Note 542 — Chapter VI · ‘Nicknames.’
Reading edition
‘Well beloved’ was the usual term applied in any formal address in the Middle Ages, such as when a king in council made any public announcement, or when a priest addressed his people, or when a testator mentioned a legatee. It was then a perfectly familiar expression, and would easily affix itself as a sobriquet. A Rev. C. Wellbeloved published a translation of the Bible in 1838, printed by Smallfield and Co., London.