Quade: "Otto II is . . . surnamed 'the Warlike' and 'the Mighty,' but probably nicknamed the -- 'Quade' -- which, according to the family historian, means --'the Bad;' 'so-called from the crossness of his temper,' says Anderson. Another author adds that he was also known as--'the Mad Dog.'" (Higgins: 355)
the Blind: " . . . [H]e was succeeded by his son Otto, Coelus, or Monoculus, born 1378. He died without issue in 1462, on which this branch became extinct in the male line, and the territories of Gottingen fell to William, senior, of Callenberg. . . ." (Collins & Brydges: 19)
the Wonder of the World, the World's Wonder (Lat. Stupor Mundi): " . . . After the death of Otto I in 973, the next Emperor of note was his grandson Otto III, who chose three successive Popes; with the assistance of one of these, his tutor, the learned Gerbert (Sylvester II), he sought to reform the world by his mystic and religious influences for which the times were not ripe. Another ambition of his was to carry out his father's plan of drawing Italy and Germany more closely together and uniting them in the bonds of fellowship. But this ardent saintly youth did not live long enough to carry out his inspired plans, and was lamented as 'the wonder of the world' by a sorrowing people. . . ." (Hare: 7) [Ref1]
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| Otto IV of Austria the Man With the Rose Garland @Wikipedia |
the Bold
the Crowned with Roses (Ger. Rosenbekranzte): " . . . Rudolph had a son Albert who became Emperor, and had four sons. Of these four, Frederick the Handsome, attempted in vain to make himself Emperor, but I need not speak more of him for there was nothing original or marked about him, whereas his brother Herzog Otto der Fröhliche, or Rosenbekranzte---Duke Otto the Gay, or Crowned with Roses---is obviously a true Viennese. . . ." (Sedgwick. Vienna: A Biography of a Bygone City)
the Man of the Rose Garland: "His elder brother, Frederick, he who had attempted to make himself Emperor, had been defeated and put in prison. On his release (1325) he gave a grand banquet in the castle of Vienna, to thank all those who had stood by home in his trouble. In addressing his brother Otto, he called him the ornament of the German nobility for his spirit and boldness, and bade him ask for some gift as a reward. There chanced to be standing at the door, listening, a girl with a wreath of roses on her head. Otto beckoned to her, took the wreath from her, put it on his own head, and said: 'I want but little; for my reward I only will take this wreath as a symbolical token of my gay spirits (Frohsinn) which I would not exchange for land or titles. It shall be my ornament all my life, and when my heart stops beating, please lay it on my grave. Frederick replied, 'You are indeed the gayest man in austria, and from now on you shall be called der Rosenbekranzte, the Man of the Rose Garland.'" (Sedgwick. Vienna: A Biography of a Bygone City)
the Merry.
With the Arrow (Ger. mit dem Pfeile): Otho IV of Brandenburg surnamed With the Arrow (Ger. mit dem Pfeile) because during his feud with the archbishop of Magdeburg, he was hit with an arrow whose tip was only removed later.
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| Otto of Austria the Handsome Archduke |
Otto Franz von Osterreich
Otto the Handsome
Bolla: "Archduke Otto, called Bolla, is regarded as one of the most scandal-ridden members of the Habsburg dynasty. And yet his life began in the classic fashion for a Habsburg. Otto came from a devoutly Catholic family and embarked on a career in the army, as was the convention for later-born sons of the dynasty." (The World of the Habsburgs)
the Gorgeous Archduke: " . . . Initially, stories of the 'gorgeous Archduke' and his many lovers seemed to amuse rather than horrify, such as the story in which was caught one evening preparing to enter a young lady's bedroom wearing nothing but his ornamental sword and a big smile. . . ."
the Handsome Archduke: " . . . In the end, however, his bed-hopping became so compulsive that even his uncle the Emperor, who was very fond of him and defended 'handsome Otto' at every turn, began to distance himself. . . ." (Russell. The Emperors: How Europe's Rulers Were Destroyed by the First World War)
the Mad Squire: " . . . Still less so was the immediately subsequent period of his life, during which he attended the University and was surrounded by friends and acquaintances. That was the time when, by all manner of eccentricities, he earned the nickname of 'the Mad Squire' (Der tolle Junker); when his psychic condition was one of fervent paroxysm and storm, full of arrogance and mischief. . . ." (Busch: 106)
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