King George III ruled the British kingdom through some turbulent times including the American Revolutionary War after which the colonies gained independence. Until Queen Victoria, he was Great Britain’s longest reigning monarch. A member of the Hanover dynasty, which ruled England for almost two centuries, George III was king of Great Britain during some of the nation’s most tumultuous years, including those of the American Revolutionary War. In 1788, illness brought on a mental breakdown, but he briefly recovered, regaining popularity and admiration for his virtue and steady leadership through the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. Ultimately, recurring bouts of insanity led Parliament to enact regency to his son, and George III lived his final years with sporadic periods of lucidity, until his death in 1820.