Fun Trivia : Royalty & Monarchs

Structure Sub-topic of: People Quizzes Other encyclopedia entries of interest: Egyptian Pharaohs | Belgian Royals | Central European Royals | Croatian Royals | Danish Royals | Dutch Royals | Frankish Royals | French Royals | Greek Royals | Indian Royals | Irish Royals | Monaco Royals | Roman Emperors | Russian Royals | Spanish Royals | U.K. Royals | Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 10 general entries. Special Topics They Ruled the Land: 1 Well Established Royal Epithets Secrets of the Gotha II Never King World Monarchies The History of European Royalty V Pretender to the Throne The History of European Royalty VI Prince Rupert of the Rhine The Five Iberian Crowns Royal Kissing Cousins Lithuanian Grand Dukes: I Royal Madness Famous Royalty Quotes Famous Monarchs No Longer Kingdoms European Royalty The History of European Royalty I Meet the Royals Royal Relativity

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Royalty & Monarchs

Which Roman emperor could fittingly be called 'Bootsy' in English, based on the familiar name assigned to him?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


Caligula. Born Gaius Caesar Germanicus, he was given the nickname Caligula (meaning 'little boots' or, better yet, 'bootsy') at a very young age. As the mascot of the imperial army, he was dressed in a child's version of the current soldier uniform, boots included. Caligula reviled this nickname, but then, he didn't like much, did he?



For the best royal sobriquets, one needs to turn to the French. Case in point is poor Louis II, the king of France from 877 to 879 A.D. What was his unfortunate epithet?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


The Stammerer. Louis was a frail man, sickly and infirm. On top of that, he had a penchant for stuttering, thus the nickname (in French, 'le Bègue'). Nothing of significance occurred during his short reign.



Yazdgird I, ruler of the ancient Sassanian kingdom of Persia from 399 to 420 A.D., had conflicting nicknames. One of his informal titles was Izdigerdes, or 'made by God'. His other nickname was less flattering, however. What was it?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


The Wicked. Yazdgird I was called 'The Wicked' because he spent much of his reign quarrelling with the Zoroastrian clergy (then the state religion) in favor of Christians and Jews.



As if not to be outdone by the French, the English have come up with several good epithets for their less fortunate rulers. Which ruler of England was given the title 'Lackland' because, well, he lacked his own land?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


John. Poor King John (r. 1199 - 1216), he's been given such a bum rap in the annals of history. Along with his 'lackland' (sans terre) nickname, gained because he was the youngest son of Henry II (and hence would not inherit any land from his parents), he was also called 'Soft Sword'. To make matters, worse, John is most famous for having capitulated to the barons in signing the Magna Carta. His treatment in history is a far cry from his brother, Richard I (The Lion Hearted)!



Some of the greatest royal nicknames were provided by the Scandinavians. For example, Sven I, one of the greatest rulers of Denmark, had what interesting sobriquet attached to his name?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


Forked Beard. Sven I (985-1014) was called 'Forked Beard', probably because he had a creative barber. Sven's father Harald II was called 'Bluetooth', an equally nifty agnomen. Sven I was no historical flash-in-the-pan, during his reign he defeated the Norwegians, the Swedes and the Wends, and managed to conquer England in 1013.



Back to France and another fascinating sobriquet, this time for Louis XI, who is known in history by what creepy nickname?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


The Spider. Louis XI was one of the great rulers in French history. Ruling from 1461 until his death in 1483, Louis managed to unite France under his firm grip. He was called 'The Spider' because of his political cunning and artfulness, not because he was born with eight arms.



King George III of England, Queen Juana of Castile and King Charles VI of France were all given what somewhat less than flattering royal nickname?

Interesting Royal Nicknames


The Mad. Most of us know the story about poor King George III, who suffered from a disease called porphyria. Less is known about Charles the Mad, who was ruler of France from 1380 to 1415. He could also have been called Charles the Glass Figure (at some point he imagined himself to be constructed of glass). Queen Juana (or Joan) of Castile, who ruled for a time in the 16th century, and whose story was documented in the 2001 film 'Juana la Loca', was also called 'mad' (and locked away for 49 years because of it!) Hmm...I wonder if she was truly mad? Thank you for trying this quiz, I hope you enjoyed it and will try more of my stuff.