Juliet was wrong. In William Shakespeare’s famous play Romeo and Juliet, protagonist Juliet seems to suggest that a name by itself holds little intrinsic value. She implies that names do not tell us the inherent qualities of an individual. Yet when we delve deeper into history—especially European History—we find countless examples of rulers and nobles whose names range from the bizarre to the humorous. Names, especially when attached with a nickname or an epithet, hold a power to bestow identity and shape how history has perceived them. For example, Ivaylo the Cabbage was a Bulgarian emperor in the 13 th Century. He rose to power as a peasant farmer with no land of his own. He was given the unfortunate nickname by his detractors to reflect his low social origin. The Danish King Ragnar Lodbrok (845 A.D) became known as Ragnar Hairy Pants because he wore odd leggings when slaying serpents —his obsession and ultimately his demise. Justinian the Slit-Nosed is remembered as a brutal Byzantine emperor whose reign of terror inspired a popular uprising which resulted in his nose being cut off. He replaced it with a golden prosthetic. This article directs your attention to more regional examples of some royal epithets that have stuck and shaped history in and around the Low Countries.
Philip The Handsome was the ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1493-1506. It was rumored upon his birth that Philip was actually a girl and not a boy. During his Baptism his step-grandmother showed the boy naked to the public to dispel rumors.
Accounts suggest that as a young man Philip was “strikingly handsome” with one local ambassador describing him as “physically beautiful, vigorous and rich…with sumptuous style and knowledge on how to impress women… he is neither male or female but more of a statue.” Philip held his court in Brussels, Mechelen and Bruges which collectively at the time, was the hub of the Low Countries Renaissance. Philip had a short but impactful reign. But he had the looks, gravitas and wealth to back it up. He died at age 28 years.
Louis the Pious (aka. Louis the Debonair) was the son of Charlemagne—the crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire centered in Aachen, (now Germany). His reign was defined by the struggle to maintain the vast territories previous controlled by his famous father. That kingdom known as the Carolingian Empire was an enormous swath of territory that stretched from the North Sea to the Alps, Today, we simply refer to it as Western Europe. For a brief period, Louis was co-emperor with his father during which he had the near impossible task of holding the vast muti-ethnic empire together. Louis was deeply devout and used monastic reforms of the Church to align his father’s vast empire. Louis believed in faith and law rather than military force. Notably, re-carved out enough of the Carolingian Empire to provide land for what we now know as modern France. He is sometimes referred to as Louis the Debonaire because of his gentleness and courtesy.
The reign of Charles the Bald, son of Louis the Pious and grandson of Charlemagne was defined by constant civil war. The ensuing power struggles resulted in giving birth to what we now know as France. Was he really Bald? Historical debates suggest that the moniker was ironic. Charles lived in an era where long hair was a symbol of royalty and power. Other accounts imply that “the bald” might have been a personal dig to his lack of land—read; “a bald estate” before he famously partitioned West Francia, later France.
The family of Robert the Strong (830-866) had its origin in the Hesbaye region of West Francia —now part of present- day Belgium. Robert emerged as a prominent nobleman whose primary duty was to defend the local principality against two major threats: the hit and run tactics of the Viking invaders and the local disputes on the region’s western frontier. Robert was never a king per se but earned the by-word “the Strong” through his hand -to-hand encounters with foes. His career ended at the Battle of Brissarthe (866) where he bravely removed his armor to better fight off his enemies. He was killed in the melee. The territories he defended later became the strategic river corridors of the Low Countries during the Medieval and early modern periods.
William the Silent was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Hapsburgs in what is known as The Eighty Years War (1568-1645). The title “The Silent” is ironic as young William was actually known to be the opposite. He was a famously eloquent and charismatic orator. More importantly he developed a talent for tight -lipped diplomacy. In negotiations he was silent and dispassionate with a poker face meant to gather all the intelligence he could without tipping his hand. His articulate speaking combined with his tight-lipped diplomacy greatly influenced the eventual independence of the Dutch Republic.
Unlike the articulate Robert the Silent, Louis the Stammerer was “slow in speech and somewhat impeded.” In an era when “royal speech’’ was vital for commanding authority, Louis’s speech impediment was often noted and ridiculed by his detractors. He was also physically weak and lacked a forceful personality. To maintain peace, he was forced to give away vast areas of royal land to local nobility thus diminishing the power of the West Francian crown. Louis was described by some who knew him “as a sweet and simple man, a lover of peace, justice and religion” but others have described his rule as a “brief (less than eighteen months), feeble, and ineffectual.”
Epilogue
The monikers attached to the above cast of characters evokes an identity that encourage us to look beyond the simplicity of a mere name. Often, they can be a term of endearment or the opposite, or of physical traits. More importantly they can serve as powerful descriptors that can help define the person and the historical era in which they lived.
While Juliet may have been mistaken, Shakespeare understood that a name with or without an epithet can carry a deeper meaning. After all, he chose to name Juliet’s lover Romeo—a name synonymous with a “passionate lover”.
