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From the War of the Roses to Hadrian’s Wall, author George RR Martin drew extensive inspiration from real British history to construct his fantasy series A Game of Thrones.
On this week’s episode of the Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things podcast, hosts Kate Williams and Robert Hardman explore how two of the series’ most shocking moments mirror shameful chapters from the monarchy’s history.
This episode is part of a new miniseries which explores how history’s most wicked royals rival any fictional villain.
You can listen to the latest Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things by clicking the below or here.
From the War of the Roses to Hadrian’s Wall, author George RR Martin drew extensive inspiration from real British history to construct his fantasy series A Game of Thrones
Cersei Lannister’s Walk of Shame and Richard III
One of the most arresting scenes from Martin’s fantasy epic is Cersei Lannister’s naked walk of shame through King’s Landing.
Peasants throw stones and faeces at the Queen Mother while a religious fanatic follows slowly behind her chanting ‘shame.’
In the book and popular television show, Cersei must walk through the streets as an act of penance after her incest and adultery are uncovered by the High Septon.
Historian Kate Williams draws parallels between Cersei’s slow march and the real-life fifteenth-century flogging of Jane Shore, ordered by the infamous Richard III.
She explained: ‘Jane Shore was a mistress of King Edward IV and she continues to be his mistress until his death. She’s almost like a Queen herself.
Historian Kate Williams draws parallels between Cersei’s slow march and the real-life fifteenth-century flogging of Jane Shore, ordered by the infamous Richard III
Kate Willians: ‘The big difference from Game of Thrones is the public’s reaction. The crowds don’t throw stones, nobody shouts shame. They just watch and feel sorry for her.’ Listen here
On trumped up charges of adultery and conspiracy, Jane was forced to strip and stand before the peasantry near St Paul’s Cathedral
The event only adds to Richard III’s already divisive reputation – he would eventually lose the crown to Henry VII after being killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
‘Jane’s a fixer, a diplomat – she’s very intelligent. When Edward dies, his son comes to the throne – who’s one of the famous princes in the tower.
‘When Richard succeeds Edward – the new King realises Jane’s allied to his enemies. After Edward, Jane begins an affair with the old King’s stepson, Thomas Grey, the first Marquess of Dorset.
‘That is dangerous for Richard – but he chooses not to kill her, instead making her undergo a public penance.’
On trumped up charges of adultery and conspiracy, Jane was forced to strip and stand before the peasantry near St Paul’s Cathedral.
For a noblewoman, this treatment was highly unusual. Punishments of this nature, as Williams told the podcast, were typically reserved for prostitutes and courtesans.
‘Jane is forced to walk the streets of London wearing only a kirtle, a type of underwear’, Williams said.
‘Her promiscuous lifestyle was used against her because she’s had affairs. This form of shaming is strange, the same ritual used for sex workers.
‘To see a woman dressed like that, is absolutely shocking. One account says her beauty attracts a lot of attention from men, who line the streets to watch her progress.
‘The big difference from Game of Thrones is the public’s reaction. The crowds don’t throw stones, nobody shouts shame. They just watch and feel sorry for her.’
The event only adds to Richard III’s already divisive reputation – he would eventually lose the crown to Henry VII after being killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field.
Jane would have the last laugh: after spending some time in Ludgate prison, she was freed and would marry Thomas Lynom, Richard’s solicitor general.
The marriage was reportedly a happy one and Jane was able to live out the rest of her years as a member of the English aristocracy.
‘What you have here is Richard the III behaving very cruelly’, Williams said.
‘Overturning social mores in this way, as this is what you’d expect to do to a working-class woman – the people were absolutely shocked by it.’
The Red Wedding and Scotland’s ‘Black Dinner’
Another chapter of British history that Kate Williams believes Martin drew inspiration from was Scotland’s Black Dinner of 1440.
One of the most memorable moments of Game of Thrones is when ‘King in the North’ Robb Stark is murdered at his own wedding.
The Red Wedding, the result of scheming between the ruling Lannisters and minor lords, sees an entire rebellion extinguished as Stark’s family is brutally murdered in a surprise attack.
The surprise killing of a rival noble family did occur in Scotland, with the Earls of Douglas being drawn to Edinburgh Castle on the promise of peace talks with a 10-year-old King James II.
Another chapter of British history that Kate Williams believes Martin drew inspiration from was Scotland’s Black Dinner of 1440
The surprise killing of a rival noble family did occur in Scotland, with the Earls of Douglas being drawn to Edinburgh Castle on the promise of peace talks with a 10-year-old King James II
The child king James II was supposedly unaware of the plan to lure the Douglases to the castle and pleaded with his guards not to go ahead with the execution
The brothers William and David, who led the rebellious Douglas clan, were invited to dine with the new King in late autumn but a trap had been laid, as Kate Williams explained.
‘The brothers think, perhaps with a new king, there might be an alliance’, she said.
‘They think that they’re going to set aside their differences and have a conversation. They all dine together in a great hall and reportedly are having a good time.
‘Then, someone leaves a black bull’s head on the table in front of the brothers. This is the Scottish emblem of death.
‘The brothers are seized and taken away to a mock trial. They are charged with treason, and the jury sentences them to death.’
The child king James II was supposedly unaware of the plan to lure the Douglases to the castle and pleaded with his guards not to go ahead with the execution.
‘He’s only ten’, Williams said.
‘The King thought maybe they were going to be friends – so he begs for them to be spared.
‘But the axes indeed fall and in the end, it’s on James’s authority because he is King.
‘This is seen in Scotland as a huge moment – to lie, lure and break the rules of a diplomatic dinner is really shocking.
‘Game of Thrones goes further, having the murders set at a wedding, there’s no fake trial either – it all just happens in a moment.’
James II would meet his own tragic end at the tender age of 29, after being killed in a freak accident while besieging an English castle in 1460.
The King had pioneered the use of cannons by the Scottish army but died after a cannon exploded and a piece of metal sliced through his thigh.
To hear more connections between Royal history and Game of Thrones, search for Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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