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| you want gold? |
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| Total Votes : 32 |
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 Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:25 am
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No.
overall No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original release date
21 1 "Wuffenloaf" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
After the events of the previous episode, the Hammonds deal with the aftermath of Anne learning about Sheila being undead.
22 2 "Knighttime" Ken Kwapis Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
Eric accidentally starts a rumor that he and Abby are dating. Sheila and Joel meet a Knight of Serbia as Anne helps them out with Chris and Christa.
23 3 "We Let People Die Every Day" Geeta V. Patel Clay Graham March 29, 2019
In Sheila's quest to get Anne to stop believing she is a miracle from god, she admits the truth to her. At the same time, the FBI want to question the environmental club about what happened at the fracking site. Joel and Sheila deal with Tommy believing Christa is undead. Sheila asks Joel to consider being a member of the undead.
24 4 "More of a Cat Person" Andy Ackerman Ben Smith March 29, 2019
As they worry about speaking with the FBI, Ramona texts Eric, surprising him and Abby. Ramona returns for Mr. Ball-legs and apologizes to Eric. Sheila and Joel have their first open house with their new company which has Sheila helping a woman from Anne's church group. She then plots to eat the woman's ex-husband. Anne dumps Lisa. Eric speaks with the FBI and learns that they could connect him to the C4 used. As Eric speaks with the FBI, Abby goes to talk to Ramona and threatens her to leave town without Eric. Ramona is threatened by the motel manager and it results in Mr. Ball-legs eating the guy. Joel defrosts Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs instead of giving her an answer to him being a member of the undead. Tommy contacts them after finding their website of their business with plans to kill Sheila.
25 5 "Belle and Sebastian Protect the Head" Marc Buckland Melissa Hunter March 29, 2019
Ron approaches Sheila and Joel about turning him into a member of the undead. Abby begins to ignore Eric who shows up freaking out about the C4. When trying to remove the excess C4, Eric learns that the key to the locked room is no longer where it had been. Sheila and Joel head to Tommy's and find his own kill room in the garage. When Tommy goes to try killing Sheila, his daughter shows up so they rush home. Sheila decides to volunteer for Meals on Wheels. As Eric looks into unlocking the room with a lock pick, the FBI agent shows up there to look in the closet. Lisa reveals that she figured out what Abby and Eric did. Joel and Sheila talk Tommy out of killing Sheila. Ron breaks in and gets Gary to bite him.
26 6 "The Chicken and the Pear" Rebecca Asher Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz March 29, 2019
Joel and Sheila look for Ron. Tommy returns to talk to Joel and give him all the information he collected on Sheila. Joel asks about how to become the Knights of Serbia replacement. Abby meets Jean and Jean insults Abby in front of Sheila. Sheila causes the woman to have a minor episode causing the women to help her out. Eric helps Joel with his tasks to be a Knight of Serbia and Joel admits he knows what happened to Abby. Joel and Sheila meet Morgan, a friend of Ron's who is also a member of the undead and he tries to kill them. Abby shows up and helps save their lives, upsetting Sheila.
27 7 "A Specific Form of Recklessness" Ken Kwapis Caitlin Meares March 29, 2019
The day after the events of the previous episode, has the Hammonds dealing with the aftermath. The Serbians set up a chair to hold a member of the undead hostage. Sheila admits to Gary about zombifying Jean, something Joel does not know. One of Sheila's murders shows up online due to Sheila returning the woman's cat to her. Sheila then decides to find a way to unframe the woman. Abby has to speak with the FBI and she learns that the woman believes it was Eric who blew up the fracking site. As Joel and Sheila work on figuring a plan, they find Ron, leaving a dead body in the trunk of their car. Joel is unhappy with Ron for wanting to zombify 18 people. Due to the heat, the dead body exploded. It results in them deciding to frame him for another explosion to get the FBI off Eric's back.
28 8 "Forever!" Adam Arkin Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
After framing the dead body for another explosion, Joel has ringing ears. Abby confides in Eric about having nightmares after killing a guy. Joel and Sheila try to figure out what to do about Ron. Abby learns that the head of the order was taking over the area since Joel did not join the knights. Abby and Eric learn that Eric is no longer a suspect from the FBI. Sheila brings Jean food to keep her inside and learns that the woman wants to kill her landlord. The Serbians watch from a distance as Abby and Joel tie up Ron outside on a neighbor's grass. Eric accidentally leaves a detonator in his car which is found when he is driving to his MIT interview with Winter. Jean and Sheila kill her aide, who had been scamming her. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs escapes as they send in Joel's application to the Knights of Serbia.
29 9 "Zombody" Steve Pink Clay Graham March 29, 2019
Sheila and Joel decide to gag Ron in the hopes of stopping him from biting someone when the Grand Prior is there. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs hides in plain sight before Petra arrives; however, it begins crawling around behind Petra during the meeting. Eric approaches Abby and reveals that the detonator was in his car and was found by Winter. Petra has to send Joel on a mission to get rid of Ron. Abby bonds with Winter after confiding in her on the truth of the fracking explosion. Ron escapes and is kidnapped by Serbians. He then zombifies them and they decide to go after Joel, right after he is knighted by Petra.
30 10 "The Cult of Sheila" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
Dobrivoje follows Joel to the storage locker that housed the cooler with the dead body parts. After Joel leaves, Dobrivoje breaks in and begins to suspect that Joel is a member of the undead. At the Hammond home, Gary decides he wants more involvement in Joel and Sheila's realty company. Sheila wants Joel to decide whether he wants to become undead to be with her forever. At the launch party, Jean, Tommy, Ron, and Dobrivoje are unexpected guests. Dobrivoje threatens Joel into leaving the party. Ron reveals that he zombified some people and told them everything. Sheila, Ron, Tommy, and Jean go after Joel. After revealing his plan to Joel, Dobrivoje learns that he is not undead. Sheila finds them and Dobrivoje stabs her with a pole and escapes. Tommy, Jean and Ron find help Joel and Sheila and then escape. Sheila goes after Dobrivoje but Joel ultimately kills him. Dobrivoje's former henchmen show up at the Hammond home while Abby is talking to Eric. Abby realizes they are undead and ends up killing them to save herself and Eric. After her parents return home, Abby finds Eric and discusses them possibly dating. Joel buries the men, returns home to Sheila and reveals that he wants be with her forever. Mr. Ball-Legs climbs into Joel, causing him to pass out. Sheila bites Joel in order to save his life.
Production
Development
Fresco came up with the premise from wanting to make "a family show with an interesting approach that we haven't seen before". The zombie angle also allowed Fresco to explore the concept of narcissism: he stated "the undead are the ultimate narcissists. They want what they want when they want it and will do anything to just have what they want and don't care about other people's needs."[15]
For the setting, Fresco drew from his own experience growing up in San Fernando Valley. Santa Clarita was chosen because of its middle class residents.[15] The Hammonds' profession as realtors was chosen because "it gets them out into the world" as well as the "forced friendliness" inherent to the profession.[15]
Promotion
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod appeared in a Canadian promo for the series, promoting the eponymous "diet" in a parody of their Body Break series of television PSAs.[16]
In February 2017, advertising for the show sparked criticism in Germany, where Netflix promoted the show with posters depicting a human finger sliced up like a currywurst, a popular German fast food dish. After receiving more than 50 complaints that the advertising was glorifying violence and inducing fear, especially in children, the German Advertising Council, a self-regulatory institution, forwarded the complaints to the company. Netflix then decided to end the campaign and remove all posters.[17]
Critical reception
The first season of Santa Clarita Diet received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 78% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet serves up an excellent cast, frequent laughs, and an engaging premise — but the level of gore might not be to everyone's taste."[18] Metacritic reports that the first season received "generally favorable reviews" with a score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics.[19]
The second season received generally positive reviews as well. The season has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus states: "Santa Clarita Diet rides the momentum of its freshman season with non-stop comedic gore and a big heart that bleeds — profusely — for its lovable characters."[20]
The third season has an approval rating of 100% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet's third season is a generous meal of entrails, morbid humor, and a touching affirmation of marital love — with Barrymore and Olyphant's pitch-perfect chemistry brightening each blood-soaked installment."[21]
References
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:25 am
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No.
overall No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original release date
21 1 "Wuffenloaf" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
After the events of the previous episode, the Hammonds deal with the aftermath of Anne learning about Sheila being undead.
22 2 "Knighttime" Ken Kwapis Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
Eric accidentally starts a rumor that he and Abby are dating. Sheila and Joel meet a Knight of Serbia as Anne helps them out with Chris and Christa.
23 3 "We Let People Die Every Day" Geeta V. Patel Clay Graham March 29, 2019
In Sheila's quest to get Anne to stop believing she is a miracle from god, she admits the truth to her. At the same time, the FBI want to question the environmental club about what happened at the fracking site. Joel and Sheila deal with Tommy believing Christa is undead. Sheila asks Joel to consider being a member of the undead.
24 4 "More of a Cat Person" Andy Ackerman Ben Smith March 29, 2019
As they worry about speaking with the FBI, Ramona texts Eric, surprising him and Abby. Ramona returns for Mr. Ball-legs and apologizes to Eric. Sheila and Joel have their first open house with their new company which has Sheila helping a woman from Anne's church group. She then plots to eat the woman's ex-husband. Anne dumps Lisa. Eric speaks with the FBI and learns that they could connect him to the C4 used. As Eric speaks with the FBI, Abby goes to talk to Ramona and threatens her to leave town without Eric. Ramona is threatened by the motel manager and it results in Mr. Ball-legs eating the guy. Joel defrosts Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs instead of giving her an answer to him being a member of the undead. Tommy contacts them after finding their website of their business with plans to kill Sheila.
25 5 "Belle and Sebastian Protect the Head" Marc Buckland Melissa Hunter March 29, 2019
Ron approaches Sheila and Joel about turning him into a member of the undead. Abby begins to ignore Eric who shows up freaking out about the C4. When trying to remove the excess C4, Eric learns that the key to the locked room is no longer where it had been. Sheila and Joel head to Tommy's and find his own kill room in the garage. When Tommy goes to try killing Sheila, his daughter shows up so they rush home. Sheila decides to volunteer for Meals on Wheels. As Eric looks into unlocking the room with a lock pick, the FBI agent shows up there to look in the closet. Lisa reveals that she figured out what Abby and Eric did. Joel and Sheila talk Tommy out of killing Sheila. Ron breaks in and gets Gary to bite him.
26 6 "The Chicken and the Pear" Rebecca Asher Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz March 29, 2019
Joel and Sheila look for Ron. Tommy returns to talk to Joel and give him all the information he collected on Sheila. Joel asks about how to become the Knights of Serbia replacement. Abby meets Jean and Jean insults Abby in front of Sheila. Sheila causes the woman to have a minor episode causing the women to help her out. Eric helps Joel with his tasks to be a Knight of Serbia and Joel admits he knows what happened to Abby. Joel and Sheila meet Morgan, a friend of Ron's who is also a member of the undead and he tries to kill them. Abby shows up and helps save their lives, upsetting Sheila.
27 7 "A Specific Form of Recklessness" Ken Kwapis Caitlin Meares March 29, 2019
The day after the events of the previous episode, has the Hammonds dealing with the aftermath. The Serbians set up a chair to hold a member of the undead hostage. Sheila admits to Gary about zombifying Jean, something Joel does not know. One of Sheila's murders shows up online due to Sheila returning the woman's cat to her. Sheila then decides to find a way to unframe the woman. Abby has to speak with the FBI and she learns that the woman believes it was Eric who blew up the fracking site. As Joel and Sheila work on figuring a plan, they find Ron, leaving a dead body in the trunk of their car. Joel is unhappy with Ron for wanting to zombify 18 people. Due to the heat, the dead body exploded. It results in them deciding to frame him for another explosion to get the FBI off Eric's back.
28 8 "Forever!" Adam Arkin Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
After framing the dead body for another explosion, Joel has ringing ears. Abby confides in Eric about having nightmares after killing a guy. Joel and Sheila try to figure out what to do about Ron. Abby learns that the head of the order was taking over the area since Joel did not join the knights. Abby and Eric learn that Eric is no longer a suspect from the FBI. Sheila brings Jean food to keep her inside and learns that the woman wants to kill her landlord. The Serbians watch from a distance as Abby and Joel tie up Ron outside on a neighbor's grass. Eric accidentally leaves a detonator in his car which is found when he is driving to his MIT interview with Winter. Jean and Sheila kill her aide, who had been scamming her. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs escapes as they send in Joel's application to the Knights of Serbia.
29 9 "Zombody" Steve Pink Clay Graham March 29, 2019
Sheila and Joel decide to gag Ron in the hopes of stopping him from biting someone when the Grand Prior is there. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs hides in plain sight before Petra arrives; however, it begins crawling around behind Petra during the meeting. Eric approaches Abby and reveals that the detonator was in his car and was found by Winter. Petra has to send Joel on a mission to get rid of Ron. Abby bonds with Winter after confiding in her on the truth of the fracking explosion. Ron escapes and is kidnapped by Serbians. He then zombifies them and they decide to go after Joel, right after he is knighted by Petra.
30 10 "The Cult of Sheila" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
Dobrivoje follows Joel to the storage locker that housed the cooler with the dead body parts. After Joel leaves, Dobrivoje breaks in and begins to suspect that Joel is a member of the undead. At the Hammond home, Gary decides he wants more involvement in Joel and Sheila's realty company. Sheila wants Joel to decide whether he wants to become undead to be with her forever. At the launch party, Jean, Tommy, Ron, and Dobrivoje are unexpected guests. Dobrivoje threatens Joel into leaving the party. Ron reveals that he zombified some people and told them everything. Sheila, Ron, Tommy, and Jean go after Joel. After revealing his plan to Joel, Dobrivoje learns that he is not undead. Sheila finds them and Dobrivoje stabs her with a pole and escapes. Tommy, Jean and Ron find help Joel and Sheila and then escape. Sheila goes after Dobrivoje but Joel ultimately kills him. Dobrivoje's former henchmen show up at the Hammond home while Abby is talking to Eric. Abby realizes they are undead and ends up killing them to save herself and Eric. After her parents return home, Abby finds Eric and discusses them possibly dating. Joel buries the men, returns home to Sheila and reveals that he wants be with her forever. Mr. Ball-Legs climbs into Joel, causing him to pass out. Sheila bites Joel in order to save his life.
Production
Development
Fresco came up with the premise from wanting to make "a family show with an interesting approach that we haven't seen before". The zombie angle also allowed Fresco to explore the concept of narcissism: he stated "the undead are the ultimate narcissists. They want what they want when they want it and will do anything to just have what they want and don't care about other people's needs."[15]
For the setting, Fresco drew from his own experience growing up in San Fernando Valley. Santa Clarita was chosen because of its middle class residents.[15] The Hammonds' profession as realtors was chosen because "it gets them out into the world" as well as the "forced friendliness" inherent to the profession.[15]
Promotion
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod appeared in a Canadian promo for the series, promoting the eponymous "diet" in a parody of their Body Break series of television PSAs.[16]
In February 2017, advertising for the show sparked criticism in Germany, where Netflix promoted the show with posters depicting a human finger sliced up like a currywurst, a popular German fast food dish. After receiving more than 50 complaints that the advertising was glorifying violence and inducing fear, especially in children, the German Advertising Council, a self-regulatory institution, forwarded the complaints to the company. Netflix then decided to end the campaign and remove all posters.[17]
Critical reception
The first season of Santa Clarita Diet received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 78% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet serves up an excellent cast, frequent laughs, and an engaging premise — but the level of gore might not be to everyone's taste."[18] Metacritic reports that the first season received "generally favorable reviews" with a score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics.[19]
The second season received generally positive reviews as well. The season has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus states: "Santa Clarita Diet rides the momentum of its freshman season with non-stop comedic gore and a big heart that bleeds — profusely — for its lovable characters."[20]
The third season has an approval rating of 100% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet's third season is a generous meal of entrails, morbid humor, and a touching affirmation of marital love — with Barrymore and Olyphant's pitch-perfect chemistry brightening each blood-soaked installment."[21]
References
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:25 am
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No.
overall No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original release date
21 1 "Wuffenloaf" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
After the events of the previous episode, the Hammonds deal with the aftermath of Anne learning about Sheila being undead.
22 2 "Knighttime" Ken Kwapis Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
Eric accidentally starts a rumor that he and Abby are dating. Sheila and Joel meet a Knight of Serbia as Anne helps them out with Chris and Christa.
23 3 "We Let People Die Every Day" Geeta V. Patel Clay Graham March 29, 2019
In Sheila's quest to get Anne to stop believing she is a miracle from god, she admits the truth to her. At the same time, the FBI want to question the environmental club about what happened at the fracking site. Joel and Sheila deal with Tommy believing Christa is undead. Sheila asks Joel to consider being a member of the undead.
24 4 "More of a Cat Person" Andy Ackerman Ben Smith March 29, 2019
As they worry about speaking with the FBI, Ramona texts Eric, surprising him and Abby. Ramona returns for Mr. Ball-legs and apologizes to Eric. Sheila and Joel have their first open house with their new company which has Sheila helping a woman from Anne's church group. She then plots to eat the woman's ex-husband. Anne dumps Lisa. Eric speaks with the FBI and learns that they could connect him to the C4 used. As Eric speaks with the FBI, Abby goes to talk to Ramona and threatens her to leave town without Eric. Ramona is threatened by the motel manager and it results in Mr. Ball-legs eating the guy. Joel defrosts Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs instead of giving her an answer to him being a member of the undead. Tommy contacts them after finding their website of their business with plans to kill Sheila.
25 5 "Belle and Sebastian Protect the Head" Marc Buckland Melissa Hunter March 29, 2019
Ron approaches Sheila and Joel about turning him into a member of the undead. Abby begins to ignore Eric who shows up freaking out about the C4. When trying to remove the excess C4, Eric learns that the key to the locked room is no longer where it had been. Sheila and Joel head to Tommy's and find his own kill room in the garage. When Tommy goes to try killing Sheila, his daughter shows up so they rush home. Sheila decides to volunteer for Meals on Wheels. As Eric looks into unlocking the room with a lock pick, the FBI agent shows up there to look in the closet. Lisa reveals that she figured out what Abby and Eric did. Joel and Sheila talk Tommy out of killing Sheila. Ron breaks in and gets Gary to bite him.
26 6 "The Chicken and the Pear" Rebecca Asher Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz March 29, 2019
Joel and Sheila look for Ron. Tommy returns to talk to Joel and give him all the information he collected on Sheila. Joel asks about how to become the Knights of Serbia replacement. Abby meets Jean and Jean insults Abby in front of Sheila. Sheila causes the woman to have a minor episode causing the women to help her out. Eric helps Joel with his tasks to be a Knight of Serbia and Joel admits he knows what happened to Abby. Joel and Sheila meet Morgan, a friend of Ron's who is also a member of the undead and he tries to kill them. Abby shows up and helps save their lives, upsetting Sheila.
27 7 "A Specific Form of Recklessness" Ken Kwapis Caitlin Meares March 29, 2019
The day after the events of the previous episode, has the Hammonds dealing with the aftermath. The Serbians set up a chair to hold a member of the undead hostage. Sheila admits to Gary about zombifying Jean, something Joel does not know. One of Sheila's murders shows up online due to Sheila returning the woman's cat to her. Sheila then decides to find a way to unframe the woman. Abby has to speak with the FBI and she learns that the woman believes it was Eric who blew up the fracking site. As Joel and Sheila work on figuring a plan, they find Ron, leaving a dead body in the trunk of their car. Joel is unhappy with Ron for wanting to zombify 18 people. Due to the heat, the dead body exploded. It results in them deciding to frame him for another explosion to get the FBI off Eric's back.
28 8 "Forever!" Adam Arkin Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
After framing the dead body for another explosion, Joel has ringing ears. Abby confides in Eric about having nightmares after killing a guy. Joel and Sheila try to figure out what to do about Ron. Abby learns that the head of the order was taking over the area since Joel did not join the knights. Abby and Eric learn that Eric is no longer a suspect from the FBI. Sheila brings Jean food to keep her inside and learns that the woman wants to kill her landlord. The Serbians watch from a distance as Abby and Joel tie up Ron outside on a neighbor's grass. Eric accidentally leaves a detonator in his car which is found when he is driving to his MIT interview with Winter. Jean and Sheila kill her aide, who had been scamming her. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs escapes as they send in Joel's application to the Knights of Serbia.
29 9 "Zombody" Steve Pink Clay Graham March 29, 2019
Sheila and Joel decide to gag Ron in the hopes of stopping him from biting someone when the Grand Prior is there. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs hides in plain sight before Petra arrives; however, it begins crawling around behind Petra during the meeting. Eric approaches Abby and reveals that the detonator was in his car and was found by Winter. Petra has to send Joel on a mission to get rid of Ron. Abby bonds with Winter after confiding in her on the truth of the fracking explosion. Ron escapes and is kidnapped by Serbians. He then zombifies them and they decide to go after Joel, right after he is knighted by Petra.
30 10 "The Cult of Sheila" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
Dobrivoje follows Joel to the storage locker that housed the cooler with the dead body parts. After Joel leaves, Dobrivoje breaks in and begins to suspect that Joel is a member of the undead. At the Hammond home, Gary decides he wants more involvement in Joel and Sheila's realty company. Sheila wants Joel to decide whether he wants to become undead to be with her forever. At the launch party, Jean, Tommy, Ron, and Dobrivoje are unexpected guests. Dobrivoje threatens Joel into leaving the party. Ron reveals that he zombified some people and told them everything. Sheila, Ron, Tommy, and Jean go after Joel. After revealing his plan to Joel, Dobrivoje learns that he is not undead. Sheila finds them and Dobrivoje stabs her with a pole and escapes. Tommy, Jean and Ron find help Joel and Sheila and then escape. Sheila goes after Dobrivoje but Joel ultimately kills him. Dobrivoje's former henchmen show up at the Hammond home while Abby is talking to Eric. Abby realizes they are undead and ends up killing them to save herself and Eric. After her parents return home, Abby finds Eric and discusses them possibly dating. Joel buries the men, returns home to Sheila and reveals that he wants be with her forever. Mr. Ball-Legs climbs into Joel, causing him to pass out. Sheila bites Joel in order to save his life.
Production
Development
Fresco came up with the premise from wanting to make "a family show with an interesting approach that we haven't seen before". The zombie angle also allowed Fresco to explore the concept of narcissism: he stated "the undead are the ultimate narcissists. They want what they want when they want it and will do anything to just have what they want and don't care about other people's needs."[15]
For the setting, Fresco drew from his own experience growing up in San Fernando Valley. Santa Clarita was chosen because of its middle class residents.[15] The Hammonds' profession as realtors was chosen because "it gets them out into the world" as well as the "forced friendliness" inherent to the profession.[15]
Promotion
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod appeared in a Canadian promo for the series, promoting the eponymous "diet" in a parody of their Body Break series of television PSAs.[16]
In February 2017, advertising for the show sparked criticism in Germany, where Netflix promoted the show with posters depicting a human finger sliced up like a currywurst, a popular German fast food dish. After receiving more than 50 complaints that the advertising was glorifying violence and inducing fear, especially in children, the German Advertising Council, a self-regulatory institution, forwarded the complaints to the company. Netflix then decided to end the campaign and remove all posters.[17]
Critical reception
The first season of Santa Clarita Diet received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 78% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet serves up an excellent cast, frequent laughs, and an engaging premise — but the level of gore might not be to everyone's taste."[18] Metacritic reports that the first season received "generally favorable reviews" with a score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics.[19]
The second season received generally positive reviews as well. The season has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus states: "Santa Clarita Diet rides the momentum of its freshman season with non-stop comedic gore and a big heart that bleeds — profusely — for its lovable characters."[20]
The third season has an approval rating of 100% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet's third season is a generous meal of entrails, morbid humor, and a touching affirmation of marital love — with Barrymore and Olyphant's pitch-perfect chemistry brightening each blood-soaked installment."[21]
References
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:26 am
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No.
overall No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original release date
21 1 "Wuffenloaf" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
After the events of the previous episode, the Hammonds deal with the aftermath of Anne learning about Sheila being undead.
22 2 "Knighttime" Ken Kwapis Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
Eric accidentally starts a rumor that he and Abby are dating. Sheila and Joel meet a Knight of Serbia as Anne helps them out with Chris and Christa.
23 3 "We Let People Die Every Day" Geeta V. Patel Clay Graham March 29, 2019
In Sheila's quest to get Anne to stop believing she is a miracle from god, she admits the truth to her. At the same time, the FBI want to question the environmental club about what happened at the fracking site. Joel and Sheila deal with Tommy believing Christa is undead. Sheila asks Joel to consider being a member of the undead.
24 4 "More of a Cat Person" Andy Ackerman Ben Smith March 29, 2019
As they worry about speaking with the FBI, Ramona texts Eric, surprising him and Abby. Ramona returns for Mr. Ball-legs and apologizes to Eric. Sheila and Joel have their first open house with their new company which has Sheila helping a woman from Anne's church group. She then plots to eat the woman's ex-husband. Anne dumps Lisa. Eric speaks with the FBI and learns that they could connect him to the C4 used. As Eric speaks with the FBI, Abby goes to talk to Ramona and threatens her to leave town without Eric. Ramona is threatened by the motel manager and it results in Mr. Ball-legs eating the guy. Joel defrosts Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs instead of giving her an answer to him being a member of the undead. Tommy contacts them after finding their website of their business with plans to kill Sheila.
25 5 "Belle and Sebastian Protect the Head" Marc Buckland Melissa Hunter March 29, 2019
Ron approaches Sheila and Joel about turning him into a member of the undead. Abby begins to ignore Eric who shows up freaking out about the C4. When trying to remove the excess C4, Eric learns that the key to the locked room is no longer where it had been. Sheila and Joel head to Tommy's and find his own kill room in the garage. When Tommy goes to try killing Sheila, his daughter shows up so they rush home. Sheila decides to volunteer for Meals on Wheels. As Eric looks into unlocking the room with a lock pick, the FBI agent shows up there to look in the closet. Lisa reveals that she figured out what Abby and Eric did. Joel and Sheila talk Tommy out of killing Sheila. Ron breaks in and gets Gary to bite him.
26 6 "The Chicken and the Pear" Rebecca Asher Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz March 29, 2019
Joel and Sheila look for Ron. Tommy returns to talk to Joel and give him all the information he collected on Sheila. Joel asks about how to become the Knights of Serbia replacement. Abby meets Jean and Jean insults Abby in front of Sheila. Sheila causes the woman to have a minor episode causing the women to help her out. Eric helps Joel with his tasks to be a Knight of Serbia and Joel admits he knows what happened to Abby. Joel and Sheila meet Morgan, a friend of Ron's who is also a member of the undead and he tries to kill them. Abby shows up and helps save their lives, upsetting Sheila.
27 7 "A Specific Form of Recklessness" Ken Kwapis Caitlin Meares March 29, 2019
The day after the events of the previous episode, has the Hammonds dealing with the aftermath. The Serbians set up a chair to hold a member of the undead hostage. Sheila admits to Gary about zombifying Jean, something Joel does not know. One of Sheila's murders shows up online due to Sheila returning the woman's cat to her. Sheila then decides to find a way to unframe the woman. Abby has to speak with the FBI and she learns that the woman believes it was Eric who blew up the fracking site. As Joel and Sheila work on figuring a plan, they find Ron, leaving a dead body in the trunk of their car. Joel is unhappy with Ron for wanting to zombify 18 people. Due to the heat, the dead body exploded. It results in them deciding to frame him for another explosion to get the FBI off Eric's back.
28 8 "Forever!" Adam Arkin Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
After framing the dead body for another explosion, Joel has ringing ears. Abby confides in Eric about having nightmares after killing a guy. Joel and Sheila try to figure out what to do about Ron. Abby learns that the head of the order was taking over the area since Joel did not join the knights. Abby and Eric learn that Eric is no longer a suspect from the FBI. Sheila brings Jean food to keep her inside and learns that the woman wants to kill her landlord. The Serbians watch from a distance as Abby and Joel tie up Ron outside on a neighbor's grass. Eric accidentally leaves a detonator in his car which is found when he is driving to his MIT interview with Winter. Jean and Sheila kill her aide, who had been scamming her. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs escapes as they send in Joel's application to the Knights of Serbia.
29 9 "Zombody" Steve Pink Clay Graham March 29, 2019
Sheila and Joel decide to gag Ron in the hopes of stopping him from biting someone when the Grand Prior is there. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs hides in plain sight before Petra arrives; however, it begins crawling around behind Petra during the meeting. Eric approaches Abby and reveals that the detonator was in his car and was found by Winter. Petra has to send Joel on a mission to get rid of Ron. Abby bonds with Winter after confiding in her on the truth of the fracking explosion. Ron escapes and is kidnapped by Serbians. He then zombifies them and they decide to go after Joel, right after he is knighted by Petra.
30 10 "The Cult of Sheila" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
Dobrivoje follows Joel to the storage locker that housed the cooler with the dead body parts. After Joel leaves, Dobrivoje breaks in and begins to suspect that Joel is a member of the undead. At the Hammond home, Gary decides he wants more involvement in Joel and Sheila's realty company. Sheila wants Joel to decide whether he wants to become undead to be with her forever. At the launch party, Jean, Tommy, Ron, and Dobrivoje are unexpected guests. Dobrivoje threatens Joel into leaving the party. Ron reveals that he zombified some people and told them everything. Sheila, Ron, Tommy, and Jean go after Joel. After revealing his plan to Joel, Dobrivoje learns that he is not undead. Sheila finds them and Dobrivoje stabs her with a pole and escapes. Tommy, Jean and Ron find help Joel and Sheila and then escape. Sheila goes after Dobrivoje but Joel ultimately kills him. Dobrivoje's former henchmen show up at the Hammond home while Abby is talking to Eric. Abby realizes they are undead and ends up killing them to save herself and Eric. After her parents return home, Abby finds Eric and discusses them possibly dating. Joel buries the men, returns home to Sheila and reveals that he wants be with her forever. Mr. Ball-Legs climbs into Joel, causing him to pass out. Sheila bites Joel in order to save his life.
Production
Development
Fresco came up with the premise from wanting to make "a family show with an interesting approach that we haven't seen before". The zombie angle also allowed Fresco to explore the concept of narcissism: he stated "the undead are the ultimate narcissists. They want what they want when they want it and will do anything to just have what they want and don't care about other people's needs."[15]
For the setting, Fresco drew from his own experience growing up in San Fernando Valley. Santa Clarita was chosen because of its middle class residents.[15] The Hammonds' profession as realtors was chosen because "it gets them out into the world" as well as the "forced friendliness" inherent to the profession.[15]
Promotion
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod appeared in a Canadian promo for the series, promoting the eponymous "diet" in a parody of their Body Break series of television PSAs.[16]
In February 2017, advertising for the show sparked criticism in Germany, where Netflix promoted the show with posters depicting a human finger sliced up like a currywurst, a popular German fast food dish. After receiving more than 50 complaints that the advertising was glorifying violence and inducing fear, especially in children, the German Advertising Council, a self-regulatory institution, forwarded the complaints to the company. Netflix then decided to end the campaign and remove all posters.[17]
Critical reception
The first season of Santa Clarita Diet received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 78% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet serves up an excellent cast, frequent laughs, and an engaging premise — but the level of gore might not be to everyone's taste."[18] Metacritic reports that the first season received "generally favorable reviews" with a score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics.[19]
The second season received generally positive reviews as well. The season has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus states: "Santa Clarita Diet rides the momentum of its freshman season with non-stop comedic gore and a big heart that bleeds — profusely — for its lovable characters."[20]
The third season has an approval rating of 100% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet's third season is a generous meal of entrails, morbid humor, and a touching affirmation of marital love — with Barrymore and Olyphant's pitch-perfect chemistry brightening each blood-soaked installment."[21]
References
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Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:26 am
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No.
overall No. in
season Title Directed by Written by Original release date
21 1 "Wuffenloaf" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
After the events of the previous episode, the Hammonds deal with the aftermath of Anne learning about Sheila being undead.
22 2 "Knighttime" Ken Kwapis Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
Eric accidentally starts a rumor that he and Abby are dating. Sheila and Joel meet a Knight of Serbia as Anne helps them out with Chris and Christa.
23 3 "We Let People Die Every Day" Geeta V. Patel Clay Graham March 29, 2019
In Sheila's quest to get Anne to stop believing she is a miracle from god, she admits the truth to her. At the same time, the FBI want to question the environmental club about what happened at the fracking site. Joel and Sheila deal with Tommy believing Christa is undead. Sheila asks Joel to consider being a member of the undead.
24 4 "More of a Cat Person" Andy Ackerman Ben Smith March 29, 2019
As they worry about speaking with the FBI, Ramona texts Eric, surprising him and Abby. Ramona returns for Mr. Ball-legs and apologizes to Eric. Sheila and Joel have their first open house with their new company which has Sheila helping a woman from Anne's church group. She then plots to eat the woman's ex-husband. Anne dumps Lisa. Eric speaks with the FBI and learns that they could connect him to the C4 used. As Eric speaks with the FBI, Abby goes to talk to Ramona and threatens her to leave town without Eric. Ramona is threatened by the motel manager and it results in Mr. Ball-legs eating the guy. Joel defrosts Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs instead of giving her an answer to him being a member of the undead. Tommy contacts them after finding their website of their business with plans to kill Sheila.
25 5 "Belle and Sebastian Protect the Head" Marc Buckland Melissa Hunter March 29, 2019
Ron approaches Sheila and Joel about turning him into a member of the undead. Abby begins to ignore Eric who shows up freaking out about the C4. When trying to remove the excess C4, Eric learns that the key to the locked room is no longer where it had been. Sheila and Joel head to Tommy's and find his own kill room in the garage. When Tommy goes to try killing Sheila, his daughter shows up so they rush home. Sheila decides to volunteer for Meals on Wheels. As Eric looks into unlocking the room with a lock pick, the FBI agent shows up there to look in the closet. Lisa reveals that she figured out what Abby and Eric did. Joel and Sheila talk Tommy out of killing Sheila. Ron breaks in and gets Gary to bite him.
26 6 "The Chicken and the Pear" Rebecca Asher Aaron Brownstein & Simon Ganz March 29, 2019
Joel and Sheila look for Ron. Tommy returns to talk to Joel and give him all the information he collected on Sheila. Joel asks about how to become the Knights of Serbia replacement. Abby meets Jean and Jean insults Abby in front of Sheila. Sheila causes the woman to have a minor episode causing the women to help her out. Eric helps Joel with his tasks to be a Knight of Serbia and Joel admits he knows what happened to Abby. Joel and Sheila meet Morgan, a friend of Ron's who is also a member of the undead and he tries to kill them. Abby shows up and helps save their lives, upsetting Sheila.
27 7 "A Specific Form of Recklessness" Ken Kwapis Caitlin Meares March 29, 2019
The day after the events of the previous episode, has the Hammonds dealing with the aftermath. The Serbians set up a chair to hold a member of the undead hostage. Sheila admits to Gary about zombifying Jean, something Joel does not know. One of Sheila's murders shows up online due to Sheila returning the woman's cat to her. Sheila then decides to find a way to unframe the woman. Abby has to speak with the FBI and she learns that the woman believes it was Eric who blew up the fracking site. As Joel and Sheila work on figuring a plan, they find Ron, leaving a dead body in the trunk of their car. Joel is unhappy with Ron for wanting to zombify 18 people. Due to the heat, the dead body exploded. It results in them deciding to frame him for another explosion to get the FBI off Eric's back.
28 8 "Forever!" Adam Arkin Michael A. Ross March 29, 2019
After framing the dead body for another explosion, Joel has ringing ears. Abby confides in Eric about having nightmares after killing a guy. Joel and Sheila try to figure out what to do about Ron. Abby learns that the head of the order was taking over the area since Joel did not join the knights. Abby and Eric learn that Eric is no longer a suspect from the FBI. Sheila brings Jean food to keep her inside and learns that the woman wants to kill her landlord. The Serbians watch from a distance as Abby and Joel tie up Ron outside on a neighbor's grass. Eric accidentally leaves a detonator in his car which is found when he is driving to his MIT interview with Winter. Jean and Sheila kill her aide, who had been scamming her. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs escapes as they send in Joel's application to the Knights of Serbia.
29 9 "Zombody" Steve Pink Clay Graham March 29, 2019
Sheila and Joel decide to gag Ron in the hopes of stopping him from biting someone when the Grand Prior is there. Sheila's Mr. Ball-legs hides in plain sight before Petra arrives; however, it begins crawling around behind Petra during the meeting. Eric approaches Abby and reveals that the detonator was in his car and was found by Winter. Petra has to send Joel on a mission to get rid of Ron. Abby bonds with Winter after confiding in her on the truth of the fracking explosion. Ron escapes and is kidnapped by Serbians. He then zombifies them and they decide to go after Joel, right after he is knighted by Petra.
30 10 "The Cult of Sheila" Marc Buckland Victor Fresco March 29, 2019
Dobrivoje follows Joel to the storage locker that housed the cooler with the dead body parts. After Joel leaves, Dobrivoje breaks in and begins to suspect that Joel is a member of the undead. At the Hammond home, Gary decides he wants more involvement in Joel and Sheila's realty company. Sheila wants Joel to decide whether he wants to become undead to be with her forever. At the launch party, Jean, Tommy, Ron, and Dobrivoje are unexpected guests. Dobrivoje threatens Joel into leaving the party. Ron reveals that he zombified some people and told them everything. Sheila, Ron, Tommy, and Jean go after Joel. After revealing his plan to Joel, Dobrivoje learns that he is not undead. Sheila finds them and Dobrivoje stabs her with a pole and escapes. Tommy, Jean and Ron find help Joel and Sheila and then escape. Sheila goes after Dobrivoje but Joel ultimately kills him. Dobrivoje's former henchmen show up at the Hammond home while Abby is talking to Eric. Abby realizes they are undead and ends up killing them to save herself and Eric. After her parents return home, Abby finds Eric and discusses them possibly dating. Joel buries the men, returns home to Sheila and reveals that he wants be with her forever. Mr. Ball-Legs climbs into Joel, causing him to pass out. Sheila bites Joel in order to save his life.
Production
Development
Fresco came up with the premise from wanting to make "a family show with an interesting approach that we haven't seen before". The zombie angle also allowed Fresco to explore the concept of narcissism: he stated "the undead are the ultimate narcissists. They want what they want when they want it and will do anything to just have what they want and don't care about other people's needs."[15]
For the setting, Fresco drew from his own experience growing up in San Fernando Valley. Santa Clarita was chosen because of its middle class residents.[15] The Hammonds' profession as realtors was chosen because "it gets them out into the world" as well as the "forced friendliness" inherent to the profession.[15]
Promotion
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod appeared in a Canadian promo for the series, promoting the eponymous "diet" in a parody of their Body Break series of television PSAs.[16]
In February 2017, advertising for the show sparked criticism in Germany, where Netflix promoted the show with posters depicting a human finger sliced up like a currywurst, a popular German fast food dish. After receiving more than 50 complaints that the advertising was glorifying violence and inducing fear, especially in children, the German Advertising Council, a self-regulatory institution, forwarded the complaints to the company. Netflix then decided to end the campaign and remove all posters.[17]
Critical reception
The first season of Santa Clarita Diet received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 78% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet serves up an excellent cast, frequent laughs, and an engaging premise — but the level of gore might not be to everyone's taste."[18] Metacritic reports that the first season received "generally favorable reviews" with a score of 67 out of 100, based on 30 critics.[19]
The second season received generally positive reviews as well. The season has an approval rating of 89% based on 19 reviews, with an average rating of 7.85/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus states: "Santa Clarita Diet rides the momentum of its freshman season with non-stop comedic gore and a big heart that bleeds — profusely — for its lovable characters."[20]
The third season has an approval rating of 100% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 7.78/10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus reads, "Santa Clarita Diet's third season is a generous meal of entrails, morbid humor, and a touching affirmation of marital love — with Barrymore and Olyphant's pitch-perfect chemistry brightening each blood-soaked installment."[21]
References
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:43 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:43 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:43 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:43 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:44 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:45 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:48 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 4:48 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
Alternative Title(s): Warrior Princess
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2021 5:00 am
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This trope is the reason why foot soldiers are called infantry. In the Spanish army, the heir to the throne (principe; or the "prince") commanded the cavalry while the King commanded the whole army. Those princes who were not heirs to the throne (infantes) commanded the footmen. The foot soldiers were thus called infanteria after the non-heir princes, infantes.
Edward the Black Prince (see the page pic) fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War.
Alexander the Great commanded the Macedonian cavalry in his father's final battle.
Vlad III Dracula himself was probably the most violent Warrior Prince documented. Quite certainly he directly participated in numerous battles, and most likely killed his predecessor, Vladislav II, in direct combat. Dracula himself died in an armed confrontation, and his Turkish enemies are recorded to have cut his body to pieces and sent his head to their ruler, Mehmed II, for proof of his death.
The British Royal Family. It's a requirement that all male members serve on active duty. Those in direct line to the throne are considered too valuable to send into actual combat. As for the others:
Harry, youngest son of Charles and William's younger brother, actually threatened to resign his commission if he wasn't permitted to accompany the rest of his unit to Afghanistan and developed a reputation as a dedicated and highly competent small unit commander. When his presence was outed by the Aussie media, he ended up transferring and training up as an Apache pilot, on the grounds that it wouldn't matter if everyone knew where he was, because Apaches were targets as a matter of course.
William himself joined the RAF as a Sea King helicopter pilot, posted to a search-and-rescue squadron.
Andrew, Duke of York, flew in The Falklands War as, among other roles, an anti-missile decoy. That's right — he flew his helicopter as a decoy to try to draw Exocet anti-ship missiles away from the ships. He would retire as a fully served Rear Admiral.
Prince Philip served in WWII as a naval officer, and so did Her Majesty Elizabeth, in the Women's Auxiliary as a mechanic. Philip was a highly regarded officer, being mentioned in dispatches and well on the way to his own Admiralty on merit when he retired to marry Elizabeth. Elizabeth herself, meanwhile, is the last surviving head of state who is also a WWII veteran.
Subverted with Prince Edward, who dropped out of his Royal Marines training. While this isn't necessarily a rare thing as the Royal Marines have the longest basic training of any combat unit on earth and arguably the toughest entry level to the military of all, it was controversial because they'd already paid for his university fees. Certainly, his father was reportedly disgusted.
Even though he is heir to the throne, Prince Charles refused to take up his honorary Colonelcy of The Parachute regiment without passing first P company, the qualifying training to be a paratrooper. So the Warrior Prince heir to the throne is a Colonel Badass in one of the most elite regiments on the planet.
The Queen's uncle, the Duke of Kent, died on a bomber mission.
The Queen's father, George VI (as Albert, Duke of York) joined the Royal Navy and eventually was assigned as a turret officer on the battleship Collingwood, and fought through the Battle of Jutland.
The last King of England to die in combat was Richard III at Bosworth in 1485. The last King of Scotland to do so was James IV at Flodden Field in 1513. The last King (of both) to lead his troops in battle personally was George II at the battle of Dettingen in 1743.
Wilhelm I of Prussia and his son Frederick William (later Emperor Frederick III) were among the last European rulers to personally take the field, and did reasonably well too as was appropriate given his country. His opponent the Emperor of France, though less qualified, also led in the field which was appropriate given his uncle.
As recently as 1914, Albert I, King of the Belgians, personally led his army when Germany invaded Belgium at the start of World War I.
In World War I, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia and Prince Ruprecht of Bavaria both commanded army groups on the Western Front.
In the Ottoman Empire, much like in the trope in general, the exceptions are more noteworthy. Almost all of their sultans, princes, and top aristocrats were some variety of Warrior Prince, Cultured Badass, or Ambadassador.
The above tradition carries on with Prince Hussein of Jordan. Some dads take their sons fishing or deer-hunting, and then there's King Abdullah II... Who, by the way, is rumored to have personally led a bombing raid against ISIS as revenge for the group's execution of a captured Jordanian pilot.
Jan III Sobieski, King of Poland, was elected monarch precisely because of his accomplishments as a military commander. Those skills also came in handy after his election, too.
Military historian John Keegan once speculated that being able to have aversions to this was a sign that a culture was more civilized. The reason was that having a lot of Warrior Princes may conceivably be a sign of their valor. But it could also be a sign that the people had no respect for law and order and any prince that stayed home would probably be assassinated. Going with this logic, he notes that while some Roman, Byzantine, and Chinese Emperors commanded in the field, others managed to stay home. While almost all Western European rulers that weren't obviously excused by incapacity were Warrior Princes.
Enforcement of this trope is the reason that in Islamic Law a Caliph has to be in possession of all his senses. A blind man could rule, but he couldn't go to war.
Averted in the Christian world. King of Bohemia, John of Luxemburg (1296-1346), was both blind and went to war. His last words in the Battle of Crécy were "Far be it that the King of Bohemia should run away. Instead, take me to the place where the noise of the battle is the loudest. The Lord will be with us. Nothing to fear. Just take good care of my son.". He was fifty years old and led the most successful cavalry charge in that battle (on the French side), hitting the English right flank, where Prince Edward was positioned, and fought and died there. The English prince was so impressed that he adopted the Bohemian king's motto, Ich dien (I serve), for his own heraldic crest.
Note that he was a (naturalized) Czechnote and the Hundred Years' War was fought between France and England. So Jan was fighting in a war that was not even his business as King of Bohemia!
John's son Charles (name changed from Wenceslas on his confirmation in honour of king Charles IV of France) also fought at Crécy. He later became the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Widely considered to be one of the greatest military commanders of all time, even among some of greats themselves. Without going into his varied military and administrative achievements, he came from a country that was considered a backwater and created a Badass Army that effectively took over half of Germany during the Thirty Years' War. While heavily involved in planning and formulation of tactics and training, he often led his own cavalry charges, which eventually also led to his death.
The same trope as in the UK — all male members who are not direct heirs to the throne are to serve in the military — applies to Sweden as well. HRH prince Carl Philip is an officer in the Swedish Navy.
Sweden has produced dozens of warrior kings: Gustavus I, Erik XIV, Duke Charles, Gustavus II Adolphus, Queen Christina (!), Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI, Charles XII, Gustavus III...
Some clarification might be needed. Gustavus I was a Badass Bureaucrat, with focus on Bureaucrat, and true Machiavellian, he did very little fighting. Erik XIV is mostly remembered for going insane. Charles IX is most famous for being curb-stomped by a Polish army that he outnumbered 4-1 and beating his (also outnumbered) predecessor and nephew. Queen Christina never fought in battles or led armies. Charles X Gustavus, Charles XI and Charles XII were all "real" Warrior Princes. The best that can be said of Gustavus III is that he tried. Later, this trope was subverted when the Swedish parliament brought in Jean Baptist Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's marshals, to be king so he could take back Finland from the Russians. He then joined the anti-French alliance, got Norway as the price, and led Sweden into a 200-year period of peace.
And that's without even accounting for all the kings and princes from the Middle Ages. Erik Segersäll who fought his nephew and the Jomsvikings at the battle of Fyrisvall, his son Olof Skötkonung who led the Swedish fleet at the battle of Svolder, Magnus Eriksson who led a crusade into Russia, etc.
In Tsarist Russia, the word "prince" had a more broad meaning than "son of the king" (it was a top-level noble rank, equivalent to duke), and there were several princes who were military leaders. Two of the most famous are Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who with Kuzma Minin threw off the Polish occupation, and Prince Pyotr Bagration, who fought and died in The Napoleonic Wars, as depicted in War and Peace. This is the reason why the word "принц" ("printz") is now used in Russian specifically for the son of the king (or tsar). "Knyaz" is the word with the broad meaning. In fact, the title of the ruler of the original Russian state (Kievan Rus') was Grand Prince.
Thutmose III established the largest empire Ancient Egypt had or has ever seen. He led 17 campaigns over a period of 20 years.
Roman society demanded this trope from the higher classes, and until the Marian reforms their army was based on such a militia. Politicians, though not royalty, were expected to be military leaders, and martial prowess was ideally indistinguishable from political prowess. A surefire way to get a respected and high post in the government was to get a triumph, which required winning a war. (Sometimes winning a major battle could be enough if you played your cards right.)
A good example of this was Marcus Licinius Crassus, who was by far the richest man in Rome (indeed, one of the richest men in all of history) but whose political career was hindered by his limited military record. Then came the slave revolt of Spartacus and Crassus seized the opportunity by buying his own army to command against the rebel slaves. This victory allowed him to rise all the way to the rank of Consul, the highest office of the Republic.
The first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques, was quite fond of "taking care" of Arabs.
The Danish Royal Family has had its share of badass warriors, going back to the Viking Era when legends like Sveyn Forkbeard and Harald Bluetooth would personally lead their berserkers into battle—- most notably when Sveyn started the invasion of England that would later land his son, Canute the Great, on its throne, with himself in the vanguard. Later on, notable examples includes Christian IV, who personally led the danish fleet into the Torstenson War where he lost an eye to a cannonball — and immediately got back to his feet to continue commanding the fleet to victory. Even today, Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is a fully-trained member of Frømandskorpset, the danish equivalent of the Navy SEALS (an area that the danish military is unsurprisingly strong in, considering its nautical history and location). And when he finished THAT training, he went ahead and became a Colonel in the Air Force as well, just for kicks.
It's important to remember though, that for a Warrior Prince, Christian IV wasn't much of a Warrior. He failed to reconquer Sweden in the Kalmar War, his intervention in the 30 Years War ended up seeing Jutland conquered and plundered and finally he lost the Torstenson War wich cemented Sweden as the dominant power in the north.
Heinrich Prinz von und zu Sayn-Wittgenstein and Egmont Prinz zu Lippe-Weissenfeld, dubbed as Princes of the night. Two Luftwaffe fighter aces who had 83 and 51 nocturnal aerial victories.
Napoleon's Imperial nobility included princes, and all save two (Talleyrand and Lucien Bonaparte) were generals or Marshals. Four of them actually bore titles reminiscent of their victories: Davout, Prince of Eckmühl; Berthier, Prince of Wagram; Massena, Prince of Essling; and Ney, Prince of the Moskova.
The members of the House of Savoy had an habit of fighting in battle, both before and after becoming the royal house of Italy. Among their many warriors, the ones to stand out are the prince Eugene (greatest commander of the Austrian army in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.note ), king Victor Emmanuel II (first King of Sardinia and later of Italy, he personally led his troops in battle against the Austrian army during the infamously bloody Battle of Solferino in the Second Italian War of Independence), and Prince Emanuele Filiberto, the Undefeated Duke of Aosta (he fought in World War I, and his army was just that, undefeated. He also trained the guy who took over the supreme command after the Second Army was crushed at Caporetto and ultimately won the war on the Italian front).
Carlo Emmanuhel III was sort of the Frederick of Sardinia. Not only did he win notable victory against Spain, France and Austria, but he had the political acumen to turn his tactical victories into strategic ones. His crowning achievement was the Battle of Assietta. 7,000 Sardinians fought 40,000 Frenchmen and suffered between 77 and 230 casualties compared to 5,300 French casualties. France didn't invade Italy again until Napoleon a half a century later. For his victories, the French had a saying: Piedmont is the burial place of the French.
In an interesting zig-zag, the nobility in Europe often had less dominance over warfare than in many cases around the world. There were a number of instances of burghers and peasants and even clergy turning out to be formidable warriors. Some were so successful that they were indistinguishable from proper princes. While that was not unknown in other places the pugnaciousness of non-noble Europeans is worthy of comment. Indeed places like Venice or the Hanseatic League had a number of warrior Merchant Princes.
A clan chief in Scotland and indeed any place with a similar system almost always had to be a Warrior Prince simply because those were such tough places.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who became a cavalry commander for the Royalists in the English Civil War, of whom it was said "his charge was irresistible, but he always returned to find his camp captured by the enemy".
Gao Chang Gong, Prince of Lanling, was one of the greatest generals of ancient China. His feats included repelling a Göktürk invasion and rescuing a besieged city. The latter battle was especially impressive because he fought his way through the much larger besieging army with only five hundred cavalrymen.
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