Is Daenerys Westeros's Henry VII?

Many of you may already know this, but George R. R. Martin was inspired by the Wars of the Roses when he began writing his A Song of Ice and Fire series. The Wars of the Roses were fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York, a war that culminated in the decisive Battle of Bosworth which left Richard III dead, thus ending the line of the Plantagenets, and sat Henry Tudor on the throne, thus beginning the Early Modern age.

By no means do I think A Song of Ice and Fire is merely a fantastical retelling of historical events, but it's difficult not to notice little tips of the hat to figures and events in history which inspire and influence some of the characters in the series.

At first glance, Daenerys Targaryen and Henry Tudor couldn't be any less alike. Daenerys is a beautiful young woman - quite literally the Mother of Dragons - whereas Henry Tudor is a shrewd and ambitious young man who whole-heartedly believes in his claim to the throne. That's where their similarities begin. Henry believed the English throne was his birthright - his mother was a descendent of Edward III, while his father's half-brother was Henry VI - while Daenerys was told similar things about Westeros by her brother, Viserys, thus instilling in her the adamant belief that the Iron Throne is rightfully hers.

Both Daenerys and Henry grew up across the water, waiting patiently until they could build up an army to travel across the seas and take what they believe to be theirs.

Pembroke Castle

Daenerys was born on Dragonstone, not in King's Landing, and when her life was threatened she and her brother, with the help of some loyal retainers, were able to escape to the Free City of Braavos. Henry was born in Wales, in Pembroke Castle (his uncle, Jasper Tudor, was Earl of Pembroke), to his incredibly young mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, who was only 13 years old when she gave birth to him. When Henry was 14 and Edward IV, a Yorkist, came to the throne, Henry fled to Brittany for fear that staying in England would be too dangerous for him.

Elizabeth of York

He stayed mostly in Brittany for the next 14 years until he decided the time was right to take the throne from the increasingly unpopular Richard III. Henry pledged to marry Edward IV's eldest daughter Elizabeth (you can read more about Henry and Elizabeth's relationship here!). His betrothal to Elizabeth was important as, with the supposed deaths of her brothers, she was the heir to the throne should her childless uncle die. Daenerys is also certainly no stranger to marriage for the sake of conquest, and much like Henry and Elizabeth's relationship, her relationship with Khal Drogo was genuine affection which blossomed within an arranged marriage. 

Catherine of Valois

His first attempt to invade was unsuccessful, but with the support of the French - after all, Henry's paternal grandmother was Catherine of Valois - a second invasion was successful, landing him in Pembrokeshire, near his birthplace, where the Welsh people fervently supported him. Some of them even believed him to be Y Mab Darogan - "The Son of Prophecy" - a figure from Welsh legend who would free the Welsh from English oppression. Previous contenders for the title were figures such as Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and Owain Glyndŵr, who may be familiar to those of you who are fans of Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle.

Henry was no fool. He knew exactly how important Welsh support would be if he was to take the throne from Richard, and so when he met Richard on the battlefield he brandished the Welsh flag on his standard. We're pretty much all familiar with the Targaryen sigil, right? Unsurprisingly, their sigil is a dragon. How many of you outside of the UK are familiar with the Welsh flag?

The Welsh flag

Yep. Turns out Henry had a dragon on his flag, too.

I think we can all agree that Daenerys and Henry are not at all replicas of one another, but I think there are certainly enough similarities there to show the historical influences on Martin's epic series.

What do you think? Are there any other characters you think have links to certain figures from history?

Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

Today I'm going to be talking about Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Just because I feel like it, and I'm a big history nerd. Perhaps enough has been said about them already, but I couldn't resist the chance to talk about the pair who started the Tudor dynasty.

Henry VII became King of England after defeating Richard III, the king who was discovered in a carpark in Leicester in 2012, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. It brought to an end the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster, the red rose, and York, the white rose (any high fantasy fans out there may be interested to know that George R. R. Martin was inspired by a lot of the events of the Wars of the Roses for his A Song of Ice and Fire series). Henry Tudor, the Lancastrian claimant, was victorious.

The Tudor Rose

To further solidify his victory and heal the wounds England and Wales suffered during the turbulent times of war, Henry chose for his bride Richard III's niece, Elizabeth of York, thus uniting the two houses and creating the famous symbol of the Tudor rose; the white rose within the red.

What began as a political union slowly but surely turned into a genuinely affectionate and loving marriage. It is rumoured that Henry never took any mistresses - a rather impressive sign of his devotion! - and in a reign that was brimming with suspicion and uneasiness due to Henry's increasing paranoia over the security of his kingship, it was Elizabeth who was a constant comfort to him, and whom he trusted implicitly.

As Queens go Elizabeth certainly did her wifely duty. The two married on the 18th January, 1486, and on the 20th September of that year their first child, a son and heir, was born, whom they named Arthur. Is it just me, or do those dates seem to suggest the two of them didn't wait until they married to consummate their relationship?

In 1491 Elizabeth produced a second son, Henry (who would later become the notorious Henry VIII), meaning she did what the great queens of history did by producing 'an heir and a spare'; in 1499 she gave birth to a third son, Edmund, but he sadly passed away when he was 15 months old. As well as those three sons, she also produced Margaret, Elizabeth (who sadly died when she was 3 years old), and Mary. Both Margaret and Mary were married off, Margaret to James IV of Scotland and Mary to Louis XII of France, building political relations that benefitted Henry's often uneasy reign.

But tragedy struck the pair in 1502 when, on the 2nd April, Arthur passed away. He was 15. 

Naturally Henry and Elizabeth were heartbroken at the loss of their firstborn son, for whom they had surely hoped a long and successful reign as King Arthur, securing the lineage of the Tudors, but for Henry there was another fear. Yes, they had another son, Henry, but while Arthur had been raised as the future king Henry had been prepared to enter the church, and now that Arthur had died who was to say the same fate wouldn't befall their second son?

As always it was Elizabeth who brought Henry comfort when she reassured him they could still have more children. At 36 years old, very old to be having children in the 16th century, and at great personal risk to her own health, she quickly fell pregnant with their seventh child. Tragedy, however, had not finished with Henry.

On the 2nd February a daughter, Katherine, was born, only to die eight says later. The day after Elizabeth followed. She died of a post partum infection on the 11th February, 1503; her 37th birthday.

Henry and their children deeply mourned Elizabeth's death. Henry's contemporaries noted that he went into seclusion for six weeks, and quickly began to show signs of illness himself. It was a rare occassion in which Henry showed any sign of weakness, and yet in the weeks following his wife's death he allowed only his mother, Margaret Beaufort, to attend him.

A manuscript depicting the aftermath of Elizabeth's death. To the left can be seen Margaret and Mary, wearing black mourning veils, and in the top left corner is a depiction of 11 year old Henry VIII, weeping into his mother's empty bed.

After Elizabeth's death Henry's paranoia and miserliness grew markedly worse, and it is believed that when he died a widower in 1509 it was partly from a broken heart, for he never stopped mourning the loss of Elizabeth. Each year on the anniversary of her death he decreed a requiem mass be sung, the bells be tolled and 100 candles be lit in her honour. He was buried beside her, and the two still lie together now.

Pembroke Castle!

On Saturday my Dad and I visited Pembroke Castle and spent the day there. I've been wanting to go there for ages, so it was great fun to go there at last! It was my birthday on Friday and my parents got me a snazzy, brand new camera so I took a whole bunch of pictures and I thought I'd share some of them with you.

Pembroke Castle first sprung into existence as a Norman motte-and-bailey in 1093 - meaning some kind of castle has stood on the site for 921 years! - beside the River Cleddau in Pembrokeshire. It's the original seat of the Earldom of Pembroke, the birthplace of Henry VII and the place from which the Second English Civil War began. That's a lot of history!

The Castle went through a lot of restoration work in the early 20th century, meaning that it's a beautiful place to visit and there's still so much there to explore and walk around. The steps were pretty steep and slippery though; I almost broke my neck walking up and down them, so I have no idea how women managed it in their floor-length dresses!

Inside there were lots of long, dripping hallways and narrow windows and murder holes. It was very atmospheric, and really inspiring for my NaNo project this year!

One of the best things I saw while I was there was this little tidbit of information regarding the beginning of the Tudor dynasty: 

Sounds like a great party!

I love me some Tudor history. The main reason I wanted to visit Pembroke Castle is because it is the birthplace of Henry VII, the first Tudor King who won the Wars of the Roses and began the Tudor dynasty.

Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII's mother.

Baby Henry VII and his nursemaid.

It turns out that Pembroke Castle is also home to one of the only remaining Medieval dungeons that was originally built as a dungeon; many dungeons were originally built as cellars!

I quite like this shot of the dungeon tower through the arch.

During the Medieval period dungeons were reserved for nobility, most of the lower classes were either fined, maimed or executed. Then again, judging by the sad story of John Whithorne, being a member of the nobility wasn't really any better than any other punishment.

A mannequin of Whithorne in the dungeon.

Oh, and it turns out there's a cave under Pembroke Castle that's been there since the Romans were around!

It's huuuuuuuuuuuge!

So if you ever find yourself in Pembrokeshire I recommend checking out Pembroke Castle, it's a fantastic day out!