Abstract

The Bald-Headed King, the Obese Emperor, the Blue-Toothed King, the Great Gold-Bag Lord, Lord Dracula, and the Sukehirajijijii ......The names given to 55 kings, which are still handed down today, give us an idea of what modern Europe was like. A brilliant and barbaric history of medieval and early modern Europe, colored by gossip and scandal!

In this historical essay, Naoki Prize-winning author Kenichi Sato, who has many fans for his large-scale historical novels such as “Novels of the French Revolution” and “Napoleon,” uncovers anecdotes related to “nickname” of European kings from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period in chronological order of their reigns. The essay is like a collection of columns with an esprit, and the witty narration, like solving riddles at a Yose theater, connects anecdote to anecdote, spanning time and space. The columns will make you crack your knuckles or burst into laughter.

The 55 characters in this book range from the Frankish kings of the 9th century, the origin of France, Germany, and Italy, to the French “citizen kings” who were dethroned during the February Revolution of the 19th century. The Vikings of Northern Europe and the kings of the war-torn Iberian Peninsula also make appearances, and the book vividly depicts the 1,000 years from the nebula of medieval Europe to the power structure of almost all the countries of today. The film depicts a thousand years of brutal intrigues, blood feuds between parents and siblings, ugly stories about marriages and heirs, and wars that sometimes lasted a hundred years due to the involvement of religion, including the Catholic Church. It is truly a history of blood and bloodshed.

Friedrich I, the Redbeard, Richard I, the Lionheart, Ivan IV, the Thunderbolt, and Louis XIV, the Sun King......, each of their nicknames reflects the state of the country and the world at the time of their reign. Each nickname represents the state of affairs of the country and the world at the time of his reign, along with the vulgarity colored by glamorous gossip and barbaric scandals.

Author’s Information

Writer
Born in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture in 1968, he made his debut in 1993 with “The Man Who Became a Jaguar,” which won the Subaru New Writers Award; in 1999, “The Queen's Divorce” won the Naoki Prize; in 2014, “Novel French Revolution” won the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award Special Prize; in 2020, “Napoleon” (3 volumes) won the Ryotaro Shiba Prize; in 2023, “Chambara "Chambara" won the Chuo Koron Bungei Award.