AHC/WI: A monarch nicknamed "The Worst"

Tredecimus

We already had a bunch of monarchs called The Great. So, is it possible to have a ruler so bad s/he gets the epithet "The Worst?"
 
Maeglin

Maeglin

Ethelred the Unready comes pretty close, seeing as his name basically means "Noble Counsel the Uncounselled".
 

funnyhat

Well there is OTL's Ivan the Terrible - although I know terrible is not necessarily an accurate translation...
 

dreadnought jenkins

NCW8 said:
Well, there is Ivan the Terrible.


Cheers,
Nigel.
Click to expand...

His name is actually meant to be taken the same way as God is meant to be terrible.

As in, he inspires religious terror.

My Russian history prof half jokes the appropriate appellation for him in today's lexicon would be Ivan the awesome.

As in, he inspires awe.
 
Jonathan

Jonathan

Does being nicknamed the devil count as worst, if so there is:
Robert I, Duke of Normandy (French: Robert le Diable)
Vlad II of Wallachia (Romanian: Vlad Dracul)

But it is unlikely to have a monarch nicknamed the worst as for example, who is the worst monarch of England and who decides? To the catholic Mary I and James II were great whereas Elizabeth is a heretic.

It alright picking one, but whose not to say their successor wont be worse or a monarch ten generations from now? eg. Henry VIII could be seen as the worse, but then what about Mary I and Charles I.

Then what do you nickname them, King Henry VIII, "the not-so-worse-then-Charles-I-but-still-worse-then-others"? Not very catchy, where as calling "the Great" can be used as many times.
 
NCW8

NCW8

dreadnought jenkins said:
My Russian history prof half jokes the appropriate appellation for him in today's lexicon would be Ivan the awesome.

As in, he inspires awe.
Click to expand...


Charles II is supposed to have described the new St Paul's Cathedral as Awful (which at that time meant "Awe-inspiring").


Jonathan said:
But it is unlikely to have a monarch nicknamed the worst as for example, who is the worst monarch of England and who decides? To the catholic Mary I and James II were great whereas Elizabeth is a heretic.
Click to expand...


Although Mary is known as "Bloody Mary", which wasn't meant to be complementary.


Cheers,
Nigel.
 

Tocomocho

There are many kings nicknamed "the bad". The problem with "the worst" is that you don't know where will come another that puts his forefather to shame.
 

usertron2020

Donor
Hey, anybody with a name like that deserves an Honorable Mention

King Charles the Simple 879-929
Carolingian Dynasty
King of Western Francia and Lotharingia

England:

King Edward VIII

AND

King Richard III

AND

King Richard II

AND

King Edward II

AND

King John

AND

ALL the Stuarts, including those who only ruled Scotland
 

Halagaz

Charles II the Bad, King of Navarre

Emperor Constantine V the Shit-named (no, seriously)

...so there are quite a few monarchs with unflattering nicknames, but, apparently, no one who was literally "The Worst". Maybe people didn't want to challenge fate.
 

funnyhat

Tocomocho said:
There are many kings nicknamed "the bad". The problem with "the worst" is that you don't know where will come another that puts his forefather to shame.
Click to expand...

And by the same token, were any monarchs nicknamed "the Best"? The superlative aspect of it is tricky.
 
perdu42

perdu42

My first thought on seeing this WI was to sing some lines from Disney's 1973 animated Robin Hood: "Too late to be known as John the First/He's sure to be known as John the worst/A pox on that phony king of England".:D
 

clem attlee

dreadnought jenkins said:
His name is actually meant to be taken the same way as God is meant to be terrible.

As in, he inspires religious terror.

My Russian history prof half jokes the appropriate appellation for him in today's lexicon would be Ivan the awesome.

As in, he inspires awe.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have also heard it translated Ivan the Dread.
 

January First-of-May

dreadnought jenkins said:
His name is actually meant to be taken the same way as God is meant to be terrible.

As in, he inspires religious terror.

My Russian history prof half jokes the appropriate appellation for him in today's lexicon would be Ivan the awesome.

As in, he inspires awe.
Click to expand...

Regnal Chronologies does list him as John IV the Awesome, IIRC. The two words were pretty much synonyms (and pretty close to the original Russian meaning) back in the day.

Of course, as far as Russian monarchs with negative nicknames go, Sviatopolk the Accursed would easily beat that anyway.
 
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