The People in PowerLists about modern and historical heads of state and world leaders—their struggles, their actions, their eccentricities, and other things written about them by their admirers and their enemies.
From Game of Thrones to actual history, House of Cards to real world politics, it's no secret the worlds of real and fictional politics are cutthroat and terrifying. One day you're in, the next day you're out. So it should come as no surprise there's a long list of historical leaders whose advisors, family members, and confidants conned them.
Some of these advisors wanted power, some wanted revenge, some wanted control. Others sought to oust a leader unfit for duty. The leaders who were tricked by these advisors didn't always deserve it, and many of them met tragic ends at the hands of their subjects, advisors, or country.
If you think you're having a bad day, take a look at this list of people conned by their closest confidants. You'll feel better about yourself, so long as your friends aren't trying to kill you.
While Elizabeth I was content to imprison her cousin Mary, former Queen of Scotland, Elizabeth's secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, was convinced Mary needed to be executed to ensure Elizabeth's was safe from plots to overthrow her and install Mary as queen. While intercepting letters between Mary and her co-conspirators during the famous Babington Plot, Walsingham forged a postscript from Mary authorizing Elizabeth's execution. He then successfully used it as proof that Elizabeth needed to have Mary executed.
The eccentric and handsome King Ludwig II of Bavaria, known as Mad King Ludwig, angered the nobility of Bavaria by spending extravagantly on art, building fairytale castles, doing really weird stuff such as bowing to and stroking the cheek of a bust of Marie Antoinette every time he walked by it, and (maybe) being gay. Using nothing but interviews with Ludwig's advisors and servants as evidence, the psychiatrist Von Gudden declared Ludwig unfit to rule. He was deposed, only to die mysteriously soon thereafter.
Nicholas II, last Czar of Russian, was tricked by the famous mystic Rasputin, who won favor with the Czar and his wife by convincing them he cured their son of hemophilia, which is scientifically impossible. The Czarina considered him one of her closest advisors. Though his political influence was relatively minor, Rasputin made several correct predictions, including the death of Nicholas and his entire family, which came when the Russian Revolution toppled the Czarist government.
Age: Dec. at 50 (1868-1918)
Birthplace: Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia
Elagabus became Emperor of Rome at 14, only to be murdered at 19. The vastly unpopular ruler was known for sexual perversion, lavish spending, attempts to force his own religion on Rome, and pretending to be a prostitute. His family convinced him to name an heir in the hopes of replacing him. Elagabus then ordered a Praetorian guard to execute his heir. The guard, who was probably bribed, killed Elagabalus instead.
Ibrahim I was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in the 17th century. Known as The Crazy One, he spent his childhood locked in a windowless building called The Cage. When he was set free in order to become Sultan, he went on a sex spree to make up for lost time, amassing a 280-woman harem, the members of which he later had drowned. Ibrahim was known for excessive violence and debauchery, and was enabled by his mother, who did the actual running of the empire while her son strutted about nailing virgins. Eventually, Ibrahim's supporters turned on him; he was put back in The Cage and executed.
A promising young king with a talent for music and languages, Eric XIV fell victim to what some historians believe to be schizophrenia. He had nobles and servants murdered for offenses he invented, experienced violent and depressive episodes, and even disappeared into the woods and was later found living as a peasant. He was dethroned by his brothers during one of his depressive episodes, imprisoned, and poisoned to death by pea soup laced with arsenic by his former supporters.
