History Interesting to the Student.
1t has boon often asserted that long
reigns are in themselves conesIcivo to the
consolidation and development of the
power and resources of nations. On such
O point the dry appeal to chronology must
be misleading. We are on safer ground in
acknowledging that the majority of ex-
ceptionally long raigns have at least coin
cided with periods of national prosperity
and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. On the other hand,
rude and unsettled times have been gener-
ally associated with short reigns, but here
in cause and effect are TOO delicately poised
to allow the historic balance to be struck
with a sure hand. The three Danish kings
of England reigned only % years altogeth-
er. During the Saxon period (S27-1OlO
Is kings ruled, whose average was less
than ID years. Between S43 and 1l53 the
reigns of "a Scottish kings show an aver
age of only IS years. But William the
Lion ruled over Scotland for 40 years. He
was followed by his son, Alexander IL,
who reigned SO years. to whom succeeded
ALEXANDER Ill, WIFI Ii TSIBll VI ~ yCdAo'
A period of 120 years was thus covered by
the reigns of three sovereigns.
Charlemagne, the great consolidator OF
the French monarchy, ruled for Al years,
and Louis TX for A. Both reigns, how
ever, were greatly exceeded by that of
Louis XIV, who occupied the throne from
1913 to IT'S. This lengthy reign of 70
years is regarded as the most brilliant In
French annals and the court seems to
have exercised kind of fascination over
the whole of Europe. did you think
was immortal?'' asked the king upon his
deathbed A few hours afterward the first
gentleman of the bed chamber threw open
the window and cried, "Le roi est mort!'
three times. He then broke his wand Of
office, and, taking fresh one exclaimed,
"Viye lie roi!'' The ceremony was not to
be repeated for another SO years, that be-
ing the length of the reign of Louis XIV,
Louis XIV's great grandson and successor
Thus two successive monarchs reigned for
the extraordinary period of 131 years. 1t
is remarkable that of A kings of France,
from the accession of Charlemagne in 76S
to the death of Louis XIV in Ills, these
the first and last named-were the only
two who lived for more than 20 years.
The former division of Spain into so
many separate Kingdoms renders some OF
its chronology a little obscure, but there Is
sufficient evidence to justify the boast of
the Spaniards concerning the prolonged
reigns of many of their sovereigns. James
1, king of Aragon, ruled from 1918 to 1876,
period of So years, while Pedro ~, also
of AraRon, and John II of Aragon and
Navarro reigned respectively for OIL ana %
years. From the time of Ferdinand of
in 1drQ Snain
consolidated into one monarchy, to the
death of Ferdinand VII, in 1859, eight
kings ruled, whose reigns averaged 30
years Alfonso l occupied the throne of
Portugal from 1112 to 1855, reign of IS
years, and his memory is greatly venerated
by the Portuguese, who regard him as the
founder of their independence and consti-
tutional government. John l, who mar
ried a daughter Of our John of Gaunt,
rsigned for so years, and three other kings
of Portugal occupied the throne for the
several periods of 43, Al and As years.
The reigns of several of the kings OF
Russia have been considerably longer than
what has been called the European aver
age''-a somewhat unstable quantity, based
upon such shifting and unsatisfactory data
rs to have little practical value. Freder-
ick william, the great elector, the founder
of the Prussian military power, and who
greatly increased and husbanded her re-
sources, reigned for 4S years from 1910 tC
1858. The reign of Frederick the Great
lT40-l7S6) extended to 46 years, and was
certainly the most important in the an
nails of the kingdom. Frederick William
III reigned for period of 40 years (1797.
1S40). Turning to Germany, we find that
Frederick ", surnamed the Pacific, OF
the house of Austria, occupied the throne
from 1440 to 1888, n period of 53 years
while the reign CT Leopold / covered Il
years, from 1858 to 1TO5. The averag,
duration of the rcigns of 53 German en-
perors who ruled between 500 and 1885
including the two above mentioned, wa:
% years.
In the history of Russia the longest
reign is that of Peter the Great (16S2-1725)
which extended to Az years. 1t was Of
this monarch S rule and character that Vol
taire made tho memorable summary: "He
gave polish to his people and was him
self n savage. He taught them the art Of
war, of which he was himself ignorant
From the sight Of + small boat on the riv
or Moskwa he created 4 powerful fleet
made himself an expert shipwright, sGil
or, pilot and commander. He changed th(
manners, customs and laws of the Rus
SLAMS, and lives in their memory as the
father of his country" The Empires.
Catherine II, also a great ruler, reignet
81 years. AS cZars of Muscovy, Ivan III
the first to adopt the title, reiRned 4;
years 1462-1505) and Ivan " 81 year,
l533-15s4), the rule of the latter, although
surnamed the Terrible, marking grea
advance in the civilization of the nation
st. james Gazette.
DhrICc COP DAFT