Hello, Nicola here, reporting from a very autumnal England! I've finished the revisions to my latest manuscript, I've sent in a new book proposal and now I have no excuse to put off all those chores and appointments that I've been neglecting for the last few months. So it was that I found myself in the dentist's waiting room last week, flicking through a glossy magazine to pass the time and trying to block out the sound of the drill in the surgery next door. Fortunately there was an article in the magazine that distracted my attention. It was called "my weird crush" and it consisted of various celebrities naming the unlikely objects of their desire. So being a romance writer and an historian I decided to improve upon this game by trying to come up with a list of my "weird historical crushes." This was not simply a case of choosing my favourite figures from history. I decided it would be much more fun to choose those historical characters for whom I developed a crush as a result of my fiction reading. Most of these "tendres," as we might say in a Regency romance, spring from the days of my youth and the books I read then. The dictionary defines a crush as "puppy love: temporary love of an adolescent, or a usually temporary infatuation." That said, these books are on my keeper shelf and these characters are in my heart.
Here is my list of weird historical crushes and the novels that inspired them.
Merlin - Weird in the sense that he probably didn't exist and so was not a historical figure at all, but hey, I'm not letting that stop me. This list is a combination of fact and fiction, after all. The book, or rather the series that set me off on this crush was Mary Stewart's Arthurian trilogy, The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment. The Merlin of those stories was cool, considered and intellectual. Where Arthur was always dashing about in a blaze of glory doing reckless and ill-considered things, Merlin was the thinker. That works for me. Merlin was also very attractive but he was unobtainable, wedded to his magic. Even more intriguing. Throw in some of that Dark Ages mystery and I'm gone. There's a legend at Ashdown Park that the stones that litter the field in front of the house are an army Merlin turned to stone. A useful man to have around. Oh, about the picture. It felt like a travesty of my crush to post up a pic of the stereotypical Merlin with the pointy hat and beard so I thought I'd go for the bird of prey instead. He (or she) is handsome.
King Richard II - Yes, another weird choice and hardly the most obvious person if you're looking for a hero amongst the English Kings. Richard ruled through favourites, was reputedly arrogant and autocratic, bore grudges and had no political acumen. Hmm. I blame Margaret Campbell Barnes' book Within the Hollow Crown for this particular crush. In it Richard comes across as handsome, charming, and so desperately in love with his wife Anne that this romantic heart was quite swept away.
King Richard III - Yes, I do like the name Richard but it's not simply all in a name. A controversial choice to say the least, since many believe him to to have been a ruthless murderer. But then I come from Yorkshire, the county that adopted Richard as one of its own. The declaration made by the city of York in 1485 in defiance of their new ruler Henry VII, summed it up for me with great poignancy: "King Richard, late reigning mercifully over us, was.... piteously slain and murdered, to the great heaviness of this city." I think I must have developed my crush on Richard through any number of books, starting with Josephine Tey's fabulous crime novel The Daughter of Time, via Margaret Campbell Barnes (again) and Margaret Abbey and bursting into full crush mode with Sharon Penman's wonderful book The Sunne In Splendour. Again it seems to be Edward IV who is the swaggering hero of this book, a dazzling, golden warrior. Yet Richard is always there, loyal to a fault, courageous and clever. I hate that it all ended so badly. Maybe that's why I have so little affection for the Tudors. These youthful crushes are powerful things and not as temporary as the definition of the word might suggest.
Twm Sion Cati - Going out on a limb here. I've no idea if anyone else ever read the book Hawkmoor by Lynn Hughes or remembers the BBC series. Twm Sion Cati (Thomas Jones) was "the Robin Hood of Wales," a sixteenth century outlaw who took on the sheriff and wooed the widow of his greatest enemy (and boy did he do it in dashing style!) In addition to all the romance of the good versus evil, taking from the rich to give to the poor etc there's the added glamour and mysticism of the Welsh Celtic angle. Very seductive. This picture is the cave in which Twm apparently hid from the authorities.
George Boleyn - Remember that Corgi series about the wives of Henry VIII? The books had gorgeous gold covers. My grandmother had the set and I loved them so much. Series 2 of the TV show The Tudors portrayed George Boleyn as decadent, cruel and creepy. The book about Anne Boleyn in the Corgi series depicted George as handsome, dashing and totally charming. I know which I prefer. For me it was a close run thing between George and Thomas Seymour in book 6. One series, two crushes, great value! Here's a photo of Hever Castle. There's no way I was going to post up a picture of either of the two guys who have recently played George. Neither do justice to my crush.
Anne Boleyn - It's definitely okay to have a girl crush and I developed for Anne an admiration similar to the one I had for the captain of my school lacrosse team. Anne was stylish, witty and clever. I wanted her to be my friend or even better, my sister (not that I was keen to take on the role of Mary Boleyn.) Again the fact that it all ended so badly seems to have contributed to my devotion. Hmm, I'm beginning to see a theme here, a fierce, romantic attraction to those characters who went down fighting their hardest against disloyalty, danger and overwhelming odds. That said, my youthful crushes on both Anne Boleyn and Richard III have developed into a full-scale and rather more objective historical interest over the years.
I could go on (Prince Rupert of the Rhine in Diana Norman's book The Vizard Mask, anyone?) but now it's your turn. There's a definite UK-centric bias to my crushes and we need to be more international here. I'd like to hear about your historical crushes, weird or otherwise, and the books that inspired them.
How about Louis Riel, The Canadian Metis leader? I've always thought of him as a dashing and romantically tragic figure. I developed a crush on him in high school history class, and now I find him a fascinating character.
By the way, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Jo in Nova Scotia.
Linda Atkinson (Jennie Marsland)
Posted by: Jennie Marsland | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 06:55 AM
Very interesting bits of trivia with regards to each figure name. Julie
Posted by: Julie Robinson | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 07:34 AM
I'm glad that you enjoyed the trivia, Julie!
Linda, I didn't know about Louis Riel so I went away and looked him up. I can see why he would appeal. That's what I like about sharing these things - you learn something new!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 08:41 AM
Richard the Third is one of my heroes too. I imagine he was charming and he definitely did not kill the princes in the tower. Whenever I write a novel about the period just after the Battle of Bosworth, I always squeeze in something good about Richard.
Posted by: Margaret Blake | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 08:55 AM
John Graham, Viscount Claverhouse, loyal to James II, and Jacobite hero. It's the song that gets me:
Tae the lairds i' convention t'was Claverhouse spoke
E'er the Kings crown go down, there'll be crowns to be broke;
Then let each cavalier who loves honour and me
Come follow the bonnet o' bonnie Dundee.
Then there's François de Charette, leader in the Vendée revolt. I met him in Balzac's Les Chouans.
I'm afraid I'm a sucker for lost causes.
Posted by: Jane O | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 11:41 AM
Totally agree with Merlin (loved Stewart's books) and Richard III.
Have huge crush on Charles II and Prince Rupert of the Rhine (are you getting the theme here?!) I also manage to crush on Hon William Mackenzie of Seaforth of which there is a portrait of where I work. Sad but true!
Posted by: Alison | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Richard III is definitely a big crush of mine and definitely innocent of murdering his nephews. I go for bad boys and underdogs. For my bad boy, none is better than Davydd ap Gruffydd brother of Llewellyn the Last in Sharon Kay Penman's books (and real life too). He totally captivated me. And after reading her latest, Devil's Brood, I became a huge fan of Geoffrey, the overlooked brother who would have made the best king but died too young.
Posted by: Valerie L. | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 01:15 PM
I'm totally with you on Merlin a la Mary Stewart and Richard III as seen through Josephine Tey's mystery.
I'm not generally drawn to romantic failure for its own sake, though. I don't care how "romantic" the American confederacy was, or how noble its soldiers--slavery was still the one irresolvable issue on the chopping block. No romantic crushes there.
But I'll admit to a distinct fondness for Wellington. He lived a long and honorable life and died ofnaturalcauses at the age of 83. I would wish him a better suited wife.
And if we're doing possibly fictional characters like Merlin, can I throw in the certainly fictional Francis Crawford of Lymond as written in Dorothy Dunnett's magnificent series.
Mary Jo, who never heard of Twm Sion Cati, but is willing to be educated!
Posted by: Mary Jo Putney | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 01:21 PM
Mary Jo - I should have said lost causes except for the Confederacy.
I don't know about Wellington, though. In the politics of the time, I prefer Henry Brougham.
Posted by: Jane O | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 01:44 PM
Yes, yes, and yes! I read Tey's "The Daughter of Time" at an impressionable age and no amount of historical evidence (not that there's anything definitive) will convince me that Richard III was anything other than heroic. I loved that, contrary to their own best interest, the good burghers of York stated their support and love for him (I seem to remember tears when I got to that point in the book). I read Norman's "The Vizard Mask" when considerably older, but Rupert certainly comes through as a hero. And last but not least, Anne Boleyn. She's portrayed in such different ways in books and films today, but (again) my view of her is colored by a book I read as a teen. Might have been a Norah Lofts (didn't keep a reading journal at that time so I'm not sure) historical fiction, but I clearly remember the end when Anne is last paraded through London and the people who had jeered her earlier showed their support for a young woman unfairly judged.
I must also confess to a crush on Guy de Guiseborne as he appears in Gayle Feyrer's "The Thief's Mistress". He is a fictional character, but he appears in so many stories about Robin Hood that he almost seems real -- a bit like Merlin for Nicola. In the book he's dark to Robin's light, but his backstory is so poignant that my heart broke for him. It also doesn't hurt that he's played by Richard Armitage in the recent TV series.
Posted by: Susan/DC | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 02:59 PM
Jane O, I agree that Wellington's politics in later life were not to my taste, but this is the man who allegedly told Harriette Wilson "Publish and be damned" when she tried to extort money to leave him out of her memoirs.
I also once read how after a battle, he threw the officers out of a house so wounded soldiers could be moved inside. Then he rode 30 miles that nice on the tireless Copenhagen to check on the house, found that the officers had moved back in--and REALLY raised Cain with them. He was an aristocrat to the bone, but he cared about his soldiers. Unlike Napoleon, who allegedly said, "What are the lives of a million men to me?" A horrifying statement that he proved all too often.
Mary Jo, wandering well off the blogging path here!
Posted by: Mary Jo Putney | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 04:57 PM
Great post, Nicola. I find Merlin very "encanting too. I remember my mother giving me "The Once and Future King" when I was pretty young, and I found him just fascinating . . .it was porbably my first real meeting with a wizard. (No Hary Potter when I was a kid)
I confess to having a soft spot for the Scarlet Pimpernel. As for American heroes . . . I just finished reading a biography of Teddy Roosevelt and he was quite an amazing character. Ardent naturalist, prolific author, rugged outdoorsman, canny politican . . . he's actually pretty cool!
Posted by: Cara Elliott/Andrea Pickens | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 05:22 PM
Richard III and Charles II for me, as well as John and William Marshal as portrayed in Elizabeth Chadwicks books! Hard to go past Eleanor of Aquitaine as well.
Posted by: Marg | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 08:44 PM
Great to see so many Ricardians around! I too think Charles II must have been a fascinating man to meet. He would be one of my dream dinner party guests. Portraits definitely help, don't they, Alison. The one of Prince Rupert of the Rhine at Ashdown is extremely romantic. Interesting about lost causes too. I wonder what it is about them that appeals?
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 11:50 PM
You really made me think about the lost causes debate, Mary Jo, and I realised that I'm not indiscriminate about it. Although I have a sneaking sympathy for the Jacobites, Bonnie Prince Charlie has never inspired me. So it's only *some* lost causes. How do we pick and choose our causes, I wonder?
Went to a marvellous talk about Wellington a few weeks ago by Richard Holmes, the military historian. He is one of my weird contemporary crushes!! I used to work with him and he is such an excellent speaker that I travel miles to hear him. His view was that Wellington, having been refused permission to marry Kitty when they were both young, simply came back when he was successful and pressed ahead with the marriage without getting to know her properly again. RH's view was that for all Wellington's reputation with the ladies he didn't spend long on the niceties!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Wednesday, September 02, 2009 at 11:58 PM
I'm hunting out that Gayle Feyrer book now, Susan. It sounds right up my street!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 12:01 AM
I'm with Prince Rupert also. I had a huge crush on Zorro, I like guys in masks. Also, Quanah Parker and Crazy Horse.
Posted by: kay | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 05:21 AM
Oh, yes, I'm a Zorro fan too, Kay!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 08:53 AM
Can you give a synopsis of Hawkmoor by Lynn Hughes? I turned up nothing on the web. I'm a sucker for Robin Hood types. Swamp Fox or Scarecrow, anyone?
Posted by: MaryK | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 12:01 PM
Ak, I'd just worked my way through all the comments thinking someone needs to name Swamp Fox, and there it is, the very last comment! Of course, I'm sure the reality wasn't nearly as romantic as the TV show, but even in the historical accounts, Francis Marion (am I getting the spelling right? it's been a long while) was a hero of epic proportions.
Posted by: Patricia Rice | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 12:15 PM
I had to write a reference article on Shakespeare's Richard III once, and the historical research I did convinced me--as firmly as The Daughter of Time--that the Tudor accusations against Richard III should not be swallowed whole.
Other historical crushes include Llewelyn the Great, who was able to forgive his wife Joan after she committed adultery with William de Braose, and reconciled with her after a year's estrangement. Sharon Kay Penman and Edith Pargeter(aka Ellis Peters) both wrote about this incident, though I like Pargeter's version better.
And Elizabeth Chadwick's The Greatest Knight makes William Marshal utterly crush-able and irresistible.
Posted by: Stephanie | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Nicola, How nice to hear that Richard Holmes is a great speaker and one of your "crushes." I have his book "Redcoat" and enjoyed it very much—he's a very good writer too!
Posted by: Cara Elliott/Andrea Pickens | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 01:16 PM
Sigh...Nicola. My all time historical crush was (and still is) Sir Thomas Fairfax. My first "tall, dark and handsome" leaped off the pages of Rosemary Sutcliff's RIDER OF THE WHITE HORSE. I read the book so many times it fell apart. I am so besotted I am blogging about him on the Hoydens blogspot http://www.hoydensandfirebrands.blogspot.com
Posted by: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=729892598 | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 03:40 PM
Richard III all the way. As I sit at my desk typing, I have in front of me: a framed poster purporting to be Richard and Anne with the Middleham jewel; a photograph of a Bosworth re-enactment; and the cross-stitch I did of Richard's coat of arms. (I can't see the contemporary photograph of Middleham unless I turn around.) Yes, I've got it bad!
Posted by: JudiDW | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 06:37 PM
Francis Marion (Swamp Fox), the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Robin Hood. I was going to say Nathaniel from Last of the Mohicans, but he isn't a real person, just an amalgam of several frontiersmen.
This post has given me a long list of really good books to catch up on.
Posted by: Patricia Barraclough | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 06:46 PM
Mary, this is what it says on the back cover: "In Hawkmoor Lynn Hughes retells the story of Twm Sion Cati, the Robin Hood of Wales. According to legend Twm led a charmed and mady sided life - highwayman, poet, outlaw, nobleman and "general scallywag" - escaping death many times. Cardiganshire in 1558 was the most lawless corner of Bloody Mary's kingdom and Twm's confrontations with his enemies, the vicar and the sheriff, were as notorious as his wooing of lovely Johane Williams, wife of another enemy. Romance, historical fact and folklore join forces in this swashbuckling adventure." It's a Penguin paperback from 1977.
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 11:34 PM
We all share a lot of the same historical crushes, don't we! So many books to read now and characters to catch up with.
Andrea, if you ever get the chance to hear Richard Holmes speak then grab it. He is riveting. And yes, he writes very well too - and that's not just my crush speaking!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, September 03, 2009 at 11:43 PM
Popping in belatedly because I love this topic! Like others, I have a crush on Wellington...the general, not the politician! And on the other side of the battlefield, I've recently developed something of an admiration for Michel Ney. If I had to choose between the two, I'd probably pick Wellington, since I think he was the more intelligent of the two and was more my type physically. OTOH, Ney had a happy marriage and was just such a splendid lion of a man.
Posted by: Susan Wilbanks | Friday, September 04, 2009 at 03:40 PM
Oh yes, definitely Robin Hood and/or pirates! I can't believe I missed out my biggest crush - Eleanor of Castile of course!
Nicola, who's the artist of the Ashdown Rupert portrait? I'd love to try and find an image of it. Has anyone else read Charles Spencer's book about him?
Posted by: Alison | Saturday, September 05, 2009 at 02:11 AM
I like the sound of Michel Ney, Susan. You have whetted my appetite and I will read up on him.
LOL Alison, Eleanor - of course! I think someone else mentioned her and shares your crush. The Ashdown portrait of Rupert was painted by Van Hornhorst. I've read and enjoyed Charles Spencer's book and recommend it to anyone interested in reading about Rupert. I skipped the gory battle descriptions, though. I'm very squeamish!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Monday, September 07, 2009 at 05:25 AM
I came across this post while hunting for reviews of Gayle Feyrer's "The Thief's Mistress" and I want to second Susan's enthusiastic recommendation, both of the book and of the character of Sir Guy of Guisbourne. He is totally crush-worthy (quite unlike the book's bland Robin). Nicola, if you haven't gotten the book yet you definitely should.
Btw, Susan says that Sir Guy is played by Richard Armitage in the recent BBC series -- true, but the BBC version of Gisborne is quite different (except for the fact that he is also a tortured and sympathetic antihero) if no less crush-worthy.
Oh, and my own weird historical crushes include, first and foremost, Lord Byron.
Posted by: Cathy Young | Thursday, December 24, 2009 at 11:04 PM
I noticed someone mentioned in their comment that they had done a cross stitch of Richard III's coat of arms. Does anyone know where I could find a pattern as I would love to do one for myself.
And Richard III is my historical crush as well. :)
Posted by: Robin | Tuesday, January 05, 2010 at 06:26 PM
R III does it for me too. I got my kit for his coat of arms at the Bosworth Battlefield gift shop. And a fab t-shirt with a picture of R III on the front and "Loyal to the Truth" printed on the back.
Posted by: Loreli Mosher | Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 04:41 PM
Thanks for the information on where to get hold of a pattern for Richard III's coat of arms, Loreli. What a pity the Battlefield Centre shop don't do internet orders. I'd like one of those t-shirts as well!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Monday, January 25, 2010 at 04:43 AM
Nicola, have you tried the Richard III society web page? I believe they were selling t-shirts by mail order at one time.
Posted by: Loreli Mosher | Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 07:52 AM
Thanks, Loreli, I will check that out. I imagine they must do quite a brisk trade! BTW, for all Ricardians, I see it's been announced that they have found the "true" site of the Battle of Bosworth. I've blogged about it on my personal blog at www.apassionforhistory.blogspot.com
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Friday, February 19, 2010 at 04:08 AM
Thank you for the information about the pattern for his coat of arms. I emailed and am waiting to hear back from them.
Posted by: Robin | Saturday, May 01, 2010 at 06:52 PM
Hey, that's great, Robin! I hope they get back to you soon!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Sunday, May 02, 2010 at 11:48 AM