List of people known as The Great
This is a list of people known as "The Great". There are many people in history whose names are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great" or the equivalent in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively and Maha in the devanagari script (Hindi script) as in Mahatma Gandhi.
In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.[1] The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great". The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).
Later rulers and commanders used the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, such as the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.
As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "the Great" in his lifetime, but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "the Great". German Emperor Wilhelm I was often called "the Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.
Monarchs
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Abbas I[3] (1571–1629) | Shahanshah of Persia (1588–1629) |
| Afonso de Albuquerque[4] (c. 1453–1515) | Portuguese general, statesman and empire builder |
| Akbar[5] (1542–1605) | Mughal emperor (India) |
| Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446) | King of Georgia |
| Alexander III of Macedonia (356 BC–323 BC) | King of Macedonia and Persia. Pharaoh of Egypt. |
| Alfonso III (c. 848–910) | King of León, Galicia and Asturias |
| Alfred (848/849–899) | King of Wessex, England |
| Antiochus III (c. 241–187 BC) | Ruler of the Seleucid Empire |
| Ashoka[6] (c. 304–232 BC) | Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty |
| Ashot I[7] (died 826/830) | Presiding prince of Caucasian Iberia (in modern Georgia) |
| Askia Mohammad I[8] (c. 1442–1538) | Ruler of the Songhai Empire |
| Bolesław I[9] (967–1025) | First King of Poland |
| Knút Knýtling (c. 985 or 995–1035) | King of England (1016–35), Denmark (1018–35) and Norway (1028–35). |
| Casimir III Piast (1310–1370) | King of Poland (1333–70) |
| Catherine (1729–1796) | Empress of Russia |
| Chandragupta Maurya (reigned 340 BC–298 BC) | Founder of the Mauryan Empire and first emperor to unify most of Greater India into one state |
| Chandragupta II (reigned 375–413/415) | Ruler of the Gupta empire in India |
| Charlemagne (died 814) ("Charles the Great") |
King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans |
| Chlothar II (584–629) | King of Neustria and King of the Franks |
| Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097–1157) | Margrave of Meissen |
| Constantine I (c. 272-337) | Roman emperor |
| Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC) | Founder and ruler of the Persian Achaemenid Empire |
| Darius I (550 – 486 BC) | Third ruler of the Achaemenid Empire |
| Devapala (died 850) | Ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent |
| Eucratides I[10] (reigned c. 170–145 BC) | Ruler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom |
| Farrukhan[11] | Ispahbadh of Tabaristan (712–728) |
| Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065) | King of León and Count of Castile |
| Frederick the Great (1712–1786) | King of Prussia |
| Genghis Khan (1162–1227) | Founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire |
| Gerhard III (c. 1292–1340) | German prince who ruled Schauenburg and Holstein-Rendsburg and for a while a large part of Denmark |
| Gero (c. 900–965) | Ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe |
| Gustav Adolph (1594–1632) | King of Sweden (1611–32), founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader |
| Gwanggaeto[12] | King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea |
| Hanno | Name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC |
| Han Wudi (156 BC–87 BCE) | Emperor of Han China, from whose reign dynasty the Chinese majority people be named |
| Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002) | Duke of Burgundy |
| Henry IV of France (1553–1610) | King of France and King of Navarre |
| Herod (73/74 BC-4 BC) | King of Judea |
| Hugh Robertian (898–956) | Count of Paris (923–956), Duke of the Franks (936–956) |
| Hugh Magnus (1007–1025) | Co-King of France |
| Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101) | Count of Vermandois |
| Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123) | Anglo-Norman aristocrat |
| Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505) | Grand Prince of Moscow |
| John I of Portugal (1358–1433) | King of Portugal and the Algarve |
| John II of Aragon (1398–1479) | King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre |
| Justinian I (483–565) | Byzantine Emperor |
| Kamehameha I (c. 1758–1819) | First King of Hawaii |
| Kangxi Emperor (1654–1722) | Emperor of Qing China |
| Kanishka (died c. 127) | Ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India |
| Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029) | King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia |
| Kublai Khan (1215–1294) | Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty |
| Llywelyn (c. 1172–1240) | Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales |
| Louis I (1326–1382) | King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland |
| Mangrai (1238–1317) | Lanna, northern Thailand |
| Mircea I (1355–1418) | Ruler of Wallachia |
| Mithridates II (died 88 BC) | Ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present-day Iran) |
| Mithridates VI (134 BC–63 BC) | Ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom |
| Mubarak the Great (1840–1915) | Ruler of Kuwait |
| Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132) | Grand Prince of Kievan Rus' |
| Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) | Emperor of the French |
| Naresuan (1590–1605) | King of Ayutthaya Kingdom (now Thailand) |
| Sihanouk (1922–2012) | Great King of Cambodia |
| Odo the Great (died c. 735) | Duke of Aquitaine |
| Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912–973) | Holy Roman Emperor |
| K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603–683) | Ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque |
| Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186) | King of Sri Lanka |
| Petar Krešimir[13] (died 1075) | King of Croatia |
| Peter the Great (1672–1725) | Tsar of Russia |
| Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285) | King of Aragon and King of Sicily |
| Pompey (106–48 BCE) | Rival of Julius Caesar in the late Roman Republic |
| Qin Shi Huang (259 BC-210 BC) | First emperor of China, who unified China from Warring States |
| Radama I (1793–1828) | First king of greater Madagascar |
| Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947–1014) | Chola emperor of Tamil Nadu.[14][15][16] |
| Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044) | Chola King of Tamil Nadu |
| Rama I (1782–1809) | King of Siam (now Thailand) |
| Rama V (1853–1910) | King of Siam (now Thailand) |
| Rama IX (1946–Present) | King of Thailand |
| Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC–1213 BC) | Pharaoh of Egypt known for his temples, monuments, and military feats. |
| Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247–1298) | King of Sukhothai (in present-day Thailand) |
| Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131) | Count of Barcelona, Provence and various other counties |
| Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878) | King of Gwynedd (in present-day Wales) |
| Robert I, Count of Dreux | Count of Dreux |
| Roman the Great (after 1160–1205) | Grand Prince of Kiev |
| Samudragupta (c. 335–375) | Ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent |
| Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035) | King of Kingdom of Navarre |
| Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC) | Ruler of the Akkadian Empire |
| Sejong the Great (1397–1450) | Korean king[17] |
| Shapur II (309–379) | King of the Sassanid Empire, Persia |
| Shivaji (1627–1680) | Indian warrior king Maratha Empire, India |
| Simeon[18] (864–927) | Tsar (emperor) of Bulgaria |
| Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504) | Prince of Moldavia (Romania) |
| Stefan Uroš I[19] (c. 1223–1277) | King of Serbia (1243–76) |
| Stefan Dušan[20] (c. 1308-1355) | King of Serbia (1331–45) and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (1345-55) |
| Taksin[21] (1734–1782) | King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand) |
| Tamar of Georgia (1160–1223) | Queen of the Georgian Empire |
| Taizong (598–649) | Emperor of Tang (China) |
| Timur (1336–1405) | Better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty |
| Theodoric the Great (454–526) | King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire |
| Theodosius I (347–395) | Roman emperor |
| Tigranes the Great (140–55 BC) | Emperor of Armenia |
| Tiridates III[22] (285-339) | King of Armenia |
| Valdemar[23] (1131–1182) | King of Denmark |
| Valentinian I[24] (364-375) | Roman emperor |
| Vladimir[25] (c. 958–1015) | Kievan Rus' ruler; Prince of Novgorod (969–1015), Grand Prince of Kiev (980–1015) |
| Vytautas[26] (c. 1350–1430) | Archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy |
| Xerxes[27] (519–465 BC) | King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia) |
| Yuknoom Ch'een II[28] (c. 600–680s) | Mayan king of Kaan |
Royalty, nobility and politicians
- Bruno[29] (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia
- William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030), Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitou
- William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
- Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
- James Stanley (1607–1651), Lord of Mann and Earl of Derby
- Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
- Matteo Rosso the Great (1178–1246), Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
Religious figures
- Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492–586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
- Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366), hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
- Rebbe Aaron HaGadol (The Great) of Karlin (1736–1772), Hasidic rabbi and founder of Karlin (Hasidic dynasty)
- Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
- Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
- Arsenius the Great (354–445), Roman anchorite saint in Egypt
- Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
- Basil of Caesarea (330–379), Greek bishop and theologian
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
- Euthymius the Great (377–473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
- Gertrude the Great (1256–c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
- Pope Gregory I (c. 540–604)
- Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi in Israel
- Joannicius the Great (752–846), Byzantine hermit, theologian and saint
- Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
- Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400–461)
- Macarius of Egypt (c. 300–391), Egyptian hermit
- Pope Nicholas I (c. 800–867)
- Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
- William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites
Military people
- Melias, distinguished 10th-century Byzantine general of Armenian origin, called "Mleh the Great" in Armenian sources
- Prokop the Great, a Hussite general in Bohemia
Legendary people
- Yu the Great (c. 2200–2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China
- Beli Mawr, figure in medieval Welsh mythology and literature
See also
- Mao Zedong, leader of communist China called the "Great Helmsman"
- Mohandas Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"
- Muhammad Ali Jinnah, honourably called "Quaid-e-Azam", which means "The Great Leader" in Urdu
- Muhammad Ali, boxing champion nicknamed "the Greatest"
- Wayne Gretzky, hockey player known by the nickname "The Great One"
- The Great Khali, Rajput wrestler from India, former WWE world champion
- The Great Gatsby, 1925 novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Great Gonzo (also known as "Gonzo the Great"), one of the main characters of The Muppets
- List of monarchs by nickname
- List of nicknames of European royalty and nobility
Notes
- ↑ In a clay cylinder (online). The expression was used in a propagandistic context: the conqueror wants to show he is a normal Babylonian ruler. The first Persian ruler to use the title in an Iranian context was Darius I of Persia (Darius the Great), in the Behistun Inscription (online).
- ↑ Plautus, Mostellaria 775.
- ↑ Eskandar Beg Monshi (1978). History of Shah 'Abbas the Great: (Tarîk-e 'Alamara-ye 'Abbasi). Westview Press.
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. (1 May 2008). Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-59339-492-9.
- ↑ Sir William Wilson Hunter (1886). The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products. Asian Educational Services. pp. 291–. ISBN 978-81-206-1581-6.
- ↑ Monika Khanna (2011). Ashoka, the Great: The Great Reformist Emperor of India. Farsight Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 978-81-89297-75-6.
- ↑ Donald Rayfield (15 February 2013). Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia. Reaktion Books. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-78023-070-2.
- ↑ Flora Shaw (23 December 2010). A Tropical Dependency: An Outline of the Ancient History of the Western Soudan with an Account of the Modern Settlement of Northern Nigeria. Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-108-02492-1.
- ↑ Patrick J. Geary (2010). Readings in Medieval History. University of Toronto Press. pp. 642–. ISBN 978-1-4426-0120-8.
- ↑ Asiatic Society of Bengal (1840). Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Soc. p. 533.
- ↑ Bernard Lewis; Charles Pellat (1982). The Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill. p. 298.
- ↑ Korean Culture and Information Service Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (15 January 2015). FACTS ABOUT KOREA: South korea, Past and Present. 길잡이미디어. pp. 191–. ISBN 978-89-7375-584-4.
- ↑ Vjekoslav Klaić (1972). Povijest Hrvata od najstarijih vremena do svršetka XIX stoljeća. Nakladni zavod Matice hrvatske. p. 129.
- ↑ Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (December 1919). "An English History of India". Political Science Quarterly 34 (4): 644–653. doi:10.2307/2142032. JSTOR 2142032.
The finances of the state were not more centralized under Louis XIV than under Rajaraja the Great.
- ↑ "Heaven sent: Michael Wood explores the art of the Chola dynasty". Royal Academy, UK. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
- ↑ "The Chola Dynasty: Accession of Rajaraja, the Great". Sify.com. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
- ↑ Christoph Bluth; Gareth Schott (2007). Korea. Polity. p. 10. ISBN 0-7456-3356-0.
- ↑ R. J. Crampton (24 November 2005). A Concise History of Bulgaria. Cambridge University Press. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-139-44823-9.
- ↑ Konstantin Jireček (1967). Geschichte der Serben. Hakkert. p. 310.
- ↑ A History of the Balkan Peoples. Ardent Media. 1971. p. 35. GGKEY:69RCKY1X0FZ.
- ↑ Gerald W. Fry; Gayla S. Nieminen; Harold E. Smith (8 August 2013). Historical Dictionary of Thailand. Scarecrow Press. p. 401. ISBN 978-0-8108-7525-8.
- ↑ Beate Dignas; Engelbert Winter (13 September 2007). Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity: Neighbours and Rivals. Cambridge University Press. pp. 180–. ISBN 978-0-521-84925-8.
- ↑ Lester B. Orfield (1953). The Growth of Scandinavian Law. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-1-58477-180-7.
- ↑ Thomas Banchich; Eugene Lane (26 January 2009). The History of Zonaras: From Alexander Severus to the Death of Theodosius the Great. Routledge. pp. 261–. ISBN 978-1-134-42473-3.
- ↑ Mike Dixon-Kennedy (1998). Encyclopedia of Russian and Slavic Myth and Legend. ABC-CLIO. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-57607-063-5.
- ↑ Giedrė Mickūnaitė (2006). Making a Great Ruler: Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. Central European University Press. pp. 4–. ISBN 978-963-7326-58-5.
- ↑ Jacob Abbott (1850). History of Xerxes the Great. Harper & Brothers, publishers.
- ↑ Brian D. Starr (2006). Tree of Saints. Brian Daniel Starr. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-1-4196-3302-7.
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