Curious Royal Epithets July 4, 2016
Author: Beach Combing | in : Medieval, Modern , trackback
There is a long tradition in Europe of giving kings, queens and even aristocrats epithets: e.g. Catherine the Great, Louis the Pious… Of course, epithets make particular sense when dynasties repeat names endlessly: you need to distinguish one George from another, say. Beach has spent an hour looking through collections of lists of these epithets, just really because of the patterns that emerge when they are taken all together. For example, there are many bold, fair, and great monarchs: but it is surprising how many ‘Bertha the blind’, and ‘John the lame’ kings and queens appear. As this site offers bizarre names Beach thought he would go through and give some of the most unusual epithets. All persons are (or at least are meant to be) historical: if the individual in question belongs to the mythical past or if the epithet was a little used historians’ creation then please correct Likewise if you have other epithets: drbeachcoming AT yahoo DOT com Note that nicknames are not epithets: calling Charlotte of Mecklenberg Monkey Face is different from saying Charlotte the Ugly.
Abdulhamid the Damned (Abdulhamid II of the Ottoman Empire)
Alan Twisted Beard (Alan II, Duke of Brittany)
Albert Long Hair (Albert III of Austria)
Alexios the Bushy-Eyebrowed (Alexios V, Byzantine Emperor)
Baldwin Ironarm (Baldwin I of Flanders)
Baldwin Purple-Born (Baldwin II of Constantinople)
Bernard Hairyfoot (Bernard II of Auvergne)
Bernard the Dodger (Bernard I of Armagnac)
Eric Bloodaxe (Eric I of Norway)
Eystein the Fart (Eystein I of Vestfold)
Fulk the Surly (Fulk IV of Anjou)
Haakon the Long-Legged (Haakon V of Norway)
Harold Harefoot (Harold I of England) [not hair foot, he was fast?]
Henry the Scarred (Henry I, Duke of Guise)
Ivailo the Swineherd (Ivailo Bulgaria)
Ivar the Boneless (Viking Thug with ‘royal blood’)
John the Historian (John I, Count of Zweibrücken)
Llywelyn the Last (Llywellyn ap Gruffudd)
Olaf Hunger (Olaf I of Denmark)
Two observations. First, female epithets are disappointing. Why? Second, it pains Beach to say this but the Vikings did these things better…
EC writes 4 Jul 2016: ‘Couple of good Polish ones: Bolesław III Wrymouth; Władysław I the Elbow-high’. Outstanding stuff!
Bruce T weighs in, 4 Jul 2016, with ‘Edward I of England. Edward Longshanks or ‘The Hammer of The Scots’ The guy is a twofer.’
no disagreeing with that.
Invisible, 4 Jul 2016, has an outstanding one: ‘Emperor Constantine V (741-775), Copronymus (‘Pisser’) I was taught this was because he soiled the baptismal font.’ Imagining having that name all your life because your bladder had a chance spasm at 4 days.
Stephen D, 10 Jul 2016: You could include Pedro the Cruel (Castille, 1334-69); Henry IV of Castille, the Impotent; and James II and VII of England and Scotland, known in Ireland as Seamus an Caca, James the Shit.
The great Mike Dash with some classics, 10 Jul 2016:
1. Boleslaw the Curly
Prince of Poland 1146-1173. So named after his lustrous head of hair.
2. Robert Curthose
Duke of Normandy 1087-1133. Only marginally more polite than calling William the Conqueror’s eldest son ‘Robert Shortarse’. Which he was.
3. Dmitri Terrible Eyes
Grand Prince of Tver, 1318-1326, and possessor of quite a death stare, if you were unlucky enough to be a subject of his. Finally ran foul of the Mongols after rather rudely murdering his chief rival while a guest of the Khan of the Golden Horde.
4. Lulach the Fatuous
Succeeded his stepfather, Macbeth, as King of Scots 1057-1058. Proved too incompetent to last long on the Stone of Scone.
5. The Universal Spider
Popular nickname for the exceptionally devious Louis XI, King of France 1461-1483.
6. Otto the Severe
Duke of Luneburg, 1277-1330. Known for his less than liberal approach to sentencing policy.
7. Malcolm the Maiden
King of Scots 1153-1165. Thus named after taking a vow of chastity. Concerned for the succession, his mother force-fed him virgins until he cracked.
8. Vsevolod Big Nest
Prince of Vladimir (then the most important town in Russia) from 1170-1212, Vsevolod was noted for the enormous number of his offspring: 8 sons and 4 daughters. Hence the name.
9. Eric the Memorable
King of Denmark 1134-1137. Awarded the title to himself after defeating and killing his uncle Niels at the Battle of Fotevik (1134), thus removing his principal obstacle to the throne.
10. Charles the Straightforward
Holy Roman Emperor 909-929. He was the son on Louis the Stammerer, so his subjects were probably just relieved to have a monarch they could finally understand.
Gary V, 10 Jul 2016: Constantine Copronymus (“whose name is shit”)” shat (not pissed, copros = dung) into the baptismal font, so said the iconodule priests and monks who disliked his iconoclast ideology.
I’ve always liked Ptolemy Keraunos (“Thunderbolt”), a discarded heir of the first Ptolemy who cut a swath of destruction throughout Greece and Asia Minor in the 280s BC. He judiciously left Egypt when he was displaced as heir, went to Macedon where a half-sister was married to the king and a full sister to the king’s heir, a son from a previous marriage. After his half-sister’s intrigues resulted in the execution of the heir, he and his sister fled to the Seleucid one, succeeded in getting the Seleucid king to attack the Macedonian one, getting the Macedonian king killed in battle, then personally assassinating the Seleucid one, and winding up as king of Macedon himself after assassinating the grandchildren of the Macedonian king.
Then his career was cut short because he himself was killed in battle against the Gauls.
Louis K, 10 Jul 2016:Berte au Grand Pied (Bertha with the large foot), the mother of Charlemange
