the Bald: "Mircea had died in 1418 and his sons Michael and then Dan II recognized Hungarian suzerainty in Wallachia. The situation apparently caused great concern in Murad's court, and the sultan ordered frontier forces to support Radu II ('the Simple' or 'the Bald'), another son of Mircea, against his brother, culminating in the invasion of Wallachia in 1423. . . ." (A History of the Crusades, Vol 6: 259)
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| Radu III of Wallachia |
Radu Bey (to the Turkish):
--"Radu eventually became Sultan's lover, and after the relationships with him, Radu received a nickname 'cel Frumos' (the Beautiful) their relationships were described by Greek chronicler Laonic Chalkokondyles: 'The Emperor had with him the brother of Vlad, son of Dracul, and was his favourite, living with him. And so it happened that when he began to rule, the Emperor wanted to have a relation with this boy that almost killed him. Because he liked the boy, he invited him to parties and raised the cup with lust asking him into his bedchamber. And the boy was taken by surprise to see the Emperor rushing him for such a thing and stood against it and did not concede to the Emperor's craving. But the Emperor kissed him against his will and the boy sheathed a dagger and cut the Emperor's thigh and then ran away. The doctors healed the Emperor's wound. And the boy climbed a tree nearby and stayed hidden. Only after the Emperor left, the boy descended and walked away and then came back to the court and again eh was the Emperor's favourite." (Project Gutenberg)
--" . . . Before leaving Romania, he appointed Mihaloglu Ali Bey governor of Wallachia with instructions to install Vlad's brother Radu as ruler, under the sovereignty of the Porte. In sharp contrast to his brutal and ungainly brother, Radu was a weakling and a voluptuary, famous for his beauty. He had spent years as hostage at the sultan's court, where he had won Mehmed's special favor. Chalcocondylas describes at length an incident which allegedly took place between them. The story is that Mehmed, whose passion for the boy is reliably attested, attempted to take liberties with him, whereupon Radu drew his sword and wounded the importunate lover. For fear of the sultan's vengeance, Radu climbed a nearby tree. In the end, however, he showed himself more amenable to the sultan's attentions and was taken back into favor. He even managed to remain in Mehmed's good graces and accompanied him to Wallachia where certain local nobles had chosen him as successor to the throne." (Mehmed the Conqueror and His Time: 207)
the Fair: " . . . Another youth Mehmed found attractive, and who was presumably more accommodating, was Radu III the Fair, the brother of the famous Vlad the Impaler. Radu, a hostage in Istanbul whose good looks had caught the Sultan's fancy, and who was thus singled out to serve as one of his most favored pages.' After the defeat of Vlad, Mehmed placed Radu on the throne of Wallachia as a vassal ruler. However, Turkish sources deny these stories." (Project Gutenberg)
the Handsome (Rom. cel Frumos): "Prince Radu (the future Radu the Handsome) has far too often been dismissed by historians as just an attractive bisexual youth with a finely chiseled face, regular features, and particularly beautiful green-blue eyes that had helped to win the heart of two successive sultans, but a man totally lacking in intelligence and statesmanship. Clearly the sultan's minion, he was showered with gifts by Mehmed and maintained a small court of his own at Constantinople throughout the campaign, composed in part of Wallachian boyars. . . ." (McNally & Florescu. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times)
the Black:
the Black Voivode (Rom. Negru Voda):
the Mighty (Nor. Mikli):"King Harald had many wives and many children. He married Ragnhild, the daughter of King Eirik of Jutland. She was called Ragnhild the Powerful. . . It is told that when King Harald married Ragnhild the Powerful, he let of eleven of his wives. . . ." (Sturluson & Hollander: 76)
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| Ragnar Lodbrok @Wikipedia |
Shaggy or Leather Breeches
"The surname of Lodbrok, or Hairy Breeches, he acquired from the rough garments, daubed with sand and pitch, that he wore when he slew the serpent, and gained the hand of Thora, his first queen. . . ." (Crichton & Wheaton: 112)
" . . . The original Ragnar 'Lodbrok' was the most illustrious Viking warrior in heroic Scandinavian literature. He was called 'Lodbrok', meaning 'leather trousers' or 'hairy breaches', as a nick-name for a garment made from a bear's hide he wore in winter instead of armor. . . ." (Hughes. The British Chronicles, Vol 1: 274)
"His nickname of Lodbrog, or Leather Leggings, he owed to the fact of his having adopted the fashion of wearing these leg-protectors when he was making court to the Gothic Princess, Thyra, a young lady who lived in a bower defended by a venomous serpent, which had the very inconvenient practice of biting at the legs of all her suitors." (Otte: 28)
" . . . To court his second wife, the Swedish princess Thora, Ragnar traveled to Sweden and quelled an infestation of venomous snakes, famously wearing the hairy breeches whereby he gained his nickname." (Book Chat, 2009, May 3)
Ragnar Lodbrok.
the Raven: "More groups of Vikings began appearing and making raids in the British Isles in the 840s, 850s, and 860s. These groups were led by Ragnar 'the Raven' and his sons and relatives who belonged to the famous Teutonic family called the Volsungs. Ragnar 'The Raven', one of the most famous Vikings, was sometimes given the epithet 'Lodbrok' by medieval writers who either confused him with one of his ancestors whose name was also Ragnar or because 'Lodbrok' had become a dynastic name of the descendants of the earlier Scandinavian conqueror, Ragnar 'Lodbrok'. . . ." (Hughes. The British Chronicles, Vol 1: 274)
--"His successor was Ragnvald -- little is known about him. He was elected king by the Upplanders and strengthened his position when he was acknowledged by the East Gothlanders. His arrogant attitude earned him the nickname, Knaphovde, the name of a large drinking vessel -- a reference to his empty-headedness. The Geats of West Gothland murdered him in 1126 and elected a Danish prince called Magnus the Strong in his place. . . ." (Clash of Thrones)
the Fool:
Rainald IV of Spoleto
Rainald de Duce [5]
Rainald IV of Spoleto
Rainald de Duce [5]
Rainier of Austria, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia (1783-1853)
the Elder
Rainulf II of Aversa (†1048)
Drengot
Rainulf of Apulia (†1139)
Drengot
Rainulf Drengot
Rainulf Trincanocte
Trincanocte [11]
Ralph of Hereford, Earl of Hereford (d.1057)
Ralf of Mantes
Raoul de Mantes
the Timid
the Staller
" . . . [H]e was ever after called the Timid, less for actual cowardice as for his trust in armoured cavalry over the traditional Anglo-Saxon war form."
" . . . His main claim to military significance came from fighting the Welsh under Gruffydd and Aelfgar on 24 October 1055 near Hereford. Ralph had trained his men to fight on horseback in the Norman and Frankish fashion, which was 'against their custom', and they were beaten. His flight earned the nickname 'the Timid'. . . ." (Bradbury: 81)
the Devil: "He actively campaigned against the Moors, who referred to him as the Devil due to his ferocity and fervor in battle. He defeated the hosts of the Umayyad caliph, Abderramán III, at the Battle of Simancas (939)." (Wikipedia)
the Great: " . . . Also, it's reasonable to she enjoyed think the prestige of being Ramiro II's daughter, who earned his epithet, the Great, thanks to his victories against the Muslims, as well as the effective support of the Navarrese royal family, her maternal relatives. . . ." (Carrera. Female regency in 10th century León: Elvira Ramírez and Teresa Ansúrez, a comparative study: 10)
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