Loathsome leader: Murad IV of Turkey (1612–1640)

Murad IV of Turkey was five years old when his father died. Six years later he took the throne from his potty uncle, Mad Mustafa.

By the time he died his people must have been glad to see the back of him – and the corpse of him.

If one of his bodyguards had written home, his letter might have told the terrible tale like this: