Some of the Worst Villians of the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages ( roughly the 5th-15th centuries) in Europe has always been characterized as a violent and dangerous time to have lived. While that is not entirely accurate, the period was not without its fair share of villainous people. What follows are ten of the worst villains of the period. They include kings, nobles, and churchmen who committed acts of evil and cruelty. Some actions were done in the name of maintaining and gaining power. Others felt a more pious purpose. Still, in some cases, it was for the sheer act of cruelty.
Here are ten men who are considered proper villains of the Middle Ages. Some were knights, kings, and men of the church. All showed the ability to be cruel to those that were subject to their whims.
Vseslav of Polotsk (1039–1101)
Vseslav was a ruler in Polotsk in what is now Belarus. One of many princes vying for power in Russia, he was briefly Grand Prince of Kyiv from 1068–69. Before this, he gained a reputation pillaging northern Keivan Rus and burning Novogord in 1066.
He was captured and imprisoned in 1067 but was released during the Kyiv Uprising and declared Grand Prince in 1068. He was deposed several months later but secured Polotsk in 1071 and ruled until he died in 1101.
He is considered a sorcerer, a seer, or even a werewolf in Russian folklore. He is regarded as a folk hero to Belarus, and many depictions of him include a werewolf.
Charles II of Navarre (1333–1387)
Charles II of Navarre, also known as Charles the Bad, was a crucial player during the early years of the Hundred Years War. Navarre was a kingdom in modern Spain that was close to France.
While his lands were vast, including holdings in Normandy, Charles always wanted more. So when war broke out between England and France, Charles saw an opportunity to increase his holding and allied himself with the French. He even married the daughter of King John of France to further his claims to the French throne.
However, when he murdered a rival in the king’s favor, Charles switched sides to England. What followed was decades of Charles playing one side against the other, inserting himself in neighboring wars, attempting a revolt in Paris, and political assassinations.
His death in 1387 was seen by many as divine justice — he had been wrapped in a brandy-soaked blanket to cure a medical condition when a servant’s candle ignited the cloth, burning him alive.
Reynald de Chatillon (1125–1187)
Reynald was a knight during the Second Crusade. He remained in the Holy Land, becoming Prince of Antioch and Lord of Oulterjordian. Reynald gained a reputation for his brutality, and many Muslims considered him the true Enemy of Islam.
He was not loved by his fellow Christians as well; when he believed the Byzantine Emperor had cheated him of money, he beat and tortured the Patriarch of Limoges until he agreed to finance an attack on Cyprus. Finally, when the Emperor arrived at Antioch with a superior force, Reynald had to back down and beg forgiveness.
The kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of Saladin were constantly going back and forth between peace and war, several times because of raids led by Reynald. Finally, after the Battle of Hattin in 1187, Reynald was captured by the Muslim forces. Saladin made good on his vow to kill Reynald himself, beheading the knight when he was presented to him.
He is portrayed in the 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven by Brendan Gleeson. Historians agree his portrayal of the knight is accurate to what he was like in real life.
Arnaud Amaury (d. 1225)
Arnaud Amaury was a Cistercian abbot in France. He was chosen as a papal legate to convert the Albigensians (or Cathars) in France. The Cathars were a heretical Christian group, and the Catholic Church wanted them taken care of one way or another. Ideally, the priests were to show these wayward Christians the error of their ways and bring them back to the Christian fold.
When this failed, he preached for the Albigensian Crusade to eradicate the group. He is most famously known for an event reported after the sack of Beziers in 1209.
When a knight voiced concern over killing Catholics along with the Cathars, Arnaud was quoted as saying, “Kill them. For the Lord knows that are His own.”
From him, we get the often quotes the phrase ‘Kill them all, and let God sort them out.”
Phillip IV of France (1268–1314)
Also known as Phillip the Fair, this king of France gave us one of the most auspicious days of the year.
While he is praised as a good and just ruler, expanding and uniting many of the areas that would become modern France, several episodes in Phillip’s life were less than admirable.
In 1306 he expelled all the Jews from France, seeing them as “a state within a state.” In 1309 he had a dispute with the papacy, which would create the enclave of Avignon and a period where two claimants would be pope.
His most notorious act occurred on Friday, October 13, 1307. On this date, Phillip had hundreds of members of the Order of the Knights Templar arrested under charges of corruption and heresy.
Though the accusations were likely false, Phillip was among several rulers who felt the Templars were becoming too powerful in Europe. So he helped make the order officially dissolved, their lands confiscated, and their leaders executed. Hence the belief of Friday the 13th as an unlucky day.
Not too long before he died in 1314, a scandal erupted in the French court when it was discovered that three of his daughters-in-law had been caught committing adultery. As a result, their lovers were executed, and the women were imprisoned under house arrest.
Later in 1314, Phillip was killed in a hunting accident. Many believed it was divine retribution for his actions against the Templars. Though many in France revere him as a great king, others see him as a despot who ruled with an iron fist.
Cesare Borgia (1476–1507)
The Borgia family is one of the most notorious families in history. Rodrigo Borgia bought his election to become Pope Alexander VI in 1492, and his reign was filled with controversies and stories of corruption (including murder, bribery, and sexual debauchery). But, as bad as his father was, Cesare is seen as far worse.
Originally made a cardinal by his father, following the death of his brother Juan, Cesare resigned as cardinal and took command of the papal army. There are some theories that Cesare may have been involved in his brother’s death, as he saw himself as an earthly prince and not a man of God.
Over time, and with his father’s influence, Cesare carved a small empire in the Papal States. While an effective military commander, he was not beyond using assassins to remove rivals and may have personally killed off enemies as a method of expanding not only his own but his family’s power as well. There are also rumors that he carried on an incestuous relationship with his sister, Lucrezia.
Unfortunately for Cesare, much of his power rested on papal support, and with his father’s death in 1503, his fortunes changed. Pope Julius II was an old rival of the Borgias, and when he came to power, he stripped Cesare of his lands.
Exiled to Spain and possibly suffering from syphilis, he would die in battle in 1507.
Cesare is believed to be the inspiration for Machiavelli’s The Prince. In addition, he and his family have been the subjects of books, films, television programs, and antagonists in the Assassin’s Creed video games.
Fulk III Nerra (978–1040)
Fulk III was the count of Anjou from 987 until he died in 1040. The epithet “Nerra” translates to “the Black.”
Fulk was a very pious individual and made several pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He commissioned several church buildings and built one of the first stone castles at Langeais in 990.
On the other hand, he was also prone to acts of violence and cruelty. In 999, when he discovered his first wife was having an affair, Fulk had her burned at stake in her wedding dress.
He also had no problems declaring war on his neighbors and breaking alliances to get what he wanted. So to say he gained a reputation of being deceptive would be putting it lightly.
Fulk’s acts of violence may have been the reason for his frequent trips to the Holy Land to make penance, the last of which he died on the way back. Going on a Crusade of a pilgrimage was believed to was the person’s sins away.
Vlad III of Wallachia (1431–1476)
A list like this would not be complete without mentioning the inspiration of one of the greatest monsters in literature.
Vlad III is best known for his two nicknames. He was also known as Vlad Dracula, meaning “son of the Dragon or Devil” — his father was known as Vlad Dracul — and was the real-life inspiration for the Count Dracula character.
Though not known as a resurrected corpse that drank the blood of others, there are stories of Vlad dipping his bread in the blood of his slain enemies as he dined among their tortured bodies.
His favorite method of torture gained him the other nickname that he has carried on into history; Vlad Tepes, which means “Vlad the Impaler.” He would have his enemies executed by being impaled on poles, a slow and painful death.
Many of his acts of cruelty were for political reasons, as the kingdoms of modern Romania were constantly fighting each other and the Ottoman Turks. He had many political rivals put to death intending to bring stability to his kingdom, which he accomplished to a degree to his credit.
One tale says how he locked dozens of rivals in a meeting hall and had the building burned. War with the Turks began when three Turkish envoys refused to remove their turbans in his presence; in response, he had them nailed to their heads.
His conflict with the Turks would lead to his eventual death and the absorption of Wallachia into the Ottoman Empire. Ironically, though German and Russian sources paint Vlad as a cruel despot, he is praised as a folk hero in Romania.
Ivan IV Grozny (1530–1584)
Ivan Grozny became Tsar of all the Russians in 1547, the first to be named so, and expanded Russia into a vast empire. He was an intelligent and pious leader who made Russia into a multiethnic regional powerhouse.
Unfortunately, Ivan was also insane and prone to a violent outburst which led to him being called Ivan the Terrible. There was a story that when Postnik Vakovlev constructed the St. Basil’s Church Ivan was so impressed he had the architect blinded so he could never build such work again — which was later found to be false.
He also passed laws restricting the mobility of peasants, which lead to serfdom in Russia. Ivan had no problems killing off or exiling political rivals or those he suspected of treason, even burning down Novgorod when he questioned the ruling elite were gaining too much power.
Possibly his worst and the most famous act of cruelty occurred in 1581. Ivan believed his pregnant daughter-in-law was dressed immodestly and repeatedly kicked her, causing a miscarriage. His son and heir, Ivan Ivanovich, came to her aide, and the ensuing confrontation ended with Ivan striking his son with a staff, killing him.
The death of this son would have lasting effects not only on Ivan but also on Russia. His kingdom was left to his childless and incompetent son, Feodor, leading to the Time of Trouble (1598–1613).
Gilles de Rais(1405–1440)
Our final figure was a true monster, by modern standards and that of his own time. A celebrated commander, the revelation of his true nature horrified the people of France.
Gilles de Rais was a celebrated French knight and nobleman. As a companion of Joan of Arc and a favorite of the king of France, his service in the Hundred Years War should have solidified his place among the great heroes of Medieval France.
That all ended in 1440 when aspects of Gilles de Rais’s private life were revealed. Around 1432 (the same year as Joan’s death), Gilles de Rais killed between 80 to 200 boys and girls. His crimes included torture and other acts that the court demanded too gruesome and stricken from the record.
He was also believed to have dabbled in the occult, and some of his murders were linked to these rituals. He and two of his servants were sentenced to death for the crimes.
He is also the basis for the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.