Favorite hisorical person or people?

[Vorenus]

I didnt see a topic like this so I had to make one... Who is your favorite historical person(s) or people(faction, kingdom, country, race, etc.)?

Feel free to describe them and their aceivements. Pictures would be cool too.


As for me my favorite people would be the Romans. My favorite historical person would either be Alexander the great, Pompey, or Mark Antony. All interesting, can't choose...

Alexander

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/MacedonEmpire.jpg/440px-MacedonEmpire.jpghttp://paizo.com/image/product/catalog/TKG/TKG10201_360.jpeg

[CaesarAugustus]

That picture of a blonde Alexander looks a bit strange. Then again, ther's red hair in the Iliad. As for my favourite historical person, that would probably be Caesar Augustus, simply because he was the first person capable of "taking over" the Roman Republic, and defeated the powerful Mark Antony, and ruled longer and more peacefully than any other subsequent Roman emperor. In my opinion, he was also the greatest Roman emperor, for reasons too numerous to list.

Others would be Hadrian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Genghis and Kublai Khan, Timur (All great conquerors..... well, maybe not the Roman ones but they were good emperors), Flavius Aetius (the last true Roman, defeated Attila and saved the Empire for a few more decades), Chandragupta Maurya (conquered the Indian subcontinent and defeated Seleukos I Nikator), and Saladin.

As for "factions" (cultures), I admire the Greeks and Chinese for their science, philosophy, technology, and culture. The Mongols for their effective war machine, and, most of all, the Romans, for all they have contributed to Western culture, and of course their great empire.


I've never been a big fan of Alexander the Great, Constantine I, Nero (obviously!), or Napoleon, though.

[Lord Cazaric]

My favourite person would be King Leonidas of Sparta, who fought to the death in the pass of Thermopylae against a Persian army that outnumbered him by over ten to one. At the end of the battle, when the Thespian warriors accompanying the Spartans had withdrawn, the battle odds were 300 Spartans against between 100,000 and 1,000,000 Persians under Xerxes.

Leonidas knew he was to die, but he managed to hold back the Persians while the other Greek city-states organised themselves for a strong defence. It was said that the Spartans were so desperate in the battle, that when their spears broke, they pulled swords. And when they broke, they resorted to biting, kicking and punching their foes, using any means possible to bring down the Persian army.

Xerxes continued on to invade southern Greece and was defeated by the Athenians in the battles of Salamis and Plataea respectively. Leonidas and the Spartans had done their job.

I am also a fan of Hulegu Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan who sacked Baghdad. He was one evil sod, but nonetheless very interesting to read about.

As for my favourite country, I especially like the Spartans, Romans and the horse peoples of the Eurasian steppes, such as the Mongols and the Sarmatians.

[Vorenus]

Yeah, I agree the painting of Alexander is a bit wierd, I like the phalanx in the background. Didn't Alexander have dark blonde hair? hmm. Augustus Caesar was without a doubt the greatest Roman Emperor. Another Interesting guy would be Caligula, he is my favorite simply because all the crazy things he did. He made his horse a senator!

I knew I forgot someone, Thermoplyae is my favorite battle. It is one of the greatest accounts of self sacrifice in history, he knew he wasnt coming back, yet he fought to the death to give the other Greeks enough time to prepare for Xerxes attack. I think they might have won if they had sent the whole Spartan army, or maybe if the Phocians hadnt abandoned that trail...

[Derfasciti]

They change all the time but currently King Alfred the Great of Wessex seems to be pretty cool. An incredibly pious and studious man in an age where that was not considered essential.

[Veho Nex]

General george S Patton just cause he was awsome

[Csargo]

William the Conqueror, nuff said.

[Mithrandir]

Ghandi&Dalai Lllama, nuff said.

edit, not quite nuff said: Leonardo Da Vinci for being extremely progressive in science, being open minded and noe gifted person.

Nuff said.

[caravel]

Ghandi&Dalai Lllama, nuff said.

edit, not quite nuff said: Leonardo Da Vinci for being extremely progressive in science, being open minded and noe gifted person.

Nuff said.
And Mother Teresa...

I'm really more of a fan of the more peaceful type of people from history, not the warmongering genocidal megalomaniac kind.

:bow:

[Caius]

Caius Flaminius?

:bounce:

Mandfred von Richtofen, alias the Red Baron.'The As of the Air'

[13th-Caesar]

hmmmm... I love these threads!

Some to mention: Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Aristotle, Archimedies Constantin, Augustus, Attila the Hun, Hannibal, Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus.



As you can see I am heavily bias towards military figures and ancient history figure.

Caesar: Conquered Gaul and Germany almost single handedly. One of the greatest orators in history. Expanded the Roman Empire more in 9 years than everyother Roman had done for over 100 years. Took on Rome and won. Pushed Rome into the direction of Emperors, where it needed to go. Was out for himself and himself alone, which is a trait I admire.

Alexander the Great: I am afraid I know very little about him. Conquered 90% of the known world. Went further east than any European before him. At a very young age.

Aristotle, Archimedies: Redifined the words "clever". Incredible.




Got to go, but I am sure many of you know the reasons for the next few.





*Unfortunately I know very little about Mark Anthony, what did he do? Please explain. Thank you*

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

King John of England! Despite popular opinion he wasn't all that bad. He was forced to be the way he was, kind of harsh to the poor and the rich alike, due to the lack of monetary funds that were left to him by his brothers and his father. This forced him to have to raise taxes to pay for, his relatives', wars in France. In the end he lost all his regions in France, par one, Calais, which further reduced the poor man's reputation. He died hated both of these reasons which really were caused by no direct fault of his own. When you read the complete truth you really have to feel sorry for him.

[King of Kings]

My favourite people Romans and person Augustus Caesar.

[Vorenus]

King of Kings? That refers to mithridates right?(Excuse my spelling.) He supposedly was immune to poison.

I think George S. Patton was a great general as well, Jkarinen. To bad his life was cut short from a car accident... not the way a great general should die.

13-Caesar, does that suggest the HBO series Rome or the actual legion in histiry? Just curious.

To answer your question. Mark Antony, I do not think there was an 'h' in his name. He served under Julius Caesar in his gallic wars, he was part of the Second triumvirate along with Augustus and Lepidus. He later left his wife (Augustus's sister) for Cleopatra... bad move on his part. Started a civil war with Augustus which he lost at the battle of Actium. Retreated back to Alexandria, stabbed himself (the way a noble should die in those times.) and Cleopatra killed herself later by placing a posionous snake on her breast or something after failing to seduce Augustus.

Some say the battle of Actium marked the end of the Republic.

[Csargo]

Forgot to add Rommel and The Red Baron.

[RoadKill]

General George S. Patton he totally pwned in war

[OliverWKim]

I recently went to Istanbul (former Constantinople) so now I'm obsessed with the Byzantines. I would have to go with Constantine the Great for person, and the Byzantines/Romans for people.

[King of Bavaria]

You're right, it's a great city

When I were on the 4-day-trip to Istanbul with my geography-course at school, I was mostly impressed by the "greatness" of the Hagia Sophia, the last building of the ancient world.

Back to topic:

- Genghis Khan (I hope the spelling is right); for his rise from "slave" to the ruler of the biggest connected empire in history, and his unstoppable horde. :charge:

- Erwin E. Rommel (the desert fox); for his both brilliant and honourable way of warfare.

- Albert Einstein

- Mahatma Ghandi

- William Wallace

[Innocentius]

It's quite tough to define "favourite" but I'll just suppose it means "most interesting in my opinion":

(Jesus, only semi-historical)
Muhammad
Thomas Aquinas
Dante Alighieri
Jan Hus
Martin Luther
Karl XII
Napoleon Bonaparte
Vladimir Lenin
Mahatma Gandhi
Adolf Hitler

I tried to stay away from the traditional war-like guys, but a few of them got through anyway.

[Centurion Crastinus]

The Romans are my favorite people.

For my favorite individuals, I would say Napolean, Julius Caesar, John Basilone (WW2 Marine), Chesty Puller, Eric Hartmann (leading WW2 German fighter ace with 500+ air victories), Trajan, Vespasian, and Jeb Stuart.

[ShadesWolf]

Henry V of course.....

and you can all guess what nation :yes:

[RabbitDynamite]

You've got a be amazed at Alexander. Amassed the largest empire the world had yet seen and did it all off his own merits - a one-man killer of the structuralist school with regards to the ancient world. Combined a brilliant tactical brain, a (mostly) benign empire builder, an incredible soldier, a charismatic monarch, and an almost suicidally brave battlefield leader.

Erwin Rommel - a commander who lead his men from the heat of the battle in an era when sheer scale seemed to make that impossible. Exerted an almost hypnotic effect on both his own soldiers and the British in North Africa. Not a perfect commander from a WWII perspective - his own stubbornness and ego held him back at times - but you could shove on a time machine and slot him into Alexander's Companions and he'd fit right in. heck, he'd be one of the Diadochoi.

Genghis Kahn - another Alexander style character, only perhaps moreso. Born the leader of a small tribe in a barren, nomadic corner of Asia. Dies the lord of the what would become largest land empire in all of history (though they do cheat by having Siberia). Not exactly a man you can admire as a person, but as a historical success story... different matter.

Vladmir Lenin - Sticks out like a sore thumb among the Communist Leadership because he worked not for his personal power, but because he genuinely believed in the coming Socialist utopia. Which doesn't mean his record is squeaky clean - it was he who set up the political repression by the Bolsheviks (you could say he introduced the Communist secret police, but that was very much an existing Tsarist institution) but compared to the brutal, cynical men which followed, Lenin deserves to be seperate.

[Caius]

Henry V of course.....

and you can all guess what nation :yes:
Italy?:beam:

[Frederick_I_Barbarossa]

Favorite historical persona? Martin Luther...history's most pissed off short fat bald guy

[seireikhaan]

Favorite person: Chinggis Khaan. Created a massive empire out of a nomadic people and conquered people with better technology, funds, and more soldiers. Also because of his diplomatic stances on certain issues. He banned torture, something that the "civilized" Europeans practiced with zeal. He granted diplomatic immunity to diplomats and traders, even to the point of protecting them if possible. He even granted religious freedom to his subjects, a concept unheard of for the rest of the world. It was his openness trade that he passed down to his sons that got europeans interested in trade to the point that they wanted a faster route than the silk road. That led to the new world being discovered.

[Innocentius]

Italy?:beam:

Nah...Henry V...Wasn't that Norway?

[Shahed]

Rommel... then again there's so many that deserve mention. Hard to have a favorite. From WW2 Germany, I'd have to list at least a dozen, then go through all the nations and all their heroes... would be a long list.

[Frederick_I_Barbarossa]

I also have to nominate Sir Winston Churchill...

[Martok]

I also have to nominate Sir Winston Churchill...
I'll second that. He's on my top 5 list for sure. :yes:

[Vorenus]

Looks like the most popular are Gengis Khan and Rommel. Interesting...

[Lorenzo_H]

I just got back from Rome. Its quite nice.

Pompeii shows that they were quite perverted though.

[seireikhaan]

Looks like the most popular are Gengis Khan and Rommel. Interesting...

Well, I figure my liking towards Khaan was probably obvious from my username. I also like Churchill, he's one of the top. Also, Hannibal for leading an army of mercs with different languages. Oda Nobunaga, for beginning the unity of Japan. And Aristotle, for being a straight up genius for his time.

Here's my top five, in order 1: Khaan. 2: Churchill. 3: Hannibal. 4: Oda. 5: Aristotle.

[Frederick_I_Barbarossa]

I'll second that. He's on my top 5 list for sure. :yes:

My top 5:

1.Jesus Christ (while some might argue his claim to divinity, there's no arguing his influence)

2. Martin Luther

3. Tie between Charles "The Hammer" Martel and Charlemagne

4. Thomas Jefferson

5. Sir Winston Churchill

[Vorenus]

My top 5:

1.Jesus Christ (while some might argue his claim to divinity, there's no arguing his influence)

2. Martin Luther

3. Tie between Charles "The Hammer" Martel and Charlemagne

4. Thomas Jefferson

5. Sir Winston Churchill

Charlemagne, he was quite interesting. Believed strongly in religion and education.

Thomas Jefferson too, I like how easily he would just duel someone.

[Innocentius]

D'oh! Forgot to add Karl Marx to my list. Few people have had the same effect on modern history as he has.

PS. All these ancient generals are overrated:thumbsdown:

[zoyclem]

Karl Marx had quite an effect on history, all right, and the GULAG was just an unfortunate by-product of the philosophy he and his friend Engels promoted.

But this topic is about great people, so I’ll skip Marx. In fact, why not skip the moderns, period? Since this is a game thread based on ancient/medieval history, I’ll focus a few ancients (although not all of them people):


Moses – Led his people out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Bringer of the Ten Commandments, and founder of Mosaic Law.

Themistocles - The leader of Athens and primary strategist in planning the defense of Greece against the Persians invasion in 480-479 BC, a war that began in Europe with the battle at Thermopylae, followed by the sea battle at Salamis, and culminating in Plataea, where Xerxes was forced to withdraw. Themistocles’ efforts saved Greece and allowed the advent of the later golden age.

Thucydides – Chronicler of the Peloponnesian wars and the acknowledged father of history, Thucydides created an essential work that has remained important for over 2,000 years.

Philip II of Macedon – King of Macedon who expanded his territories during the social wars, and a visionary who recruited the armies that his son, Alexander, inherited. Without his father’s planning, recruiting, and energy—all directed towards uniting Greece and defeating the Persian Empire—Alexander would not have had the resources he did to subdue the rest of Greece, yet alone Persia. It’s entirely possible that the window of opportunity (for defeating Persia) might have passed unused if not for Philips’ preparations.

Alexander the Great – Conqueror of Persia, brilliant tactician, founder of Alexandria, and masterful diplomat. He is often considered as the greatest general in history. Alexander will probably get more than his share of praise in this thread, so I’ll leave his feats to others.

The Sacred Geese – Their honking alerted the Romans to the coming attack of Brennus, and saved the Capitol in Rome from the Gauls.

Q. Fabius Maximus – The “delayer,” the Dictator of Rome elected to defeat Hannibal. His tactics were initially scorned by the Roman People because Fabius would avoid pitched battle, instead concentrating on limiting the damage by Hannibal’s army and weakening his forces through attrition. The policy, though unpopular at first, was eventually successful and Hannibal was forced to withdraw from Italy.

Gaius Julius Caesar – Consul and Proconsul of Rome, Conqueror of Gaul, and principal player in the civil war that ended the republic. He is considered the one of the greatest generals, second only to Alexander. He was responsible for major reforms to the calendar system from which our own calendar is derived. The month of July was named after him. After his death, a comet appeared while his heir, Octavian, was orating at his funeral, offering proof to the People of his ‘divinity.’

Cicero – the heart and soul of Republican Rome. A superior orator and man of rhetoric, and one of the greatest minds of the ancient world. If you are an American, he could be considered the grandfather of the country, because he was a major influence on many of the Founding Fathers.

Caesar Augustus (Octavian) – Political genius whose ability to appear subject to the People while wielding unheard of power, allowed him to transform Rome from a republic into a great empire, one that would survive in the West almost another 500 years after his death.

Jesus Christ – To skip controversy, I’ll focus on the historical: A man, who by his very existence, changed western belief systems dramatically, removing the pantheon of multiple pagan gods and replacing them with one supreme deity, one that followed the principles of love and forgiveness. This convulsed the Western World but eventually created the foundation for modern thought.


The list can go on, but I’ll stop here with the onset of Anno Domini.

[B-DogKY]

Without a doubt, Richard III, the last of the Plantagenet Kings, and therefore, the last of the interesting Kings of England. After him, rule passes to the boring Tudors....

[Rocketman]

Constantine XI, the last Roman Emperor. When the Ottomans seiged Constantinople, he refused to accept the Sultan's offer ("surrender the City and you can go free to Morea"). When they breached the walls of Constantinople, the Emperor threw off his royal garments and charged into battle with his soldiers. :2thumbsup:

[Warluster]

Right:

1.Edmund Barton

2.Napoleon

3.General Patton

4.The Soldiers who fought a Kokoda and Gallipolli

5.Eureka Stockaders

[Vorenus]

Karl Marx had quite an effect on history, all right, and the GULAG was just an unfortunate by-product of the philosophy he and his friend Engels promoted.

But this topic is about great people, so I’ll skip Marx. In fact, why not skip the moderns, period? Since this is a game thread based on ancient/medieval history, I’ll focus a few ancients (although not all of them people):


The Sacred Geese – Their honking alerted the Romans to the coming attack of Brennus, and saved the Capitol in Rome from the Gauls.



Actually this topic is about your favorite not just the great. Karl Marx was an interesting guy.

The Sacred Geese? That is the most original out of all the replys so far.:thumbsup:

[CaesarAugustus]

"The Sacred Geese – Their honking alerted the Romans to the coming attack of Brennus, and saved the Capitol in Rome from the Gauls."

Heh, I knew the Romans had sacred chickens, I never knew they had sacred geese, too! Strange little bird obsession they had going on......

[Innocentius]

Karl Marx had quite an effect on history, all right, and the GULAG was just an unfortunate by-product of the philosophy he and his friend Engels promoted.

What does Gulag in Soviet Russia have to with Marx and Engels, the founders of socialism and communism? Soviet was hardly a communism at all, and had little to nothing to with Marx's ideas.


Moses – Led his people out of slavery and into the Promised Land. Bringer of the Ten Commandments, and founder of Mosaic Law.

Well, he can't be "great" if he never existed...:juggle2:


The Sacred Geese – Their honking alerted the Romans to the coming attack of Brennus, and saved the Capitol in Rome from the Gauls.

Same as with Moses, most likely never existed.


Jesus Christ – To skip controversy, I’ll focus on the historical: A man, who by his very existence, changed western belief systems dramatically, removing the pantheon of multiple pagan gods and replacing them with one supreme deity, one that followed the principles of love and forgiveness. This convulsed the Western World but eventually created the foundation for modern thought.

Jesus was probably some random mad-man who believed himself to be Messias. And he preached Judaism, something that existed thousands of years before him, so he didn't exactly come up with anything new. Petrus and other, more historical, characters are responsible for the picture we get of Jesus today.

[Shieldmaiden]

Nobodies mentioned Saladin?

[zoyclem]

Innocentius,

The first leader of the Soviet Union was Vladimir Lenin, a Marxist who came into power during the Bolshevik revolution. What did he have to do with the Glavnoe Upravlenei Lagerei (GULAG)?

To quote Anne Applebaum:
***
"In 1918, Lenin, the Revolution's leader, had already demanded that 'unreliable elements' be locked up on concentration camps..."
***

This, of course, led to the GULAG.

In 1919, Lenin formed the Communist International. Thereafter his party became known as the 'Russian Communist Party.' Eventually, it evolved into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. And you say the Soviets had little to do with communism?

Now, regarding your statements on the other figures named: I find your disbelief hardly surprising in light of your statements about Marx. But since I’m a junior member, I'll avoid the topic of old Karl and communism further and steer clear of needless argument. I certainly don’t want to shatter any of your illusions about a long-dead angry philosopher.

Finally, to the Geese: they are mentioned by human contemporaries. Whether they were apocryphal or real is a matter of whimsical debate. They do provide an interesting highlight in Roman history, however.


Have a nice day.

[Innocentius]

Innocentius,

The first leader of the Soviet Union was Vladimir Lenin, a Marxist who came into power during the Bolshevik revolution. What did he have to do with the Glavnoe Upravlenei Lagerei (GULAG)?

To quote Anne Applebaum:
***
"In 1918, Lenin, the Revolution's leader, had already demanded that 'unreliable elements' be locked up on concentration camps..."
***

This, of course, led to the GULAG.

Already there you have it. The political system in Soviet Russia was not according to Marx's original idea.


In 1919, Lenin formed the Communist International. Thereafter his party became known as the 'Russian Communist Party.' Eventually, it evolved into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. And you say the Soviets had little to do with communism?

Just because they called themselves communist doesn't mean they were true communists. To date there has been no true communist state in the world.


Now, regarding your statements on the other figures named: I find your disbelief hardly surprising in light of your statements about Marx. But since I’m a junior member, I'll avoid the topic of old Karl and communism further and steer clear of needless argument. I certainly don’t want to shatter any of your illusions about a long-dead angry philosopher.

Well, I don't think you have to be a Marxist to realise a man who supposedly split an ocean and talked to God (who appeared as a burning shrub) is not an historical figure. There's an interesting thread about Jesus going on in the Monastery by the way.
I don't have any illusions about Marx, I'm pretty sure about who he was and what effects his thoughts have had on the world. I listed him for the same reason I listed Hitler, he was an interesting man who greatly affected history.

Disclaimer: I know Hitler's personal beliefs resulted in the death of millions of people while the misinterpretation/own "version" of Marx's ideas also resulted in the death of millions. I'm not in any way comparing Marx to Hitler.

I don't think it's a needles argument, few arguments are actually.

[Kralizec]

While I strongly disagree with Marxist theory, I think it's grossly unfair to blame upon him or Hegel stuff that happened generations afterwards, caused by people who were following their own agenda.

As for my favourite historical person...my strongest impulse is to say Napoleon. A great general and statesman.

[AntiochusIII]

I remembered this one time in a class, when the teacher was being all sentimental and asking people who their favorite American is, and the people there was being all sentimental and giving out names like George Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.; and I answered R. Kelly...

It was great. :yes:

[Lord Winter]

I've developed an small obsession over Swedish and Russian History. So Gutavus Adolfus, for bringing a small country to world power status. Peter the Great for pulling russia into modern times by sheer force of will and energy. Charles XII with the great northern war. On a different note Most generals of the civil war esspicaly the confederate high command of the army of North virgina.
The eastern front of world war two is also one of my favorites with Zuchov, Chiviouk, Guderian, Palus, Hittler, Stalin ect.....

[GodWillsIt]

1. Fred Barbarossa (Fredrick Red Beard)
2. Ogedai Khan
3. Jan Ziska
4. Vlad Tepes
5. Balwin II
6. Alexandros Megas
7. Atilla
8. Charles The Great
9. Theoderic
10. Robin Hood
11. Robert XIII The Bruce
12. William Wallace
13. Gerard De Ridgefort
14. Himmler
15. Darius

[Stig]

I like Von Rundstedt
Keitel: "What shall we do?"
Von Rundstedt: "Make peace, you fools!"
Next to that he's one of the better WW2 generals.

When we speak of people I like the men who fought at Arnhem, the Britishs, the Germans and the Poles. And especially those 600 Brits at Arnhem Bridge.
And the comradeship of the Germans of course, they say the SS is ruthless, puh.

[OliverWKim]

I would have to add Pyrrhus of Epirus to my list. He was one of the greatest (if not the greatest) general of his time. The main reason he won such costly defeats was that he was extremely unlucky and was faced with incredibly hard circumstances. If he were placed in a better situation and in a better time, he would have probably been revered alongside Gaius Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun and the like.

[Innocentius]

I've developed an small obsession over Swedish and Russian History. So Gutavus Adolfus, for bringing a small country to world power status.

Well, Sweden was one of the largest kingdoms in Europe already by the 14th century. During the reign of King Magnus Eriksson, he ruled the biggest kingdom in Europe, comprising the kingdom of Sweden (including Finland), the kingdom of Norway and Danish Scania. The problem was the lack of population:clown:

Speaking of Sweden I'll add Karl Knutsson Bonde to my list. For what I know he is the only European king who ruled the same country thrice:book:

[Duke Malcolm]

King James IV, Sir Cecil Rhodes, Lord Curzon, King James VI, General Gordon.

[Conradus]

Since I just got back from my second Italy trip, I must say the Romans are one of my favorite people in history. But I'm also a Greek student, and their philosophical, scientifical, and literal works surpass most those of most other people.

Furthermore I always loved the idea of steppe peoples going on a conquering raid throughout the world: the Huns, Mongols,...

Some of my favorite persons in history:
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle : though the last two had completely different ideas, there's on arguing that those three redefined western thinking for quite some centuries.
Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus: Homer wrote some of the most beautiful verses in history, Hesiod's myth are superb and Aeschylus Antigone is one the finest plays I've ever read.
Caesar, Augustus: two great military leaders and charismatic statesmen who finally brought Rome a few decades of peace after a century of war.
Attila, Ghenghis Khan: I love steppenations and have always been impressed with the Catalonian fields and Atilla's campaign into Italy
Napoleon: great military leader, statesman, reformer, emperor,...
Alexander: arguably the greatest general ever.

[Lord Winter]

Well, Sweden was one of the largest kingdoms in Europe already by the 14th century. During the reign of King Magnus Eriksson, he ruled the biggest kingdom in Europe, comprising the kingdom of Sweden (including Finland), the kingdom of Norway and Danish Scania. The problem was the lack of population:clown:

Speaking of Sweden I'll add Karl Knutsson Bonde to my list. For what I know he is the only European king who ruled the same country thrice:book:

Population wise thou they were fairly small compared to france, Austia, poland ect...