Willem I of Hainaut.
the Father-in-Law of Europe:
the Father of the Country:
the Father of the Fatherland.
the Silent: " . . . [H]e would later be called 'the Silent,' a somewhat ill-fitting sobriquet that was meant to remark on his guarded watchfulness. . . ." (Anna of Saxony: The Scarlet Lady of Orange)
Father William: "William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, fondly remembered amongst the people whom he freed from the tyranny of Spain by the title of 'Father William,' and commemorated by those who have less regard for him by the nickname of 'The Taciturn,' was four times married...." (The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 196: 451)
Willem I of the Netherlands.
the Copper King:
Villiquins:
--"The following year her father decided that Charlotte must marry and suggested William, the Hereditary Prince of Orange, some four years her senior. Exiled with his family from the Netherlands, he had fought as a colonel in the British army in the Peninsula, where he was popular with the soldiers, who, as we have seen, called him 'Slender Billy'. . . ." (The Grand Old Duke of York)
--"With his good looks topped off with a charming personality, William II was loved by the English press- they nicknamed him ‘slender Billy’." (5 Famous Dutch Kings @Discover Walks)
the Hero of Waterloo: " . . . In the battle of Waterloo in 1815 the new crown prince Willem played a quite important part. Afterwards it gave him the nickname Hero of Waterloo. . . ." (nettroyal.nl)
the Little Frog:
the Young Frog: " . . . When Charlotte was sixteen, the government proposed a marriage to Prince William of Orange, the son of King William I of the Netherlands. It would strengthen the alliance between Great Britain and the Netherlands and get the rebellious Charlotte off the Regent's hands so he favored the marriage. Charlotte, at first, acquiesced and the engagement was announced after their meeting at a dinner at Carlton House on December 11, 1813. . . She had already met Prince Frederick, the King of Prussia's 19 year old nephew, at a dinner party at Carlton House and fallen in love with him. She determined to break off the engagement. Charlotte announced on June 16th,1814 that she would have none of the Prince of Orange. This was hardly surprising as his looks had earned him the nickname of 'the Young Frog.' . . ." (georgianindex.net)
the Good: " . . . Obviously the poor man was not happy with this and on the advice of his friends, he paid a visit to Count William III who was ill and had taken to his bed. It was not without reason hat the count had the nickname of 'the good Count William', and he would surely be able to help him. . . ." (Magnanimous Dukes and Rising States: 160)
King Cole: "The next year, William I resigned the crown of Holland, and William II reigned peacefully till his death, in 1849, when he was succeeded by his eldest son, the present king, William III whose convivial and musical tastes have gained him the appellation of King Cole. . . ." (History of the Netherlands: (Holland and Belgium): 641)
King Gorilla: So-called for his large size and many women.
Prince Lemon (Fr. Le Prince de Citron) (by Duc de Gramont-Caderousse):
the Bastard:
--" The most famous bastard of the eleventh century was William the Bastard, duke of Normany and king of England, whose conquests not only enprmously enlarged his wealth and power but also enabled him to go down in history with the more refined nickname William the Conqueror. He succeeded his father as duke in 1035 while still a boy. His sobriquet dates to his own lifetime, for a German chronicler, writing in 1074, refers to 'this William, whom the French call 'the Bastard'. Orderic Vitalis, writing much later but with good knowledge of the traditions of the Norman aristocracy, says William was despised as a bastard by the native nobles and especially by those descended from the earlier dukes Richard' (that is, Richard I and Richard II who reigned 942-1026)." (Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe: 269)
--"William the Conqueror, the founder of the most noble Empire in the civilized world, could never rid himself of the contumelious appellation which bore indelible record of his father's sin. In all history, William is the only individual to whom such an epithet has adhered throughout his life and fortunes. Was the word of affront ever applied to Alphonso, the stern father of the noble house of Braganza, by any once except a Castilian? Not so, William---a Bastard was William at the hour of birth;---a Bastard in prosperity;---a Bastard in adversity;---a Bastard in sorrow;---a Bastard in triumph;---a Bastard in the maternal bosom;---a Bastard when borne to his horror-inspiring grave. 'William the Conqueror,' relatively, but 'William the Bastard,' positively; and a Bastard he will continue so long as the memory of man shall endure." (Palgrave: 152)
the Conqueror.
the Lion:
--" . . . He is known as William the Lion, not because of any outstanding magnanimity of soul, or any lion-like feat of valour performed by him, but because he had the humbler distinction of being the first to blazon on the national standard of Scotland the 'lion-rampant,' in room of the 'dragon' which from time immemorial had held this place of honour. . . ." (History of the Scottish Nation, Chap XXVI)
--" . . . The nickname 'The Lion' was accorded to him after his death and may have been due either to his valour and strength in battle (though he was not always successful) or, more likely, to the heraldic symbol which he adopted - the red lion rampant on a yellow background - which has remained a royal symbol to this day. . . ." (Famous Scots)
the Lion-heart: "To be saddled with the sobriquet of 'Lion' (or 'Lion-heart', for that matter) can be a handicap if one's actions are not perceived as being sufficiently leonine. William was never known as 'the Lion' in his lifetime -- it was a nickname invented by later historians -- and there is little agreement about how and why he acquired the name. In Tales of a Grandfather, Sir Walter Scott assumed that it was because of emblematic lion rampant on his coat of arms. Others have thought it was because of his 'rough and stern countenance'. The most likely explanation, to my mind, lies in the earliest Scottish chronicler to imply the name, John of Fordun in the fourteenth century, who referred flatteringly to William as leo justitiae, a 'lion of justice'. . . ." (Scotland: The Story of a Nation: 86)the L
ion of Justice:
the Lyon King: "Malcolm was succeeded by his brother William, commonly called the Lyon King, who was crowned at Scone on Christmas eve of the year 1165, but no particulars of the ceremony are recorded. . . ." (Skene: 474)
the Longsword: William Longsword. " . . . He was generally called 'William Longsword' before he was king, and appears by that name in both the Welsh and Norman chronicles. This dynastic surname was an allusion to the man who was by now regarded as having been the second duke of the Norman dynasty, the son of Rollo. . . ." (Crouch: 129)
the Woodkeeper: "The poor Saxons, thus worried, adopted the impotent revenge of nicknaming Rufus 'Wood-keeper,' and 'Herdsmen of wild beasts.'. . . ." (Chambers' Book of Days: Aug. 2)
the Wild Boar of Ardennes (Fr. le Sanglier des Ardennes):
William of Holland
William of Orange
William III of England
William II of Scotland
Dutch William
King Billy
Mr. Caliban
Old Glorious (as he is called in the Noctes Ambrosiana)
Queen Billy
the Gallic Bully.
William of Orange
William III of England
William II of Scotland
Dutch William
King Billy
Mr. Caliban
Old Glorious (as he is called in the Noctes Ambrosiana)
Queen Billy
the Gallic Bully.
Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence
Good Old Sailor King: " . . . And William, who all his life had been anything but a moral and wise man, went towards the close of his reign under the endearing appellation of 'the good old Sailor King." (Martin: 191)
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