Firstly, I love this topic from Long and Short Reviews, just because I love the word "personage". We don't hear it enough these days.
In any event, I love history, and in the past I would definitely have said Henry VIII for this. I spent a lot of time reading about him and his wives - it was a remarkable period in history and all six of his wives were interesting to read about, especially Katherine Parr. However, after I started reading further back and got into the Wars of the Roses, I changed my mind about my favourite historical figure.
Now it's Richard III.
Richard is becoming better known in recent years and there is a lot more debate as to whether he genuinely did kill the Princes in the Tower. Personally, as a staunch Ricardian, I don't believe he did it. I'm leaning towards Henry VII myself, although there are some interesting theories about one or both of the princes possibly escaping and surviving into adulthood. Until we're able to test the bones found in the Tower we'll never know for sure.
It also helps that I have scoliosis myself, so that's something I share with Richard III.
So who is your favourite historical personage to read about?
I think the whole Tudor period is one of the most fascinating in English history. Henry VIII is definitely one of my favourites to read about.
ReplyDeleteHe's always fascinated me.
DeleteThomas B. Constaine makes a strong case that it was Henry VII that's the real villain, in his Plantagenet.series of books.
ReplyDeleteA lot of it depends on when they were killed, assuming they were. If they were alive when Henry VII went through the Tower with a fine tooth comb, he definitely did it.
DeleteMy daughter played one of Henry's wives (the one who lived, Anne of Cleves) in high school. Honestly, I hadn't realized one had lived, lol.
ReplyDeleteShe'd be interesting to read more about. So would Kathryn Parr, who outlived Henry VIII. (If she hadn't stepmothered Elizabeth I, "Madam Parr" would still have left a mark on history: she made "Kathryn" and "Katryn" officially acceptable ways to spell her name.)
DeleteI do like Anne of Cleves and Kathryn Parr. A lot more than Anne Boleyn, anyway.
DeleteWhoops ... that anonymous comment was mine.
ReplyDeleteEnglish history really does have some fascinating characters. (I once owned a nice wooden ruler which had a timeline of all the Kings of Scotland on the back; it was, well, a Scottish rulers ruler...)
ReplyDeleteI admit I don't know much about the Scottish kings, other than the ones that moved over to England.
DeleteAhhh, Henry. An interesting prince in his youth and a sad lech in his age!
ReplyDeleteApparently a very attractive man until he got greedy.
DeleteAccording to J.B. Priestley the school of thought that holds Richard III innocent started when some sentimental person looked at a painting of him and thought he had too nice a face to have killed the princes.
ReplyDeleteOthers say that, even if the painting looked like him, it's not an especially lovable looking face.
I don't think his paintings are particularly flattering.
DeleteMy love for Richard III started when I read Sunne in Splendour when I was younger, and I still love everything Wars of the Roses through to the Tudors. And I swear my favourite thing about Richard III is how divisive he is - everyone has an opinion and he's a fascinating subject for sure
ReplyDeleteAh yes, I've read that. It's a great book.
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