Audacious Identity Thieves

There’s nothing quite like royal history from Europe. There are countless stories full of betrayal, scandal, and treachery. However, there is one thing that tops all of those combined, and that’s when someone who was not royal started acting like they were. You know, to get an entire country to believe you were a prince who actually passed? With that in mind, here are 20 examples of people who tried to take over a throne that wasn’t theirs.

James William Edmund Doyle / Edmund Evans on Wikimedia

1. Lambert Simnel as the Earl of Warwick 

Around the year 1487, a boy by the name of Lambert Simnel was taught by a priest how to act like Edward Plantagenet. He was crowned as King Edward VI in Dublin before the actual earl could even escape from the Tower of London. After his rebellion was squashed by Henry VII, the king ironically hired the boy as a turnspit.

Anthony van Dyck on Wikimedia

2. Perkin Warbeck as Richard of York

Claiming to be the younger Prince that survived from the infamous “Princes in the Tower,” Perkin Warbeck fooled multiple European rulers into believing that he was who he said he was. He invaded England numerous times in the late fifteenth century before being captured by Henry VII. While in prison he admitted that he was the son of a Flemish boatman and was later executed.

Unknown authorUnknown author on Wikimedia

3. False Dmitry I of Russia 

Feigning to be the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible who was believed to have been poisoned, False Dmitry gathered thousands of supporters to his cause. He was able to take the throne of Russia in Moscow for roughly a year before being killed in 1605. He was burned and then most historians agree his ashes were expelled out of a cannon towards Poland.

17-18th century engraver on Wikimedia

4. The Second False Dmitry 

Shortly after False Dmitry I, another imposter came out of nowhere claiming to be him. Bizarrely, the first False Dmitry’s widow “identified” her new lover as her passed husband so that she could keep her status. He never made it all the way back to the Kremlin, but he did establish a large pretender camp that plunged Russia into years of civil war.

Conrad Ermisch on Wikimedia

5. The Third False Dmitry 

As luck would have it, another imposter arose in Russia around the same year! Also known as Pugachev, this guy rode into the city of Pskov and declared himself the rightful tsar. He gained the support of the Cossacks for a little while before he was eventually turned in and transported to Moscow for his crimes.

G. F. Galaktionov on Wikimedia

6. The False Sebastian of Portugal 

King Sebastian of Portugal passed in battle during an expedition to Morocco in 1578. Not wanting to accept their king was gone, some Portuguese continued to cling to hope that their ruler was still alive. An Italian named Marco Tullio Catizone showed up in Venice many years later claiming to be King Sebastian returned from his adventures. He didn't look anything like the deceased monarch but still attracted some Portuguese exiles to his cause until the Spanish intervened.

Ewan Munro from London, UK on Wikimedia

7. The Baker of Modena as King Enzio 

Walking around looking like the king sounds like a pretty good life. Unless you're a baker from Modena in 13th-century Italy who started acting like he was King Enzio of Sardinia. Local authorities shut down his coup attempt pretty quickly, but not before he got a few peasants to follow his lead.

Paul Hermans on Wikimedia

8. Giannino di Guccio as John I of France 

Giannino di Guccio was told by conspirators that he was actually King John the Posthumous of France. The boy-king supposedly passed as an infant but Guccio spent decades posing as the rightful King of France from his home in Italy. He even convinced some Hungarian lords to recognize him as their King at one point. Admirable effort for a pretend king.

Giovanni Battista de'Cavalieri on Wikimedia

9. The False Margaret, Maid of Norway 

Young Margaret passed on her voyage to Scotland, starting the succession crisis that would reshape British history. Many years later, a woman showed up in Bergen claiming to be the young princess. She told everyone that she had been sold by her nurses after Margret's passing. The commoners of Norway rallied behind her until the King had her burned at the stake.

Jacob Truedson Demitz for Ristesson on Wikimedia

10. False Olaf of Denmark 

Some man showed up in Denmark claiming to be King Olaf II of Denmark and Norway. He supposedly passed while lying in his mother's arms as a child so Queen Margaret was rightly skeptical. She brought this mysterious traveler to her for questioning where he eventually confessed to being a Prussian commoner.

Väsk on Wikimedia

11. The False Richard II 

Considered long passed in 1400, Richard II quickly became the subject of impostors who whispered that they were the true king. Thomas Warde of Trumpington spent nearly two decades running this rumor while living comfortably as a guest of the Scottish court. He was frequently used as a political football by Henry IV's enemies but never once took up arms himself.

AnonymousUnknown author on Wikimedia

12. The "King of the Alps" as Louis XVII 

Dozens of men professed to be the "Lost Dauphin" of France during their revolution, but perhaps none more colorful than the King of the Alps. A vagrant that wandered from town to town telling stories of his miraculous escape. He never gained much political support but still found an audience amongst the common people.

old pictture on Wikimedia

13. Karl Wilhelm Naundorf as the French Heir 

Of all the pretenders to the title of Louis XVII, Naundorf arguably had the most longevity as his descendants continued to pursue legal claim to the throne for over a hundred years. Showing up in Berlin with the story of being smuggled out of prison in a laundry basket, Naundorf convinced many that he was the real deal, living his whole life as though he was royal.

Louis-Pierre Deseine on Wikimedia

14. The False Sigismund of Hungary 

Taking advantage of Hungary's frequent fifteenth century power vacuums, an imposter Sigismund promised to rescue the country by reinstating former laws and lowering peasant taxes. He was able to maintain a small presence in outlying provinces until the real ruling council sent forces to look into the self-proclaimed king's popularity.

1566 anonymous Ottoman author on Wikimedia

15. Yemelyan Pugachev as Peter III 

Pretending to be Peter III, Catherine the Great's husband, this Russian took his Imperial act all the way across Russia. Promising to end the duty of serfdom to the nobility, he created a massive rebellion that came within a hair's breadth of overthrowing the government. Pugachev was eventually captured and brought to Moscow in a cage made of iron bars.

Lucas Conrad Pfandzelt on Wikimedia

16. The False Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire 

Frederick II was supposed to have passed away years prior, but a wandering hermit by the name of Tile Kolup showed up in Germany insisting that the emperor had been traveling incognito in the East. He proceeded to construct a miniature court for himself and began putting out official decrees which several German cities honored for some time. It took King Rudolf of Habsburg to bring order back to the region by arresting Kolup as a heretic.

Alexander Zick (1845–1907) on Wikimedia

17. The False Baldwin of Flanders 

Emperor Baldwin I of Jerusalem was one of many leaders who vanished without a trace on the crusade of 1205. Two decades later, a well-built man showed up in the forest of Glan-Châtel and declared himself the missing monarch. The impoverished Flemish people immediately took him up as their lord until the King of France uncovered his past as a tavern keeper named Bertrand of Ray. He was subsequently dragged through the streets as a traitor.

Antonius Sanderus on Wikimedia

18. The False James IV of Scotland

Scotland was still smarting from its defeat at Flodden when imposters began appearing around the countryside claiming to be King James IV. Many refused to believe that their sovereign had perished and waited eagerly for his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Several thousand false kings emerged over the years but none ever managed to overthrow the regency government.

Unknown authorUnknown author on Wikimedia

19. The False Valdemar of Brandenburg

A humble old man came forward in the 1360s and announced that he was the Margrave Valdemar, believed to have been gone for twenty-eight years. Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV accepted this claim and allowed him to return to his former estate as if nothing had happened. When it was discovered that he was merely a miller with no legitimate claim to the throne, Charles faced great embarrassment.

Max Unger (sculptor) on Wikimedia

20. The False Prince of Montenegro 

Stephen the Little of Russia allegedly hid out in Montenegro for years, eventually convincing the citizens there that he was their king. In reality, he was said to be the late Russian Tsar Peter III and ruled over the mountainous nation with aplomb. Numerous reforms were made under his guidance until his would-be assassin, on behalf of the Ottomans, found him.

Stefano Zannowich on Wikimedia