# "The Great," "The Lionhearted," "The Terrible," and "The Conqueror", etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461 "2005-03-20T20:09:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/1 "2005-03-20T20:09:52Z")
Isn’t there a term for these types of name descriptors? Does “The Red” or “The Black” fit into that group even though they’re not as descriptive? Is it exclusively used for royalty and military leaders? Also, is there a list on the internet of historical personages with those kinds of names? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/2 "2005-03-20T20:18:13Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Is it exclusively used for royalty and military leaders? **Billy the Kid** **Stan the Man** **Chet the Jet** Guess not. 😃 Interesting question, though. I’ll be looking forward to the answers. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/3 "2005-03-20T20:19:27Z")
[Epithet, first definition.](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=epithet) So sayeth one of my college profs. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/4 "2005-03-20T20:34:27Z")
The Carolingian monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire had some of the best; Charles the Bald Louis the Stammerer Charles the Fat Charles the Simple Louis the Sluggard Quite an impressive bunch! ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/5 "2005-03-20T20:36:15Z")
**Ace309.** “Epithet?” Seriously? That’s it? Wow, modern usage really pushed that term off its pedestal. They sure don’t sound like insults. “Interesting question,” says **Qadgop the Mercotan.** Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/6 "2005-03-20T20:36:57Z")
More [amusing epithets](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=303985&highlight=royal). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/7 "2005-03-20T20:37:30Z")
**Ace309** beat me to the name: Epithet. You’ll find, however, that the vast majority of them were purely descriptive, not adulatory. Ethelred the Unready (which means Ill-Counseled, not Unprepared), Louis the Fat, Charles the Bald, Louis the Fair (light-complexioned, not evenhanded; he was a SOB at times), Erik Bloodyaxe, Ivan the Terrible (terror-inspiring), Edward the Confessor (religious bloke). Erik the Red was so called because he was of ruddy complexion and red-haired. St. Moses the Black, an Orthodox saint, was called that because he was of sub-Saharan African ancestry, and that was his epithet in life. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/8 "2005-03-20T20:37:52Z")
Oh. Well, **Colibri** sure cleared THAT semantic drift up, quick. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/9 "2005-03-20T23:14:08Z")
I’d like to say that Erik Bloodyaxe is a kickass name. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/10 "2005-03-21T00:29:40Z")
[Sobriquet](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=sobriquet&x=16&y=14) is another word for it. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/11 "2005-03-21T01:12:31Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Erik the Red was so called because he was of ruddy complexion and red-haired. Plus, there was that one Party meeting he went to as a teenager… ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/12 "2005-03-21T01:16:41Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Plus, there was that one Party meeting he went to as a teenager… “Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of a Viking Raiding Party?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/13 "2005-03-21T01:43:40Z")
[Appellation](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=appellation) is another term for it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/14 "2005-03-21T02:06:11Z")
And let’s not forget Castille’s **Joan the Madwoman** (Juana la Loca), **Peter the Cruel** (Pedro el Cruel), and **Henry the Impotent** (Enrique el Impotente)(ouch!) ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/15 "2005-03-21T02:38:22Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > **Billy the Kid** > **Stan the Man** > **Chet the Jet** And Bud the C.H.U.D. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/16 "2005-03-21T03:30:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And let’s not forget Castille’s **Joan the Madwoman** (Juana la Loca), **Peter the Cruel** (Pedro el Cruel), and **Henry the Impotent** (Enrique el Impotente)(ouch!) How about Carlos el Hechizado (Carlos the Bewitched)? (Actually, that might have been Spain, not Castile.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/17 "2005-03-21T03:37:36Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > **Billy the Kid** > **Stan the Man** > **Chet the Jet** Kermit the Frog ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/18 "2005-03-21T03:39:38Z")
They are also called cognomens or, if laudatory, agnomens or honorifics. ---
**Author:** ![Sample\_the\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sample\_the\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sample_the_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/19 "2005-03-21T03:47:39Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > And let’s not forget Castille’s **Joan the Madwoman** (Juana la Loca) Or her husband **Felipe el Hermoso** (Philip the Handsome). IIRC, after his death, she carried the casket with his body in her carriage everywhere she went. \. Btw, I prefer to render her name into English simply as “Crazy Jane”. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461/20 "2005-03-21T07:26:18Z")
The Polish kings had some strange names. Here are just a few:- ``` Boleslaus the Brave Ladislaus the Exiled Boleslaus the Curly Casimir the Just Mieszko the Old Ladislaus the Stick-legged Leszek the White Mieszko the Knot-legged Henry the Bearded Henry the Pious Boleslaus the Shy Leszek the Black Ladislaus the Short Casimir the Great ``` [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-the-lionhearted-the-terrible-and-the-conqueror-etc/295461.md?page=2)