2540: Reuss & Its Naming Nov 26, 2021

Although now part of Thuringia, Germany, there was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire named after Slavs until the 19th century. 'Reusse' (German 'Reuß') is sometimes translated as 'Russian' though really it means 'Ruthenian' and although the land had long been populated with a high number of Slavs, this connection was cemented with the marriage of King Daniel of Galicia into the local nobility. This region was also associated with some singular naming practices, such as the House of Reuss naming all its men 'Heinrich' and numbering each, even those not in power, Heinrich I all the way to Heinrich C (Heinrich the one hundredth) before repeating the cycle, or with another line of this house restarting the cycle at the end of the century.