Medieval Usage, Medieval Mentality?

At Jewish World Review is a thought-provoking column by someone new to me, Adrian Wooldridge.

Wooldridge contends in his title and in his conclusion that The Middle Ages Are Making a Political Comeback, but he focuses on the kind of language being used by so many of the world's leaders, most alarmingly in the West:

Trump's political success has been helped by his genius for nicknames. During his run for the Republican nomination back in 2015 and 2016, he brought his Republican rivals down to size with a collection of memorable names: "low-energy Jeb" (Jeb Bush), "Sloppy Chris" (Chris Christie), "Lil Marco" (Marco Rubio). Hillary Clinton was "Crooked Hillary;" Biden was "Crooked Joe" at first; Kamala Harris was, at various times "Crazy Kamala," "Laffin Kamala" and "Lyin Kamala." As for foreign leaders, Bashar al-Assad is "Animal Assad," Justin Trudeau is "Governor Trudeau," and Kim Jong Un is "Rocket Man" or "Little Rocket Man."

This is all reminiscent of the Middle Ages when every great political figure had a nickname. Sometimes royal nicknames mocked (or celebrated) people's physical appearance: Charles the Bald, Charles the Fat, Ivar the Boneless, Ragnar Hairy-Pants. Sometimes they celebrated their political or military successes as with Vlad the Impaler or Eric Bloodaxe or Richard the Lionheart. William the Conqueror started life as William the Bastard before he changed his reputation by subjugating England.

Or consider NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's private letter to Trump ("Mr President, Dear Donald"), written on the eve of the recent NATO summit and then leaked by a delighted Trump to the world...

Rutte's letter belongs in the long tradition of groveling loyal addresses to monarchs from their subjects (though with shorter words and more capital letters). Monarchs were routinely praised for their wisdom, justice and foresight; the subjects were equally routinely described as grateful, humble and awestruck...

See also the disgraceful way Trump's cabinet meetings start.

Wooldridge is definitely on to something here, and he calls it re-medievalization. The trends he cites in his closing paragraphs are indeed disturbing, and he has perhaps caught onto a symptom of irrationality among our politicians and, by extension, the electorate at large.

-- CAV