What's in a name?

20 strangest royal nicknames from history (and where they came from)

William the Conqueror. Suleiman the Magnificent. Ivan the Terrible. Some royal nicknames are pretty memorable and tell you a lot about the person who earned them. Whether given to them in their lifetime or posthumously, you immediately get a picture of how they were thought of and remembered. However, not everyone is so lucky to get such clear and powerful epithets or sobriquets. Here we chronicle some of the most peculiar and surprising royal nicknames and explain how they came to be.

The Nun’s Lover
John V of Portugal, 1689 – 1750

It might be fair to say that European royals of history are more notable when they didn’t have a plethora of mistresses and affairs, but few can claim to have such a distinctive preference in paramours to earn the nickname the nun’s lover. So it was for John V who had a series of affairs with nuns, one lasting around a decade. It doesn’t seem as if he was too fussy though as other affairs were also chronicled.

The Elbow-High
Władysław I Łokietek, King Of Poland, c.1260 – 1333