Fictional emperors
This article includes a monarchs-related list of lists.
This is a list including all rulers who had carried the title of emperor or who ruled over an empire through history.
| Empire | Duration | Title(s) | See |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandrian Empire | 331 BC–301 BC | Basileus | Alexander the Great |
| Roman Empire | 27 BC–1453 | Augustus Basileus | List of Roman emperors |
| Empire of Nicaea | 1204–1261 | Basileus | |
| Empire of Trebizond | 1204–1461 | Basileus | List of Trapezuntine emperors |
| Empire of Thessalonica | 1224–1242 | Basileus | |
| Latin Empire | 1204–1261 | Imperator | Latin Emperor |
| Holy Roman Empire | 800–1806 | Imperator | Holy Roman Emperor |
| Bulgarian Empire | 893–1018 1185–1396 | Tsar | List of Bulgarian monarchs |
| Serbian Empire | 1346–1371 | Tsar | List of Serbian monarchs |
| Spanish colonial empire | 1492–1898 | Rey | List of Spanish monarchs |
| Russian Tsardom | 1547–1721 | Tsar | List of Russian monarchs |
| Russian Empire | 1721–1917 | Imperator | |
| Austrian Empire | 1804–1918 | Kaiser | List of Austrian monarchs |
| German Empire | 1871–1918 | Kaiser | List of German monarchs |
| British Raj | 1877–1947 | King-Emperor | Emperor of India |
| French Empire | 1804–1815 1852–1870 | Empereur | List of French monarchs |
| Empire | Duration | Title | See |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aztec Empire | 1375–1521 | Hueyi Tlatoani ("great ruler") | |
| Inca Empire | 1438–1533 | Sapa Inca ("only ruler") | |
| Empire of Brazil | 1822–1889 | Imperador | List of Brazilian monarchs |
| Empire | Duration | Title(s) | See |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethiopian Empire | 1270–1975 | Nəgusä nägäst ("ruler of rulers") | List of Ethiopian emperors |
Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, known as Dušan the Mighty, was the king of Serbia from 8 September 1331 and tsar and autocrat of the Serbs, Greeks, Albanians and Bulgarians from 16 April 1346 until his death in 1355.
Saint Stefan Uroš V, known in historiography and folk tradition as Uroš the Weak, was the second Emperor (Tsar) of the Serbian Empire (1355–1371), and before that he was Serbian King and co-ruler with his father, Emperor Stefan Dušan.
Vukašin Mrnjavčević was King of Serbia as the co-ruler of Stefan Uroš V from 1365 to 1371. He was also a nobleman. Principal domains of Vukašin and his family were located in southern parts of medieval Serbia and northwestern parts of the modern region of Macedonia. He died in the Battle of Maritsa in 1371 with his brother, Jovan Uglješa.
George Terter I, of the Terter dynasty ruled as tsar of Bulgaria 1280–1292. He was born in Cherven. The date of his birth is unknown, and he died in 1308/1309.
John II Orsini, also John Komnenos Doukas or Comnenus Ducas, was count palatine of Cephalonia from 1323 to 1324 and Despot of Epirus from 1323 to 1335.
Nikephoros II Orsini - Doukas, was the ruler of Epirus from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359.
Simeon Uroš, nicknamed Siniša (Синиша), was a self-proclaimed Emperor of Serbs and Greeks, from 1356 to 1370. He was son of Serbian King Stephen Uroš III and Byzantine Princess Maria Palaiologina. Initially, he was awarded the title of despot in 1346, and appointed governor of southern Epirus and Acarnania in 1347 by his half-brother, Serbian Emperor Stephen Dušan. After Dušan's death in 1355, the Serbian throne passed to Dušan's son Stephen Uroš V, but despot Simeon decided to seize the opportunity in order to impose himself as co-ruler and lord of all southern provinces of the Serbian Empire. That led him to conflict with his nephew in 1356, when Simeon started to expand his control in southern regions of the Empire, trying to take Thessaly and Macedonia. He proclaimed himself Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, creating a separate state, centered in regions of Thessaly and Epirus, where he ruled until his death in 1370. He was succeeded by his son Jovan Uroš.
Jovan Uroš Nemanjić or John Ouresis Doukas Palaiologos or Joasaph of Meteora, was the ruler of Thessaly from c. 1370 to c. 1373, retiring as a monk for the next half century thereafter. He died in 1422 or 1423.
The House of Angelos, Latinised as Angelus, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that produced several Emperors and other prominent nobles during the middle and late Byzantine Empire. The family rose to prominence through the marriage of its founder, Constantine Angelos, with Theodora Komnene, the youngest daughter of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. As imperial relatives, the Angeloi held various high titles and military commands under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. In 1185, following a revolt against Andronikos I Komnenos, Isaac II Angelos rose to the throne establishing the Angeloi as the new imperial family that ruled until 1204. The period was marked by the decline and fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire, culminating in its dissolution by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 under Alexios IV Angelos.
Jovan Oliver Grčinić was a magnate of the Serbian Emperor Dušan the Mighty, holding the titles of sebastokrator and despotes, and the rank of "great voivode", showing his prominence and status as one of the most important nobles of Dušan. Oliver supported Dušan in the succession war against his father, and was one of the supreme generals in the southern military expeditions. His province included Ovče Pole and the left bank of the Vardar. After the death of Emperor Dušan, there are no more mentions of Oliver. During the fall of the Serbian Empire, his lands were held by the Dejanovići.
After the weakening of the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire in the middle and late 13th century, the northern territory of modern-day Albania became part of Serbia. Firstly, as part of Serbian Grand Principality and later as part of Serbian Empire. Serb control in southern Albania is unclear. Some suggest they acquired towns, but others believe they only obtained submission, possibly nominal, from Albanian tribes. Central and southern Albanian towns were not conquered until 1343–45. Between 1272 and 1368, some areas of the modern-day state were also ruled by the Angevins as the Kingdom of Albania. In the late 14th century, Albanian Principalities were created throughout Albania.
Sebastokrator, was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence. The word is a compound of sebastós and krátōr. The wife of a Sebastokrator was named sebastokratorissa in Greek, sevastokratitsa (севастократица) in Bulgarian and sebastokratorica in Serbian.
Dejan was a magnate who served Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan as sevastokrator, and Emperor Uroš V as despot. He was married to Emperor Dušan's sister Teodora, and possessed a large province in the Kumanovo region, east of Skopska Crna Gora. It initially included the old župe (counties) of Žegligovo and Preševo. Uroš V later gave Dejan the Upper Struma river with Velbužd (Kyustendil). Dejan rebuilt the Zemen Monastery, one of Dejan's endowments, among others, as he also reconstructed several church buildings throughout his province.
Between 1345 and 1371, the Serbian monarch was self-titled emperor (tsar). The full title was initially Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks, later Emperor of the Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians in Serbian and basileus and autokrator of Serbia and Romania ["the land of the Romans"] in Greek. This title was soon enlarged into "Emperor and Autocrat of the Serbs and Greeks, the Bulgarians and Albanians". The Serbian Empire was ruled by only two monarchs; Stefan Dušan and Stefan Uroš V. Two other claimants of the title ruled in Thessaly, Central Greece.
The Battle of Achelous took place in 1358 or 1359 near the river Achelous in Aetolia, modern Greece, between the forces of the Despotate of Epirus under Nikephoros II Orsini and Albanian tribesmen under Karl Thopia. The Albanians defeated Orsini's troops and inflicted heavy casualties upon his forces, and Orsini himself was killed during the battle. Epirus was then divided amongst the Albanian clans, which resulted in the establishment of two despotates from regions previously part of the Despotate of Epirus: the Despotate of Arta and the Despotate of Angelokastron and Lepanto. Within Epirus, only the city of Ioannina remained under Greek governance and was not under the control of the Albanians.
Radoslav Hlapen was a Serbian magnate who served Serbian Emperor Stefan Dušan and Stefan Uroš V as vojvoda. He took part in the conquest of Byzantine lands, and was given a region north of Thessaly to govern in the early 1350s.
John Komnenos Asen was the ruler of the Principality of Valona from c. 1345 to 1363, initially as a vassal of the Serbian Empire, and after 1355 as a largely independent lord. Descended from high-ranking Bulgarian nobility, John was a brother of both Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and Helena of Bulgaria, the wife of Tsar Stephen Dušan of Serbia. Perhaps in search of better opportunities, he emigrated to Serbia, where his sister was married. There, he was granted the title of despot by Stephen Dušan, who placed him in charge of his territories in modern south Albania.
The Serbian nobility conflict in 1369 was a conflict between two powerful sides of the Serbian nobility, one supporting magnate Nikola Altomanović, and one supporting the Mrnjavčević family in Macedonia and Greece. In 1369, a battle was fought between the two sides at the Kosovo field, ending in the decisive victory of King Vukašin, confirming his supremacy, which would last until 1371 battle of Maritsa.
The fall of the Serbian Empire was a decades-long process in the late 14th century. Following the death of the childless Emperor Stefan Uroš V in 1371, the Empire was left without an heir and the magnates, velikaši, obtained the rule of its provinces and districts, continuing their offices as independent with titles such as gospodin, and despot, given to them during the Empire. This period is known as the dissolution or the beginning of the fall of the Serbian Empire.
Thomais Orsini was the queen consort of the Serbian tsar and ruler of Epirus and Thessaly, Simeon Uroš Nemanjić.