史上最有影响力的十大家族 Top 10 Most Powerful Families In History

一个星期前我删掉了一个名单（我很少这样做），引起了相当大的反应。这是一个关于最有影响力家族的清单。我列了这个新名单来代替以前那个，这个新名单包含的范围更广，而且并不排除皇族（正如大家期待的那样）。我希望这个名单能得到更好的反应（我应该是在原有的基础上有所添加，并没有去掉以前有价值的部分）。

罗斯柴尔德家族（通常简称罗氏）是国际知名的银行和金融家族，这个德国犹太家族在整个欧洲建立了他们的金融王朝，并被奥地利和英国政府授予爵位。使这个家庭扬名国际的是梅耶·A·罗斯柴尔德（1744~1812年，图片如上），老梅耶目光远大，他的成功策略是将生意牢牢掌握在自己家族手里，给与家族成员对其财富和生意发展规模充分的决定权。梅耶·罗斯柴尔德通过精心安排的族内通婚成功的把财富控制在了家族内部。 内森·梅耶·罗斯柴尔德(老梅耶·罗斯柴尔德之子，译者注)1811年在伦敦的圣瑞辛巷新场(New Court St SwithinLane)设立了N·M·罗斯柴尔德父子公司，由此开始了他在伦敦的生意，这家公司至今仍在营业。1818年，他为普鲁士政府提供了五百万英镑的贷款，政府贷款债券的发行成为了其银行业务的支柱。 内森在伦敦市赢得了巨大的势力，使得他在1825到1825年间能有足够的钱提供给英格兰银行来转移市场清偿危机。

9 金雀花王朝 （Plantagenets）

 在金雀花王朝和都铎王朝之间的艰难抉择中，金雀花王朝最终胜出了，因为在这一时期英国的文化和政治体系（至今仍在保留）发展更大一些。在都铎王朝时期形成了英国圣公会，因此有人说这是个黄金时代，但实际上金雀花王朝的影响更加深远和重大（进一步说，亨利八世（都铎王朝的重要国王之一，译者注）的母亲血缘也是来自金雀花王朝家族）。金雀花王朝是由安茹伯爵戈德弗鲁瓦五世之子英格兰的亨利二世所创立的。金雀花国王从十二世纪开始统治英格兰王国。从1154年到1485年间，金雀花王朝历任15任君王，包括庶系分支（在欧洲中世纪贵族里，贵族爵位只传给长子，如果长子夭折或是有其他变故才会传与次子，就是这里的cadet branches。译者注）。金雀花王朝时期，在一些君王的鼓励下英国出现了极具特色的文化与艺术的融合，这些君王曾是“英国诗歌之父”杰弗雷·乔叟的庇护者。这一时期哥特建筑风格非常流行，著名的西敏寺教堂和约克大教堂就是在这个时候被改建成哥特风格的。金雀花王朝在社会方面也有久远的发展，比如英格兰的约翰王签定大宪章（如上图）。这对普通法和宪法的发展产生了很大影响。在政治方面，英格兰议会和模范议会都起源于这一时期；教育方面剑桥和牛津大学也产生在金雀花王朝。

尼赫鲁-费罗兹·甘地家族是印度的著名政治豪门，在印度独立史早期绝大部分时候统治了印度国会。家族中的三名成员（贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁，他的女儿英迪拉·甘地以及英迪拉的儿子拉吉夫·甘地）都曾经担任印度总理，其中的两位（英迪拉和拉吉夫·甘地）都被刺杀了。家族的第四名成员，索尼亚·甘地现在担任国会主席，而她和拉吉夫的儿子拉胡尔·甘地作为家族中最年轻的成员也参与到了政治活动中。拉胡尔于2004年参与了竞选并在印度国会下议院中赢得了一个席位。尼赫鲁-费罗兹·甘地家族和印度独立运动领袖圣雄甘地并没有关系。尼赫鲁-甘地家族是亚洲民主国家中王朝式领导传统最显赫的代表。

 成吉思汗（图片如上）是历史上疆土最大国家——蒙古帝国的创立者，大汗（统治者）和可汗(皇帝)。他通过统一东北亚的游牧部落建立起了自己的政权。在成立蒙古帝国和加号“成吉思汗”之后，他开始了大举入侵，奇袭了喀喇契丹汗国，高加索，花剌子模帝国，西夏和金朝。在他的领导下，蒙古帝国最终占据了大部分中亚地区。在成吉思汗去世之前，他指定窝阔台大汗为他的继任者，并将他的帝国分成了若干汗国留给儿孙。在击败唐古忒之后成吉思汗于1227年逝世，被埋葬在蒙古国位置不明的一处无墓坟里。他的后代们通过征服和创建附庸国在欧亚大陆不断的延伸蒙古帝国的版图，使其已超越了现代中国、韩国、高加索以及中亚国家的领土，占据了大部分现代东欧和中东的部分。

这两个家族被列在一起，因为他们是古罗马时期最重要的两个家族，而且最终联合组成了儒略-克劳狄王朝，其中最著名的皇帝有：卡里古拉，奥古斯都（图片如上），克劳狄亚斯，提比略和尼禄。这五个皇帝从公元前27年到公元68年期间统治罗马帝国，直到最后一个皇帝-尼禄自杀。这五个统治者通过婚姻和收养关系将儒略和克劳迪亚两个家族联系在一起。有时儒略·凯撒被错误的认为是王朝的创建者，但实际上他并不是皇帝也和克劳迪亚家族没有联系。奥古斯都被广泛的认为是建立者。儒略-克劳狄王朝皇帝的统治有些相似之处：所有皇帝都是通过非直接或者收养关系获得皇权的。每个皇帝都扩展了罗马帝国的版图并大兴土木。古代历史学家的观点是这些皇帝都普遍受民众爱戴而被议员阶层憎恨。古代历史学家将儒略-克劳狄王朝描述成一个自我扩张、疯狂、淫乱以及残暴的王朝。

“朱”是明朝皇帝的姓氏。明朝的第一个皇帝，洪武大帝（朱元璋-图片如上）选择用“明”作为王朝的名字。“明”的含义是“光明”。在蒙古人的元朝灭亡之后，明朝从1368年到1644年统治中国。明朝被认为是人类历史上古代政府统治最伟大以及社会稳定性最好的时代之一。它是中国历史上最后一个由汉族统治的王朝。虽然在1644年明朝首都北京被李自成起义攻陷，随即很快便被满族统治的清朝（中国的最后一个封建王朝）所代替，但是对明朝君王忠诚的政体（通常被称作南明）一直存留到1662年。明朝的统治者建立了大规模的海军和一支百万人的常备军部队，也修建了大规模的建筑，包括在十五世纪前二十五年对大运河和长城的重建和修复，以及在北京修建了紫禁城。据估计明朝晚期的人口在1.6亿到2亿之间。明朝通常还被认为是中国文明的高峰以及早期资本主义萌芽的时期。

哈布斯堡王朝是欧洲的一个重要王室家族，被广为人知的是其家族成员在1452年至1740年期间担任了所有正式推选的神圣罗马帝国皇帝，以及曾是西班牙和奥地利帝国的统治者。这个起源于瑞士的家族最初统治奥地利长达六个多世纪，并通过一系列的皇室联姻将勃艮第、西班牙、波希米亚、匈牙利和其他一些领土划入哈布斯堡的版图中。王朝的名字来自于家族的所在地——瑞士阿尔高州的哈布斯堡城堡。王朝的著名格言是“任天下战斗,惟我奥地利,媾和通婚!”，这充分表明哈布斯堡王朝的才能就是让他们的成员和其他王室通婚来达成联盟并继承领土。玛丽亚·特蕾莎女皇（图片如上）被认为是最充分的贯彻这个格言，有时她也被认为是“欧洲曾祖母”。

托勒密王朝是从公元前305年到公元前30年统治埃及托勒密帝国的一个希腊马其顿王室。托勒密曾经是服侍亚历山大大帝的七个保镖和部将之一，在公元前323年亚历山大大帝去世之后被指定为埃及总督。公元前305年，他正式称王，后又称为“救世主”。埃及人很快便接受托勒密为独立埃及法老的继承人。托勒密家族一直统治埃及直到公元前30年罗马人开进埃及。整个家族中最著名的便是最后的女王，克里奥佩特拉七世（图片如上）.她在凯撒和庞培之间，以及其后的安东尼和屋大维之间的罗马政治斗争中起到了至关重要的作用。她在罗马人攻陷埃及之后自杀了，这也意味着托勒密在埃及统治的结束。

在13到17世纪，美第奇家族是佛罗伦萨一个很有影响力和权势的家族。这个家族诞生了三名教皇(利奥十世-如上图，克莱门特七世，以及利奥十一世)，数名佛罗伦萨统治者（最著名的是豪华者洛伦佐，他是很多文艺复兴艺术最著名作品的赞助人）,以及其后不少的法国和英国皇室成员。如同其他贵族政治家族一样，他们掌握了市政府政权，把佛罗伦萨控制在他们家族的势力范围内，使得艺术和人文主义氛围能够得到繁荣。他们同意大利的一些伟大贵族家族-如米兰的维斯孔蒂和斯福扎家族、费拉拉的艾斯特和曼图亚的贡札加一起领导了意大利文艺复兴运动的诞生。美第奇银行是欧洲最繁荣最受尊敬的银行。有人估计美第奇家族在相当的一段时间里是欧洲最富有的家族。基于此，他们也获得了相当的政治权势，起初只是在佛罗伦萨，后来扩展到意大利和欧洲。

卡佩王室是欧洲最大的皇室。它包括法国于格·卡佩的全部直系后裔。西班牙的胡安·卡洛斯国王和卢森堡的亨利大公都是这个家族的成员，源自卡佩王朝的波旁分支。经过上千世纪的发展，卡佩王室遍布整个欧洲，统治着从王国到庄园的每种政体。除了是欧洲人数最多的皇室之外，它也是姻亲关系最混乱的王室之一，尤其是在西班牙君主国中。尽管卡佩王室统治大部分欧洲的历史已经过去许多年了，他们却仍然保留着国王以及其他的称号。现在两个卡佩王室仍然统治着西班牙和卢森堡。此外，在巴西、法国、西班牙、葡萄牙、帕尔马和两个西西里仍然存在着七个象征性的流亡王室。如今家族的合法首领成员是安茹公爵路易·阿方索(图片如上)，他也拥有对法国王位的合法主张权。总之，卡佩王朝的若干分支现在仍然遍布欧洲。

其他不在名单上的著名家族：梅罗文加王室，秦王室，布托家族，都铎王室，罗曼诺夫王室，斯图亚特王室，欧兰吉王室，贝伦格尔家族，肯尼迪家族，范德堡家族.

本文有GFDL版权因为文章包含维基百科的引文。

Aweek ago I removed a list (something I very seldom do) which had causedquite a stir; it was a list of the most powerful families. This newlist is designed to replace the original and to give a broader view ofsome of the most powerful historic families while not excluding royalhouses (who dominate this list as one would expect). Let us hope thisis received better than the original (which I should add, was notwithout its merits).

TheRothschild family (often referred to simply as the Rothschilds), is aninternational banking and finance dynasty of German Jewish origin thatestablished operations across Europe, and was ennobled by the Austrianand British governments. The family’s rise to international prominencebegan with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812 - pictured above), whosestrategy for future success was to keep control of their businesses infamily hands, allowing them to maintain full discretion about the sizeof their wealth and their business achievements. Mayer Rothschildsuccessfully kept the fortune in the family with carefully arrangedmarriages between closely related family members. Nathan MayerRothschild started his London business, N. M. Rothschild and Sons in1811 at New Court in St Swithin’s Lane, City of London, where it stilltrades today. In 1818, he arranged a £5 million loan to the Prussiangovernment, and the issuing of bonds for government loans formed amainstay of his bank’s business. He gained a position of such power inthe City of London that by 1825–6 he was able to supply enough coin tothe Bank of England to enable it to avert a market liquidity crisis.

Inthe toss-up between including the Plantagenets or the Tudors, thePlantagenet’s won because much of the development of the Englishculture and political system (which remains to this day) arose. Underthe Tudors, the Church of England was formed and some say a golden ageoccurred, but the significance of the Plantagenet line is far greater(and furthermore, Henry VIII was descended matrilineally from thePlantagenet family anyway). The House of Plantagenet was a royal housefounded by Henry II of England, son of Geoffrey V of Anjou. ThePlantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12thcentury. In total, fifteen Plantagenet monarchs, including thosebelonging to cadet branches, ruled England from 1154 until 1485. Adistinctive English culture and art emerged during the Plantagenet era,encouraged by some of the monarchs who were patrons of the “father ofEnglish poetry”; Geoffrey Chaucer. The Gothic architecture style waspopular during the time, with buildings such as the Westminster Abbeyand York Minster remodeled in that style. There was also lastingdevelopments in the social sector, such as John I of England’s signingof the Magna Carta (pictured above). This was influential in thedevelopment of common law and constitutional law. Politicalinstitutions such as the Parliament of England and the Model Parliamentoriginate from the Plantagenet period, as do educational institutionsincluding the University of Cambridge and Oxford.

TheNehru-Feroz Gandhi family is an Indian political family which has beendominant in the Indian National Congress for most of India’s earlyindependent history. Three members of the family (Pandit JawaharlalNehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi) have beenPrime Minister of India, two of whom (Indira and Rajiv Gandhi) havebeen assassinated. A fourth member of the family, Sonia Gandhi, iscurrently Congress President, while her and Rajiv’s son, Rahul Gandhi,is the youngest member of the family to enter active politics when hecontested and won a seat in the lower house of the Parliament of Indiain 2004. The Nehru-Feroz Gandhi family is not related to Indianindependence leader Mohandas Gandhi. The Nehru-Gandhis are the mostprominent example of the tradition of dynastic leadership in Asiandemocratic countries.

GenghisKhan (pictured above) was the founder, Khan (ruler) and Khagan(emperor) of the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire inhistory.
He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes ofnortheast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed“Genghis Khan”, he started the Mongol invasions and raids of theKara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jindynasties. During his life, the Mongol Empire eventually occupied asubstantial portion of Central Asia. Before Genghis Khan died, heassigned Ogedei Khan as his successor and split his empire intokhanates among his sons and grandsons. He died in 1227 after defeatingthe Tanguts. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongoliaat a location unknown. His descendants went on to stretch the MongolEmpire across most of Eurasia by conquering and/or creating vassalstates out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, CentralAsian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe andthe Middle East.

Thesetwo families are combined in one item as they were two of the mostimportant families in Ancient Rome and eventually joined together toform the Julio-Claudian Dynasty that provided the most famous emperors:Caligula, Augustus (pictured above), Claudius, Tiberius, and Nero.These five emperors ruled the Roman Empire from 27 BC to AD 68, whenthe last of the line, Nero, committed suicide. These five rulers werelinked through marriage and adoption into the familial gens Julio andgens Claudia. Julius Caesar is sometimes inaccurately seen as itsfounder, although he was not an emperor and had no Claudianconnections; Augustus is the more widely accepted founder. The reignsof the Julian-Claudian emperors bear some similar traits: All came topower through indirect or adopted relations. Each expanded theterritory of the Roman Empire and initiated massive constructionprojects. They were generally loved by the common people, but wereresented by the senatorial class - a sentiment reflected by ancienthistorians. Ancient historians describe the Julio-Claudians asself-aggrandizing, mad, sexually perverse and tyrannical.

“Zhu”was the family name of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty. The first MingEmperor, Hongwu (Zhu Yuanzhang - pictured above) opted to use the nameMing for the dynastic name. Ming means “Brilliant”. The Ming Dynastywas the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following thecollapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, “one of the greatesteras of orderly government and social stability in human history,” wasthe last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Hans. Although the Mingcapital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, whichwas itself soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty (the lastChinese imperial family), regimes loyal to the Ming throne(collectively called the Southern Ming) survived until 1662. Ming rulesaw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one milliontroops. There were enormous construction projects, including therestoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishmentof the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15thcentury. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200million. The Ming dynasty is often regarded as both a high point inChinese civilization as well as a dynasty in which early signs ofcapitalism emerged.

TheHouse of Habsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is bestknown as supplying all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperorsbetween 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of Spain and the AustrianEmpire. Originally from Switzerland, the dynasty first reigned inAustria, which they ruled for over six centuries, but a series ofdynastic marriages brought Burgundy, Spain, Bohemia, Hungary and otherterritories into the inheritance. The dynasty is named after their seatof origin, the Habsburg Castle in the Swiss Canton of Aargau. Thedynasty’s motto is “Let others wage wars, but you, happy Austria, shallmarry”, which indicates the talent of the Habsburgs to have theirmembers intermarry into other royal houses, to make alliances andinherit territory. Empress Maria Theresa (pictured above) is recognizedquite notably for it and is sometimes referred to as the‘Great-Grandmother of Europe’.

ThePtolemaic dynasty was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family which ruledthe Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30BC. Ptolemy, one of the seven bodyguards who served as Alexander theGreat’s generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt afterAlexander’s death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself KingPtolemy I, later known as “Soter” (saviour). The Egyptians soonaccepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independentEgypt. Ptolemy’s family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC.The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII(pictured above), known for her role in the Roman political battlesbetween Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and MarkAntony. Her suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaicrule in Egypt.

TheMèdici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the13th to 17th century. The family had three popes (Leo X - picturedabove, Clement VII, and Leo XI), numerous rulers of Florence (notablyLorenzo the Magnificent, patron of some of the most famous works ofRenaissance art) and later members of the French and English royalty.Like other signore families they dominated their city’s government.They were able to bring Florence under their family’s power, allowingfor an environment where art and humanism could flourish. They led thebirth of the Italian Renaissance along with the other great signorefamilies of Italy such as the Visconti and Sforza families of Milan,the Este of Ferrara, and the Gonzaga of Mantua. The Medici Bank was oneof the most prosperous and most respected in Europe. There are someestimates that the Medici family were for a period of time thewealthiest family in Europe. From this base, they acquired politicalpower initially in Florence and later in wider Italy and Europe.

TheCapetian dynasty is the largest European royal house. It includes anyof the direct descendants of Hugh Capet of France. King Juan Carlos ofSpain and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are members of this family,both through the Bourbon branch of the dynasty. Over the course of thepreceding centuries, Capetians spread throughout Europe, ruling everyform of provincial unit from kingdoms to manors. Besides being the mostnumerous royal family in Europe, it also is one of the most incestuous,especially in the Spanish Monarchy. Many years have passed since theCapetian monarchs ruled a large part of Europe, however they stillremain as kings, as well as other titles. Currently two Capetianmonarchs still rule in Spain and Luxembourg. In addition, sevenpretenders represent exiled dynastic monarchies in Brazil, France,Spain, Portugal, Parma and Two Sicilies. The current legitimate seniorfamily member is Louis Alfonso (pictured above), the Duke of Anjou, whoalso holds the Legitimist claim to the French throne. Overall, dozensof branches of the Capetian dynasty still exist throughout Europe.

NotableOmissions: Merovingians, Qin family, Bhutto family, Tudors, Romanovs,Stuarts, House of Orange, Berenguer family, Kennedy family, Vanderbiltfamily

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Contributor: JFrater