A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

, normally ruling for life, or until abdication

Abdication

Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...

. There are some monarchs whose reign was notably short. Many of these monarchs acceded to the throne as a result of being first in an order of succession, while other monarchs claimed the throne as a result of some conflict.

The legitimacy of some monarchs has been disputed, especially for those monarchs who reigned during conflict. One factor in such debates is whether the monarch held the throne in a symbolic or nominal capacity. An example is King Louis XIX

Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme

Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of Charles X of France and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France...

 of France, who succeeded with abdication of Charles X

Charles X of France

Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...

 only to abdicate in favour of Henry V

Henri, comte de Chambord

Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...

, instead of assuming the throne.

Unknown periods thought to be less than a year

Note: Some of the following have been disputed as legitimate monarchs

Name	Country	Royal House/Dynasty	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Length	Comments
Pharaoh Nebiriau II Nebiriau II Nebiriau II or Nebiryerawet was a king of the 16th or 17th Theban dynasty who ruled Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. He is commonly assumed by some Egyptologists to be the son of Sewadjenre Nebiriau I, his predecessor given the rarity of the name Nebiriau in...	King of Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...	Sixteenth Dynasty	c.1600 BC	c.1600 BC		Obscure Pharaoh of the Second Intermediate period
Pharaoh Tao I the Elder Tao I the Elder Senakhtenre Tao I was a Pharaoh of Egypt of the Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt based in Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. He was born c.1605 BC and died c.1560 or 1558 BC at the latest. His prenomen Senakhtenre means "Perpetuated like Re."...	Pharaoh of Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...	Seventeenth Dynasty	c.1558 BC	c.1558 BC		An equally obscure Pharaoh of the Second Intermediate period
Queen Cleopatra IV of Egypt Cleopatra IV of Egypt Cleopatra IV was Queen of Egypt briefly from 116-115 BC, jointly with her husband Ptolemy IX Lathyros. She later became queen consort of Syria as the wife of Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.-Biography:...	Queen of Egypt Egypt Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...	Ptolemaic Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...	116 BC	115 BC		Pushed out of joint reign by her mother, Cleopatra III
Emperor Triệu Dương Vương	Vietnam Vietnam Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...	Triệu	111 BC	111 BC		Captured and executed by the Han after his army was destroyed leading to 150 years of Chinese mastery.
King Ildibad Ildibad Ildibad was a king of the Ostrogoths in Italy, being chosen to replace Witiges, who had been engaged in various intregues with Belisarius, and had left Ravenna...	King of the Ostrogoths		540	541		Assassinated by a Gepid Gepid The Gepids were an East Germanic tribe who were closely related to the Goths. The Gepids were recorded in the area along the southern Baltic coast in the 1st century AD, having migrated there from southern Sweden some years earlier...
Duke Bezprym Bezprym Bezprym was a Duke of Poland during 1031–1032.He was the eldest son of Bolesław I the Brave, King of Poland, but was deprived of the succession by his father, who around 1001 sent him to Italy, in order to became a monk at one of Saint Romuald's hermitages in Ravenna.Expelled by his half-brother...	Duke of Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...		1031	1032		The reason for his downfall was his extreme cruelty. According to the Chronicles of Hildesheim, he was murdered by his own men no later than spring of 1032. Probably the instigators of his death were his half-brothers, although the main conspirator was Otto, who remained free in Germany.
King Eraric Eraric Eraric was briefly King of the Ostrogoths. He was killed by a member of his royal guard. He had nine wives....	King of the Ostrogoths		541	541		Assassinated by a member of his own royal guard.
High King Fogartach mac Néill Fogartach mac Néill Fogartach mac Néill , sometimes called Fogartach ua Cernaich, was an Irish king who is reckoned a High King of Ireland. He belonged to the Uí Chernaig sept of the Síl nÁedo Sláine branch of the southern Uí Néill...	Ireland	Uí Néill Uí Néill The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....	724	724		Claimed by some to be the High King of Ireland High King of Ireland The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...  for several months during a period of high conflict.
Jaya Harivarman II	Champa Champa The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...		1167	1167
Jaya Indravarman V	Champa Champa The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...		1191	1191
Emperor Constantine Laskaris Constantine Laskaris Constantine Laskaris was Byzantine emperor for a few months from 1204 to early 1205.-Early years:Constantine Laskaris was born of a noble but not particularly renowned Byzantine family. Virtually nothing is known of him prior to the events of the Fourth Crusade...	Nicaea Empire of Nicaea The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade...	Laskaris Laskaris The Laskaris or Lascaris family was a Byzantine Greek noble family whose members formed the ruling dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea from 1204 to 1261 and remained among the senior nobility up to the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire, whereupon many emigrated to Italy and then to Smyrna...	1204	1205		Constantine Laskaris was declared nominal Byzantine emperor after Alexios V Doukas was deposed as the Byzantine emperor by the Fourth Crusade Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire... .
Emperor Mạc Toàn	Vietnam	Mạc	1592	1592		Mạc Toàn succeeded Mạc Mậu Hợp for a short period after the latter was killed by the forces of Trịnh Tùng.

Less than a year

Note: Some of the following have been disputed as legitimate monarchs

Name	Country	Royal House/Dynasty	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Length	Comments
King Jeonggang Jeonggang of Silla Jeonggang of Silla was the 50th ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He was the son of King Gyeongmun; his siblings included his predecessor King Heongang and his successor Queen Jinseong....	Silla Silla Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...  (Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... )	Kim	July 886	5 July 887	~1 Year	After his death, his sister Man succeeded the throne because he had no sons. She was named Queen Jinseong Jinseong of Silla Queen Jinseong of Silla was the fifty-first to ruler of the Korean kingdom, Silla. She was also Silla's third and final reigning queen . Her reign saw the end of Unified Silla and the beginning of the Later Three Kingdoms period.Jinseong was the daughter of King Gyeongmun... , the last queen in Korean History.
Empress Lý Chiêu Hoàng Lý Chiêu Hoàng Lý Chiêu Hoàng was the eighth and last sovereign of the Lý Dynasty from 1224 to 1225 and the only empress regnant in the history of Vietnam. Chosen by the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông as his successor at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled the country under the total influence of Trần Thủ Độ and the...	Vietnam	Lý Lý Dynasty The Lý Dynasty , sometimes known as the Later Lý Dynasty , was a Vietnamese dynasty that began in 1009 when Lý Thái Tổ overthrew the Prior Lê Dynasty and ended in 1225 when the queen Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her husband, Trần Cảnh. They ruled Vietnam for a...	October 1224	21 October 1225	~1 Year	Succeeded the throne through the suicide of her father Lý Huệ Tông. Renounced her claim on the throne for her husband Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông, born name: Trần Cảnh , July 17, 1218-May 4, 1277) was the first emperor of the Trần Dynasty, seated on the throne for 33 years , being Grand Emperor for 19 years.-Biography:...  founder of the Trần Dynasty.
Emperor Hồ Quý Ly	Vietnam	Hồ	February 1400	c. 1400-1401	~1 Year	Hồ Quý Ly succeeded the throne after coaxing emperor Trần Thuận Tông to relinquish power to a three year old prince named An. Trần Thuận Tông was then executed and the throne was seized from An. Hồ Quý Ly renounced the throne in favor of his son Hồ Hán Thương.
Emperor Hàm Nghi Ham Nghi Emperor Hàm Nghi ; , was the eighth Emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty. He reigned for only one year ....	Vietnam	Nguyễn	1 August 1884	4 July 1885	11 Months 3 Days	Captured during the Mandarins' Revolt and the French replaced him with Đồng Khánh.
King Fuad II of Egypt Fuad II of Egypt Fuad II was the last King of Egypt and Sudan.- Biography :He ascended the throne on 26 July 1952 upon the abdication of his father King Farouk I following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952...	Egypt and The Sudan	Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali Dynasty The Muhammad Ali Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Egypt and Sudan, from the 19th to the mid-20th Century. It is named after its progenitor, Muhammad Ali Pasha, regarded as the founder of modern Egypt. It was also more formally known as the Alawiyya Dynasty...	26 July 1952	18 June 1953	10 Months 23 Days	Succeeded the throne after the abdication of Farouk I Farouk of Egypt Farouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936....  after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Fuad II's reign came to an end with the declaration of a republic in Egypt.
King/Emperor Edward VIII Edward VIII of the United Kingdom Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...	Great Britain, Ireland and British dominions beyond the seas and India	Windsor House of Windsor The House of Windsor is the royal house of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on the 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of his family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom...	20 January 1936	11 December 1936	10 Months 22 Days	Edward VIII abdicated the throne in favour of his brother George VI of the United Kingdom to avoid a constitutional crisis.
Emperor Agustín I Agustín de Iturbide Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Aramburu , also known as Augustine I of Mexico, was a Mexican army general who built a successful political and military coalition that was able to march into Mexico City on 27 September 1821, decisively ending the Mexican War of Independence...	Mexican Empire First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire was the official name of independent Mexico under a monarchical regime from 1821 to 1823. The territory of the Mexican Empire included the continental intendencies and provinces of New Spain proper...	Iturbide House of Iturbide The House of Iturbide is the former Imperial House of Mexico. It was founded by Agustín de Iturbide in 1822 when the newly independent Mexican congress confirmed his title of Agustín I, Constitutional Emperor of Mexico...	19 May 1822	19 March 1823	10 Months	Agustín I was proclaimed emperor by the Parliament of the newly independent Mexican Empire and later deposed by Republican forces leading to the foundation of the First Mexican Republic. His grandsons were later adopted by Mexico's second Emperor Maximilian I Maximilian I of Mexico Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...  of the House of Habsburg in the 1860s.
King Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...	Kingdom of England Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...	Wessex House of Wessex The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic, refers to the family that ruled a kingdom in southwest England known as Wessex. This House was in power from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex to the unification of the Kingdoms of England....	5 January 1066	14 October 1066	9 Months 9 Days	Killed at the Battle of Hastings Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...  by Norman forces.
King Injong Injong of Joseon King Injong of Joseon was the 12th king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. His father was King Jungjong, and his mother was Queen Janggyeong, whose brother was Yun Im...	Joseon (Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... )	Yi	November 1544	July 1545	~9 Months	Some historians believe that Injong was poisoned by the Smaller Yun faction, led by Yun Won-Hyung, to enable Injong's half-brother to ascend the throne.
King Lokissara	Polonnaruwa		1211	1211	~9 Months	Leader of a Tamil army and usurper of the Sinhala throne.
False Dmitry I	Russia	Otriepjew	21 July 1605	17 May 1606	9 Months 27 Days	Probably an impostor, Dmitry seized the throne of Russia after Feodor II Feodor II of Russia Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov of Russia was a tsar of Russia during the Time of Troubles. He was born in Moscow, the son and successor to Boris Godunov...  was killed. He was killed himself during an assault on the Kremlin.
King Christian II Christian II of Denmark Christian II was King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden , during the Kalmar Union.-Background:...	Sweden	Oldenburg House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...	1 November 1520	23 August 1521	9 Months 22 Days	After conquering Sweden in the spring and summer of 1520, king Christian II of Denmark and Norway made his entry into the defeated Swedish capital of Stockholm on 7 September 1520. On 1 November he was elected and on 4 November he was crowned king of Sweden. On 23 August 1521, he was officially deposed, when Gustav Vasa Gustav I of Sweden Gustav I of Sweden, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known simply as Gustav Vasa , was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death....  was elected regent Regent A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...  of Sweden at a meeting in Vadstena Vadstena Vadstena is a locality and the seat of Vadstena Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden, with 5,612 inhabitants in 2005. From 1974 to 1979 Vadstena was administered as part of Motala Municipality.... .
Maharajah Manava Manava (king) Manava was the son and successor to the king of Gauda, Shashanka. He was the last recorded ruler of the dynasty and was likely deposed by Harshavardhana or Bhaskaravarman . He ruled as king for 8 months....	Gauda Gauda *Sanskrit ' :**Gauḍa region is a historical country in eastern India, which included Gaur in Bengal, of its eponymous capital, and of its inhabitants .**The ' , a branch of Panch-Gauda... , Bengal Bengal Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...	Shashanka	625	626	~8 Months	After the death of Shashanka Shashanka Shashanka is often attributed with creating the first separate political entity in a unified Bengal called Gauda and as such is a major figure in Bengali history. He reigned in 7th century AD, and some historians place his rule approximately between 590 AD and 625 AD. He is the contemporary of...  and his brief reign, Gauda was conquered by an alliance of Harshavardhana and Bhaskaravarman.
Emir Habibullah Ghazi Habibullah Ghazi Habībullāh Kalakānī , also known as Habībullāh Ghāzī, was Emir of Afghanistan from January to October 1929 after deposing Amānullāh Khān with the help of various Ghilzai tribes who opposed modernization of Afghanistan...	Afghanistan		17 January 1929	13 October 1929	8 Months 26 Days	Habibullah Ghazi succeeded Inayatullah Khan Seraj Inayatullah Khan Inayatullah Khan Seraj was the King of Afghanistan from 14 January 1929 to 17 January 1929. He was the son of former Afghan King, Habibullah Khan...  who had abdicated in his favour after only three days. Habibullah Ghazi's reign soon ended when he was deposed and executed by Mohammed Nadir Shah Mohammed Nadir Shah Mohammed Nadir Shah was King of Afghanistan from 15 October 1929 until his assassination in 1933. Previously, he served as Minister of War, Afghan Ambassador to France, and as a general in the military of Afghanistan... .
Emperor Le Nghi Dan	Vietnam	Lê	28 October 1459	24 June 1460	8 Months 25 Days	Succeeded the throne by leading a revolt against and killing his younger brother Lê Nhân Tông Le Nhan Tong Lê Nhân Tông was king of Vietnam from 1453 till his murder in a coup. He was a grandson of the hero-king Le Loi. During nearly all of his short reign, the real power behind the throne was his mother, Nguyen Thi Anh.... . Nghi Dan's reign ended in another revolution in which he was killed and replaced by his younger brother Lê Thánh Tông Lê Thánh Tông Lê Thánh Tông was emperor of Đại Việt from 1460 until his death. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest emperors of Vietnamese history and the Vietnamese "Hammurabi."-Early years:... .
Emperor Vitellius Vitellius Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...	Roman Empire	Year of Four Emperors	16 April 69	22 December 69	8 Months 6 Days	Not allowed by the Praetorian Guard to resign to his successor, Emperor Vespasian Vespasian Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty... , he was killed on the Gemonian stairs Gemonian stairs The Gemonian Stairs were a flight of steps located in the ancient city of Rome. Nicknamed the Stairs of Mourning, the stairs are infamous in Roman history as a place of execution.- Location :...  and cast into the Tiber Tiber The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
King Phelles Phelles Phelles was a king of Tyre and the last of four brothers who held the kingship. The only information available about Phelles comes from Josephus’s citation of the Phoenician author Menander of Ephesus, in Against Apion i.18...	Tyre Tyre Tyre is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. There were approximately 117,000 inhabitants in 2003, however, the government of Lebanon has released only rough estimates of population numbers since 1932, so an accurate statistical accounting is not possible...	Dynasty of four brothers	879 BC	879 BC	8 Months	Legendary king of Tyre, only known through Josephes and, by proxy, through Menander Menander Menander , Greek dramatist, the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy, was the son of well-to-do parents; his father Diopeithes is identified by some with the Athenian general and governor of the Thracian Chersonese known from the speech of Demosthenes De Chersoneso...  of Ephesus Ephesus Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era... .
King Louis I	Spain	Bourbon House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...	14 January 1724	31 August 1724	7 Months 17 Days	Louis I succeeded the throne after the abdication of his father Philip V Philip V of Spain Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...  who also regained the throne after the death of Louis I from smallpox.
Queen Matilda Empress Matilda Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...	England	Plantagenet House of Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...  / Salian Salian dynasty The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...  / Normandy	Spring 1141	Autumn 1141	c5-9 Months	Matilda seized the throne after capturing King Stephen Stephen of England Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...  at the Battle of Lincoln Battle of Lincoln (1141) The Battle of Lincoln or First Battle of Lincoln occurred on 2 February 1141. In it Stephen of England was captured, imprisoned and effectively deposed while Empress Matilda ruled for a short time.-Account:...  2 February 1141. Matilda later released Stephen in trade for her half-brother after which Stephen reclaimed the throne in November.
Emperor Galba Galba Galba , was Roman Emperor for seven months from 68 to 69. Galba was the governor of Hispania Tarraconensis, and made a bid for the throne during the rebellion of Julius Vindex...	Roman Empire Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....	Year of Four Emperors	8 June 68	15 January	7 Months 7 Days	120 people assassinated Galba by beheading him and his head and trunk were later buried.
King Edmund Ironside Edmund Ironside Edmund Ironside or Edmund II was king of England from 23 April to 30 November 1016. His cognomen "Ironside" is not recorded until 1057, but may have been contemporary. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was given to him "because of his valour" in resisting the Danish invasion led by Cnut...	England	Wessex House of Wessex The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic, refers to the family that ruled a kingdom in southwest England known as Wessex. This House was in power from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex to the unification of the Kingdoms of England....	23 April 1016	30 November 1016	7 Months 7 Days	Edmund's kingdom was ceded to Canute I Canute the Great Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...  after his death the cause of which is uncertain.
King Lulach Lulach of Scotland Lulach mac Gille Coemgáin was King of Scots between 15 August 1057 and 17 March 1058.He appears to have been a weak king, as his nicknames suggest...	King of Scots	Moray House of Moray The so-called House of Moray is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the succession of rulers whose base was at the region of Moray and who ruled sometimes a larger kingdom...	15 August 1057	17 March 1058	7 Months 2 Days	Lulach succeeded the throne after Macbeth of Scotland Macbeth of Scotland Mac Bethad mac Findlaích was King of the Scots from 1040 until his death...  was killed in battle by the future Malcolm III of Scotland, Lulach himself was also slain by Malcolm III who succeeded him.
Emperor Heraklonas Heraklonas Constantinus Heraclius , known in English as Heraklonas, Heraclonas, or Heracleonas , was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina, and was Byzantine Emperor briefly between February and September 641....	Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...	Heraclian	11 February 641	September 641	~7 Months	Heraklonas became joint co-emperor with his brother Constantine III at the time of his father's death and then sole emperor on the death of his brother Constantine III in May 641. Heroklonas was then forced to accept Constantine III's son joint emperor as Constans II. Heroklonas was then mutilated and banished after a revolt leaving Constans II as sole emperor.
Bardiya Bardiya Bardiya was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life, he may have ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BCE, or he may have been impersonated by a magus called Gaumata. -Name and sources:The...	Persian Empire	Achaemenid Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...	early 522 BCE	September 522 BCE	~7 Months	Baridya was either a son of Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...  or an impostor, he seized power from Cambyses II and was assassinated by Darius the Great.
King Hildeprand Hildeprand Hildeprand the Useless was king of the Lombards in 744 and grandson or nephew of Liutprand. He participated in the siege of Ravenna in 734 with Liutprand, with whom he was associated as king from 737. He began his reign in his own right in January 744, but was deposed by a great council after a...	King of the Lombards Lombards The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...		January 744		<7 Months	Deposed and dead by August 744.
Pharaoh Nedjemibre	Pharaoh Pharaoh Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...  of Egypt Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...	Thirteenth Dynasty	c.1780 BC	c.1780 BC	7 Months	One of many contemporary pharaohs of the Second Intermediate period
Emperor Dương Nhật Lễ Dương Nhật Lễ Hôn Đức Công , given name Dương Nhật Lễ , was the emperor of Đại Việt from 1369 to 1370. Although not coming from the Trần clan, Dương Nhật Lễ was ceded the throne of the Trần Dynasty by an edict of Emperor Trần Dụ Tông shortly before his death...	Vietnam	Trần	1369	20 May 1370	>6 Months	Dethroned and killed. Replaced by Trần Phủ.
Emperor Kiến Phúc Kien Phuc Kiến Phúc was an 7th emperor of Vietnam in the 19th century. Born in 1869, he was the nephew-turned-adopted son of Emperor Tự Đức...	Vietnam	Nguyễn	2 December 1883	31 July 1884	6 Months 29 Days	Succeeded the throne after the murder of emperor Hiệp Hoà. Kiến Phúc Kien Phuc Kiến Phúc was an 7th emperor of Vietnam in the 19th century. Born in 1869, he was the nephew-turned-adopted son of Emperor Tự Đức...  was also murdered and succeeded by Hàm Nghi Ham Nghi Emperor Hàm Nghi ; , was the eighth Emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty. He reigned for only one year ....  (who also reigned less than a year).
Mbret William	Albania	Wied	7 March 1914	3 September 1914	6 Months 27 Days	William accepted a request from Albania to be its sovereign and soon, due to the outbreak of the First World War and civil war within Albania, fled into exile. Albania officially declared itself a republic on 31 January 1925.
King Christian Frederik Christian VIII of Denmark Christian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...	Norway	Oldenburg House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...	16 February 1814	28 August 1814	6 Months 12 Days	Christian Frederick was created King of Norway upon its independence from Denmark after defeat in the Napoleonic Wars and the Treaty of Kiel Treaty of Kiel The Treaty of Kiel or Peace of Kiel was concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden on one side and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Norway on the other side on 14 January 1814 in Kiel... . Later in 1814 after an invasion by Sweden Christian Frederick renounced the throne after the Convention of Moss Convention of Moss The Convention of Moss was a cease fire agreement, signed August 14, 1814, between the Swedish King and the Norwegian Storting. It followed the Swedish-Norwegian War due to Norway's claim to sovereignty... . Christian Frederick would later become King Christian VIII of Denmark.
Prince Dafydd ap Gruffudd	Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...	Gwynedd Gwynedd Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...	11 December 1282	22 June 1283	6 Months 11 Days	Dafydd succeeded to the princeship of Wales on the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in December 1282. For most of his reign his rule was confined to Gwynedd only due to the invasion of Wales of Edward I. He was captured in June 1283.
Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah Jamshid bin Abdullah of Zanzibar Sayyid Sir Jamshid bin Abdullah Al Said GCMG, was the last Sultan of Zanzibar. He ruled Zanzibar from July 1, 1963 to January 12, 1964. On December 10, 1963, Zanzibar received its independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy under Jamshid. This state of affairs was short...	Zanzibar	Al Sa'id	1 July 1963	12 January 1964	6 Months 11 Days	Jamshid bin Abdullah's short reign was brought to an end by the Zanzibar revolution Zanzibar Revolution The Zanzibar Revolution by local African revolutionaries in 1964 overthrew the Sultan of Zanzibar and his mainly Arab government. An ethnically diverse state consisting of a number of islands off the east coast of Tanganyika, Zanzibar had been granted independence by Britain in 1963...  and the abolishment of the sultanate.
Emperor Lê Túc Tông	Vietnam	Lê	6 June 1504	7 December 1504	6 Months 1 Day	Lê Túc Tông was possibly murdered by his older brother and successor Lê Uy Mục.
King Donald III Donald III of Scotland Domnall mac Donnchada , anglicised as Donald III, and nicknamed Domnall Bán, "Donald the Fair" , was King of Scots from 1093–1094 and 1094–1097...	King of Scots	Dunkeld House of Dunkeld The so-called House of Dunkeld, in Scottish Gaelic Dùn Chailleann , is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the clear succession of Scottish kings from 1034 to 1040 and from 1058 to 1290.It is dynastically sort of a continuation to Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata, "race of...	13 November 1093	May 1094	~6 Months	Donald III succeeded the throne after the assassination of Malcolm III and later lost the throne to Duncan II. Donald III regained the throne on 12 November 1094 after the assassination of Duncan II and reigned until 1097.
King Charles I Charles VIII of Sweden Charles VIII of Sweden , Charles I of Norway, also Carl, , was king of Sweden and king of Norway ....	King of Norway	Bonde Bonde Bonde is a Swedish noble family.Prominent members include:* Karl Knutsson Bonde , King Charles VIII of Sweden* Gustaf Bonde , Swedish statesman...	20 November 1449	June 1450	~6 Months	Charles was elected king in Trondheim after the death of Christopher of Bavaria Christopher of Bavaria Christopher of Bavaria or Christopher the Bavarian; as king named Christopher ; Danish and Norwegian: Christoffer af/av Bayern; Swedish Kristofer av Bayern was union king of Denmark , Sweden and Norway .-Biography:He was probably born at Neumarkt in... , but Christian I had more supporters in southern Norway and was able to force Charles' abdication.
King Duncan II Duncan II of Scotland Donnchad mac Maíl Coluim was king of Scots...	King of Scots	Dunkeld House of Dunkeld The so-called House of Dunkeld, in Scottish Gaelic Dùn Chailleann , is a historiographical and genealogical construct to illustrate the clear succession of Scottish kings from 1034 to 1040 and from 1058 to 1290.It is dynastically sort of a continuation to Cenél nGabráin of Dál Riata, "race of...	May 1094	12 November 1094	~6 Months	Duncan II seized the throne from Donald III only to be assassinated and replaced by him.
King Zechariah of Israel	Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...	House of Omri	773 BC	773 BC	6 months	Biblical King of Israel from the Second Book of Kings
Emperor Alexius IV Angelus	Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...	Angelus Angelus The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ The Angelus (Latin for "angel") is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus...	1 August 1203	27 January 1204	5 Months 26 Days	Alexius IV Angelus became co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire when his father Isaac II Angelus regained the throne from Alexius III Angelus. Both reigns would be short being usurped by Alexios V Doukas leading to the deaths of Alexius IV Angelus and Isaac II Angelus.
Emperor Wu Sangui Wu Sangui Wu Sangui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644...	China	Zhou Zhou Dynasty The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...	March 1678	August 1678	~5 Months	Wu Sangui proclaimed himself Emperor of a new Zhou Dynasty and was soon quashed by Kangxi Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's... . Wu Sangui had also been instrumental in the removal of Emperor Li Zicheng.
Emperor Isaac II Angelus	Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...	Angelus Angelus The Angelus is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariæ The Angelus (Latin for "angel") is a Christian devotion in memory of the Incarnation. The name Angelus is derived from the opening words: Angelus...	1 August 1203	~January 1204	~5 Months	Isaac II Angelus had previously been Emperor of the Byzantine Empire from 7 September 1185 until 1195 until he was imprisoned by his brother Alexius III Angelus, who usurped the throne from him. After Isaac II Angelus was released from captivity by the Fourth Crusade Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...  he then regained his empire with his son Alexius IV Angelus as co-emperor forcing Alexius III Angelus into exile. This second reign ended when he and his son Alexius IV Angelus were captured and usurped once more by Alexios V Doukas, this time resulting in the death of Isaac II Angelus and Alexius IV Angelus.
King Charles VIII of Sweden Charles VIII of Sweden Charles VIII of Sweden , Charles I of Norway, also Carl, , was king of Sweden and king of Norway ....	King of Sweden	Bonde Bonde Bonde is a Swedish noble family.Prominent members include:* Karl Knutsson Bonde , King Charles VIII of Sweden* Gustaf Bonde , Swedish statesman...	Autumn 1464	30 January 1465	4-5 Months	Charles, who had been removed from office 7 years prior, was recalled during a rebellion, but soon found his luck changed and was forced out of office a second time. He would return to claim the throne a third time in 1467.
Duke Eduard Eduard, Duke of Anhalt Eduard Georg Wilhelm, Duke of Anhalt was a German prince of the House of Ascania and the penultimate ruler of the Duchy of Anhalt from April to September 1918.-Early life:...	Anhalt	Ascania	21 April 1918	13 September 1918	4 Months 23 Days	Eduard succeeded his brother Friedrich II only to die within 5 months and leave the throne to his son Joachim Ernst.
Duke Charles II Charles II, Duke of Parma Charles Louis of Bourbon-Parma was King of Etruria , Duke of Lucca , and Duke of Parma .-Early life and marriage:...	Parma	Bourbon-Parma House of Bourbon-Parma The House of Bourbon-Parma is an Italian cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. It is thus descended from the Capetian dynasty in male line. The name of Bourbon-Parma comes from the main name and the other from the title of Duke of Parma....	17 December 1847	19 April 1848	4 Months 2 Days	Charles II abdicated in favour of his son Charles III Charles III, Duke of Parma -Early life:Charles III was born at the Villa delle Pianore near Lucca, the only son of Charles Louis, Prince of Lucca and his wife Princess Maria-Theresa of Savoy . He was given the baptismal names Ferdinando Carlo Vittorio Giuseppe Maria Baldassarre...  after the revolution of 1848. Charles II had previously succeeded his father King Louis I Louis of Etruria Louis was the first of only two Kings of Etruria.Louis was the son of Ferdinand, Duke of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria, the second surviving daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor....  of Etruria Kingdom of Etruria The Kingdom of Etruria was a kingdom comprising the larger part of Tuscany which existed between 1801 and 1807. It took its name from Etruria, the old Roman name for the land of the Etruscans.It was created by the Treaty of Aranjuez, signed on 21 March 1801...  to become Louis I from 27 May 1803 to 1807 when it was annexed by France and succeeded his mother Maria Louisa to become Duke Charles I of Lucca from 13 March 1824 to 1847 when it was annexed by Tuscany.
Pharaoh Renseneb Renseneb Renseneb or Ranisonb was an Egyptian king of the 13th Dynasty.-Legacy:He appears in the Turin King List with a reign of four months. He is only known from one contemporary object, a bead which shows that he had a double name: Renseneb Amenemhat...	Egypt	Thirteenth Dynasty	c.1775 BC	c.1775 BC	4 Months	Pharaoh of the Second Intermediate period. Attested 4 months in the Turin Papyrus Turin Papyrus Turin Papyrus refers to any papyrus manuscript in the collection of the Museo Egizio at Turin, Italy. The best known of these manuscripts include:* Turin Papyrus Map* Turin King List* Judicial Papyrus of Turin* Turin Erotic Papyrus...
Emperor Hiệp Hoà Hiep Hoa Emperor Hiệp Hòa was the sixth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty and reigned for four months...	Vietnam	Nguyễn	30 July 1883	29 November 1883	3 Months 29 Days	Succeeded the throne after the death of emperor Dục Đức after a reign of 3 days. Hiệp Hoà Hiep Hoa Emperor Hiệp Hòa was the sixth emperor of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty and reigned for four months...  was murdered and succeeded by Kiến Phúc Kien Phuc Kiến Phúc was an 7th emperor of Vietnam in the 19th century. Born in 1869, he was the nephew-turned-adopted son of Emperor Tự Đức...  (who also reigned less than a year).
King Mindaugas II Mindaugas II of Lithuania Prince Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, 2nd Duke of Urach was a German prince who was elected King of Lithuania with the regnal name Mindaugas II on 11 July 1918...	Lithuania	Württemberg House of Württemberg The Württemberg family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Württemberg. The House has its origins, according to recent research, probably in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty.-History:...	11 July 1918	2 November 1918	3 Months 21 Days	Mindaugas II was elected King by the Council of Lithuania Council of Lithuania The Council of Lithuania , after July 11, 1918 The State Council of Lithuania , was convened at the Vilnius Conference that took place between September 18 and 23, 1917. The council was granted the executive authority of the Lithuanian people and was entrusted to establish an independent...  soon after independence from the Russian Empire and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a peace treaty signed on March 3, 1918, mediated by South African Andrik Fuller, at Brest-Litovsk between Russia and the Central Powers, headed by Germany, marking Russia's exit from World War I.While the treaty was practically obsolete before the end of the year,... . The council soon changed its decision and declared Lithuania a republic.
King Jehoiachin of Judah Judah The name Judah can refer to:*Judah , fourth son of the Biblical patriarch Jacob All later individuals, groups and places of this name are directly or indirectly derived from this Judah....	Judah Judah The name Judah can refer to:*Judah , fourth son of the Biblical patriarch Jacob All later individuals, groups and places of this name are directly or indirectly derived from this Judah....	House of David House of David The Israelite House of David is a religious society founded by Benjamin and Mary Purnell in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in March 1903. Benjamin Franklin Purnell was born near Maysville, Kentucky. As a child he was fascinated by preaching and learned to read using the New Testament, being raised in a...	9 December 599 BC	16 March 599 BC	3 Months 10 days	Biblical King from the Second Book of Kings.
Kaiser/King Frederick III Frederick III, German Emperor Frederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service...	German Empire and Prussia	Hohenzollern House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...	9 March 1888	15 June 1888	3 Months 6 Days	Frederick III succeeded his father's throne with terminal larynx cancer and was unable to speak during his brief reign.
Sultan Murad V Murad V Murad V was the 33rd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire who reigned from 30 May to 31 August 1876.He was born at Istanbul , Topkapı Palace. His father was Abdülmecid I...	Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...	Osman Ottoman Dynasty The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...	30 May 1876	31 August 1876	3 Months 1 Day	Murad V replaced his uncle Abdülaziz Abdülâziz Abdülaziz I or Abd Al-Aziz, His Imperial Majesty was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned between 25 June 1861 and 30 May 1876...  who had been deposed by his ministers (and died soon after). Murad V was also soon deposed in favour of his brother Abdul Hamid II Abdul Hamid II His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire... , who was also deposed.
Emperor Otho Otho Otho , was Roman Emperor for three months, from 15 January to 16 April 69. He was the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors.- Birth and lineage :...	Roman Empire	Year of Four Emperors	15 January 69	16 April 69	3 Months 1 Day	Committed suicide after losing the Battle of Bedriacum Battle of Bedriacum The Battle of Bedriacum refers to two battles fought during the Year of the Four Emperors near the village of Bedriacum , about from the town of Cremona in northern Italy...  to his successor, Emperor Vitellius Vitellius Vitellius , was Roman Emperor for eight months, from 16 April to 22 December 69. Vitellius was acclaimed Emperor following the quick succession of the previous emperors Galba and Otho, in a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
King Teia Teia Teia , also known as Teja, Theia, Thila, Thela, Teias, was the last Ostrogothic king in Italy.Apparently a military officer serving under Totila, Teia was chosen as successor and raised over a shield after Totila was slain in the Battle of Taginae in July 552...	King of the Ostrogoths		1 July 552	cOctober 552	~3 Months	Probably killed at the Battle of Mons Lactarius Battle of Mons Lactarius The Battle of Mons Lactarius took place in 552 or 553 in the course the Gothic War waged on behalf of Justinian I against the Ostrogoths in Italy.... .
Emperor Constantine III	Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...	Heraclian	11 February 641	May 641	~3 Months	Constantine III was junior co-emperor with his father Heraclius Heraclius Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...  from 22 January 613 until his death 11 February 641. Constantine III then became joint co-emperor with his brother Heraklonas Heraklonas Constantinus Heraclius , known in English as Heraklonas, Heraclonas, or Heracleonas , was the son of Heraclius and his niece Martina, and was Byzantine Emperor briefly between February and September 641....  who was sole emperor after Constantine III's death.
King Sinmu Sinmu of Silla Sinmu of Silla was the 45th monarch of the Korean kingdom of Silla. His reign was the briefest in the state's history, lasting only from the fourth to the seventh lunar month of 839....	Silla Silla Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the longest sustained dynasties in...  (Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... )	Kim	April 839	July 839	~3 Months	He killed King Minae Minae of Silla Minae of Silla was the 44th ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He was a great-grandson of King Wonseong, and the son of Daeachan Kim Chung-gong. His mother was a Pak, Lady Gwibo. He married the daughter of Gakgan Kim Yeong-gong.Being of true bone rank, Minae rose to the rank of sangdaedeung...  and succeeded the throne, but died by furuncle on his back after three months.
King Sunjong Sunjong of Goryeo Sunjong of Goryeo was briefly the 12th ruler of Goryeo. He was the eldest son of Munjong and the older brother of Seonjong. He had been confirmed as heir to the throne in 1054. However, he died within a year of his ascension in 1083....	Goryeo Goryeo The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...  (Korea Korea Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the... )	Wang	July 1083	October 1083	~3 Months	King Sunjong is the shortest reigning monarch in Korean history.
King Jehoahaz of Judah Jehoahaz of Judah Jehoahaz or Joachaz in the Douay-Rheims and some other English translations was king of Judah and son of king Josiah whom he succeeded and Hamautal, daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. He was born in 633/632 BC and his birth name was Shallum...	Judah Judah The name Judah can refer to:*Judah , fourth son of the Biblical patriarch Jacob All later individuals, groups and places of this name are directly or indirectly derived from this Judah....	House of David House of David The Israelite House of David is a religious society founded by Benjamin and Mary Purnell in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in March 1903. Benjamin Franklin Purnell was born near Maysville, Kentucky. As a child he was fascinated by preaching and learned to read using the New Testament, being raised in a...	July 610 BC	October 610 BC	3 Months	Biblical King from the Second Book of Kings.
Emperor Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...	China Empire of China (1915-1916) The Empire of China was a short-lived attempt by statesman and general Yuan Shikai from late 1915 to early 1916 to reinstate monarchy in China. The attempt was ultimately a failure, but it set back the Chinese republican cause by many years and fractured China into a hodgepodge of squabbling...	Yuan	1 January 1916	22 March 1916	2 Months 22 Days	President Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...  declared himself emperor of his newly created Chinese Empire on 1 January 1916. Due to the unpopularity of the new Empire he reverted to being the president of the Republic of China until his death on 5 June 1916.
King Pedro IV	Portugal	Braganza House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...	10 March 1826	28 May 1826	2 Months 18 Days	Pedro succeeded the throne upon the death of his father and was forced to abdicate in favour of his daughter Maria II. He also reigned as Emperor Pedro I of Brazil from 12 October 1822 to 7 April 1831 until he abdicated in favour of his son Pedro II Pedro II of Brazil Dom Pedro II , nicknamed "the Magnanimous", was the second and last ruler of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of... .
King Edward V Edward V of England Edward V was King of England from 9 April 1483 until his deposition two months later. His reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded him as Richard III...	England	York House of York The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...	9 April 1483	25 June 1483	2 Months 16 Days	Edward V succeeded the throne on the death of his father Edward IV and was replaced by his Uncle who became Richard III Richard III of England Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...  after Parliament declared Edward V's claim to the throne invalid. It is unknown what happened to Edward V after his "reign".
Seventh Dynasty of Egypt	Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...	Seventh Dynasty	c.2180 BC	c.2180 BC	70 Days	According to Manetho Manetho Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca... , these fourteen kings reigned a total of 70 days.
Emperor Alexios V Doukas	Byzantine Empire Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...	Doukas Doukas Doukas, latinized as Ducas , from the Latin tile dux , is the name of a Byzantine Greek noble family, whose branches provided several notable generals and rulers to the Byzantine Empire...	5 February 1204	12 April 1204	2 Months 7 Days	Alexios V Doukas usurped the throne from emperors Isaac II Angelus and Alexius IV Angelus and was then deposed during the Fourth Crusade Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire... . Soon after that, whilst in exile, he was blinded by his father-in-law, the previously deposed Alexius III Angelus, and then brought back to Constantinople and sentenced to death for treason.
King Väinö I Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse , Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel in German, was the brother-in-law of the German Emperor William II and the elected King of Finland from 9 October to 14 December 1918.-Early life:Frederick was...	Finland Kingdom of Finland (1918) The Kingdom of Finland was an abortive attempt to establish a monarchy in Finland, following Finland's independence from Russia. Had the German Empire endured, Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse would have been installed as King of Finland.-History:...	Hesse-Kassel	9 October 1918	14 December 1918	2 Months 5 Days	Väinö I was elected king by the newly independent Kingdom of Finland and due to German defeat in the First World War renounced his title without travelling to his own kingdom.
Chúa Trịnh Cán	Vietnam	Trịnh	1782	1782	~2 Months	Trịnh Cán succeeded his father Trịnh Sâm Trinh Sam Trịnh Sâm ruled northern Vietnam from 1767 to 1782 AD. He ruled with the title "Tinh Do Vuong", and was one of the last of the powerful Trịnh Lords. Trịnh Sâm defeated the ancient enemy of the northern state, the Nguyễn Lords in the south...  to the throne aged 6 years and his half brother Trịnh Khải soon killed him and usurped his throne.
Duke Joachim Ernst Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt Joachim Ernst, Duke of Anhalt was the last ruler of the Duchy of Anhalt.-Biography:He was born in Dessau the son of Duke Eduard of Anhalt and Princess Luise of Saxe-Altenburg , the daughter of Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg.He succeeded his father as Duke of Anhalt on September 13, 1918, however...	Anhalt	Ascania	13 September 1918	12 November 1918	1 Month 30 Days	Joachim Ernst abdicated his throne at the end of the First World War during the German revolution German Revolution The German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany's imperial government with a republic... . He died as a prisoner of war in Buchenwald camp as a prisoner of Soviet forces.
King Boleslaw I Chrobry	Poland	Piast Piast dynasty The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...	18 April 1025	17 June 1025	1 Month 30 Days	Boleslaw I died not long after the coronation, due most likely to an illness.
King Edgar II	Kingdom of England	Wessex House of Wessex The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic, refers to the family that ruled a kingdom in southwest England known as Wessex. This House was in power from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex to the unification of the Kingdoms of England....	15 October 1066	10 December 1066	1 Month 25 Days	Edgar succeeded the throne with the death of Harold II during the Norman invasion only to submit his throne to William I.
Tsar Feodor II Feodor II of Russia Fyodor II Borisovich Godunov of Russia was a tsar of Russia during the Time of Troubles. He was born in Moscow, the son and successor to Boris Godunov...	All Russia	Godunov	23 April 1605	20 June 1605	1 Month 22 Days	Tsar Feodor II succeeded to the throne after the death of his father Boris Godunov Boris Godunov Boris Fyodorovich Godunov was de facto regent of Russia from c. 1585 to 1598 and then the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. The end of his reign saw Russia descend into the Time of Troubles.-Early years:...  and was soon after killed during the Time of Troubles Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles was a period of Russian history comprising the years of interregnum between the death of the last Russian Tsar of the Rurik Dynasty, Feodor Ivanovich, in 1598, and the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty in 1613. In 1601-1603, Russia suffered a famine that killed one-third... .
Emperor Ziying Ziying Ziying was the last ruler of the Qin Dynasty of China, ruling as King of Qin from mid-October to the beginning of December 207 BC, and being known posthumously as Qin San Shi...	China		mid-October 207 BC	December 207 BC	1 Month 16 Days	Ziying was the last ruler of the Qin Dynasty Qin Dynasty The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...  of China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Emperor Ningzong	China		~1332	~1332	1 Month 13 Days	Ningzong was briefly installed as Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty Yuan Dynasty The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an... , a ruling dynasty Dynasties in Chinese history The following is a chronology of the dynasties in Chinese history.Chinese history is not as neat as is often described and it was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next. Dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they...  of China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture... .
Tirigan	Sumer Sumer Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....	Dynasty of Guti Guti Guti may refer to:*Jose María Gutiérrez Hernández, usually known as Guti, Spanish footballer.*The Gutian people, founders of the Gutian dynasty of Sumer*A people of Scandia mentioned by Ptolemy ; in later Latin known as Gutones and Gothi....	c.2050 BC	c.2050 BC	40 Days	Last king of Guti, according to the Sumerian King List Sumerian king list The Sumerian King List is an ancient manuscript originally recorded in the Sumerian language, listing kings of Sumer from Sumerian and neighboring dynasties, their supposed reign lengths, and the locations of "official" kingship... .
King Sweyn I	England		25 December 1013	3 February 1014	1 Month 9 Days	Sweyn usurped the throne from Æthelred II who regained the throne after Sweyn's death. Sweyn was also king of Denmark from c985 and king of Norway c985 to 995 and co-monarch from 1000 until his death.
King Umberto II Umberto II of Italy Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II was the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. He was nicknamed the King of May -Biography:...	Italy	Savoy House of Savoy The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...	9 May 1946	12 June 1946	1 Month 3 Days	Umberto II succeeded the throne when his father Victor Emmanuel III abdicated in an attempt to retain the monarchy. 33 days after the reign of Umberto II began, a republic was declared.
Emperor Li Zicheng	China	Li Shun Dynasty The Shun Dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. The dynasty was founded in Xi'an on 8 February 1644, the first day of the lunar year, by Li Zicheng, the leader of a large peasant rebellion. Li, however, only went by the title of King, not Emperor...	25 April 1644	27 May 1644	1 Month 2 Days	Li Zicheng declared himself Emperor of China after Chongzhen Chongzhen Emperor The Chongzhen Emperor was the 16th and last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China. He reigned from 1627 to 1644, under an era name that means "honorable and auspicious".- Early years :...  committed suicide and was then forced from power after the Battle of Shanhai Pass Battle of Shanhai Pass The Battle of Shanhai Pass, fought on 27 May 1644 at Shanhaiguan at the eastern end of the Great Wall of China, was a decisive battle leading to the formation of the Qing dynasty in China... .
Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I John Paul I , born Albino Luciani, , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent Year of Three Popes...	Holy See Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...		26 August 1978	28 September 1978	1 Month 2 Days
Pope Benedict V Pope Benedict V Pope Benedict V , Pope in 964, was elected by the Romans on the death of Pope John XII . However the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I did not approve of the choice and had him deposed after only a month and the ex-Pope was carried off to Hamburg and was placed under the care of Adaldag, Archbishop of...	Holy See Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...		22 May 964 AD	23 June 964 AD	1 Month 1 Day
King Shallum of Israel Shallum of Israel Shallum of Israel was the king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel, and the son of Jabesh. He "conspired against Zachariah, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead" . He reigned only "a month of days in Samaria" before Menahem rose up, put him to death , and became...	Israel Israel The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...		773 BC	c.772 BC	1 Month	Biblical King from the Second Book of Kings. Because he became King in the 38th year but died in the 39th year, then his reign probably spans the Jewish New year.

Less than a month

Note: Some of the following have been disputed as legitimate monarchs

Name	Country	Royal House/Dynasty	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Length	Comments
Emperor Taichang Taichang Emperor The Taichang Emperor was the fourteenth Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was born Zhu Changluo , the eldest son of the Wanli Emperor and succeeded his father as emperor in 1620. However his reign came to an abrupt end less than one month after his coronation when he was found dead one morning in...	China	Ming Ming Dynasty The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...	28 August 1620	26 September 1620	29 Days	Died after a bout of diarrhoea which could have been caused by poisoning.
Emperor He Prince He of Changyi Prince He of Changyi was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty for 27 days in 74 BC. He was installed and deposed by a prominent statesman of his time, Huo Guang. He was omitted from the official list of emperors. His personal name was Liu He and he declared the era name Yuanping...	China	Han Han Dynasty The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...	74 BC	74 BC	27 Days	Installed and deposed by Regent Huo Guang Huo Guang Huo Guang , courtesy name Zimeng was a Western Han statesman who was a rare example in Chinese history of a powerful official who deposed an emperor for the good of the state rather than to usurp the throne... .
Pope Leo XI Pope Leo XI Pope Leo XI , born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was Pope from 1 April 1605 to 27 April of the same year.-Biography:...	Holy See Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...		1 April 1605	27 April 1605	27 Days
Pope Pius III Pope Pius III Pope Pius III , born Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, was Pope from September 22 to October 18, 1503.-Career:...	Holy See		22 September 1503	18 October 1503	27 Days
Prince Milan Obrenovic II Milan Obrenovic II, Prince of Serbia Milan Obrenović II in Kragujevac, in the Principality of Serbia. He was the ruling Prince of Serbia for less than two weeks in 1839.- Early life :...	Serbia	Obrenovic House of Obrenovic The House of Obrenović was a Serbian dynasty that ruled Serbia from 1815 to 1842, and again from 1858 to 1903. They came to power through the leadership of their progenitor Miloš Obrenović in the Second Serbian uprising against the Ottoman Empire, which led to the formation of the Principality of...	25 June 1839	8 July 1839	26 Days	Succeeded with the abdication of his father Miloš Obrenovic I Miloš Obrenovic I, Prince of Serbia Miloš Obrenović was Prince of Serbia from 1815 to 1839, and again from 1858 to 1860. He participated in the First Serbian Uprising, led Serbs in the Second Serbian Uprising, and founded the House of Obrenović...  although due to ill health he may never have been aware of his own rule, dying after 26 days.
Pope Damasus II Pope Damasus II Pope Damasus II , born Poppo, Pope from July 17, 1048 to August 9, 1048, was the second of the German pontiffs nominated by Emperor Henry III . A native of Bavaria, he was the third German to become Pope and had one of the shortest papal reigns...	Holy See		17 July 1048	9 August 1048	24 Days
Emperor Constantine	Russian Empire Russian Empire The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...	Romanov Romanov The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...	1 December 1825	25 December 1825	24 Days	Succeeded his elder brother Alexander I Alexander I of Russia Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....  and abdicated in favour of his younger brother Nicholas I Nicholas I of Russia Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...  leading to the Decembrist revolt Decembrist revolt The Decembrist revolt or the Decembrist uprising took place in Imperial Russia on 14 December , 1825. Russian army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession... .
Pharaoh Amenemhet VI Amenemhet VI )|name explanation = Translation: He who satisfies the Two Lands|name2 = G16-s-sxm-xa:a-w|name2 in cartouche =|name2 cartouche symbol =|name2 determinative =|name2 transcription = Nebti Name Sekhem-khau ...	Egypt Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...	Thirteenth dynasty	c.1780 BC	c.1780 BC	23 Days	Pharaoh of the Second Intermediate period
Pope Marcellus II Pope Marcellus II Pope Marcellus II , born Marcello Cervini degli Spannochi, was Pope from 9 April 1555 to 1 May 1555, succeeding Pope Julius III. Before his accession as Pope he had been Cardinal-Priest of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme. He is the most recent Pope to choose to retain his birth name as his regnal name...	Holy See		9 April 1555	1 May 1555	22 Days
Emperor Gordian I Gordian I Gordian I , was Roman Emperor for one month with his son Gordian II in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Caught up in a rebellion against the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he was defeated by forces loyal to Maximinus before committing suicide.-Early life:...	Roman Empire Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....	Gordianan	22 March 238	12 April 238	21 Days	Proclaimed joint Augustus Augustus (honorific) Augustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...  with his son Gordian II after leading a revolt against Maximinus I Maximinus Thrax Maximinus Thrax , also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome... . Gordian I hanged himself on hearing the news that Gordian II had fallen in battle against Maximinus I.
Emperor Gordian II Gordian II Gordian II , was Roman Emperor for one month with his father Gordian I in 238, the Year of the Six Emperors. Seeking to overthrow the Emperor Maximinus Thrax, he died in battle outside of Carthage.-Early career:...	Roman Empire Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....	Gordianan	22 March 238	12 April 238	21 Days	Proclaimed joint Augustus Augustus (honorific) Augustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...  with his father Gordian I after leading a revolt against Maximinus I Maximinus Thrax Maximinus Thrax , also known as Maximinus I, was Roman Emperor from 235 to 238.Maximinus is described by several ancient sources, though none are contemporary except Herodian's Roman History. Maximinus was the first emperor never to set foot in Rome... . Gordian II was killed at the Battle of Carthage Battle of Carthage (238) The Battle of Carthage was fought in 238 between a Roman army loyal to Emperor Maximinus Thrax and the forces of Emperors Gordian I and Gordian II.... .
Pope Sisinnius Pope Sisinnius Pope Sisinnius was Pope for about three weeks in 708.A Syrian by birth, Sisinnius's father's name was John. The paucity of donations to the papacy during his reign indicate that he was probably not from the aristocracy.Sisinnius was selected as...	Holy See		15 January 708 AD	4 February 708 AD	21 Days
Pope Theodore II Pope Theodore II Pope Theodore II was ordained as a priest by Pope Stephen V; also his brother Theotius was a bishop. He was pope for twenty days during December 897 before he died. He reinstated the clerics who had been forced from office by Pope Stephen VI, recognizing the validity of the ordinations of Pope...	Holy See		December 897 AD	December 897 AD	20 Days
Emperor Shang Emperor Shang of Tang Emperor Shang , also known as Emperor Shao , personal name Li Chongmao , was an emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 710....	China	Tang Tang Dynasty The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...	8 July 710	25 July 710	18 Days	Installed by Empress Wei Empress Wei (Zhongzong) Empress Wei was an empress of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Zhongzong, who reigned twice, and during his second reign, she tried to emulate the example of her mother-in-law Wu Zetian and seize power...  to succeed Emperor Zhongzong Emperor Zhongzong of Tang Emperor Zhongzong of Tang , personal name Lǐ Xiǎn , at times during his life Li Zhe and Wu Xian , was the fourth Emperor of the Tang Dynasty of China, ruling briefly in 684 and again from 705 to 710.Emperor Zhongzong was the son of Emperor Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu... , but was deposed 18 days later in a coup.
King Anikanga Mahadipada	Polonnaruwa		1209	1209	17 Days	Governor of Maya Rata Maya Rata The Maya Rata, also known as the Kingdom of Kelaniya, was a medieval era Sinhalese kingdom located in Western part of Sri Lanka. The capital was known as Kelaniya. The boundaries of the Kingdom of Maya Rata are Deduru Oya River from North, and Kalu River River from South.-See also:* History of Sri... , who put to death the 3 months old Infant King Dharmasoka Deva and became king.
Pope Celestine IV Pope Celestine IV Pope Celestine IV , born Goffredo da Castiglione, was pope from October 25, 1241 to November 10, 1241.Born in Milan, Goffredo or Godfrey is often referred to as son of a sister of Pope Urban III , but this information is without foundation...	Holy See		25 October 1241	10 November 1241	17 Days	Died before Consecration Consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...
Pope Boniface VI Pope Boniface VI Pope Boniface VI, pope, a native of Rome, was elected in April 896 as a result of riots soon after the death of Pope Formosus. Prior to his reign, he had twice incurred a sentence of deprivation of orders, as a subdeacon and as a priest...	Holy See		April 896 AD	April 896 AD	16 Days
Emperor Napoleon II Napoleon II of France Napoléon II , after 1818 known as Franz, Duke of Reichstadt, was the son of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria...	Emperor of the French Emperor of the French The Emperor of the French was the title used by the Bonaparte Dynasty starting when Napoleon Bonaparte was given the title Emperor on 18 May 1804 by the French Senate and was crowned emperor of the French on 02 December 1804 at the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, in Paris with the Crown of...	Bonaparte Bonaparte The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804, a French military leader who rose to notability out of the French Revolution and transformed the French Republic into the First French Empire within five years of his coup d'état...	22 June 1815	7 July 1815	16 Days	Succeeded with the abdication of Napoleon I Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...  and deposed with the restoration of Louis XVIII Louis XVIII of France Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815... .
Pope Urban VII Pope Urban VII Pope Urban VII , born Giovanni Battista Castagna, was Pope for thirteen days in September 1590. He was of Genoese origin, although born in Rome. He was created Cardinal-Priest of S. Marcello in 1584...	Holy See		15 September 1590	27 September 1590	13 Days	Shortest reigning Pope of all time. (See full list)
King Lodewijk II	Holland Kingdom of Holland The Kingdom of Holland 1806–1810 was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country...	Bonaparte Bonaparte The House of Bonaparte is an imperial and royal European dynasty founded by Napoleon I of France in 1804, a French military leader who rose to notability out of the French Revolution and transformed the French Republic into the First French Empire within five years of his coup d'état...	1 July 1810	13 July 1810	12 Days	Succeeded with the abdication of his father Lodewijk Napoleon Louis Bonaparte Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, Comte de Saint-Leu , King of Holland , was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino...  only to have his kingdom annexed by Napoleon I Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...  of the French First French Empire The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France... .
Emperor Puyi Puyi Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin Gioro clan, was the last Emperor of China, and the twelfth and final ruler of the Qing Dynasty. He ruled as the Xuantong Emperor from 1908 until his abdication on 12 February 1912. From 1 to 12 July 1917 he was briefly restored to the throne as a nominal emperor by the...	China China Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...	Qing Qing Dynasty The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....	1 July 1917	12 July 1917	12 Days	Restored by Zhang Xun Zhang Xun Zhang Xun or Chang Hsün may refer to:*Zhang Xun , general serving under the warlord Yuan Shu during the late Han Dynasty*Zhang Xun , Tang Dynasty general involved in the Battle of Suiyang against An Lushan...  in a coup, but the republic was restored by Duan Qirui Duan Qirui Duan Qirui was a Chinese warlord and politician, commander in the Beiyang Army, and the Provisional Chief Executive of Republic of China from November 24, 1924 to April 20, 1926. He was arguably the most powerful man in China from 1916 to 1920.- Early life :Born in Hefei as Duan Qirui , his...  12 days later.
Queen Jane Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...	England and Ireland	Tudor Tudor dynasty The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...	10 July 1553	19 July 1553	9 Days	Proclaimed Queen four days after the death of Edward VI Edward VI of England Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...  only to be removed and later executed by Mary I Mary I of England Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547... .
Emir Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, KCMG was the Emir of Kuwait during a short reign of nine days , succeeding the late Sheikh Jaber....	Kuwait Kuwait The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...	Al-Sabah Al-Sabah The House of Al Sabah is the ruling family of Kuwait. They are a clan from the Anizah tribe which migrated to Kuwait in the early 18th century from Najd . They are also from the Utub tribe. After reaching Kuwait, they entered in an alliance with the other families of the Utub such as Al-Khalifa...	15 January 2006	24 January 2006	9 Days	Succeeded with the death of Jaber III Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Jaber III al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, GCB , GCMG of the al-Sabah dynasty, was the Emir and thirteenth Sheikh of Kuwait, serving from December 31, 1977 until his death on January 15, 2006...  and voted out of office by parliament due to ill health before being able to issue his abdication in favour of Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah is the Emir of Kuwait. Sheikh Sabah was sworn in on January 29, 2006 after confirmation by the National Assembly of Kuwait. He is the fourth son of Emir Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Sheikh Sabah is the head of the ruling Al-Sabah family... .
King Henry V Henri, comte de Chambord Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such...	King of the French July Monarchy The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...	Bourbon House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...	2 August 1830	9 August 1830	7 Days	Succeeded with the abdications of Charles X Charles X of France Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...  and then Louis XIX Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of Charles X of France and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France...  20 minutes later, only to be rejected by the National Assembly in favour of Louis-Phillipe Louis-Philippe of France Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the... .
King Thong Lan Thong Lan Thong Lan was the second king of Suphannaphum Dynasty in Ayutthaya Kingdom. He reigned 7 days before he was executed....	Ayutthaya Kingdom Ayutthaya kingdom Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...	Suphannaphum	1370	1370	7 Days	Succeeded with the death of Borommarachathirat I and then Ramesuan Ramesuan King Ramesuan , son of king Ramathibodi I, reigned as the second and fifth king of the kingdom of Ayutthaya. When King Ramathibodi ascended to the throne of Ayuthaya, he sent King Ramesuan to reign in Lopburi... 's forces quickly took the palace and executed King Thong Lan .King Ramesuan then held the throne.
Pharaoh Hor I Hor Hor was an Egyptian king of the 13th Dynasty. He appears in the Turin King List as Au-ib-Rê. He most likely reigned only for a short time, not long enough to prepare a pyramid, which was in this dynasty still the common burial place for kings.-Burial:...	Egypt	Thirteenth Dynasty	c.1775 BC	c.1775 BC	7 Days	Pharaoh of the Second intermediate Period. Attested 7 days on the Turin Canon
King Zimri Zimri (king) Zimri or Zambri was a king of Israel for seven days. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 876 BCE, while E. R. Thiele offers the date 885 BCE. His story is told in 1 Kings, Chapter 16....	Israel		c. 885 BC or c. 876 BC	c. 885 BC or c. 876 BC	7 Days	A biblical king from the Books of Kings Books of Kings The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years... .

Less than a week

Note: Some of the following have been disputed as legitimate monarchs

Name	Country	Royal House/Dynasty	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Length	Comments
Pharaoh Set Set A set is a collection of well defined and distinct objects, considered as an object in its own right. Sets are one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics. Developed at the end of the 19th century, set theory is now a ubiquitous part of mathematics, and can be used as a foundation from...	Egypt	Thirteenth Dynasty	c.1755 BC	c.1755 BC	6 days	Pharaoh of the Second Intermediate period. His existence is disputed, being that he is only attested on the Turin Papyrus Turin King List The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is a hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio at Turin...
King John I John I of France John I , called the Posthumous, was King of France and Navarre, and Count of Champagne, as the son and successor of Louis the Headstrong, for the five days he lived...	France France in the Middle Ages France in the Middle Ages covers an area roughly corresponding to modern day France, from the death of Louis the Pious in 840 to the middle of the 15th century...  and Navarre Kingdom of Navarre The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....	Capet House of Capet The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. As rulers of France, the dynasty...	15 November 1316	20 November 1316	5 Days	Posthumous son of Louis X Louis X of France Louis X of France, , called the Quarreler, the Headstrong, or the Stubborn was the King of Navarre from 1305 and King of France from 1314 until his death... , died aged 5 days.
Pharaoh Imyremeshaw Imyremeshaw Imyremeshaw Smenkhkare was an Egyptian king of the 13th dynasty, who is known from the Turin King List as well as two massive colossal statues and a bead...	Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...	Thirteenth Dynasty	c.1765 BC	c.1765 BC	4 Days	Pharaoh of the Second Intermediate period
King Crateuas Crateuas Crateuas may refer to:*Crateuas of Macedon or Craterus, King of Macedon in 399 BC*Crateuas, father of Peithon of Macedon*Crateuas , Greek artist, physician, herbalist, rhizotomist of Mithradates VI, King of Pontus...	Macedon	Argead Dynasty Argead dynasty The Argead dynasty was an ancient Greek royal house. They were the ruling dynasty of Macedonia from about 700 to 310 BC. Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, in southern Greece...	399 BC	399 BC	4 Days	Assassinated Archelaus I during a hunt. Succeeded by Archelaus's son Orestes Orestes Orestes was the son of Agamemnon in Greek mythology; Orestes may also refer to:Drama*Orestes , by Euripides*Orestes, the character in Sophocles' tragedy Electra*Orestes, the character in Aeschylus' trilogy of tragedies, Oresteia... .
Pope-elect Stephen Pope-elect Stephen Stephen was a priest of Rome elected Pope in March of 752 to succeed Pope Zachary; he died of stroke a few days later, before being ordained a bishop...	Holy See Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...		23 March 752 AD	26 April 752 AD	3 Days	Not normally recognized as a legitimate Pope, Stephen died of apoplexy 3 days his election, missing his consecration. The numbering of Stephens from Stephen I Pope Stephen I Pope Saint Stephen I served as Bishop of Rome from 12 May 254 to 2 August 257.Of Roman birth but of Greek ancestry, he became bishop of Rome in 254, having served as archdeacon of Pope Lucius I, who appointed Stephen his successor....  (254-257 AD) to Stephen II Pope Stephen II Pope Stephen II was Pope from 752 to 757, succeeding Pope Zachary following the death of Pope-elect Stephen. Stephen II marks the historical delineation between the Byzantine Papacy and the Frankish Papacy.-Allegiance to Constantinople:...  (752-757 AD) skips him over, and he was removed from the 1961 Vatican's list.
Vua Lê Trung Tông	Vietnam	Lê	October 1005	October 1005	3 Days	Assassinated by order of his successor Lê Ngoạ Triều.
Vua Lê Quang Trị	Vietnam	Lê	1516	1516	3 Days
Vua Dục Đức	Vietnam	Nguyễn	20 July 1883	23 July 1883	3 Days
King Inayatullah Khan Seraj Inayatullah Khan Inayatullah Khan Seraj was the King of Afghanistan from 14 January 1929 to 17 January 1929. He was the son of former Afghan King, Habibullah Khan...	Afghanistan	Barakzai Barakzai - History :Barakzai is a common ethnic name among the Pashtuns of Afghanistan/Pakistan and it means . Barakzai is also a Pashtun tribe in Pakistan, and more predominantly, in Afghanistan...	14 January 1929	17 January 1929	3 Days	Inayatullah Khan Seraj replaced his brother King Amanullah Khan Amanullah Khan Amanullah Khan was the King of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, first as Amir and after 1926 as Shah. He led Afghanistan to independence over its foreign affairs from the United Kingdom, and his rule was marked by dramatic political and social change...  who had abdicated. Inayatullah Khan Seraj then abdicated himself three days later in favour of Habibullah Ghazi Habibullah Ghazi Habībullāh Kalakānī , also known as Habībullāh Ghāzī, was Emir of Afghanistan from January to October 1929 after deposing Amānullāh Khān with the help of various Ghilzai tribes who opposed modernization of Afghanistan...  who was deposed 8 months later.
King Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev Dipendra of Nepal Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was a member of the Nepalese Royal Family, who briefly reigned in coma as King of Nepal from the 1st of June to the 4th of June, 2001...	Nepal Nepal Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...	Shah Shah dynasty The Shah dynasty was the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Nepal.-The Rajput Lineage :The former royal family of Nepal claims descent from the Parmar Rajput dynasty of the Narsinghgarh state in Malwa . The famous kings of the Malwa region were Raja Bhrathari, Samrat Vikramaditya, and Raja Bhoj....	1 June 2001	4 June 2001	<56 Hours	Succeeded to the throne after the murder of his father Birendra Birendra of Nepal Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was a King of Nepal. The son of King Mahendra, whom he succeeded in 1972, he reigned until his death in the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre...  during the Nepalese royal massacre Nepalese royal massacre The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on Friday, June 1, 2001, at a house in the grounds of the Narayanhity Royal Palace, then the residence of the Nepalese monarchy, when the heir to the throne, Prince Dipendra killed nine members of his family and himself. However, it hasn't been proven that...  in which Dipendra alllegedly inflicted mortal wounds upon himself.
Sultan Sayyid Khalid bin Barghash Khalid bin Barghash of Zanzibar Sayyid Khalid bin Barghash Al-Busaid was the sixth Sultan of Zanzibar and the eldest son of the second Sultan of Zanzibar, Sayyid Barghash bin Said Al-Busaid. Khalid briefly ruled Zanzibar , seizing power after the sudden death of his cousin Hamad bin Thuwaini of Zanzibar who many suspect was...	Zanzibar	Al Bu Sa'id	25 August 1896	27 August 1896	2 Days	Seized power after the death of Sayyid Hamad bin Thuwaini Al-Busaid Hamad bin Thuwaini of Zanzibar Sayyid Hamad bin Thuwaini Al-Busaid, GCSI, was the fifth Sultan of Zanzibar. He ruled Zanzibar from March 5, 1893 to August 25, 1896....  resulting in the 38 minute Anglo-Zanzibar War Anglo-Zanzibar War The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on 27 August 1896. The conflict lasted 38 minutes and is the shortest war in history. The immediate cause of the war was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession... . Replaced by Sayyid Hamoud bin Mohammed Al-Said Hamoud bin Mohammed of Zanzibar Sayyid Sir Hamoud bin Mohammed Al-Said, GCSI, was the British-controlled Omani sultan of the protectorate of Zanzibar, who outlawed slavery on the island....  after surrender.

Less than a day

Due to the ephemeral nature of their reigns, the following have been disputed as legitimate monarchs:

Name	Country	Royal House/Dynasty	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Length	Comments
Tsar Michael II Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia was the youngest son of Emperor Alexander III of Russia.At the time of his birth, his paternal grandfather was still the reigning Emperor of All the Russias. Michael was fourth-in-line to the throne following his father and elder brothers Nicholas and...	Russian Empire Russian Empire The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...	Romanov Romanov The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, reigning from 1613 until the February Revolution abolished the crown in 1917...	15 March 1917	16 March 1917	c16 Hours	Deferred acceptance. Later killed.
Emperor Modi Emperor Modi of Jin Emperor Modi of Jin was the last emperor of the Jin Dynasty. Ruling for less than one day on February 9, 1234 before being killed by the Mongolians, he is the shortest-reigning monarch in Chinese history.-Brief history:...	Jin	Jurchen	9 February 1234	9 February 1234	c12 Hours	Crowned while under assault by Mongolians and killed after the coronation.

Less than an hour

Due to the ephemeral nature of his reign, the following has been disputed as a legitimate monarch:

Name	Country	Royal House/Dynasty	Reign Began	Reign Ended	Length	Comments
King Louis XIX Louis-Antoine, Duke of Angouleme Louis Antoine of France, Duke of Angoulême was the eldest son of Charles X of France and, from 1824 to 1836, the last Dauphin of France...	King of France July Monarchy The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...	Bourbon House of Bourbon The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...	2 August 1830	2 August 1830	c20 Minutes	Succeeded with abdication of Charles X Charles X of France Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...  only to abdicate in favour of Henry V Henri, comte de Chambord Henri, comte de Chambord was disputedly King of France from 2 to 9 August 1830 as Henry V, although he was never officially proclaimed as such... .
King Louis II	King of Portugal	Braganza House of Braganza The Most Serene House of Braganza , an important Portuguese noble family, ruled the Kingdom of Portugal and its colonial Empire, from 1640 to 1910...	1 February 1908	1 February 1908	c20 Minutes	Outlived his father for about 20 minutes (see Lisbon Regicide Lisbon Regicide The Lisbon Regicide was the name given for the assassinations of King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Luis Filipe, the Prince Royal by assassins sympathetic to republican interests... ). It is argued that since he was not declared king because the Portuguese monarchy lacked the rule of automatic succession.

See also

• List of shortest reigning Popes
• List of longest reigning current monarchs
• List of longest reigning monarchs of all time