Since the English War of the Roses was my favorite period of English history to study in college, its probably not surprising that I like Game of Thrones (GOT). GOT is basically the War of the Roses complete with flying dragons and a lot more out of context softcore cable porn, and its fascinating to see how Martin repurposed real English history into his fantasy world.
How close are they? So close, in fact, that several of the most important characters in the books are based off very real counterparts.
To start with, the overall story arc for GOT is based off England’s history from 1460-1485. In GOT, the Targaryen Dynasty, after ruling for over 300 years, has lost its overseas territory in Valyria, and has a mad King Aerys. Aerys is overthrown by the most powerful young lord in the Kingdom, Robert Baratheon, but his daughter and son escape. Those two, aided by powerful forces in and outside the Kingdom, survive to challenge Robert’s successors, who were children by his wife believed by many to be illegitimate, as well as by a host of other potential claimants. These children are defended ferociously by their mother, the queen, who is considered a fierce lady for her time and place. Then…dragons.
Compare that to the story of the War of the Roses: a King, Henry VI, gradually grows crazier and crazier. His dynasty, the Plantagenets, have ruled England for 300 years, and also at various times claimed more than half of France, as well as England, Scotland, and Ireland, but long into his reign they are at a low ebb. When he gets too crazy, Henry VI is overthrown by the most powerful lord in his Kingdom, young Edward of York – the future Edward IV. There is a ten-year, hot-cold war between Edward and ‘Henry,’ primarily his wife, the strong-willed and formidable Margaret of Anjou, who proves a match for any of the English Lords and nearly wins on more than one occasion before being done in by her own arrogance and poor military strategy. Her son, Edward of Westminster, eventually returns to England and is on the verge of winning the crown – before his death at the disastrous battle of Tewkesbury. Ten years later, when Edward dies, his children’s lineage is challenged by their uncle, and they are ruled bastards and killed in the Tower of London, despite the best efforts of their mother, Queen Elizabeth Woodville.
In between it all, both GOT and the War of the Roses are centered on various proud and powerful houses that jockey for power, and even those houses have key similarities. The Targaryens, for example, are modeled on the Plantagents. The Starks bear key similarities to the Percys; the most powerful Lords of Northumbria, in Northern England, from the time of William the Conqueror up through the War of the Roses (and beyond, the Lord Percy is still the richest landowner in northern England today!).
Some of the comparisons are quite straightforward. Henry VI is clearly the model for King Aerys, Robert Baratheon clearly Edward IV, Edward of Westminster clearly Aegon Targaryen, and Richard Neville, the powerful Lord Warwick who changes sides repeatedly during the war and is considered the wealthiest and most capable peer in England, is Tywin Lannister. Tommen, the young king who kills himself after bring a pawn of his mother, grandfather, and wife, is based on Edward V, the tragic king who is forever known as the ‘Prince of the Tower.’
Other characters’ comparisons are more subtle, or they are a mix of more than one character from English history into one fictional character. The most interesting is probably Cersei Lannister, who is a compelling mix of Margaret of Anjou and Elizabeth Woodville. Like Margaret, she was the very strong willed wife of the King who essentially seized power and nearly won a war against terrible odds. Also, like Margaret, she is most powerfully motivated to defend her children; Margaret’s primary motive for her more than a decade of war was to protect and elevate Edward of Westminster. And, like her historical forebear, she was both formidable and capable yet also undone by her own arrogance and inability to acknowledge her own weaknesses. Yet, Cersei also has elements of the enigmatic Elizabeth Woodville: she is the interloper wife who married a King who was supposed to marry another woman – as both Robert and Edward IV were – and she is the capable woman left to defend her children against the plots of both her own relatives and her more obvious enemies.
GOT isn’t over yet, so we don’t know what happens. But, if Cersei Lannister gets eaten by a dragon, that will certainly provide a satisfying historic counterpunch….the historical English were far too proper for dragons.
