Dear Motley Friends, to continue on the theme of monarchy in this Jubilee month1, I thought it would be fun to meander through some stories of monarchs and rulers of the past; many were given nicknames. This seems especially true in France (and kingdoms before modern France), when so many monarchs were called Charles. Here are a few monarchs:
Charles the Bald, Charles the Fat, Charles the Simple, Charles the Bad, Charles the Mad, Ethelred the Unready, Hakim the Mad, Henry the Impotent, Iskander the Accursed, Ivan the Terrible, Joanna the Mad, Louis the Sluggard, Louis the Fat, Louis the Quarrelsome, Pedro the Cruel, Stephen the Fop, Selim the Grim and Vlad the Impaler. Let’s see if they deserved their nicknames:
Charles the Bald (823 to 877), Emperor of the Carolingian Empire2 and King of Italy. His nickname was ironic because he was very hairy.
Charles the Fat (839 to 888), Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, was probably not fat. The nickname was ascribed to him long after his death, nobody knows why. However, Charles the Fat was considered lethargic and inept, he was deposed in a coup and his Empire fell apart.
His cousin Charles the Simple (879 to 929) King of West Francia3, was called simple, meaning ‘straightforward’. It is difficult to tell if this is true, but he ended up alienating his nobles, who rebelled, and Charles died in prison.
Charles the Bad (1332 to 1387) King of Navarre (in Spain) and extensive lands in France. He really was very bad. Charles was a scheming, murdering, double-crossing monarch, frequently changing sides in the wars that raged between France and England, in an attempt to increase his power. He ultimately failed and lost many of his French lands. But Charles came to a terrible end. In 1803 Francis Blagdon (an English author) wrote about his death:
In 1387 “Charles the Bad, having fallen into such a state of decay that he could not make use of his limbs, consulted his physician, who ordered him to be wrapped up from head to foot, in a linen cloth impregnated with brandy [believed to have healing properties], so that he might be enclosed in it to the very neck, as in a sack. It was night when this remedy was administered. One of the female attendants of the palace, charged to sew up the cloth that contained the patient, having come to the neck, the fixed point where she was to finish her seam, made a knot according to custom; but as there was still remaining an end of thread, instead of cutting it as usual with scissors, she had recourse to the candle, which immediately set fire to the whole cloth. Being terrified, she ran away, and abandoned the king, who was thus burnt alive in his own palace.” He died two weeks later.
Charles the Mad (1368 to 1422), King of France, was mad (probably schizophrenic). During his first attack of madness, he attacked his own knights and killed four men. Afterwards his uncles acted as regents, though Charles did have periods of lucidity. During one mad episode Charles thought that he was made of glass. He had iron rods sewn into his clothes so that he would not shatter if he came into contact with another person. In 1393 the King and five companions dressed for a celebration as ‘wild men’ at a wedding celebration. A spark from the fire landed on one costume and set it ablaze; soon all six men were on fire.
The king was saved by a quick thinking lady, who covered him with her skirts, and another man leapt into a vat of wine. But the other four died of their injuries.
Ethelred the Unready (c. 966 to 1016), King of England, was poorly advised (the old English meaning of the word).
Hakim the Mad (985 to 1021), Imam–Caliph of the Fatimid Caliphate4, was mad with power and killed people on a whim.
Henry the Impotent (1425 to 1474), King of Castile & Leon, probably was impotent, and his only child, a daughter, fathered by another man.
Iskander the Accursed (356 to 323 BCE), was Alexander the Great. The nickname ‘accursed’ came from a Persian work written after Alexander had conquered the Persian empire and set fire to the royal library holding many sacred texts.
Ivan the Terrible (1530 to 1584), Tsar of Russia, is well known for his reign of terror. During an argument he also killed his own son and heir.
Joanna the Mad (1479 to 1555), Queen of Castile & Aragon. Claims regarding her being ‘mad’ are widely disputed. Her life was turbulent, and after the death of her husband her relatives had a lot to gain if she was locked away because she was ‘mad’. Of course, the seclusion and poor treatment then undermined her mental wellbeing.
Louis the Sluggard (c.967 to 987), King of the Franks. He was a sluggard as he neglected his duties. At the age of 15 Louis was married to 40-year-old Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou. Obviously, it was a political marriage for the lands that Adelaide brought as a dowry. After their marriage they were crowned King & Queen of Aquitaine. The marriage was a disaster. Louis, who had no tutors, was a pleasure-seeking young man who had no interest in government; the nobles ran his Kingdom. When his father died Louis became King of all the Franks, but the Kingdom was in disarray. A year later (age 21) Louis fell off his horse while hunting, and (conveniently?) died.
Louis the Fat (1081 to 1137), King of France, did indeed become very overweight in middle age.
Louis the Quarrelsome (1289 to 1316), King of France, was quarrelsome or stubborn (depending on the translation). He also abolished slavery, emancipated serfs, and readmitted Jews into the kingdom.
Pedro the Cruel (1320 to 1367), King of Portugal, may or may not have a justifiable reputation for cruelties committed against the clergy. At the time the Pope excommunicated him, but since then some historians think his reputation was ruined by a prejudiced biographer.
Stephen the Fop (1337 to 1413), Duke of Bavaria, was also called ‘magnificent’. So, while I can’t find information about why he was called ‘the fop’, it may be because he was always splendidly dressed.
Selim the Grim (1470 to 1520), Turkish Sultan, was pretty stern. When he became Sultan he had his brothers and nephews murdered, so he would have no competition for the throne. It was not unusual behaviour for a sultan at the time.
Lastly Vlad the Impaler (c.1431 to 1477), King of Romania, did impale people. During the war against the Ottoman Empire, Vlad impaled thousands of men, women, and children on stakes. One commentator saw a "forest of the impaled".
Vlad is also considered the inspiration for Count Dracula by Bram Stoker. There are two letters he signed as ‘Dragulya’ or ‘Drakulya’. The name had its origin in the nickname of his father, Vlad Dracul (‘Vlad the Dragon’ in medieval Romanian), who received it after he became a member of the Order of the Dragon.
Modern monarchs are rather a dull lot and not really worthy of a nickname. Politicians are often given a moniker, in fact I have discovered a website with the nicknames for the prime ministers of the UK!
My favourite is Goderich the Blubberer (Viscount Goderich, prime minister 1827 to 1828), who did cry at stressful moments. Presumably these nicknames were usually thought up by journalists. Instead, I propose that the public vote for a nickname for every retiring prime minister.
After all, when the public were asked to come up with a name for a new £200 million polar scientific research ship, they chose Boaty McBoatface. Sadly, the politicians backed out when the name was revealed. The ship was named ‘The Sir David Attenborough’ (4th choice in the poll, what were the other two?). One of the onboard submersibles was called Boaty McBoatface.
As always, any links are provided to give the reader more information. I do not make any money from these links. Where possible permissions have been sought for the use of images and text, unless they are in the Public Domain. If there is an issue with copyright, please contact me. I am an amateur historian covering a wide range of subjects. I do careful research using secondary sources (books, articles, videos and a little bit of Wikipedia). If there are any mistakes I apologise and please let me know.
Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee in June 2022.
The Carolingian Empire (751–888) was a large Frankish-dominated (Germanic) empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages.
Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks, was the largest post-Roman kingdom in Western Europe. After the Treaty of Verdun in 843, West Francia became the predecessor of France, and East Francia became the predecessor of Germany.
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shia caliphate from the 10th to the 12th centuries. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east.
Great post. I second your idea for a public vote on the nickname of outgoing Prime Ministers!