Lannister is to Lancaster as Stark is to York: Game of Thrones as History Retold

GAME OF THRONES

A.J. WILSON

http://www.heroesandheartbreakers.com/blogs/2011/07/lannister-is-to-lancaster-as-stark-is-to-york-game-of-thrones-as-history-retold

I’m enthralled: Epic storytelling, political intrigue, intricate plotting, noble knights and mad, ruthless kings.

Game of Thrones is all of these things, and though George R.R. Martin creates his world on a grand, fantastical scale, it recalls the time in English history that was full of bloodshed, betrayal and wary alliances (although when wasn’t that happening?). A time when two royal families, Lancaster and York, fought to wear the crown of England—the War of the Roses.

You Win or You Die

The captivating dynamics between the various noble houses in Game of Thrones bears a remarkable resemblance to medieval English politics. The constant threat of betrayal, rebellion, anarchy and greed prevail in both Martin’s series, as well as in real history.

Death plays a major role in this series, as it did in the Middle Ages, when living past thirty was considered quite a feat, and when bearing a child could mean death to a woman, both noble and poor.

Knowing too, that “Winter is coming” places all the characters, and the viewers, in a constant state of fear. Life for these souls “is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” (Hobbes) What’s more is one cannot fathom what is worse, the politic of court life in King’s Landing, aka London, or the wilds of the North, ie Scotland.

And just like history, compelling characters—of whom there are many—pull you even deeper into the story. When the series began, it was a bit daunting to be confronted with such a vast array of characters: Everyone from the noble Ned Stark to the sinister Cersei, and my goodness, Martin wastes no time in plunging our burgeoning feelings for his characters right over a cliff.

Margaret of Anjou by Talbot Master

The best example of this is in the second-to-last episode where our lovable, if a bit stupid, Ned Stark forfeited his life for his foolish honor. Perhaps had he not trusted Cersei, nor threatened her with exposure of her incest, he might live still.

I liken Cersei to Margaret of Anjou, French queen of Henry VI, a woman who tenaciously fought for her sons’ right to the throne, at the cost of many a life.

Ned Stark disputed Joffrey’s right to the throne because he suspected he was the son of Cersei’s incestuous relationship with her brother Jaime Lannister, not borne of her marriage to Robert Baratheon. It has been widely speculated that Margaret of Anjou’s son was not Henry VI’s at all, but was in fact the product of an affair with one of her courtiers!

To Think Joffrey was at All Based on History...Yikes

I have to give it to Martin; the man can weave a great tale, have his readers become emotionally invested by a character’s fate, only to feel it like a blow to the chest when he prematurely kills them off. And true to life, no one is safe. With one swift slash of a sword we’ve lost someone we’ve grown to love, to root for. The reality of Westeros is that people, even the good ones, especially the good ones, do die, often in a most ruthless, barbaric manner. Like real life, and real history.

So—great story-telling or an ability to use history as a realistic springboard? Perhaps a bit of both.

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A.J. Wilson, Shark By Day, Lover Of All Things Plaid By Night

Game of Thrones/War of the Roses

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/45274-the-war-of-the-roses-and-asoiaf/

The idea for this thread comes from "Who will die in the winds of winter..." and this link to So Spake Martin.
There are a number of historical influences on the characters of ASOIAF, and in particular those who featured heavily in "The War of the Roses" - which was the peroid of civil war during the reign of King Henry IV with the Yorkist rebel, King Edward IV, called 'The Cousin's War'.  The peaceful reign of King Edward IV at the end of 'The Cousin's War', the brief and mysterious reign of his son, King Edward V, who became one of the princes in the tower.  The rise to power of Richard of Glouster, who became King Richard III after Edward V's disappearance and finally the rise to power of Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII.

I think that there are a number of characters who possess colours of some of these historical figures, some have already been suggested in the previous thread - Cersei Lannister:Margaret Anjou, Jeyne Westerling:Elizabeth Woodville and Robert Baratheon:Edward IV of York (suggested by Alexia in the other thread, who originally linked the So Spake Martin article).

Jeyne Westerling & Elizabeth Woodville.

Woodville was a noble, but much lower in terms of social class than King Edward IV.  They met when Elizabeth begged Edward to restore her lands held by her late husband so that her children could still inherit them.  This request was granted and soon Edward fell in love with Woodville.

Jeyne represents the younger life of Woodville, when she first meets the Yorkist (Stark ) King Edward. She is from a poor house and does not offer the King much in terms of land or alliance. Both Westerling and Woodville are from families that fought against the Kings they would later marry.

It would have been good to be inside Robb's head to understand whether he married Jeyne for love or honour - or a mixture of both. We know that the Yorkist King married Woodville for love. To strech this analogy further you have the fact that the Cecily Neville (the Yorkist King's mother) was in the process of arranging a marraige for Edward with the French King. In the series this can loosely be translated as Catelyn's marraige pact with Walder Frey. When Cecily Neville's brother Warwick found out about the Yorkist King's marraige to Woodville, he turned against him restoring his rival king to power. Warwick in this analogy can be played by Walder Frey. 

Add to this that both Jeyne Westerling and Elizabeth Woodville both had mothers who were rumoured to be sorcerers; Sybil Spicer and Jacquetta of Luxembourg respectively.

Margaery Tyrell - Anne Neville

Anne was a political pawn throughout the War of the Roses.  She was the daughter of the Neville family, who were a major force during the conflict.  Ultimately she married Edward of Westminister and Richard III, men on opposing sides of the conflict.  This obviously has reflections in Marge Tyrell being used to wed: Renly and then the Lannisters.  Anne died of TB.  

The question remains as to whether we can use history to predict future events in the series...


Cersei Lannister - Margaret Anjou

Margaret Anjou was married to King Henry IV, who suffered frequent bouts of mental health problems.  She was determined to secure the throne for her progeny.  It was rumoured that King Henry IV was not capable of fathering children and that Anjou's children were the product of an adulterous affair or incest.  Anjou was vastly unpopular with the smallfolk, especially when she landed a French army on British soil.  Anjou was determined to win back the throne, after losing it to the Yorkist King, Edward IV, and eventually led an army herself to reclaim it.  It is thought that she was instrumental in the execution of two prisoners of war who had been promised their lives.  It is said that she influenced her son's (the then Lancasterian king) decision to have the two executed.  (Does this not have echoes of Joffrey executing Ned? - despite Cersei not influencing it directly).

Cersei definately has flavours of Margaret Anjou about her. GRRM has said that he is fond of English history specifically the time frame of the War of the Roses. And I think that like Margaret Anjou, Cersei will be forced to lead her host from Casterly Rock in order to defend the rites of her children, or child in this case. I think that this would be the perfect ending for Cersei's character, she has throughout the series thought that she should have been a man, that she should have led an army. This is her chance. I think this whole thing with the Faith was merely GRRM trying to remove Cersei from the game to set her up for her redemption.

Daena the defiant also suggested that the figurehead of the fleet commisioned by the crown during AFFC - Cersei dressed in mail - could be significant.

Brandon and Rickon Stark - The Princes In The Tower

Rickon Stark or Aegon Targaryen or An Imposter - Perkin Warbeck

The princes in the tower were the two sons of King Edward IV - who died suddenly.  The marraige between Woodville and Edward IV was declared void, by Richard of Glouster, who proceeded to take the throne for himself.  Effectively he disinherited Edward V.  After they were disinherited, the two princes Edward V and Richard of York, were imprisoned in the tower of London.  It is not known who killed them.

Later a pretender to the throne rose up, Perkin Warbeck, who claimed that he was the missing prince - Richard of York.  Due to the fact that Richard's fate, as one of the princes in the tower, was not known, his claim gathered some followers.  Warbeck was imprisoned and hanged at the Tower of London.

Firstly, the death of King Robb's heirs, Brandon and Rickon Stark does seem to have been aknowledged as fact in the Seven Kingdoms.  Whereas in the historical account the deaths have never been proven.  Yet it is entirely possible that Rickon Stark (his name even sounds like Richard) could rise in rebellion and reclaim Robb's crown.  As per the Warbeck claim.  This could be an event that turns the tide of ADWD - seeing as Osha can claim that this is the real Rickon Stark and with the reappearence of Theon, i.e. he can confess the truth, we could expect the return of the King in the North which would be a thorn in the side of: the Lannisters, Boltons, Stannis and Littlefinger.  I genuinely think that Rickon has to reappear in the next book.

A second possibility is that Aegon Targaryen could perform the role of Warbeck in our tale...

cersei lannister/margaret of anjou

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/cersei-lannister?before=1325609897

Cersei Lannister and Margaret D’Anjou (or of Anjou)

[SPOILERS FOR ALL THE BOOKS, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED DON’T READ PAST THIS!]

Similarities:

• Margaret was “aggressively partisan, feudal and had a volatile temperament”
• “Cersei(…), despite having a low cunning she is a very poor ruler. She does not have the patience or judgement for the tedium of leadership.”
• “ Margaret defiantly unpopular, grimly and gallantly determined to maintain the English crown for her progeny.”
• “Cersei is a willful, ambitious and politically skilled woman, she resents the restrictions put on her for her sex.(…) She is always concerned for the safety of her children and stops at nothing to protect them, thou it’s hard to say that she is a good mother.”
• “Margaret (…) believed her husband was threatened with deposition by the ambitious Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York who, to her consternation, had been appointed regent while Henry was mentally incapacitated.”
• Robert appointed Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell as hand of the King, which decision Cersei disapproved of for she wanted someone of her family in that position (her father);
• ”(…) the source of the eventual Lancastrian downfall not as York’s ambitions nearly so much as Margaret’s ill-judging enmity toward York and her over-indulgence in unpopular allies.”
• ” Littlefinger once stated that Cersei lusts for power but does not know how to wield it. He also stated that while Cersei believes she is a player in the Game of Thrones she is actually just a piece who thinks she’s a player.”
• Margaret “(…) called for a Great Council which excluded the Yorkist faction headed by Richard, Duke of York, and thus provided the spark which ignited the civil conflict.”
• ”(…)she(Cersei) had Lord Eddard imprisoned. However, Joffrey, as king, does not listen to his mother or his council, and foolishly has Lord Eddard Stark executed, making peace between Stark and Lannister impossible”
• “After she (Margaret) was taken captive by William Stanley at the end of the battle, Margaret was imprisoned by the order of King Edward.”
• “All Cersei’s plans to remove the Tyrell influence at court backfire when the High Septon arrests her for several crimes, including the murder of the previous High Septon. Her own ministers seize control of the government while she awaits trial in the Great Sept of Baelor.”

Other Similarities:

• The very obvious similarity of the names: Lancaster/Lannister;
• The similar colors on the banners: The Lancaster rose is red & white and the Lannister lion is gold on red

if you have anything you want to add to this, something that i might have forgotten or differences (i didn’t put any but i could if you wanted to) tell me and i will put it here.

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