Longest Reigning European Monarchs – Emperors, Kings and Princes
Queen Elizabeth II holding the 10th position of the longest reigning European Monarchs; followed by John II of Liechtenstein with a duration of 70 years and 12 days.
1. Bernard VII (1428-1511) House of Lippe
Beginning of reign: August 11, 1429
End of reign: April 2, 1511
Duration: 81 years, 7 months and 22 days
Bernard VII of Lippe, born December 4, 1428 and died April 2, 1511, was sovereign of the lordship of Lippe from 1429 until his death. Accessing power at the age of nine months, he reigned for 81 years and 234 days, which constitutes a record duration in the history of Europe.
The Principality of Lippe was a German principality. It was created in 1789 when the county of Lippe was elevated to the status of an imperial principality.
Initially, the Principality of Lippe was part of the Lower Rhine-Westphalian district of the Holy Roman Empire. It briefly survived the end of the Reich in the Confederation of the Rhine, continued in the 19th century in the German Confederation and the German Empire, and was transformed into the Free State of Lippe in 1919.
2. Count William IV (1478-1559) from Henneberg-Schleusingen
Beginning of reign: May 26, 1480
End of reign: January 24, 1559
Duration: 78 years, 7 months and 29 days
William IV of Henneberg-Schleusingen, born January 29, 1478 in Of Schleusingen and died January 24, 1559 in Schleusingen, was a German prince.
He succeeded his father who died on May 25, 1480.
Having reigned 78 years, 7 months and 29 days, he is the second Longest Reigning European King and Queen.
3. Prince Henry XI (1722-1800) from Reuss-Greiz
Beginning of reign: March 17, 1723
End of reign: June 28, 1800
Duration: 77 years, 3 months and 11 days
Prince Henri XI, born March 18, 1722 in Greiz and died June 28, 1800 in the same city, was the first ruler of the Principality Reuss elder branch, from 1778 to his death.
Principality of Reuss-Greiz former state of the Holy Roman Empire until 1806, then of the confederation of the Rhine and the Germanic Confederation. In 1871 it became one of the twenty-five states of the German Empire that existed until 1918.
Read also: Longest Reigning World Monarchs Ever (Emperor, King, Queen, Prince)
4. Christian Augustus (1622-1708) from Palatinate-Soulzbach
Beginning of reign: August 14, 1632
End of reign: April 23, 1708
Duration: 75 years, 8 months and 9 days
Christian-Auguste de Palatinat-Soulzbach, born July 26, 1622 in Sulzbach and died April 23, 1708 in the same city, was a German prince. Having reigned 75 years, 8 months and 9 days, he is one of the longest reigning European monarchs.
The Palatinate County of Pfalz-Sulzbach , also known as the Duchy of Pfalz-Sulzbach, was an independent principality of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation that was directly related to the Empire.
5. Count George William (1784-1860) from Schaumbourg-Lippe
Beginning of reign: February 13, 1787
End of reign: November 21, 1860
Duration: 73 years, 9 months and 8 days
Georges William (December 20, 1784 – November 21, 1860) was Count then Prince of Schaumbourg-Lippe from 1787 until his death.
6. Grand Duke Charles I (1728-1811) from Baden
Beginning of reign: May 12, 1738
End of reign: June 10, 1811
Duration: 73 years and 29 days
Charles I of Baden was born on November 22, 1728 in Karlsruhe, and died on June 10, 1811 in the same city. Succeeding his grandfather Charles-Guillaume de Bade-Durlach, he was Margrave of Bade-Durlach in 1738, then, having collected under his name all the possessions of his House by inheritance in 1771, Margrave of Baden. Having become elector of Baden by the recession of the Empire in 1803, he was elevated to the grand-ducal dignity by Napoleon in 1806.
7. Count John Louis (1472-1545) from Nassau-Saarbrücken
Beginning of reign: October 19, 1472
End of reign: June 4, 1545
Duration: 72 years, 7 months and 16 days
John Louis of Nassau-Saarbrücken, born October 19, 1472 in Saarbrücken and died June 4, 1545 in the same city, is a prince of the Holy Empire. Having reigned 72 years, 7 months and 16 days, he is one of the longest reigning European monarchs.
8. King Louis XIV (1638-1715) from France
Beginning of reign: May 14, 1643
End of reign: September 1, 1715
Duration: 72 years, 3 months and 18 days
Louis XIV, known as “the Great” or “the Sun King”, born on September 5, 1638 at the Château Neuf in Saint-Germain-en-Laye and died on September 1, 1715 in Versailles, was a king of France and Navarre. His reign extended from May 14, 1643 — under the regency of his mother Anne of Austria until September 7, 1651 — until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years was one of the longest in the history of Europe and the longest in the history of France.
Born Louis, nicknamed Dieudonné, he ascended the throne of France on the death of his father, Louis XIII, a few months before his fifth birthday, which made him one of the youngest kings of France. He thus became the 64th King of France, the 44th King of Navarre and the third King of France from the Bourbon dynasty.
9. Count Henry Frederick (1625-1699) from Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Beginning of reign: January 29, 1628
End of reign: August 5, 1699
Duration: 71 years, 6 months and 7 days
Henry Frederick from Hohenlohe-Langenbourg (born September 7, 1625 in Langenbourg, died June 2, 1699 in the same place), titular count of Hohenlohe-Langenbourg and Greichen from the age of 3, officially reigns 71 years on his lands included in the kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, in the Holy Roman Empire, making it one of the longest reigns in Europe.
At the head of the house of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a younger branch of the Protestant Hohenlohe-Neunsteins, Henri-Frédéric engaged his county in the Thirty Years’ War, from which he suffered the ravages. He then manages to restore prosperity and clean up the finances. The bell tower of the church of Langenbourg, which still houses four bells today, was built during his reign.
10. Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) from the United Kingdom
Beginning of reign: February 6, 1952
End of reign: September 8, 2022
Duration: 70 years, 7 months and 2 days
Elizabeth II, born April 21, 1926 in Mayfair (London) and died September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle (Scotland), is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of the other kingdoms of the Commonwealth of February 6, 1952 to his death.
At birth, she was third in line to the throne after her uncle and her father. In 1936, his uncle became king but abdicated a few months later, leaving the throne to his younger brother. Princess Elizabeth then becomes, at the age of 10, the heiress presumptive to the British Crown. During World War II, she enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. On November 20, 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, Prince of Greece and Denmark, with whom she had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward.
11. Prince Johann II (1840-1929) from Liechtenstein
Beginning of reign: November 12, 1858
End of reign: February 11, 1929
Duration: 70 years, 2 months and 30 days
Johann II was born on October 5, 1840 in Eisgrub in the margraviate of Moravia (Austria) and died on February 11, 1929 in Feldsberg in Moravia (Czechoslovakia). He was Prince of Liechtenstein from November 12, 1858 until his death, i.e. for more than seventy years. He remains, given the length of his reign, one of the outstanding figures of the principality.
On the death of his father in 1858, Prince Johann became, at the age of 18, Sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein under the name Johann II. The Emperor, who had promised his mother, Princess Franziska Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau, to find a princess of royal blood for the new Prince of Liechtenstein, then continued his negotiations with the Foreigner. In 1864, Johann II was engaged to Alice de Bourbon, Princess of Parma (great-granddaughter of the King of France Charles X, niece of Henri d’Artois, pretender to the throne of France under the name of Comte de Chambord and sister of the recently dethroned Duke Robert I of Parma). Princess Alice falls under the spell of the young German prince, but although he appreciates the company of this Bourbon princess, the latter refuses the marriage by advancing a union “to the German confederation” and therefore to his dear principality of Liechtenstein. Some of his contemporaries have accredited the thesis of his homosexuality. The engagement celebrated in January 1864 was therefore broken in December of the same year. Alice of Bourbon-Parma finally married in 1868 the dethroned Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand IV.
Johann II never had neither wife nor mistress and therefore no descendants. He reigned 70 years and 91 days, making it the second longest personal reign in European history behind that of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom (70 years and 214 days), King Louis XIV of France (72 years and 110 days) having reigned under the regency of his mother until 1651, did not then exercise power.
12. Grand Duke Karl August (1757-1828) from Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Beginning of reign: June 2, 1758
End of reign: June 14, 1828
Duration: 70 years and 12 days
Karl August (Weimar, September 3, 1757 – Graditz, June 14, 1828) was a German prince of the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin. Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach from 1758 to 1809, then Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach after the unification of these two duchies, he was elevated to the rank of Grand Duke in 1815. He played a role major in the influence of the court of Weimar, where he welcomed Goethe and encouraged the arts by financing in particular the Princely School of Drawing of Weimar.
The young sovereign received liberal and humanist thinkers such as Wieland, Herder and Goethe as tutors, who also became his friend, minister and mentor. He appoints Friedrich Schiller professor at the University of Jena. A liberal, Karl August himself limited his prerogatives by granting a constitution to his subjects in 1816. He developed the Weimaraner dog breed.
Longest Reigning World Monarchs Ever (Emperor, King, Queen, Prince)
Sources: PinterPandai, CountryLiving, History
Photo credit: AlLes / Pixabay (Pixabay License)
