Historical Who Am I Riddles

[Sar1n]

John of Bohemia? Sorry I forgot about this and I didn't want to leave you hanging so I spent an hour scrounging Wiki for Kings killed in battle. He seems to fit quite well

Indeed it's him. All the time, I've been hinting you to do the most logical thing, grab the list of monarchs killed in battle from Wikipedia and run it down.

John of Bohemia, also known as John the Blind or John of Luxembourg (especially in Czech Republic, exemplifying his status as "alien king"), ascended to throne of Bohemia at age 14 as a result of marriage born from political intrigue in wake of assassination of last native Bohemian king, ousting another claimant. However, he clashed almost instantly with Bohemian nobility that had grown powerful in the interregnum and a king, raised mostly in the French court with ideas about centralized kingdom with strong monarch, wasn't to their liking. Eventually, John managed to stabilize the country somewhat by giving in to some of their demands, which lent the nobles power quite unprecedented for the time, for example king wasn't allowed to levy troops for foreign wars or extraordinary taxes without nobles' approval, and council had to ratify any subsequent new king before he could be crowned. Nevertheless, things were tense and John eventually resigned on running the country directly and left the country to travel and focus on international affairs, in which he was quite successful, expanding both Kingdom of Bohemia and his other holdings significantly by diplomatic means. Still, the kingdom went downhill in his absence, which he eventually solved by handing the reins of the kingdom to his firstborn son, who did quite well in that capacity. John lost his sight while participating in Northern Crusades, but remained quite active in political affairs until his alliance with French king led him to the battle at Crécy. According to the contemporary chroniclers, when the battle was all but lost, he gave a bit of speech about "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away..." and asked to be led to the melee where he made his last stand. He was succeeded as King of Bohemia by his firstborn son under regnal name Charles IV...which should be more familiar to you.

Your turn.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

You should have said "blind man killed in battle".

[Sar1n]

You should have said "blind man killed in battle".

That would be too easy.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

From an early age,
the fields did I paint,
Red with blood,
Alongside a great saint


And when we fell,
victims to a greater's thunder
I took to adventure,
seeking foreign lands to plunder


Finally, I returned,
Seeking to take my rightful throne
After serving many kingdoms,
I desired my family's for my own


But for more I yearned,
My desire for conquest did not bend
And with my demise,
an age came to an end

I debated cutting out a paragraph if this was too easy for you guys but oh well

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

I have to assume that it is Harald Hardrada. Though it also fits with Olaf Tryggvason. The age in question being the Viking Age. The saint being Saint Olaf.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Yes a bit too easy haha I definitely should have cut the first stanza for added challenge

Oda has the floor

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

I actually didn't get it because of the first stanza.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Dang I can't think of something at this exact moment. Someone remind me to do this.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Saved my father from destruction,
my lady enabled me to restore the sacred city,
but his gratitude I did not gain,
my brother I slew and took his throne,
though man was appeased the heavens were angered.

Many strong mountains did I conquer,
and the two great realms suffered much disorder,
so too did I make war on them for it,
my enemy's son I took for my own,
and my enemy took my son as well.

Many great cities fell to my sword and my torch,
but for my desecration the gods were equally unkind,
me and my sons were both afflicted by divine punishment,
and I was struck down in my sleep,
from my hand and from my mouth I spewed forth an ocean of blood.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Well I’m gonna analyze this line by line to try to get a list of what I know on this guy:

1. Likely served in combat alongside his father
2. Restoring a sacred city will always instantly be Jerusalem in my eyes but could conceivably be another
3 and 4. if it’s the father’s gratitude this could refer to being passed over in succession and killing for it
5. he could’ve been popular with the nobility but suffered for his betrayal later

6 7 and 8. Fought offensive wars and perhaps the two great realms could possible be E/W Rome OR maybe Byzzies and a Persian dynasty

9 and 10. Adopted a son from a conquer land and also lost their son in either battle or to betrayal.

11. Again a brutal conqueror
12 and 13. Suffered “karma” for brutality and lost his heirs
14 15. Betrayed and killed in sleep.

Granted I could be wrong on this but I feel perhaps my strongest bet is to look at early Islamic rulers during the early age of conquest simply because the strongest hints appear to point towards Jerusalem with the two great realms in that area potentially being Eastern Rome and maybe a Persian Empire. Although it could also conceivably be an even earlier conqueror in the same relative geographic area. I’m gonna do a little more digging then get back with a guess by the end of the night

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Not bad!

Only thing is that my pick is not that late historically. Even Byzantium is too late.

[Sar1n]

I'm thinking China or India, but I don't know enough about those to make an educated guess...

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Too far east.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

I think the holy city reference is clearly Jerusalem, and saying it is pre-Byzantium (Byzantine Empire I assume and not the city) means this guy is pre-Empire split and perhaps even more likely Diadochi era

[Kilo11]

I don't know. Jerusalem seems the obvious location for "sacred city", but Oda also says in line 12 that " but for my desecration the gods were equally unkind," (emphasis added). Unless that was just a slip of the tongue, this makes me think that our person is not a believer in any mono-theistic religion, and since he was the one restoring the "sacred city", then he wouldn't likely see the cradle of Abrahamic religions as such an important place (at least for himself). I am also thinking that "sacred" need not have such a thick religious overtone. (Pre-Christian) Rome could have been seen to be "sacred" simply because of its place as the heart and soul of the empire, but not necessarily due to any religious significance attached to it (beyond the interwoven stuff to do with the cult of Rome). At any rate, I do agree that we're looking further back into Antiquity.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

I don't know. Jerusalem seems the obvious location for "sacred city", but Oda also says in line 12 that " but for my desecration the gods were equally unkind," (emphasis added). Unless that was just a slip of the tongue, this makes me think that our person is not a believer in any mono-theistic religion, and since he was the one restoring the "sacred city", then he wouldn't likely see the cradle of Abrahamic religions as such an important place (at least for himself). I am also thinking that "sacred" need not have such a thick religious overtone. (Pre-Christian) Rome could have been seen to be "sacred" simply because of its place as the heart and soul of the empire, but not necessarily due to any religious significance attached to it (beyond the interwoven stuff to do with the cult of Rome). At any rate, I do agree that we're looking further back into Antiquity.

Correct. The city is sacred in a religious sense but only as a product of the civilization itself and not a broader religious connotation like Jerusalem.

[ggggtotalwarrior]

Nebuchadnezzar II? Doesn’t fit exactly IMO but worth eliminating just in case. He did serve in battle for his father prior to assuming the throne, defeating the Assyrians at Carchemish. Possible killed his brother in 602 BC during a revolt for the throne. Made campaigns in both Assyria and Egypt during periods of great unrest, and he got I’ll and died after a long reign, while his son’s was pitifully short. Probably not right based on some other bits not fittings exactly but I feel it’s on the right track.

[Kilo11]

Oda, you wanna give us an update? Does Geg have it, or should we still be looking?

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Nope. Still off by a few hundred years.

[Kilo11]

I just did a spot of research, and I feel like you may be talking about Cassander of Macedonia.