The House suffered a minor succession crisis at the beginning and end of the Washingtonian Civil War, as the then-reigning monarch, John I, was assassinated and much of the Royal Family massacred in the following days. Brandon I, John's nephew, was the only viable successor rescued from murder and thus ascended to the Throne, although under regency for the period of the war. The original Washington bloodline thus died out in the war, leading to many monarchists questioning the legitimacy of the current line.