The Good, the Bad and the Unready by Robert Easton Read Free Book Online Page B

the vast fortune that he had squandered, Philip built an arcade of shops and cafes in his palace grounds. Business proved to be brisk, and the gardens soon became a popular meeting place. However, they also became a crucible of liberal dissent, and as the French Revolution grew in intensity, so did murmurings against Philip, with rumours flying that he secretly harboured ambitions to be king. To stem the tide of unpopularity, Philip publicly renounced his hereditary titles, assumed the name ‘Citizen Equity’ or ‘E´galite’ and, as a member of the National Convention, voted in 1792 for the death of Louis XVI, ‘the Baker’ (see the BAKER AND THE BAKER’S WIFE ). His efforts were in vain, however, and Philip followed the monarch to the guillotine the very next year.
    Louis Philip the Citizen King
    Louis Philip I, king of France, 1773–1850
    Together with the likes of Maximilien Robespierre and Jean Paul Marat, Louis was a member of the Jacobin Club. He fought in the Revolutionary army but, feeling alienated by the more radical policies of the Republic, deserted, and in 1793 went into exile in Switzerland. For a number of years he travelled under a pseudonym, first as ‘Chabaud Latour’ and later as ‘Herr Müller’, only returning to France after the restoration of the Bourbons over twenty years later.
    Colourful Characters
    Erik the RED , Edward the BLACK PRINCE , Harald BLUE-TOOTH and many others with a colour-related epithet are mentioned elsewhere in this book. Below is a collection of other nobles whose main soubriquet is ‘black’, ‘red’, ‘green’ or ‘white’. As with the longer, individual entries, the origins of these nicknames vary, from hair colour to dress sense.
    Fulk the Black
    Fulk III, count of Anjou, c.970–1040
    Even the most bloodthirsty of barbarians would blanch when they considered the dark deeds of Fulk, a man who burnt his wife at the stake, waged war with his son, and sent twelve thugs to assassinate the favourite minister of Robert the PIOUS .
    Halfdan the Black
    Halfdan III, king of Norway, d.c.860
    Details about Halfdan’s life, as recorded by medieval Icelandic historians such as Snorri Sturluson, are, at best, sketchy. We can be fairly sure, however, that he had black hair and that aged forty he drowned after falling through the ice of a frozen lake.
    Amadeus the Green and Amadeus the Red
    Amadeus VI, count of Savoy, 1334–83 Amadeus VII, count of Savoy, 1360–91
    Amadeus VI adored tournaments almost as much as he did Savoy, and his nickname ‘the Green’ derives from the vivid emerald colour of his ensign at these events and his customary livery when at court. At his son’s wedding he turned up resplendent in his customary green taffeta with cloth-of-gold embroideries on the sleeves. Not to be outdone, Amadeus VIIemulated the paternal example, but chose bright red instead of green for his signature colour.
    Thorstein the Red
    Thorstein, Norse king of Scotland, d.900
    The little we know about Thorstein comes from later Icelandic sources. Quite possibly, he married Thurid, the sister of a woman called ‘Helgi the Lean’. In all probability his nickname denotes the colour of his hair.
    Elizabeth the Red-Nosed Princess
    Elizabeth, princess of the Palatine, 1618–80
    Elizabeth, the daughter of ‘Frederick the Winter King’ (see the WINTER MONARCHS ), possessed a monstrous aquiline nose that had the disturbing habit of turning cherry red at the most inopportune moments. When it did so, she would run away to her bedroom and hide.
    Donald the White
    Donald III, king of Scotland, c.1033–99
    When he became king on the death of Malcolm BIGHEAD , the first act of the sixty-year-old, white-haired ‘Domnall Ban’ (meaning ‘Donald the White’ and sometimes anglicized as ‘Donalbain’) was to expel all the Englishmen from his court. The red-haired English king William Rufus was furious and sent an entire army north to get rid of him.
    White Hands
    Godred, king of Man