Chungnyeol of Goryeo

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Chungnyeol of Goryeo
Hangul 충렬왕
Hanja 忠烈王
Revised Romanization Chungnyeol-wang
McCune-Reischauer Ch'ungnyǒl-wang

Chungnyeol of Goryeo (12361308, r. 1274-1308) was the 25th ruler of the medieval Korean kingdom of Goryeo. He was the son of Wonjong, his predecessor on the throne.

Chungnyeol was the first Goryeo ruler to be remembered by the title wang, meaning "king." Previous rulers had received posthumous names with the suffix jo or jong, meaning "revered ancestor" and a title typically reserved for emperors. The Mongol Empire found this threatening and ordered that the Goryeo rulers could not receive such names henceforth.

As a measure of retaining a measure of sovereignty for the Korean crown, King Chungnyeol, as Crown Prince Sim, proposed marrying a daughter of Kublai Khan both as a pledge of loyalty to the Mongol Empire and to boost the king's prestige before the Mongol generals and officials who occupied the country. This offer was accepted and for more than 80 years, Korean kings married members of Mongol royalty. Heirs to the throne were given Mongol names and were sent as hostages to Karakorum where they were raised in Mongolian fashion until they reached adulthood.

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Preceded by
Wonjong
Rulers of Korea
(Goryeo Dynasty)
12741308
Succeeded by
Chungseon
Languages