List of people known as the Great

This is a list of people known as the Great, or the equivalent, in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes, such as Persian e Bozorg and Hindustani e Azam.

In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to have been a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King" (King of Kings, Shahanshah). It was first used by Cyrus II of Persia.^[1] The title was inherited by Alexander III when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference to this is in a comedy by Plautus,^[2] in which it is assumed that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no evidence that he was called "the Great" before this. The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus III. Once the term gained currency, it was broadened to include persons in other fields, such as the philosopher Albertus.

Later rulers and commanders were given the epithet during their lifetime, for example, the Roman general Pompey. Others received the title posthumously, such as the Indian emperor Ashoka. As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of the designation varies greatly. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "the Great" in his lifetime, but is rarely called such nowadays, later writers preferring his more specific epithet "the Sun King". German Emperor Wilhelm I was often called "the Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely before or after.

[1]

[2]

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Abbas I	Shah of Iran	1587 – 1629	^[3]
Abgar VIII	King of Osroene	177 – 212	^{[citation needed]}
Akbar	Emperor of Mughal	1556 – 1605	^[4]
Alan I	Duke of Brittany	876 – 907	^{[citation needed]}
Alexander I	King of Georgia	1412 – 1442	^{[citation needed]}
Alexander III	King of Macedon	336 BC – 323 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Alfonso III	King of León, Galicia and Asturias	866 – 910	^{[citation needed]}
Alfred	King of Wessex	871 – 899	^{[citation needed]}
Amenhotep III	Pharaoh of Egypt	1391 BC – 1353 BC or 1388 BC – 1351 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Ali	King of Songhai	1464 – 1492	^[5]
Antiochus III	King of the Seleucid Empire	223 BC – 187 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Ashoka	Emperor of Maurya	268 BC – 232 BC	^[6]^[7]^[8]
Ashot I	King of Armenia	885 – 890	^{[citation needed]}
Ashot I	King of Iberia	813 – 826 or 830	^{[citation needed]}
Bagrat V	King of Georgia	1360 – 1393	^{[citation needed]}
Berengaria	Queen of Castile and Toledo	1197 – 1246	^{[citation needed]}
Bhillama I	King of Seuna	910 – 930	^[9]
Bolesław I	King of Poland	992 – 1025	^[10]
Borommaracha IV	King of Thonburi	1767 – 1782	^[11]
Casimir III	King of Poland	1333 – 1370	^{[citation needed]}
Catherine II	Empress of Russia	1762 – 1796	^{[citation needed]}
Charles I	King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans	768 – 814	^{[citation needed]}
Chʼeen II	King of Kaan	636 – 686	^[12]
Cnut	King of England, Denmark and Norway	1016 – 1035	^{[citation needed]}
Constantine I	Emperor of Rome	306 – 337	^{[citation needed]}
Cyrus II	Shahanshah of the Achaemenid Empire	559 BC – 530 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Darius I	Shahanshah of the Achaemenid Empire	522 BC – 486 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Eucratides I	King of Bactria and Yavana	171 BC – 145 BC	^[13]
Ewuare I	King of Benin	1440 – 1473	^{[citation needed]}
Farrukhan	Chief of Tabaristan	712 – 728	^[14]
Ferdinand I	King of León and Count of Castile	1037 – 1065	^{[citation needed]}
Frederick II	King of Prussia	1740 – 1786	^{[citation needed]}
Gustav II	King of Sweden	1611 – 1632	^{[citation needed]}
Gwanggaeto	King of Goguryeo	391 – 412	^[15]
Gwrgan	King of Ergyng	619 – 645	^{[citation needed]}
Henry IV	King of France and Navarre	1589 – 1610	^{[citation needed]}
Herod I	King of Judea	37 BC – 4 BC or 36 BC – 1 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Hugh	Co-king of France	1017 – 1025	^{[citation needed]}
Hugh III	King of Cyprus and Jerusalem	1267 – 1284	^{[citation needed]}
Inal	Supreme Prince of Circassia	1427 – 1453	^{[citation needed]}
Ivan III	Grand Prince of Moscow and All-Russia	1462 – 1505	^{[citation needed]}
Iyasu I	Emperor of Ethiopia	1682 – 1706	^{[citation needed]}
John II	King of Aragon and Navarre	1458 – 1479	^{[citation needed]}
Justinian I	Emperor of Eastern Rome	527 – 565	^{[citation needed]}
Kamehameha I	King of Hawaii	1782 – 1819	^{[citation needed]}
Kanishka I	Emperor of Kushan	127 – 150	^[16]
Krešimir II	King of Croatia	949 – 969	^[17]
Kvirike III	King of Kakheti-Hereti	1010 – 1037	^{[citation needed]}
Leo I	Emperor of Eastern Rome	457 – 474	^[18]
Llywelyn	King of Gwynedd	1195 – 1240	^{[citation needed]}
Louis I	King of Hungary, Croatia, and Poland	1342 – 1382	^{[citation needed]}
Louis XIV	King of France and Navarre	1643 – 1715	^{[citation needed]}
Misost II	Grand Prince of Kabardia	1785 – 1788	^[19]
Mardavij	King of the Ziyarids	930 – 935	^{[citation needed]}
Marianus IV	Judge of Arborea	1347 – 1376	^[20]
Miloš I	Prince of Serbia	1817 – 1839, 1858 – 1860	^{[citation needed]}
Mircea	Prince of Wallachia	1386 – 1394, 1397 – 1418	^{[citation needed]}
Mithridates I	King of the Parthian Empire	165 BC – 132 BC	^[21]
Mithridates II	King of the Parthian Empire	124 BC – 91 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Mithridates VI Eupator	King of Pontus	120 BC – 63 BC	^{[citation needed]}
Mstislav I	Grand Prince of Kiev	1088 – 1132	^{[citation needed]}
Mubarak	Sheikh of Kuwait	1896 – 1915	^{[citation needed]}
Muhammad I	King of Songhai	1493 – 1528	^[22]
Nebuchadnezzar II	King of Babylon	605 BC – 562 BC	^[23]
Otto I	Emperor of the Romans	962 – 973	^{[citation needed]}
Pakal I	King of Palenque	615 – 683	^{[citation needed]}
Parakramabahu I	King of Polonnaruwa	1153 – 1186	^[24]
Peter I	Emperor of Russia	1682 – 1725	^{[citation needed]}
Peter III	King of Aragon and Sicily	1276 – 1285	^{[citation needed]}
Pharasmanes I	King of Iberia	1 – 58	^{[citation needed]}
Radama I	King of Madagascar	1810 – 1828	^{[citation needed]}
Radu IV	Prince of Wallachia	1495 – 1508	^{[citation needed]}
Rajendra I	Emperor of Chola	1014 – 1044	^{[citation needed]}
Rama I	King of Siam	1782 – 1809	^[25]
Rama IV	King of Siam	1851 – 1868	^{[citation needed]}
Rama IX	King of Thailand	1946 – 2016	^{[citation needed]}
Rama V	King of Siam	1868 – 1910	^{[citation needed]}
Ramathibodi III	King of Ayutthaya	1656 – 1688	^{[citation needed]}
Ramesses II	Pharaoh of Egypt	1279 BC – 1213 BC	^[26]
Ramkhamhaeng	King of Sukhothai	1279 – 1298	^{[citation needed]}
Reza	Shah of Iran	1925 – 1941	^{[citation needed]}
Rhodri	King of Gwynedd	844 – 878	^{[citation needed]}
Roman	Grand Prince of Kiev	1168 – 1205	^[27]
Sancho III	King of Navarre	1004 – 1035	^{[citation needed]}
Sanphet II	King of Ayutthaya	1590 – 1605	^{[citation needed]}
Sargon	King of Akkad	2334 BC – 2279 BC	^[28]
Sejong	King of Joseon	1418 – 1450	^[29]
Shahi	Sultan of Kashmir	1418 – 1419, 1420 – 1470	^[30]
Shapur II	Shahanshah of the Sasanian Empire	309 – 379	^{[citation needed]}
Simeon I	Emperor of Bulgaria	893 – 927	^[31]
Simon I	King of Kartli	1556 – 1569, 1578 – 1599	^{[citation needed]}
Solomon I	King of Imereti	1752 – 1765, 1767 – 1784	^{[citation needed]}
Stefan Uroš I	King of Serbia	1243 – 1276	^{[citation needed]}
Stephen III	Prince of Moldavia	1457 – 1504	^{[citation needed]}
Svatopluk I	King of Moravia	867 – 894	^[32]
Tamar I	Queen of Georgia	1184 – 1213	^[33]
Theodoric	King of the Ostrogoths, Regent of the Visigoths and Viceroy of Byzantine	471 – 526	^{[citation needed]}
Theodosius I	Emperor of Rome	379 – 395	^[34]
Thoros II	Lord of Cilicia	1144 or 1145 – 1169	^[35]
Thutmose III	Pharaoh of Egypt	1479 BC – 1425 BC	^[36]
Tigranes II	Emperor of Armenia	95 BC – 55 BC	^[37]
Tiridates III	King of Armenia	298 – 330	^[38]
Valdemar I	King of Denmark	1154 – 1182	^[39]
Valentinian I	Emperor of Rome	364 – 375	^[40]
Vigraharaja IV	King of Chauhan	1150 – 1164	^[41]
Vladimir I	Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev	970 – 1015	^[42]
Vytautas	Grand Duke of Lithuania	1392 – 1430	^[43]
Wilhelm I	Emperor of Germany	1871 – 1888	^{[citation needed]}
Xerxes I	Shahanshah of the Achaemenid Empire	486 BC – 465 BC	^[44]
Zayed	Sheikh of Abu Dhabi	1855 – 1909	^[45]

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Alain I	Lord of Albret	1440 – 1522	^{[citation needed]}
Amadeus V	Count of Savoy	1249 – 1323	^{[citation needed]}
Arnulf I	Count of Flanders	893 – 964	^[46]
Atenulf I	Prince of Capua	? – c. 910	^{[citation needed]}
Barnim III	Duke of Stettin Pomerania	1344 – 1368	^[47]
Bogislaw X	Duke of Pomerania	1454 – 1523	^{[citation needed]}
Bogusław V	Duke of Wolgast and Słupsk	1326 – 1374	^[48]
Bruno	Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia	925 – 965	^[49]
Charles Emmanuel I	Duke of Savoy	1562 – 1630	^{[citation needed]}
Charles III	Duke of Lotharingia	1543 – 1608	^{[citation needed]}
Conrad I	Margrave of Meissen	1097 – 1157	^[50]
David III	Prince of Tao	966 – 1001	^{[citation needed]}
Frederick II	Duke of Legnica, Brzeg, Wołów, Głogów, and Ziębice	1488 – 1547	^{[citation needed]}
Frederick William	Duke of Prussia	1620 – 1688	^{[citation needed]}
Gerhard III	Count of Holstein-Rendsburg	1292 – 1340	^{[citation needed]}
Gero I	Ruler of Gero	900 – 965	^[51]
Godfrey I	Count of Brussels and Leuven, Duke of Lower Lorraine, Langrave of Brabant	1060 – 1139	^{[citation needed]}
Gothelo I	Duke of Lotharingia, Count of Verdun, and Margrave of Antwerp	967 – 1044	^{[citation needed]}
Gurgen II	Prince of Tao	918 – 941	^{[citation needed]}
Hanno I	Carthaginian politician and military leader	4th century BC	^{[citation needed]}
Hanno II	Carthaginian aristocrat, general, and politician	3rd century BC	^[52]
Hanno III	Carthaginian politician	2nd century BC	^[53]^[54]
Henry I	Duke of Burgundy	946 – 1002	^{[citation needed]}
Henry V	Count of Luxembourg	1216 – 1281	^{[citation needed]}
Hugh	Count of Paris and Duke of the Franks	898 – 956	^[55]
Hugh	Count of Vermandois	1057 – 1101	^{[citation needed]}
Hugh	Margrave of Tuscany	953 or 954 – 1001	^{[citation needed]}
Humphrey I	Baron of Trowbridge	? – 1123	^{[citation needed]}
Intef	Nomarch of Thebes	? – c. 2135 BC	^[56]
Matthew II	Lord of Montmorency	1189 – 1230	^{[citation needed]}
Maximilian I	Duke of Bavaria	1573 – 1651	^{[citation needed]}
Milo I	Lord of Montlhéry	1095 – 1102	^{[citation needed]}
Odo	Duke of Aquitaine	? – 735	^[57]
Ralph IV	Count of Valois, Bar-sur-Aube, Vexin, Vitry, Amiens, Montdidier and Tardenois	1025 – 1074	^[58]
Ramon Berenguer III	Count of Barcelona, Provence, and various other counties	1082 – 1131	^{[citation needed]}
Robert I	Count of Dreux	1123 – 1188	^{[citation needed]}
Roger	Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel	? – 1094	^{[citation needed]}
Roger Bernard II	Count of Foix	1223 – 1241	^{[citation needed]}
Roger II	Count of Sicily	c. 1030 – 1101	^{[citation needed]}
Świętopełk II	Duke of Pomerania	? – 1266	^[59]
Theobald II	Count of Champagne and Brie	1090 – 1151	^{[citation needed]}
William I	Count of Burgundy and Mâcon	1020 – 1087	^{[citation needed]}
William V	Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Poitou	969 – 1030	^[60]

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Afonso	Portuguese general, statesman and empire builder	1453 – 1515	^[61]
Melias	Byzantine general of Armenian origin	890 – 934	^[62]
Pompey	Military and political leader of Rome	106 BC – 48 BC	^[63]
Prokop	Hussite general in Bohemia	1380 – 1434	^[64]

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Abraham	Monk and saint of the Church of the East	492 – 586	^{[citation needed]}
Albertus	Medieval German philosopher and theologian	1193 or 1206 – 1280	^[65]
Anthony	Early Christian saint of Egypt	251 – 356	^[66]
Arsenius	Roman anchorite saint in Egypt	354 – 445	^{[citation needed]}
Athanasius	Early Christian saint and bishop of Alexandria	296 – 373	^[67]
Babai	Assyrian church leader	551 – 628	^{[citation needed]}
Basil	Greek bishop and theologian	330 – 379	^[68]
Bertin	Frankish Abbot of a namesake monastery	615 – 709	^{[citation needed]}
Dioscorus I	Coptic Orthodox Church pope	? – 454	^{[citation needed]}
Euthymius	Abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint	377 – 473	^{[citation needed]}
Gertrude	German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint	1256 – 1302	^[69]
Gregory I	Catholic pope	540 – 604	^[70]
Hilarion	Ancient Roman anchorite and Orthodox and Catholic saint	291 – 371	^{[citation needed]}
Hugh	Abbot of Cluny	1024 – 1109	^{[citation needed]}
Isaac	Armenian Catholicos	354 – 439	^{[citation needed]}
James^{[Note 1]}	One of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus	3 – 44	^[71]
Joannicius	Byzantine hermit, theologian and saint	752 – 846	^[72]
Leo I	Catholic pope	391 or 400 – 461	^[73]
Macarius	Egyptian hermit	300 – 391	^[74]
Michael	Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church	1126 – 1199	^[75]
Nerses I	Armenian Catholicos	? – 373	^{[citation needed]}
Nicholas I	Catholic pope	800 – 867	^[76]
Photios I	Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople	810 – 893	^[77]
Shenoute	Oriental Orthodox saint and abbot of the White Monastery	348 – 465	^{[citation needed]}
Sisoes	An early desert father, a solitary monk pursuing asceticism in the Egyptian desert in a cave of Anthony the Great	? – 429	^{[citation needed]}
William	Founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites	? – 1157	^{[citation needed]}

Name	Description	Dates	Ref.
Aharon I	Hasidic rabbi	1736 – 1772	^[78]
Eliezer	Rabbi in Judea	1st century	^[79]^[80]
Hiyya	Rabbi in Judea	180 – 230	^[81]

List of people known as the Great

Monarchs

Aristocrats

Military

Religious figures

Christian

Jewish

Legendary and mythological figures

See also

Notes

References

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks

Name	Description	Ref.
Ajax	Greek hero in the Iliad	^[82]
Beli	In medieval Welsh mythology and literature	^[83]
Belinus	Legendary king of the Britons	^{[citation needed]}
Fergus	Semi-mythical king of Dál Riata	^{[citation needed]}
Gradlon	Semi-mythical king of Cornouaille	^{[citation needed]}
Hayk	Legendary founder and patriarch of the Armenian nation	^[84]
Phrom	Legendary king of Yonok	^[85]
Yu	Legendary king of Xia	^[86]^[87]