Learned Antiquarian John Selden пишетъ:
So the Prince, Duke, or Emperor of Mofcovy , hath been, they
say, of late time call'd the White King , or White Prince : and that
from the white Robes which he uses, as Sigismund a Ury Heer of
the Empire , being Embassador thither from the Emperor Maximilian
the Second conjectures. Sunt, saith he, qui Trincipem Moscoviae Album
Regem nuncupant. Ego quidem causam diligenter querebam,
cur Regis Albi nomine appeillaretur cum nemo Trincipum Moscovia eo
titulo antea esset usus (the Emperor he means was Basilius Ivanovich) imo
consiliaris ipjis saepe data occasione, & apte dixi nos non Regem sed
Magnum Ducem agnoscere et pleriq'-, autem hanc Regii nominis rationem
esse putabant quod sub Impero Juo Reges haberet. Albi veto rationem
nullam habebant credo, &c. Credo autem ( saith Sigismund) ut
Persam nuncpropter rubea tegumenta capitis Kiflilpatla, id est, rubeum
caput vocant : ita illos propter alba tegumenta, Albos appellant. But
I remember Moscovy is called White, Russia Alba, and Poland Black
Russia : and perhaps therein may be the cause of the name. But
Gaguin gives the reason, quod incolae omnium Regionum ipsius imperio
subjectarum , vestibus albis & pileis plerunque utantur. And hitherto
of those Accidental and singular Attributes which are in use among
the supreme Princes of Europe..
А Вы что сказать по сему вопросу имѣете, Господа: почему Государи наши бѣлыми звались?
Да, тутъ при вставкѣ изъ книги всѣ длинныя С и прочiя украшенiя письма отобразились зѣло извращённо; V., какъ могъ сiе убралъ - но V. - человѣкъ - встрѣтятся очепятки - прошу простить.