As I already explained a couple of posts ago, I had a bit of a weird upbringing which involved not being allowed to read children’s books and other stuff too tiresome to write here. I have a learning disability, which is boring so let’s not talk about that, BUT it did mean that I dealt better with some aspects of my childhood than many others might have done – in particular the way that my grandparents cut me off from society and blatantly encouraged me to become a bit of a nerdy history geek weirdo.
However, even they got a bit alarmed when I started having thumping great crushes on various people from history, which is a bit hypocritical really as Richard III was the great love of my grandmother’s life. No, seriously, he could do NO WRONG and, well, I’ve spoken before on here about the peculiar horror of being taken to the site of the battle of Bosworth as a small child to stand in mute and incredulous silence as my grandmother stared into the distance and wept for poor old Dickon.
Anyway, that’s enough explaining!
Henry V. A surprising one this, or maybe not. I blame historical fiction entirely for this one as I totally fell for Henry as he is portrayed in Crown in Candlelight – a handsome, charming but valiant young King with a bent for piety and cold toes. I’m fairly sure the real Henry wasn’t anything like this, other than the bent for piety which was actually not so much a ‘bent’ as a raving fanaticism.
George of Clarence. Yes, I am very awkward – I bypassed the familial passion for poor little Richard III and instead developed a thing for his brother. The Sunne in Splendour is entirely to blame for this – well the early chapters before winsome, golden haired George was transformed into a drunken wife beating slob.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Oh come on, who doesn’t have a crush on Prince Rupert? Okay, lots of you don’t so never mind. Oh Prince Rupert. By The Sword Divided was slightly responsible for this one although the Prince Rupert in that wasn’t terribly hot (my By The Sword Divided crush was Will Saltmarsh) despite what Lucinda thought about the matter.
Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just. This is the big one, the mother and father of all historical crushes. Oh my. Okay, I have gone past my hormonal adolescent passion now and recognise that Saint-Just was actually A Very Very Bad Person but oh dear, I was OBSESSED for years to quite a tragic degree. I even carried a little photo of the David portrait of him in his dashing, natty red waistcoat in my purse for years. I remember being thrilled when I first read about him, Saint-Just the soldier’s son who had been a teenage delinquent, at the battle of Valmy, riding ahead of the Revolutionary forces with his top hat balanced on top of his sword and a grin of wild excitement on his face.
Hm, clearly I have a bit of a type – tall, military, long hair, stubble. My husband ticks all those boxes except one – he isn’t a military man, he’s an IT Manager. Oh and he’s cut his long hair now. Honourable mentions also go to Hérault de Séychelles, Rupert Brooke, John Castle as Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter, Eugène de Beauharnais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Henri de la Rochejacquelin, Oscar Wilde (how could I have forgotten?!), Simon de Montfort and Jacques Cathelineau. This last was a major crush too, until I quickly discovered that he bore no resemblance to his portrait by Girodet and was actually a middle aged pedlar with a wife and six million children. Ah well.
Anyway, I’ve shown you mine – what are your historical crushes?
the Dutch stadtholder William Ii, father of English King William III, was good looking & he died young before he could become ugly
I had a girl-crush on Mary Queen of Scots. I just could not read enough about her.
Oh yes, she is so romantic isn’t she? I’m not exactly her biggest fan, but there’s still something so charismatic about her, even now. :)
I have had a crush on Prince Rupert since I first saw the movie Cromwell, in which he was played by Timothy Dalton, to perfection, opposite Alec Guinness as Charles I. It was so wonderful and just a teensy bit slashy! I then wrote a big paper in my university class on the Fall of Bristol and how nasty old Lord Digby tried to poison Charles against his nephew, for mere spite, and how it caused a rift between Rupert and Charles, but then Rupert wrote this impassioned letter defending his actions at Bristol. It turned me into a bit of a Civil War buff, though decidedly on the Royalist side!
I also have a crush on Georgiana Burne-Jones, and on William Morris, as well. But my ultimate, and decidedly hopeless crush and obsession will always be Oscar Wilde. I’ve loved him since I was fourteen, unswervingly.
When I joined the Sealed Knot I ended up on the Parliamentarian side by accident and soon switched to the Royalists! They definitely had more fun.
HOW could I forget my teenage love of Oscar Wilde?! I even named one of my sons after him as I loved him so much.
http://madameguillotine.org.uk/2010/10/16/bonne-anniversaire-oscar-wilde/
Well, for one thing, the Royalists dress better! ;)
I discovered Oscar through the miniseries Lillie back in 1978, at the age of 14, and I went out and found a complete works in the library and read it cover to cover! And I’ve never stopped liking him. I feel a real connection to him, not in any crazy way, but just possibly some sort of knowledge of him in a past life or something. I don’t know, he just always has rocked my world.
I tend to get crushes on male characters whom I’m writing about (it probably shows in the finished product). I was enamored of Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset when I was writing my last novel, and I’m carrying a torch for John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland at the moment.
Despite being a card-carrying member of the Richard III Society, I’m not that fond of Richard III. But I can whip myself into a major funk on the anniversaries of William Hastings’ and Anthony Woodvilles’ deaths.
Heh, yes, I get terrible crushes on characters too – I’m writing about Charles II’s sister next and fully expect to stagger away with a thumping great passion for His Majesty at the same time. I’ll be doing my best to shoe horn Prince Rupert into the plot as well, no doubt… :)
I have sympathy for Richard III but I’m not sure he was all that likeable a person really. That famous York Boys charm seems to have bypassed him somewhat doesn’t it? I’ve always been intrigued by Anthony Woodville though – he’s always sounded rather nice. In my mind he looks like Rupert Penry-Jones but with stubble. Oh dear.
Oh, how much fun! It needs to be its own blog post, but mine are Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert the Bruce, the Earl of Essex (maybe—love his chutzpah—charging in to Elizabeth’s bedchamber like that!), and Alfred the Great. Oh, and Major General James Wolfe. I have a girl crush on Fanny Brawne, who was John Keats’s fiancée.
Ooh, I’m descended from Robert the Bruce (it’s not a big deal, everyone in Scotland is descended from him!) so I can’t fancy him! ;)
The Earl of Essex was an interesting sort wasn’t he?
I have a couple: William Marshall (thanks to Elizabeth Chadkwick) and Llywelyn the Great (blame Sharon Kay Penman).
Sharon Penman is responsible for a LOT of historical crushes isn’t she?! ;)
I have too many! And they’re certainly not crushes because of any sort of moral merit. Most often the opposite in fact. I tend to like their flaws – like my great fondness for the Duke of Marlborough which is entirely due to him being a miserly sycophant (and good-looking in his youth, because I’m shallow like that).
I also have thing for Cesare Borgia who was no a Very Good Person in any sense, and a great fondness for Louis XIV, flaws and all. Another fave is the Duke of Monmouth (for which I blame Jude Morgan’s The King’s Touch). He seems to have lacked a great many good qualities too, common sense being the most glaringly obvious.
That’s interesting – my crushes are a flawed lot as well, which I think is a big part of their appeal! I would be horrified if I was confronted by the modern day equivalent of Saint-Just or Henry V though! Mind you, I don’t think I’d be their cup of tea either! ;)
I’ve always felt so sorry for poor Monmouth – what a total idiot but it’s also so sad too.
Oh, dear… I can hardly remember these days, but there have been a few… :-)
Wonderful to hear that I’m not the only one :-)
Haha, oh no, there’s lots of us about, all with our not so secret torches being carried for long dead men and a few women too… ;)
Indeed it is good to know there are a fair few of us out there who had crushes on historical people (or dead people as my kids so graciously put it). Of course John Keats is my huge lifelong crush, and there were a couple in his circle I was attached to – John Hamilton Reynolds for one.
Like you, Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a postcard I held dear (used my crushes as bookmarks) although he turned into a rather ugly old chap as I recall.
Have also to admit to the Henry V thing but mine was due to Kenneth Branagh’s wonderful film. Portraits don’t actually look much like the lovely Ken….
That’s funny – I use my crushes as bookmarks too! :)
Oh I love the Kenneth Branagh Henry V – it’s so vibrant and passionate and um muddy! If only the real Henry was like that!
I thought it would be easier to make a post of my own! (Plus it’s an awesome idea.)
http://fayelbooth.blogspot.com/2011/05/historical-novelists-do-it-with-dead.html
Ooh, great post! :)
I am so glad I am not alone! Prince Rupert yes when young. Then later on what about (swoon) Count Axel von Fersen for years and years. And he had a terrible ending too just like Maire Anotinette. Louix XV was a definite crush because he was a wicked sexy older man plus it helped that he was a King of France and much better looking that Louis XIV. The Duke of Monmouth was okay but his uncle King James VII and II was even better – religion, pride and a dreadful downfall. Am I alone with poor King James? Yes, please & all that guilt about his mistresses and a secret marriage to Anne Hyde. The downside has to be though Queen Anne and Queen Mary (boo & hiss!) .
Couldn’t do Oscar Wilde but did have a serious thing for Siegfried Sassoon and kind of imagined being a willowy beautiful boy to seduce him. Too weird though.
At the moment I have a thing for Sir Gregory Page Turner painted by Batoni in the Manchester City Art Gallery – he is the most gorgeous thing in the gallery. The pout, the suit and the little tummy are all lovely and to view here he is: http://www.manchestergalleries.org/the-collections/search-the-collection/display.php?EMUSESSID=1167816ee4b39a3120195ea59b0cef64&irn=7754
Your website is so incredible!
Sarah
Thanks so much. xx
Ooh, lovely portrait! Batoni portraits often have a very pin up look to them don’t they? I clearly have a bias for portraits of women but some of Batoni’s men really make me stop in my tracks for a good old gawp! :)
I just dicovered your amazing blog via A Daisy Chain Dream (which I
adore), and I have to tell you that looking through your posts is kind of exciting! I love history, but I’ve never been able to remember many details about noble/royal families. Your enthusiasm for the subject feels kind of infectious and fun. I have a lot of Googling and research ahead of me; I think I’ll start with Prince Rupert of the Rhine, as I’m currently enamoured by all things about German history. xx
Hello there! I adore Daisy Chain Dream too – I’m often intimidated by such lovely blogs but she is such a sweet person that I really enjoy reading her posts! :)
Aw, that is so awesome! That’s kind of what I am aiming for here with this blog – nothing too heavy and lots of interesting snippets about history and art that I think people might actually enjoy reading about. It’s not at all scholarly but I always hope that it will get people inspired to find out more!
Good luck with Prince Rupert – he was really interesting and extremely easy on the eye too, although he’d be furious to hear someone say that as he was kind of a bit Johnny Depp about his looks. ‘Oh no, I wish I was a bit less pretty so people would take me seriously!’ ;)
I totally understand the Richard III one (sorry!) and Rupert OH YES. I also crush on Charles II and probably too many others to mention. I also have a tendency to crush on random unidentified portraits…
I too get crushes on random portraits! There was a portrait in the National Gallery of Scotland, and I don’t remember the man’s name, I think he was the artist’s brother or something, but he was a Regency dreamboat!! Also had a thing for the great Irish patriot Edward Fitzgerald after seeing his portrait in a book about Irish Houses and Castles!
Edward Fitzgerald was lovely. Have you seen portraits of his wife, Pamela? She was gorgeous!
Oh yes, Edward Fitzgerald. Have you both read Citizen Lord? I love a particular painting by Raeburn of the Hon. William Mackenzie of Seaforth. He’s a Regency dreamboat for sure! Sadly he died at the age of 23 though.
Oh yes, I love that book – it’s so sad but he was such a dashing young man wasn’t he!
Ooh, I’ll have to look that one up! I’m very partial to Raeburn’s young men. :)
He’s a bit hard to find that one, this one is relatively similar – so you can see what I mean.
http://www.historicalportraits.com/ArtWorkImages/101.JPG
Saint-Just!!!
~adore~
He’s so bad that he’s lovely.
I love Aaron Burr- he is so interesting! And by the way I LOVE your blog! Makes me wish I could write blogs like this. :)