List of people known as the Great facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This is a list of people who were known as "the Great" during their lives or after they passed away. This special title was given to them because of their amazing achievements, like leading armies to victory, ruling their kingdoms wisely, or making big changes in their societies. Other languages have similar titles, like e Bozorg in Persian and e Azam in Urdu.

The idea of being called "the Great" started in ancient Persia. It was first used for Cyrus II, a powerful king of the Achaemenid Empire. When Alexander III conquered Persia, he also started to be called "the Great." This title became very strongly linked to him. Later, other rulers like Antiochus the Great also used this title. Over time, the term "the Great" wasn't just for rulers. It was also used for important thinkers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.

Sometimes, people were called "the Great" while they were still alive, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the title after they died, such as the Indian emperor Ashoka. The reasons for someone being called "the Great" can be different, and sometimes the title sticks more than others. For example, Louis XIV of France was often called "the Great" when he was alive, but today people usually call him "the Sun King."

Kings, Queens, and Emperors Known as "the Great"
Important Nobles and Leaders Called "the Great"
Military Leaders Called "the Great"
Religious Figures Called "the Great"
- Christian Leaders
- Jewish Leaders
Legendary and Mythological Figures
See also

Kings, Queens, and Emperors Known as "the Great"

Name	What they were known for	Years they lived or ruled
Abbas the Great	King of Persia	1588 – 1629
Abgar VIII	King of Osroene	? – 212
Akbar the Great	Third Mughal emperor of India	1542 – 1605
Alan I, King of Brittany	Duke of Brittany	? – 907
Ahmad Shah Durrani	King of Afghanistan	1722 – 1773
Alexander the Great	King of Macedonia and Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt. A famous military leader.	-356 – -323
Alfonso III of Asturias	King of León, Galicia, and Asturias	848 – 910
Alfred the Great	King of Wessex and the Anglo-Saxons	848/849 – 899
Amenhotep III	Pharaoh of Egypt	? – -1353
Antiochus III the Great	Ruler of the Seleucid Empire	-241 – -187
Ashoka the Great	Third Mauryan Emperor of India	-268 – -232
Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj	First King of the Maratha Empire	1630 – -1680
Ashot I of Armenia	King of Armenia	820 – 890
Ashot I of Iberia	First Bagratid king of Georgia	? – 830
Askia Mohammad I	Ruler of the Songhai Empire	1442 – 1538
Bagrat V of Georgia	King of Georgia	? – 1393
Barnim III	Duke of Stettin Pomerania	c. 1300 – 1368
Bayinnaung	King of the Toungoo Dynasty (in present-day Myanmar)	1550 – 1581
Berengaria of Castile	Queen of Castile and Toledo	1179 – 1246
Bhumibol Adulyadej	King of Thailand	1927 – 2016
Bogusław V	Duke of Wolgast and Słupsk	1317/1318 – 1374
Bolesław I the Brave	First king of Poland	967 – 1025
Casimir III the Great	King of Poland	1310 – 1370
Catherine the Great	Empress of Russia	1729 – 1796
Charlemagne ("Charles the Great")	King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans	800 – 814
Chandragupta Maurya	King of the Maurya Empire (India, China, Afghanistan, Nepal)	-340 - -298
Chlothar II	King of Neustria and King of the Franks	584 – 629
Chulalongkorn	King of Siam (in present-day Thailand)	1868 – 1910
Constantine the Great	Roman emperor	272 – 337
Cnut the Great	King of England, Denmark, and Norway	985 or 995 – 1035
Cyrus the Great	Founder and first Shahanshah of Persia (in present-day Iran)	-600 or -576 – -530
Darius the Great	Third Shahanshah of Persia (in present-day Iran)	-550 – -486
Eucratides I	Ruler of the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kingdoms	-170 – -145
Ewuare	Founder and Oba (king) of the Benin Empire (in present-day Nigeria)	? – 1473
Farrukhan the Great	Ispahbadh of Tabaristan	712 – 728
Ferdinand I of León	King of León and Count of Castile	1015 – 1065
Frederick the Great	King of Prussia	1712 – 1786
Genghis Khan	Founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire	1162 – 1227
Gwrgan Fawr	King of Ergyng	c. 619 – 645
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden	King of Sweden and a noted military leader	1594 – 1632
Gwanggaeto the Great	King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea	374 – 413
Henry IV of France	King of France and Navarre	1553 – 1610
Herod the Great	King of Judea	-73/-74 – -4
Hugh III of Cyprus	King of Cyprus and Jerusalem	1267 – 1284
Hugh Magnus	Co-King of France	1007 – 1025
Inal the Great of Circassia	Supreme Prince of Circassia	1427 – 1453
Ivan III of Russia	Grand Prince of Moscow	1440 – 1505
Iyasu I	Emperor of Ethiopia	1654 – 1706
Jeongjo of Joseon	22nd King of the Joseon Dynasty	1753 – 1800
John I of Portugal	King of Portugal and the Algarve	1358 – 1433
John II of Aragon and Navarre	King of Aragon and Navarre	1398 – 1479
Justinian I	Roman Emperor (Eastern)	483 – 565
Kamehameha I	First king of Hawaii	1758 – 1819
Kangxi Emperor	Emperor of Qing China	1654 – 1722
Kanishka	Emperor of the Kushan Empire, ruled Central Asia and parts of India	127 – 150
Kvirike III of Kakheti	King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia	1010 – 1029
Kublai Khan	Mongol ruler and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty	1215 – 1294
Leo I the Thracian	Roman emperor	457 – 474
Llywelyn the Great	King of Gwynedd and ruler of most of Wales	1172 – 1240
Louis I of Hungary	King of Hungary, Croatia, and Poland	1326 – 1382
Lê Thánh Tông	Emperor of Đại Việt, the longest-reigning and greatest emperor of the Later Lê dynasty	1442 – 1497
Louis XIV of France	King of France and Navarre	1638 – 1715
Maharaja Ranjit Singh	King of Punjab (India and Pakistan)	1780 – 1839
Manuel I Komnenos	Byzantine emperor	1143 – 1180
Marianus IV of Arborea	Judge of Arborea	1319 – 1376
Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia	Prince of Serbia	1780 – 1860
Mircea the Elder	Voivode of Wallachia	1386 – 1394, 1397 – 1418
Mithridates I of Parthia	Fifth King of Parthia (in present-day Iran)	-171 – -132
Mithridates II of Parthia	Eighth King of Parthia (in present-day Iran)	-121 – -91
Mithridates VI Eupator	King of Pontus	-120 – -63
Mongkut	King of Siam (in present-day Thailand)	1804 – 1868
Mubarak Al-Sabah	Ruler of Kuwait	1840 – 1915
Mstislav I of Kiev	Grand Prince of Kievan Rus'	1076 – 1132
Narai	King of Ayutthaya (in present-day Thailand)	1633 – 1688
Naresuan	King of Ayutthaya (in present-day Thailand)	1590 – 1605
Nebuchadnezzar II	King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire	-642 – -562
Otto the Great	Holy Roman Emperor	912 – 973
Owain Gwynedd	King of All Wales	c. 1100/23 – 1170
Pakal	Ruler of the Maya city-state of Palenque	603 – 683
Parakramabahu I	King of Polonnaruwa	1123 – 1186
Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia	King of Croatia	1059 – 1075
Peter the Great	Tsar of Russia; founder of the Russian Empire	1672 – 1725
Peter III of Aragon	King of Aragon and King of Sicily	1239 – 1285
Pharasmanes I of Iberia	King of Iberia	1 – 58
Phutthayotfa Chulalok	King of Siam (In present-day Thailand)	1782 – 1809
Qin Shi Huang	First emperor of China, who unified China	-259 – -210
Radama I	First king of greater Madagascar	1793 – 1828
Radu IV the Great	Voivode of Wallachia	1495 – 1508
Rajaraja Chola I	Imperial Chola Emperor of India	947 – 1014
Rajendra Chola I	Imperial Chola Emperor of India	979 – 1044
Ramesses II	Pharaoh of Egypt, known for his temples and military feats.	-1279 – -1213
Ram Khamhaeng	King of Sukhothai (In present-day Thailand)	1237/1247 – 1298
Reza Shah	Shah of Iran	1925 – 1941
Rhodri the Great	King of Gwynedd (in present-day Wales)	820 – 878
Roman the Great	Grand Prince of Kiev	1160 – 1205
Sancho III of Pamplona	King of Navarre	992 – 1035
Sargon of Akkad	Ruler of the Akkadian Empire	? – -2215
Scorpion II	King of Thinis	c. 3150 BC - 3135 BC
Sejong the Great	Fourth King of the Joseon Dynasty	1397 – 1450
Shapur II	Tenth Shahanshah of Persia	309 – 379
Simeon I of Bulgaria	Tsar of Bulgaria	864 – 927
Simon I of Kartli	King of Kartli	1537 – 1611
Solomon I of Imereti	King of Imereti	1735 – 1784
Sonni Ali Ber	First Ruler of the Songhai Empire	1462 – 1492
Stefan Uroš I	King of Serbia	1243 – 1276
Stephen the Great	Prince of Moldavia (Romania)	1457 – 1504
Svatopluk I of Moravia	King of Moravia	840 – 894
Taksin	King of the Thonburi Kingdom (in present-day Thailand)	1734 – 1783
Tamar of Georgia	Queen of the Georgian Empire	1160 – 1223
Emperor Taizong of Tang	Emperor of Tang China	598 – 649
Theoderic the Great	King of the Ostrogoths and a viceroy of the Eastern Roman Empire	454 – 526
Theodosius I	Roman emperor	347 – 395
Thoros II of Armenia	Lord of Armenian Cilicia	? – 1169
Thutmose III	Pharaoh of Egypt	-1481 – -1425
Tigranes the Great	Emperor of Armenia	-140 – -55
Tiridates III of Armenia	King of Armenia	285 – 339
Valdemar I of Denmark	King of Denmark	1131 – 1182
Valentinian I	Roman emperor	364 – 375
Vigraharaja IV	King of the Chauhan Dynasty of India	1150 – 1164
Vladimir the Great	Kievan Rus' ruler; Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Kiev	958 – 1015
Vytautas	Grand Duke of Lithuania	1350 – 1430
Emperor Wu of Han	Emperor of Han China, from whom the Han Chinese people are named	-156 – -87
Xerxes I	Fourth Shahanshah of Persia	-519 – -465
Yuknoom Ch'een II	Maya king of Kaan	600 – c. 680

Important Nobles and Leaders Called "the Great"

Name	What they were known for	Years they lived or ruled
Alain I of Albret	French aristocrat	1440 – 1522
Amadeus V of Savoy	Count of Savoy	1249 – 1323
Arnulf I, Count of Flanders	Count of Flanders	893 – 964
Atenulf I of Capua	Prince of Capua	? – c. 910
Bogislaw X	Duke of Pomerania	1454 – 1523
Bruno	Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia	925 – 965
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy	Duke of Savoy	1562 – 1630
Charles III, Duke of Lorraine	Duke of Lorraine	1543 – 1608
Conrad, Margrave of Meissen	Margrave of Meissen	1097 – 1157
David III of Tao	Prince of Tao	966 – 1001
Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg	German prince who also ruled a large part of Denmark	1292 – 1340
Gero	Ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large region in Europe	900 – 965
Godfrey I of Louvain	Count of Brussels and Leuven; Duke of Lower Lorraine	1060 – 1139
Gothelo I, Duke of Lorraine	Duke of Lorraine; count of Verdun; and margrave of Antwerp	967 – 1044
Gurgen II of Tao	Prince of Tao	918 – 941
Hanno I the Great	Carthaginian politician and military leader	4th century BC
Hanno II the Great	Carthaginian general and politician	3rd century BC
Hanno III the Great	Carthaginian politician	2nd century BC
Henry I, Duke of Burgundy	Duke of Burgundy	946 – 1002
Henry V of Luxembourg	Count of Luxembourg	1216 – 1281
Hugh the Great	Count of Paris and Duke of the Franks	898 – 956
Hugh, Count of Vermandois	Count of Vermandois	1057 – 1101
Hugh, Margrave of Tuscany	Margrave of Tuscany	953/954 – 1001
Humphrey I de Bohun	Anglo-Norman aristocrat	? – 1123
Intef the Elder	Nomarch of Thebes, Egypt	? – c. -2135
Matthew II of Montmorency	Lord of Montmorency	1189 – 1230
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria	Ruler of Bavaria	1573 – 1651
Milo I of Montlhéry	Lord of Montlhéry	1095 – 1102
Odo the Great	Duke of Aquitaine	? – 735
Pompey	Military and political leader of the Roman Republic	-106 – -48
Raghoji I of Nagpur	King of Nagpur	1739 – 1755
Ralph IV of Valois	Count of Valois and other counties	1025 – 1074
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona	Count of Barcelona, Provence, and other counties	1082 – 1131
Robert I, Count of Dreux	Count of Dreux	1123 – 1188
Roger-Bernard II, Count of Foix	Count of Foix	1223 – 1241
Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury	Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel	? – 1094
Roger I of Sicily	Count of Sicily	c. 1030 – 1101
Świętopełk II the Great	Duke of Gdańsk Pomerania	? – 1266
Theobald II, Count of Champagne	Count of Blois and of Chartres	1090 – 1151
William I, Count of Burgundy	Count of Burgundy and Mâcon	1020 – 1087
William V, Duke of Aquitaine	Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitou	969 – 1030

Military Leaders Called "the Great"

Name	What they were known for	Years they lived or led
Afonso de Albuquerque	Portuguese general, statesman, and empire builder	1453 – 1515
Melias	Byzantine general of Armenian origin	10th century
Prokop the Great	Hussite general in Bohemia	1380 – 1434

Religious Figures Called "the Great"

Christian Leaders

Name	What they were known for	Years they lived
Abraham Kidunaia	Hermit, priest, and Christian saint	? – 366
Abraham the Great of Kashkar	Monk and saint of the Church of the East	492 – 586
Albertus Magnus	Medieval German philosopher and theologian	1193/1206 – 1280
Anthony the Great	Early Christian saint of Egypt	251 – 356
Arsenius the Great	Roman anchorite saint in Egypt	354 – 445
Athanasius of Alexandria	Early Christian saint and bishop of Alexandria	296 – 373
Babai the Great	Assyrian church leader	551 – 628
Basil of Caesarea	Greek bishop and theologian	330 – 379
Bertin	Frankish Abbot of a monastery named after him	615 – 709
Bruno the Great	Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia	925 – 965
Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria	Coptic Orthodox Church pope	? – 454
Euthymius the Great	Abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint	377 – 473
Gertrude the Great	German Benedictine, mystic, theologian, and Roman Catholic saint	1256 – 1302
Pope Gregory I	Roman Catholic pope	540 – 604
Hugh of Cluny	Abbot of Cluny	1024 – 1109
Isaac of Armenia	Armenian Catholicos	c. 354 – 439
James, son of Zebedee	One of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ	3 – 44
Joannicius the Great	Byzantine hermit, theologian, and saint	752 – 846
Pope John Paul II	Roman Catholic pope	1920 – 2005
Pope Leo I	Roman Catholic pope	391 or 400 – 461
Macarius of Egypt	Egyptian hermit	300 – 391
Michael the Great	Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church	1126 – 1199
Nerses I	Armenian Catholicos	? – 373
Pope Nicholas I	Roman Catholic pope	800 – 867
Photius I of Constantinople	Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople	810 – 893
Severus of Antioch	Oriental Orthodox saint and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church	459/465 – 538
Shenoute	Oriental Orthodox saint and abbot of the White Monastery	c. 348 – 465
Sisoes the Great	An early desert father, a solitary monk in the Egyptian desert	? – 429
William of Maleval	Founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites	? - 1157

Jewish Leaders

Name	What they were known for	Years they lived
Aharon of Karlin (I)	Hasidic rabbi	1736 – 1772
Eliezer ben Hurcanus	Rabbi in Judea	1st century
Hiyya the Great	Rabbi in Judea	3rd century

Legendary and Mythological Figures

Name	What they were known for	Sources
Ajax the Great	Greek hero in the Iliad
Beli Mawr	In medieval Welsh mythology and literature
Belinus	Legendary king of the Britons
Boyi	Tribal leader of the Longshan culture
Fergus Mór	Semi-mythical king of Dál Riata
Gradlon	Semi-mythical king of Cornouaille
Hayk	Legendary founder and patriarch of the Armenian nation
Phrom	Legendary king of Singhanavati Realm
Yu the Great	Legendary ruler in ancient China