Game of Thrones: 5 times George RR Martin sought inspiration from history
From the rivalry between the Starks and Lannisters to the persona of Cersei Lannister, much of the inspiration for George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire, adapted as Games of Thrones on HBO, is from real history.
In less than 15 days, fans of the hit HBO TV series, Game of Thrones will get to know who will finally sit on the Iron Throne. In the last seven seasons, we have seen the feuding families of Westeros fight to take the coveted throne. The seasons have thrown a whole of host of characters at us – from the noble Jon Snow, the devious Cersei Lannister, the wise Tyrion, the ambitious Daenerys Targaryen, the evil Night King – who have kept us hooked on to the series.
Many of the events that we have witnessed in the show so far look similar to incidents from real history. Has George RR Martin borrowed liberally from English, Scottish and European history of the last 1000 years, and added fire-breathing dragons and ‘undead’ to weave a fantasy narrative? Well, may be. Let’s take a look.
Starks versus Lannisters
From the very first season we have seen the animus between the Lannisters and the Starks. The household of Winterfell, headed by the noble Ned Stark, is all about honour and sacrifice while the Tywin Lannister-led house, in power at King’s Landing, is about lust for power, business savvy (remember the gold mine under Casterly Rock, their ancestral home) and ruthlessness. This rivalry forms one of the central themes of Game of Thrones’ narrative. This story has its roots in English history with the War of Roses forming its basis, says Bustle. The War of Roses was a series of civil wars fought between two prominent families, the House of Lancaster (red rose) and House of York (white rose) for the throne of England.
The Red Wedding
One of the most gruesome massacres in Game of Thrones is the Red Wedding, where many of the Stark family members were butchered by the men of Lord Walder Frey and Lord Roose Bolton at the behest of the Lannisters. This incident seems to be borrowed from two incidents in Scotland – the Black Dinner and the Massacre of Glencoe, says a report in Bustle.
The Black Dinner is an episode from Scottish history in the 15th century (1440) when two prominent members of the powerful Douglas clan were beheaded after a mock trial for failing to be subservient to James II, King of Scotland. Here’s how it happened: 16-year old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas and his younger brother were invited to dine with 10-year old King James II of Scotland. Midway through the dinner, the head of black bull was brought in and placed before the young Earl. The brothers were then dragged out of the Edinburgh Castle and beheaded. The Glencoe Massacre deals with the brutal killing of nearly 30 members of the MacDonald clan of Scotland (MacDonald of Glencoe), who were slaughtered by government forces for failing to pledge their allegiance to William III, the new king of England and Scotland, in 1692.
The Wall
Beyond the warring factions of the seven kingdoms, in the far North, stands the icy Wall. The Wall is manned by the Night’s Watch, who are a band of men who have vowed to stand sentinel at the wall and keep a tab on dangers from beyond the wall. It is among the most jaw-dropping sights in all of the seven seasons of Game of Thrones. However, does it have a connection to history? Actually, it does. The inspiration to this is the Hadrian’s Wall between England and Scotland. Built by the invading Roman army 122 AD. The wall was meant to be the northern border of the Roman Empire and to keep the ‘barbarians’ out of reach.
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Cersei Lannister
While it has been speculated that many female characters in GoT have been inspired by real characters in history, the most prominent being Elizabeth I (Daenerys Targaryen) and Joan of Arc (Brienne of Tarth), what most tend to agree upon is the inspiration for Cersei Lannister. This GoT character comes close to Margaret of Anjou, originally from France, who was married to Henry VI, King of England. According to a report in Time, the two ladies had a similar life — both were married off for political purposes, Cersei to Robert Baratheon, to seal a pact between Houses Lannister and Baratheon, and Margaret’s marriage brought peace between France and England. Both ruled their respective kingdoms in the absence of their husbands (Robert was too busy with hunting and women) while Henry VI went mad. Both had violent sons and the legitimacy of their children was always in question. There’s yet another similarity — Margaret was a Lancaster by marriage, Cersei a Lannister by birth; the former has a reference to the War of the Roses while the latter is involved in a family feud with Starks.
Tyrion Lannister
If young Edward IV and an older Henry VIII serve as the basis for Robert Baratheon, many are of the opinion that Oliver Cromwell is the inspiration for Peter Baelish. Like Edward IV, Robert was a brave warrior in his youth, who slumped into “drunkenness and lewd behaviour,” in later life. Robert’s love for “hunting and wine” bears resemblance with Henry VIII’s life.
Even young Joffrey Baratheon looks and behaves quite like Edward of Lancaster, son of Mary of Anjou (who incidentally in the inspiration for Joffrey’s mother, Cersei). However, it is in the characterisation of Tyrion Lannister that Martin depends on Richard III for inspiration. According to Bustle, Richard III was accused of murdering his own nephew to make way for his own coronation, quite like Tyrion was accused of planning the murder of his nephew Joffrey. In reality, Richard was a “small, witty, slightly hunchbacked guy” who was despised by his family members, exactly the same way in which Tyrion has had to constantly face ridicule for being dwarf, chiefly from his father Tywin and sister, Cersei.
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