Louis the LazyOn this day in 898, Charles III, known as Charles the Simple, was crowned King of the Franks. I was relieved to discover that at that time, ‘simple’ meant ‘honest’ rather than 'stupid' but it got me thinking about the other nicknames the French gave to their kings.
Whereas the English named their monarchs ‘the unready’ or ‘the glorious’ or ‘the peaceable’, they didn’t often resort to personal insults, like the French (unless you count William the Conqueror who was also known as William the Bastard – but I have a feeling that wasn’t meant to be an insult and anyway, he was French).
I mean, fancy calling your king Charles the Fat, Charles the Bald or Charles the Mad! Not to mention Louis the Stammerer, Louis the Lazy, Louis the Quarreller, Louis the Universal Spider and - my favourite – John the Posthumous (perhaps he was just very quiet).
Still - what can you expect from a people who call the heir to the throne a dolphin?
BONNE ANNEE!
14 comments:
Bonne Année!
Thank you, Your Majesty :-)
Thanks, Gigi; yes she is very sweet. Saw your new posting today - glad you're still there.
And, because you don't seem to get emails I send direct to you, I'll post this on your blog.
Does 'dauphin' really mean 'dolphin'? If so - why do the French...
Yes, I've often wondered why they called the heir the dauphin.
Happy New Year and all good wishes for some more chapters of your book.
Well - it's a long story...but it's to do with someone having a dolphin on his coat of arms and thus the nickname 'the dolphin'...and the region he possessed was then called 'dauphiné' and that got annexed by the French...who kept the name.
Something like that :-)
Oh - and Happy New Year, sablonneuse :-)
I suppose there are worse things in life than having a dolphin as your king...
Yes, Jonas - after all, the heir to our throne is the Prince of Whales...
Just brilliant, Gary!!! :-) :-)
This is great. I never knew that the French gave their kings such names, no wonder they ended up losing their heads!
最近仕事ばかりで毎日退屈してます。そろそろ恋人欲しいです☆もう夏だし海とか行きたいな♪ k.c.0720@docomo.ne.jp 連絡待ってるよ☆
最近TVや雑誌で紹介されている家出掲示板では、全国各地のネットカフェ等を泊り歩いている家出娘のメッセージが多数書き込みされています。彼女たちはお金がないので掲示板で知り合った男性の家にでもすぐに泊まりに行くようです。あなたも書き込みに返事を返してみませんか
あなたの性格を、動物に例えて占っちゃいます。もしかしたらこんな動物かも！？動物占いをうまく使って、楽しい人間関係を築いてください
家出中の女性や泊まる所が無い女性達がネットカフェなどで、飲み放題のドリンクで空腹を満たす生活を送っています。当サイトはそんな女性達をサポートしたいという人たちと困っている女性たちの為のサイトです
Post a Comment