New answers tagged monarchy
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Michael I of Romania was king from 20th of July 1927 until 8th of June 1930 and then was put back into power on the 6th of September 1940 resulting in an overall break of 3743 days
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Stanisław Leszczyński was installed by Sweden as a King of Poland in 1704 and ruled until 1709 when Poland forced Sweden out. He was reelected as the king of Poland after the death of August II Mocny, in 1733 and ruled until 1736, when a Russian invasion deposed him. This gives him a respectable 27 year long break in ruling.
Poland had an elective monarchy ...
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The answers to this (What is the most number of times someone has become leader of a European country?) question should show which Europeans were heads of state and/or heads of government of their countries the most times.
You have to be careful to see which of them were elected to office consecutively and which were elected or usurped the throne non ...
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George II of Greece, 11 Years
George II of Greece was deposed in 1924 and regained the throne in 1935, so I guess that's about eleven years. He was the second cousin of Prince Philip of England and the drama of their family's chaotic royal standing in Greece is often alluded to in shows like The Crown.
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Ptolemy VIII of Egypt had a break of 18 or maybe 20 years in his reign. Wikipedia is confused about how long the gap was.
The page for Ptolemy VIII says he was deposed in 164BC and restored in 144BC - gap is about 20 years.
The Pharaoh list page says he was deposed in 163BC and restored in 145BC - gap is 18 years.
Another site's king list says deposed in ...
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Definitely not as long, but notable: Napoleon I and Louis XVIII
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, was deposed on April 2nd, 1814, abdicated on the 4th, and after being exiled to Elba, returned to France in February 1815 and took power back on March 20th, 1815 (so the gap is less than a year).
It didn't last long, of course, as he abdicated (again) on June ...
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Two 5th century BC Agiad Kings of Sparta had lengthy breaks in their reigns: Pleistoanax and his son (and successor) Pausanias.
Pleistoanax - break of 19 or 20 years (reigned 458 - 446 or 445 BC, and then 426 - 409 BC)
Pausanias - break of approx. 18 years (reigned c.445 - 426 BC, and then 408 to 395 BC)
Pleistoanax, son of the regent Pausanias of Battle of ...
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Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland, nine years.
At the time of the execution of Charles I in 1649, England had already overthrown the monarchy (taking Ireland with it), and so Charles II did not become king of England or Ireland at that time. But Scotland had not, and so he was king of Scotland from 1649 (though not crowned until January 1651) until ...
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Another possible contender would be Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd four times.
He was deposed after his second reign in 1081 and imprisoned. He may have regained the throne of Gwynedd as early as 1088, though his biography claims in one place that he was imprisoned for 12 years and in another that he was imprisoned for 16 years, thus escaping and ...
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Some honorable mentions:
Kavad I only had a break of three years, but was definitely supposed to be forgotten after he was temporarily deposed in 496.
The Zhengtong Emperor of the Ming dynasty was deposed in 1449 after being captured by the Mongols. This reduced his value as a hostage, and he was released relatively quickly. He took the throne again seven ...
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Norodom Sihanouk was crowned King of Cambodia on 3 May 1941. At the time, Cambodia was a colony of France, so he was not really a head of state yet. But he remained king, and therefore head of state, of Cambodia when the country became independent on 9 November 1953. He then abdicated on 2 March 1955.
After that point, Norodom Sihanouk was appointed prime ...
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Vlad Tepes, 14 years
Vlad III first ruled as Voïvode of Vallachia for of couple of months in 1448, then from 1456 to 1462 (after a first gap of 5 and a half years), and reclaimed his throne again in late 1476, after a second gap of 14 years.
He died shortly after, but his nickname of Dracula found its way to posterity and pop culture.
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This is a little stretch from your question, but Simeon II of Bulgaria ruled as
Tsar of Bulgaria from 1943 to 1946, before later serving as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005.
This is an impressive gap of 55 years, with the obvious caveat that he didn't "reclaim his throne", coming back to power as the elected prime minister of a ...
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