Why did the Assyrian king Sennacherib receive the nickname Possessed? The Assyrian king Sennacherib (705–681 BC) is one of the most brutal conquerors in human history. In 689, having taken Babylon by storm, he ordered the destruction of most of its inhabitants, and the city itself

What was the main condition for accession to the Byzantine throne in 1028–1042? In 1028, the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VIII died, and the next four emperors received rights to the throne only insofar as they entered into a relationship with his daughter, Zoe. At first

Why did the English king Richard I receive the nickname Lionheart? The English king Richard I the Lionheart (1157–1199) was a typical medieval knight adventurer. All his life he waged continuous wars that were alien to the interests of England and cost her enormous amounts of money.

Why did the Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatopolk receive the nickname Damned? The Grand Duke of Kiev Svyatopolk (ruled 1015–1019) was the son of Yaropolk Svyatoslavovich, the elder brother of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. Vladimir killed Yaropolk, by deception and

Why did Russian Prince Yuri Vladimirovich receive the nickname Dolgoruky? Yuri, the sixth son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, ruled in the Rostov-Suzdal land during his father’s life. After the death of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Mstislav Vladimirovich in 1132

Why did the Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod Yuryevich receive the nickname Big Nest? The Grand Duke of Vladimir Vsevolod the Big Nest (1154–1212), son of Yuri Dolgoruky, received his nickname not only for having many children (he had 8 sons and 4 daughters), but also for the fact that soon

Why did Moscow Prince Ivan I Danilovich receive the nickname Kalita? In 1328, the Moscow prince Ivan Danilovich, as a reward for pacifying the uprising in Tver against the Tatar tribute collectors (Baskaks), received from the Khan of the Golden Horde a label for the great reign of Vladimir along with

Why did the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II Vasilyevich receive the nickname Dark? Vasily II Vasilyevich (1415–1462), Grand Duke of Moscow from 1425, was able to inherit the throne only thanks to the support of the Moscow boyars and the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, his grandfather from

Why did Russian Prince Yuri Vladimirovich receive the nickname Dolgoruky? Yuri, the sixth son of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, during his father’s life ruled in the Rostov-Suzdal land. After the death of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Mstislav Vladimirovich in 1132

BYZANTINE ANGEL International magazine of modern literature, published in Kyiv under the editorship of Igor Kruchik by the private publishing house "ViAn" since the end of 1995. Circulation - 500 copies. Poetry, prose, essays, and articles by Kiev residents were published, writing both in Russian and

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Augustus - General and strongest member of the Spriggan 12, and part of the Alvarez Empire under the command of the Spriggan Emperor. He received the nickname "King of Magic" for his knowledge of a huge number of different Magics from all over the world and "Calamity" for his terrifying power.

·Appearance

August's appearance

August is a tall, fair-skinned and fairly well-built elderly man with black eyes and long gray hair. He has a short mustache and a long, thin beard that reaches his chest, which connects to his hair through his sideburns. Moreover, he has thick eyebrows and a pronounced bridge of the nose with high cheekbones. The numerous wrinkles on Augustus's face indicate his advanced age. He also has a tattoo on his left wrist that shows a dark dot surrounded by two circles, from which two dark lines extend down his arm.

He wears a long, billowing, light-colored robe with torn edges at the bottom; the sleeves are wide and the edges are decorated with dark patterns. Complementing this outfit is a belt tied around his torso, seemingly woven from rope. Augustus also wears a dark cape that starts near his head with spikes; The symbol of the Alvarez Empire is located on the cape in the middle. The cape is held in place by a light-colored cloth tied around his neck and secured with a round pin. His outfit is completed with dark boots and a wooden staff with an orb on top.

・Personality

Augustus is a polite person, addressing Emperor Spriggan as "Your Majesty", in contrast to Azir's informal behavior. He is also very mysterious when he gives wise advice to others. Despite this, he is a fairly reliable comrade and says that losing a comrade is very painful.

·Story

Augustus was born from Zeref Dragneel, Emperor of the Alvarez Empire, and Mavis Vermilion in August X697 under unknown circumstances and at birth, was gifted with immense power, the size of Magic Power, and vast knowledge. Due to his father not knowing that he existed, Augustus remained unloved from the time he was a child, torn between the paths of light and darkness, and as a result, this greatly affected his mental state. August and Brandish have maintained a good relationship since she was a young girl. And Brandish always considered Augustus her grandfather.

Alvarez Empire

August greets Zeref

August appears before Zeref and his fellow Spriggan 12 discuss the fact that Zeref seems happier, suspecting that he brought news of Ragnorok. Zeref replies that in Ishgar they call it the Festival of the Dragon King. At this moment, Yazir appears and brings Makarov Dreyar to an audience with Zeref. At Zeref's request, August leaves with the others.

Later, August appears on the battlefield, protecting Azir with his Magic Barrier from Laxus Dreyar's lightning blast. Azir tells him that there was no need to do this, while August says that losing his comrades hurts. Azir asks him if he really thought it could kill him, noting that the Mage is very old. At the Spriggan 12 meeting, Augustus bows his head and tells Zeref that they are all ready for Ragnorok. After Zeref declares that he wants to destroy all of humanity, Augustus responds: "We are just pawns." As the invasion of Ishgar begins, Augustus, along with God Serena and Jacob Lessio, head to the eastern front, where they encounter Draculos Giberion, Wolfheim , Warrod Sequin and Jura Neckis.

Augustus, along with Jacob, are absolutely in no way involved in the subsequent battle between God Serena and his former comrades, but only calmly watch as God Serena easily defeats them all. After God Serena's opponents begin a counterattack, August stops Jacob, who wanted to help his comrade, and declares that there is no need to worry and that they will be honored with a rare spectacle of seeing true strength former Saint Magician. Afterwards, both watch as God Serena unleashes the power of Dragon Slayer Magic and brings his enemies to a critical state, after which August stops God Serena and declares that he is the "Hybrid Theory", a person who is blessed by the Dragon Gods themselves. The three Spriggans were about to head towards Fairy Tail, but were stopped by Acnologia, who killed God Serena, which completely confused August.

As Jacob is about to use his Magic on Acnologia, Augustus stops him, pointing out the Dragon King's power. He explains that they main goal is not killing Acnologia, but obtaining the Fairy Heart. Later, after Jacob's defeat, when Brandish warns Fairy Tail and August's threat, the Mage is seen passing through a deserted area.

Eventually, August stops when he sees a huge flying Happy with Brandish, Mest Grider, Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel riding on it, and glares at them.

・Magic and Abilities

Sleep Magic: August is capable of using this Magic, as he was able to easily make Brandish fall asleep with just a wave of his hand.

Magic Barrier: Through unknown methods, August can create a spherical barrier that is strong enough to protect Laxus Dreyar from a lightning blast; this barrier saved one of the Spriggans, Azir, from such an explosion.

Huge Magic force: Augustus has a particularly terrifying Magic Power that goes beyond the point that the other members of the Spriggan 12 are mere mages in comparison. Makarov Dreyar, one of the Mage Saints, is very scared that only Augustus has such a high Magic Power. Being on a completely different level among his fellow Mages, August is rumored to be able to control all elements of Magic, even more than Zeref himself.

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I’m reading the most magnificent and very English novel by Susanna Clarke, “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.”
One of the most attractive and mysterious characters in the book is John Uskglass, a pupil of fairies who came from the land of the elves and ruled Northern England for 300 years. John Uskglass, nicknamed the Raven King, was the greatest sorcerer and practically the founder of English magic.
Often in mythology, the raven is a mediator between worlds, between heaven and earth, between our world and the afterlife. And in the book by S. Clarke, the Raven King is a mediator between elves and people, between the ghostly (often hostile) world of magic and the world of real England.
By the way, the Raven King himself is not a direct participant in the events taking place on the pages of the novel. His image is shrouded in legends, his name is constantly mentioned in connection with an ancient prophecy and the hope for the revival of English magic (the main characters of the book are wizards).
“The painter immersed the right side of the fresco in a weakening, dim light, as if he had set himself the goal of depicting the approaching twilight. Stars shone above and around the figures. The king in this half, pale-skinned and dark-haired, was dressed in a dark toga; the artist gave his face an incomprehensibly mysterious expression. His head was crowned with a crown of dark leaves, and in his left hand he held not a scepter, but an elegant bone wand. His retinue consisted mainly of mythical creatures - a phoenix, a unicorn, a manticore, fauns and satyrs - but there were also several mysterious characters: a man in a monastic habit with a hood pulled over his eyes, and a woman in a dark, sparkling robe, covering her face with her hand. »

Before “Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrell,” the image of the Raven King in literature had only come across me in an old French fairy tale, which was called “The Raven King.”

Once upon a time lived on the edge of the Ramier forest in a rickety little house, a man as green as grass. And this green man had three daughters, one more beautiful than the other. The eldest is like the sun. The middle one is like the moon. And the youngest is like a clear star.
One evening a green man was sitting by the window. Night was approaching, and a thick fog was creeping in from the river. Suddenly, the sound of mighty wings was heard in the fog, and a coal-black raven the size of a calf landed on the windowsill.
- Ka-ar! Ka-ar! - croaked the raven. - I am the cor-role of the ravens!
- What do you want, Raven King? - asked the green man.
- Give me one of your daughters, ka-arr! - shouted the raven.
“Wait for me here, Raven King,” said the green man and went to his daughters.
“Listen, my daughters,” he said. - The Raven King has arrived. He asks one of you to marry him.
“Father,” said the eldest, “which king of the ravens?” It's already been a year since I became engaged to the son of the Spanish king. Soon my fiancé will come to Lectoure for the fair to buy mules and take me to his kingdom.
The middle daughter grinned.
“Father,” she said, “what kind of raven king is this?” It's been a year since I've been engaged to the Prince of the Sea Islands. He sent word with a sailor that he would soon sail on his schooner and take me away.
The green man looked at his youngest daughter and did not ask anything, because she was only ten years old.
He returned to the Raven King, who was still sitting on the windowsill.
“King of the Ravens,” said the green man, “none of my daughters want to marry you.”
The Raven King was terribly angry! He croaked menacingly and shouted;
- Then, green man, I will peck your eyes out! At that moment, the youngest daughter ran up to her father. She heard everything and exclaimed:
- Raven King, spare my father! I agree to become your wife!

Before she had time to say this, the king of ravens grabbed her, flapped his powerful wings and carried her into the sky. And the sky immediately turned black from the ravens that accompanied their king. Only the faint cry of his beloved daughter reached the father:
- Farewell, my father! Farewell, sisters! I am leaving our home and native country forever! I'll never see you, never, never!
The Raven King brought his young wife to the kingdom of cold, to an icy land where not a single tree grows, not a single flower blooms, not a single blade of grass breaks through. From sunrise to sunset, the crows flew until they lowered the young queen to the ground at the castle gates.
The crows flew away and the queen entered the castle. It was seventy times larger than the Church of St. Gervais in her native Lectoire. Candles were burning everywhere, hot fires were blazing in huge fireplaces. The queen wandered around the castle for a long time, but did not meet a soul. Finally she found herself in a spacious hall, in the middle of which stood a table laden with all kinds of dishes. But the poor girl had no time for food. She never stopped thinking about her family and missing home.
Evening fell, and the queen went to bed, closed the golden-woven curtain and, without extinguishing the candles, began to wait for what would happen. At exactly midnight the sound of mighty wings was heard. It was the king of ravens who arrived. He went to the door of the room where the queen lay and croaked hoarsely;
- Kar! Core roleplayer, put out the candles. - When the queen blew out the candles, he opened the door and entered in complete darkness. - Kar-kar! Listen, wife, and remember, because we don’t waste words here. I was once a king over the people. But an evil sorcerer turned my people and me into ravens. Now I am the king of the ravens. The time will come and the end of our trial will come. And you can bring him closer, but be afraid to disobey me. You are only ten years old. In exactly seven years you will become my real wife. In the meantime, don’t try to find out anything about me and see me, the black raven, in a different guise. Otherwise, you will bring disaster on yourself, on me and on my people. Do you promise me this?
“I promise, my lord,” the young queen stammered.
Then she heard in the darkness how the king of the ravens took off his wings and lay down next to her. The queen trembled and... extended her hand. She thought of touching the raven feathers, but all she felt was the coldness of the drawn sword that the raven king placed between them.
At dawn, still in the darkness, the king of the ravens stood up, took his naked sword, put on his feathers, fastened his wings and flew away to God knows where.
Since then, every night and every morning the same thing happened. For days on end the young queen was left alone, with no one to say a word to or play with. She was very bored and, in order to have a little fun, began to leave the castle in the morning, taking with her a basket of food. Until late in the evening she wandered through the deserted plains among the snow and ice. And she never met a single living soul.
One day, while walking, the queen went far
from the castle and saw a high mountain. Its top was not covered with snow,
and was green, framed by clouds. The girl, without hesitation, began to climb the mountain.
She climbed the narrow icy path for seven hours. And finally she came
to a small hut on the bank of a stream.
A washerwoman, wrinkled like the bark of an old oak tree and as old as a roadside stone, was washing clothes in the stream. She washed and washed, but the linen remained black
like soot.

The washerwoman tirelessly rinsed the linen, wrung it out, rinsed it again and sang:

Ah, the most beautiful fairy,
I wash endlessly
And my underwear is blacker
Monk's robes.
Fairy, fairy, where is she?
Virgo, young wife?

“Hello, washerwoman,” said the queen, “let me help you wash, you are probably tired.”
“Thank you, my child,” answered the washerwoman and with difficulty straightened her back.
Before the young queen had time to dip the linen into the stream, it immediately became snow-white. The wrinkles on the washerwoman’s face straightened out, she seemed even younger and sang in a cheerful and ringing voice:

Fairy, fairy, here she is
Virgo, young wife.

She kissed the queen and said: “I have been waiting for you for a long time.” You saved me from the fairy's spell. The end of my suffering. But the time has not yet come for you, poor thing, to catch up with your happiness. I can’t give you any advice. I can not. I will only say: what is destined will come true.
But the day will come when my help will be needed.
Then I can repay you with kindness for kindness. Now say goodbye and go home.
The queen returned to the castle and did not tell her husband, the king of the ravens, anything about the washerwoman. Her life continued as before. Day after day passed, month after month; year after year.
So exactly seven years have passed without one day since the young queen first set foot
on the threshold of the castle. And so she thought: “Tomorrow ends the period appointed by the Raven King.
I waited almost seven years. Will one day really change anything? I won’t wait until tomorrow, but tonight I’ll light a candle and see what he really is like, my husband.”
"At midnight, as always, the wings rustled. It was the king of ravens who flew home. He took off his wings and, as always, went to bed in the dark. The queen waited until he fell asleep, pulled out a coal from the extinguished fireplace and lit a candle. She looked in the light She gasped at the sleeping man. Before her lay not a raven, but a young man as beautiful as day.
- God! - exclaimed the queen. - How good he is! But then a drop of melted wax fell on the young man’s face, and he woke up.
- Wife! - he cried. - What have you done? Why didn't you wait just one day? Now you have brought great misfortune upon me, upon yourself, and upon all my people. Tomorrow I would become human again and stay with you forever. And now we have to part. The power of the evil sorcerer over me has not yet ended. But you can’t undo what’s been done, I’m burning with tears
you won't help. Goodbye!
As soon as he said this, a mad whirlwind flew in, picked up the young man, whirled him around,
and now he has turned into a raven again.
Only now his wings were bound by a heavy chain. And the sorcerer chained him to a rock. Then he whistled - and immediately
At his whistle, two wolves, huge as bulls, came running. One is white as snow. The other is blacker than coal. The white wolf guarded the king during the day and slept at night. The black wolf, on the contrary, was awake at night and rested during the day.
The evil sorcerer disappeared with a loud laugh, and the raven king remained chained to a high rock.
on an island in the middle of the sea. Fierce wolves guarded him, and a heavy chain did not allow him to move his hand.
not a foot: And at this time the young queen was walking through a deserted icy desert. She walked and cried as if she wanted to cry her eyes out. So she walked, bursting into tears, to the mountain where the old washerwoman’s hut stood on the top. The queen rose slowly
to the green mountain top
and finally found herself on the bank of the stream.
“Poor thing,” said the washerwoman,
- I know everything about your grief.
But you once freed me from the spell, and I will repay good for good. Your husband, chained, is being held captive by a sorcerer on an island in the middle of the sea. It takes many days to get there. And here is a knapsack in which bread is never empty, no matter how much you eat. Here's another hollowed out pumpkin. There will always be fresh spring water in it, no matter how much you drink from it. And here's a golden knife for you. You can use it to protect yourself. Only they can cut the blue grass, the grass that sings and crushes iron. When your iron shoes burst, then the hour of deliverance from the spell will come for the king of ravens, your husband.
The young queen took a golden knife, a pumpkin and a knapsack, and put on iron shoes
and said goodbye to the laundress:
Thank you grandma, goodbye.
The young queen walked and walked for three days and came to a land where there is neither night nor moon,
and the sun always shines. For a whole year she wandered around this country in search of blue grass. When she was hungry, there was always a loaf of bread in her knapsack. When she was thirsty, fresh spring water gurgled in the pumpkin. When she felt sleepy, she went to bed
on the ground, covered herself with the shade of a tree and dozed. Towards the end of the year, the queen came across grass as blue as flowering flax.
The young queen was delighted and already wanted to cut the stems of grass with her golden knife.
But the grass suddenly rustled:
- Dont touch me. Don't cut with your golden knife. I am the blue grass, but not the one that sings night and day, not the one that crushes iron.
- The queen hid the golden knife and left this country. For three days she walked and walked and wandered into a country where there is no day, no sun, but the moon always shines. She wandered here for a whole year. She ate from a knapsack, drank from a pumpkin, slept on the ground, covered in the darkness of the night.
And by the end of the year she found blue grass, blue like flowering flax. The blue grass sang:

You can hear it day and night
In the babble of leaves
Blue song
Blue grass.

The young queen was delighted and was about to cut a bunch of blue grass with her golden knife. But suddenly I heard her rustling:
- Don't touch me, queen. I am the blue grass that sings night and day. But I am not the grass that crushes iron. The queen hid her golden knife and wandered on.
For three days she walked and walked without rest and ended up in a country where neither the sun nor the moon shines,
where the black night reigns.
For three years she wandered in darkness. She ate from her knapsack, drank from a magic pumpkin, and slept on the ground, covered by the wind.
At the end of her third year she heard a song:

Day and night I sing as I breathe,
If necessary, I will crush iron.

The queen rushed to where this song was coming from. In the darkness, she stepped on blue grass, the same one that sings night and day, the one that crushes iron. And they burst with a ringing sound,
her iron shoes. Rather, she took out her golden knife and cut off a bunch of this blue grass. And the grass continued to sing in her hand:

Sing, sing, blue stalks,
Like hardened steel blades.

Happy, queen. let's go
in the darkness of the night barefoot. An evil thorn pricked her tender feet. The darkness stretched thorny branches of bushes towards her face. She walked for a long, long time, and suddenly the darkness dissipated, and the sun appeared in the blue sky. And right in front of the queen the boundless sea sparkled in the sun's rays. Rocked right next to the shore
boat on the waves.
-The young queen entered the boat
and set off into the open sea. The boat sailed for seven days and seven nights
by sea. Seven days and seven nights
the young queen saw nothing but sky and water. On the eighth day, a rocky island appeared in front of her. The king of ravens was chained to the top of the highest rock with a seven-pound chain. A huge white wolf guarding the rock rushed towards the young queen with its mouth bared.
But she only touched him with a golden knife, and the wolf fell dead. After that, she climbed an inaccessible rock and slashed a seven-pound chain with a bunch of blue grass. The chains fell with a ringing sound. The raven king spread his free wings
and let out a joyful cry: “Ka-ar! Kar!
And then the sky darkened from flocks of ravens flying from all sides. They picked up the young queen and instantly carried her across the sea. For the last time, the king of ravens shouted like a bird: “Kar!” And he immediately turned into a beautiful young man. And behind him the crows took on their former, human form.
“Thank you, wife,” said the young king, “you saved me and my people.” Our suffering is over. And our life will become happy and cheerful from now on.
And so it happened.

In one of my previous posts I mentioned the nickname of Gita of England’s mother, Edgites "swan neck"We know practically nothing more about this woman, except, perhaps, that she was a pagan wife Harold, even before his coronation, their marriage was not sanctified by the church and was considered not entirely legal. But the nickname after 10 centuries gives us the opportunity to at least a little imagine her appearance.
In general, apparently, all the rulers had nicknames: maybe not all of them came down to us, maybe some were not bright and original, while others did not catch on. One way or another, history has preserved a great variety of royal nicknames; They were built according to different principles:

The first and simplest is to play up the appearance of the ruler. This is how Pepin appeared Short, Karl Bald, Frederick I Barbarossa(Italian: “red-bearded”), who had a remarkable red beard, Philip IV Beautiful and others.

Frederick I Barbarossa (1125 - 1190)
Lazy Kings- this, it turns out, is not literary fiction. This was the name given to the entire royal dynasty of the Merovingians, who ruled in the 600s. The kings of this dynasty never cut their hair and therefore they were also called “Ler ua shevelu”, that is “ hairy kings". Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, King Pear. This nickname was invented by artists: Louis-Philippe’s flabby face with a cook on his head really had a pear-shaped shape, and the point of the metaphor was that the French word la poire has two meanings - “pear” and “fool.” Viking King Harald II - Harald Blue Tooth. There are two versions of the origin of this nickname. According to the first, he really had teeth of a pathological color, but the second is more plausible: BlueTooth (Blue Tooth) is a distorted Scandinavian Bletand, that is, " dark-haired". Harald had an appearance atypical for Norwegians - he had black hair and brown eyes.
Often the name reflected the type of activity to which the ruler was most inclined or which distinguished him from others. So, Ramiro appears in the Kingdom of Leone Monk, chosen to the throne from among the monks and left at the end of his life for a monastery; throughout the Middle Ages there were a large number of warrior kings: William Conqueror, who conquered England, Alfonso Warrior and Jaime Conqueror, who fought with Muslims, and others; in Portugal, with the beginning of the era of geographical discoveries, Infanta Enrique was called A navigator for his overseas expeditions.
Many nicknames of kings expressed attitudes towards their qualities as warriors: there were Charles Brave Burgundy, Philip Brave Burgundy, Sancho Strong Navarre, Garcia Trembling Navarre, Richard Lion Heart English, etc.
The nicknames also noted the failures of the king’s political activities: for example, the English King John Landless, who lost almost all the French territories of the Plantagenets in the wars with the French king Philip Augustus; was the Byzantine Emperor Basil Bulgarian fighter, who committed a brutal massacre of the Bulgarians, etc.
Some nicknames noted special character traits of the ruler, his inclinations: Pedro Cruel th Portuguese, Alfonso Gentle Aragonese, Pedro Ceremonious Aragonsky, Karl Insane French, Lorenzo Fabulous, tyrant of Florence, whose court shone with luxury and graceful sophistication. Philip- Silent, or Owl is another nickname for King Philip the Fair of France. Presumably, he was poisoned by emissaries of the Templar Order. In addition to these two nicknames, he also had a third - King Counterfeiter. Due to constantly growing taxes and inflation, he began to reduce the silver content in them when minting coins. Romanian King Carol II was nicknamed Playboy King. He was married three times, and the number of his mistresses was legendary. In 1925, he even abdicated the throne, abandoned his official wife, the Greek Princess Helen, and fled the country with a girl of dubious reputation. For his manner of behavior with his subjects and members of foreign delegations, the famous King Henry of Navarre, the future King of France Henry IV, received the nickname Gallant Vigorous. For the severity of truth - Ivan Grozny.
The qualities of piety of kings and their pleasing to God have always been especially noted: Louis Pious French, Istvan Saint Hungarian, Fernando Saint Leonsky, Louis Saint French, Vladimir Saint Russian, etc.
The same applies to nicknames that emphasize the strong education and foresight of the ruler: Sancho Mudras th Navarre, Karl Mudras th French, Alfonso Wise Kastilsky, Yaroslav Wise Russian and others.
There were also nicknames of a more general nature, which rather marked what the reign of a particular king was like, reflecting the attitude towards him as a sovereign, and not as a person endowed with all sorts of human properties. Such “common” names include: Charlemagne, Cnut the Great, Sancho the Great of Navarre, Alfonso the Great of Castile, John the Good of France, Philip the Good of Burgundy, Charles the Evil of Navarre and others.

Female queens and princesses also most often had nicknames. Unfortunately, they, like many other details of life, are poorly preserved in historical documents. The origin of female nicknames follows the same principles:
Catherine de Medici - Black queen, for black clothes and dark rumors around her; Joan of Burgundy Lame leg- the legs were of different lengths; Juana Mad- had a mental illness; Isabella I Catholic; Adelaide Holy; Isabel French wolf- after she overthrew her husband, the English king; Landek Begga Holy; Maria I Bloody- for mass executions of non-believers; Audi Rich- large dowry; Sigrid Arrogant- very proud disposition; Oneka Beautiful; Maria Gray Shorty.

In general, royal nicknames, especially secondary ones (unofficial ones), were very diverse - you couldn’t name them all. But they very accurately characterize one of the sides of the personality.

Juana the Mad (1479-1555), Queen of Castile

Choosing a name is a responsible matter. Even the most ordinary people approach this issue with enthusiasm, leafing through lists of name meanings and advice on zodiac signs. In royal families, things are much more complicated. When choosing the name of the future monarch, all relatives along different lines were taken into account. Astrologers compiled horoscopes, astrologers determined by the stars...

Often the child received the name of previous kings - according to tradition - which was assigned a serial number (to avoid confusion). Or it consisted of the names of a good half of the ancestors. And all these efforts went to waste as soon as the child became king.

And all because the good people immediately gave the king their nickname - depending on the appearance, actions of the monarch during his reign, his habits, even mental abilities. And not always euphonious or beautiful. This is exactly what happened with two kings - Louis VI the Fat and Charles VI the Mad. But the parents chose...

The birth of a nickname

The king's nickname could have been born in the palace corridors and on the city streets. A truly folk creation, it could have arisen overnight, or it could have been chosen from a dozen others describing the qualities of the king or his appearance.

Louis VI the Fat is the king of France, the fifth of the Capetian dynasty. Son of King Philip I and Bertha of Holland.

Of all the king's nicknames, one was usually left, which remained in history as the official one. Most likely, there was not a single ruler without a nickname; it’s just that not all of them have come down to us, although they could very likely have been bright and original. Be that as it may, they could all be divided according to several principles.

Principle of appearance

The easiest way to earn a nickname from people is to have something special in your appearance. The first and simplest is to play up the appearance of the ruler. This is exactly how they got their prefixes to their official names:

Louis VI the Fat - it’s clear why,

Frederick I Barbarossa - for his gorgeous red beard,

Philip IV the Handsome - apparently for beauty by those standards,

Louis-Philippe d'Orléans - “The Pear King” and a caricature of him.

Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, the Pear King - the face shape has been the subject of many caricatures, not only because of its resemblance to a pear, the fact is that the French word la poire can mean both fruit and stupidity...

Almost everyone knows about Louis XIV - the Sun King, and there were also Harold I Harefoot, Sven I Forkbeard, Richard III the Hunchback, William II Rufus (Red), Edward I Longshanks (Longlegged) and... Viking King Harald II Bluetooth.

It may be true that he had blue teeth, but most likely BlueTooth is a corruption of the Scandinavian Bletand (black). Harald was not a typical Norwegian - he had brown eyes and black hair.

Hobbies of the King

Often the reason for assigning a nickname was what the monarch did most and his personal preferences. William the Conqueror - fought, Enrique the Navigator - walked the seas, Henry I the Birdcatcher - caught birds when he received the news that he had become king.

Henry of Navarre, nicknamed “Gallant Vigorous.”

But the first place in the originality of the nickname is shared by the King of France Henry IV and the Romanian King Carol II. For his demeanor, Henry of Navarre received the nickname Gallant Vigorous. King II was known as the Playboy King because of his romantic adventures.

He was married three times, the number of his girlfriends is legendary. In the end, the Romanian king completely abdicated the throne and fled the country with an ordinary girl, leaving a Greek princess for her.

Personal qualities and generalizations

Nicknames received due to personal qualities have preserved for us the true face of their bearers. Brave warriors like Charles the Bold of Burgundy, Philip the Brave of Burgundy and Richard the Lionheart of England or those who suffered failures during their reign like the English king John the Landless, who lost almost all the French territories of the Plantagenets in the wars.

Charles VI the Mad is the king of France since 1380, from the Valois dynasty.

Character traits could also become the king's nickname - good or bad: Pedro the Cruel of Portugal or Alfonso the Meek of Aragon, Pedro the Ceremonial of Aragon or Charles the Mad of France.

Piety in the behavior of the monarch was especially noted: Louis the Pious of France, Stephen the Saint of Hungary, Louis the Saint of France. Far-sighted rulers were called Wise: Sancho the Wise of Navarre, Charles the Wise of France, Alfonso the Wise of Castile.

Lionheart and Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty is actually the real nickname of the English King Richard III, and not just a character from a famous poem. The story is also reliable. He was not loved for his ugliness, but the nickname was born after a battle in which his legs were cut off and no one from the army was able to come to his aid.

Richard III - King of England since 1483 from the York dynasty.

There were common nicknames - a whole series of Great, Just, Evil and Good kings: Charlemagne, Knut the Great, John the Good of France, Philip the Good of Burgundy, Charles the Evil of Navarre and others. Even an entire royal dynasty was given the nickname - the Lazy Kings (Merovingians), for never cutting their hair.

Harold I Harefoot

The reign of this English king began in 1035 and lasted 5 years. During this time, he became famous mainly for his hunting skills and fast running, for which he was called Hare's Paw.

Edmund II Ironside

King of England since 1016, Edmund tirelessly showed courage in battles with the Danes. He found himself in the center of battle so often that his subjects almost never saw him without armor. This is what made him Ironside.

John I Posthumous

Alas, the 13th king of France died just five days after ascending the throne, for which he was named so by the people. Even more sadly, he was proclaimed king on the same day that he was born.

Pepin III the Short

The king of the Franks of the mid-8th century received his nickname for a rather prosaic reason - he was rather short in stature.

Louis XV Beloved

During one of the wars that fell during the long reign of the 65th King of France, Louis became very ill. The people were seriously alarmed, but when the ruler recovered, France was so pleased with his healing that she nicknamed Louis the Beloved.

Russian rulers

Our princes and kings also had nicknames that they deserved for one reason or another.

Vasily Kosoy and Vasily II the Dark

Cousins for a long time fought for the place of Grand Duke of Moscow. In their struggle they did not shun self-harm. Vasily Yuryevich was blinded by order of Vasily Vasilyevich, for which he received the nickname Oblique.

Vasily II Vasilyevich the Dark - Grand Duke of Moscow since 1425, the fifth son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir and Moscow Vasily I Dmitrievich and Sofia Vitovtovna.

When Vasily II himself was captured, he was overtaken by equal revenge, and he, also blinded, began to be called the Dark One.

Vladimir I Red Sun

The Grand Duke who baptized Rus' had many nicknames - Saint, Great, Baptist. But more than others, Vladimir Svyatoslavich received the nickname from the epics - Red Sun.

"Vladimir the Red Sun and his wife Apraxia Korolevichna." 1895. Illustration for the book “Russian epic heroes”

In folklore it was reflected in a collective image, which was, among other things, the personification of natural phenomena.

Yury Dolgoruky

The founder of Moscow was pretty tossed around various principalities. Twice he became the Grand Duke of Kyiv, fought for Pereyaslavl, and himself founded many cities besides Moscow.

Yuri Vladimirovich, nicknamed Dolgoruky - Prince of Rostov-Suzdal and Grand Duke of Kiev, son of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh.

He received the nickname Dolgoruky not only for his disproportionately long arms, but also for his love of annexing the lands of weaker rulers.

The Prince of Kyiv Svyatoslav was nicknamed Leopard by his enemies. More than once he emerged victorious, having a much smaller number of troops...

Prince Yaroslav was nicknamed wise. Through dynastic marriages he strengthened ties with European countries and founded a number of new cities.

Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible

The Tsar of Moscow Ivan IV was called the Terrible for his ferocity, and Peter I became the Great for many great and glorious deeds.

The nicknames of the kings were also given based on merit. Thus, Alexander I quite officially received the prefix Blessed from the Synod in 1814, Alexander II was called the Liberator, for the abolition of serfdom, and Alexander III was called the Peacemaker, for the fact that Russia did not wage wars under him.