the Iron Arm, Ironarm, Iron-Arm, With the Iron Arm (Fr. Bras-de-Fer): " . . . [He was] surnamed Bras-de-Fer, according to some, on account of his great strength; and according to others, of his being perpetually in armour. . . ." (Rose. A New General Biographical Dictionary, Vol 3: 55)
the Bald: "Baudouin the Second's manly vigour did credit to his mother's tenderness. When he grew up to man's estate, he assumed the epithet of le-Chauve, in honour of his Imperial Grandfather, though his locks were abundant as those adorning any Merovingian King. . . ." (Palgrave: 538)
the Little Leader: "In this year (526/1131/32) news came from the Franks of the death of Baldwin, 'the little leader' (ar-ru' ayyis), King of the Franks and Lord of Jerusalem. He died in Acre on Thursday 25 ramadan/8 August 1132. He was an old man, rich in experience and inured to every trial and hardship of life. Several times he had been imprisoned by the Muslims, in war and in peace, but his famous stratagems and skillful manoeuvering had got him out. . . ." (Arab Historians of the Crusades: 40)
the Younger: " . . . lthough he began to govern in 958, yet, as he died before his father, many historians do not allow him the title of being the third of the name in the succession of the crown. . . Baldwin died of the small-pox. . . ." (Rose: 55)
the Frieslander: "Baldwin V, called the Frieslander, or De Lille, and afterwards Le Debonnaire, count of Flanders and son of Baldwin IV, would have been one of the greatest princes of his age if he had not sullied his reputation by violating the duty he owed to his father. . . ." (Rose: 56)
Baldwin VII of Flanders.
the Axe (la Hache): "During this time, Louis the Fat passed into Flanders, to invest with that county Baldwin VII, surnamed la Hache (the Axe) son of Baldwin IV. The new count was hardly eighteen years old, and like his father, he remained faithful to the interests of France. But this young man having been required by the states of Ypres, which he assembled in the first year of his reign, to attend to the observation of justice, too much neglected by his predecessors, and especially to punish the thefts which the gentlemen committed on the people, henceforth thought only of distinguishing himself by the zeal which he was believed to feel for justice: this zeal often took, however, the character of a pitiless ferocity towards all the enemies of order, and all those who troubled his repose. The axe or hapkin, the instrument of punishment which he always carried suspended from his girdle, which he had painted in his arms, and from which he derived his surname, often served him, as we are assured, to punish criminals with his own hands." (The French Under the Merovingians: 208)Bloody Ban:
the Butcher:
the Butcher:
the Green Dragoon:
" . . . What made the British Legion unique in the Southern Theater, however, was that apart from Tarleton and a few of his officers, the Legion was not quite as British as the name suggested. Tarleton’s legion was made up almost entirely of American loyalists, marked by their green jackets that set them apart from the British regulars and Hessian mercenaries, which gave Tarleton his nickname, 'the Green Dragoon.'. . . ." ("Bloody Ban" in the Backcountry)
" . . . What made the British Legion unique in the Southern Theater, however, was that apart from Tarleton and a few of his officers, the Legion was not quite as British as the name suggested. Tarleton’s legion was made up almost entirely of American loyalists, marked by their green jackets that set them apart from the British regulars and Hessian mercenaries, which gave Tarleton his nickname, 'the Green Dragoon.'. . . ." ("Bloody Ban" in the Backcountry)
Barbara of Cilli
the German Messalina, the Messalina of Germany:
----" . . . Barbara von Cilli, who was born between 1390 and 1395 and died in 1451, took her last name from her ancestral castle of Cilli once located in Styria, an old province of southern Austria. She became popularly known as 'the German Messalina,' because she was accused of adultery and intrigue." (McNally: 1)
----"The popular idea has long been that Barbara fell into degrading habits of vice. Sigismund was no doubt often away from her, and whether at home or abroad, he appears to have set her a very bad example of morality. . . Yet we are told by old writers that the behaviour of Queen Barbara was so abandoned as to earn for her the surname of 'the Messalina of Germany,' and to drive Sigismund reluctantly to public inquiry and the infliction of punishment. . . ."
----"Apparently the first person to commit these foul charges to paper was Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini . . . who was successively secretary to the Council of Basel, to the anti-Pope Felix V, and to the Emperor Frederic III. . . To a certain extent he was a contemporary of Queen Barbara, but much her junior. . . Many allusions to Barbara's supposed depravity are found scattered through the numerous writings of this ecclesiastic. . . ."
the Loose Woman: Her ambitious and adventurous life earned her the nickname 'Loose Woman'; apart from a considerable collection of lovers, she also amassed a sizable fortune with which she came to her husband's rescue in his moments of crisis, thus earning his forgiveness." (A Concise History of Hungary: 58)
Barbarina
la Barberina.
Royal mistress
born Barbara Palmer, Lady Castlemaine
That Lady (by the Chancellor of England)
the Curse of the Nation (by John Evelyn):
--"Barbara Villiers, Lady Castlemaine, had always divided opinion; Samuel Pepys adored her and never tired of describing her, while John Evelyn denounced her as 'the curse of the Nation'. A tempestuous beauty known for her fiery temper and ruthless ambition, Barbara managed to fascinate and intimidate both King and court in equal measure. Her tears and tantrums were legendary and while they would eventually prove her undoing, at the time of his marriage Barbara was in high favour with the besotted King. As she awaited the birth of their second child, reports reached her of the King's apparent delight in his bride. An irate Barbara was now more determined than ever that, whatever the cost, on her return to court she would show the world that the arrival of a Queen had in no way affected her dominance over the King. Matters would come to a head in the infamous 'Bedchamber Incident'." (Britannia Biographies)
--"Charles began to tire of Barbara as her beauty faded and in one last gesture, made Barbara Duchess of Cleveland. He paid for lavish weddings for their children, an unpopular act which led the political diarist, John Evelyn to call Barbara ‘the curse of the nation’." (Historic UK)
the Finest Woman in England in Her Time (by Boyer)
the Finest Woman of Her Age (by Reresby)
the Uncrowned Queen.
the Frenchman: " . . . Barisan the Old, by the time he first comes into view in 1115 had become constable of 'Balian [Barisan] the Frenchman was the brother of Count Guilin of Chartres. . . ." (Riley-Smith: 173)
the Old: Barisan was the progenitor of the Ibelins, a family which was to be the most prominent noble house in Palestine in the thirteenth century. By then the Ibelins had some memory of descent from the Le Puisets, because their pedigree opens with the following statement. . . ."
the Good: "Barnim I, surnamed the Good, an active and benevolent prince, built of enlarged many towns, laid the foundations of the city of Greifswald, and founded several cloisters. . . ." (Rose: 203)
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