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The parallels between the House of the Dragon and the House of Tudor are startling.
The new Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon premiered a couple of nights ago, and it’s interesting to see the historical comparisons.
The original Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire) was rightly compared to the Wars of the Roses period. There were many events where you could draw direct comparisons. However, George R Martain didn’t just draw from the Wars of the Roses period. He also pulled over significant events from history. “No matter how much I makeup, there’s stuff in history that’s just as bad, or worse,” Martin told Entertainment Weekly in 2013.
For example, the Red Wedding is based on two historical events in Scotland, The Black Dinner and the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692.
It should be no surprise that the historical comparisons will continue in the House of the Dragon.
It seems from Episode One that Henry VIII and the Tudors may be firing Martin’s creative juices.
Just a note at this point: The rest of this article contains spoilers about the House of the Dragon.
We have a king on the throne desperate for a male heir. Does that remind you of anyone? How about a king that married six times in order to have an heir– Henry VIII?
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For much of Henry’s reign, he had one daughter, Princess Mary. Just as King Viserys I Targaryen has Princess Rhaenyra.
Henry VIII sent Mary to Ludlow, the traditional seat of the Prince of Wales, to learn the trappings of kingship. Viserys spends much of the first episode being persuaded to have his daughter his heir.
Then we see the mystery sores that appear on Viserys’ body. In his later years, Henry VIII was plagued with sores and ulcers on his legs.
Viserys’ Queen, Aemma, is pregnant in the first episode, and everyone predicts a boy. There was never a pregnancy for any of Henry VIII’s queens where the “experts” predicted anything other than a boy.
Then there is the tournament Viserys organises to celebrate the birth of his son. He invited the best knights from across the seven kingdoms to compete to celebrate the birth of his heir.
This is precisely what Henry VIII did after Catherine of Aragon gave birth to Henry, Duke of Cornwall, on the 1st of January 1511. Henry VIII had at least a good grace to wait until the birth happened before organising his tournament; Viserys did it in the expectation.
Henry’s tournament in 1511 was the famous Westminster tournament, the most celebrated of the King’s reign. The King himself jousted in the lists under the name of “Sir Loyal Heart”. The event was recorded on the famous Westminster scroll, a graphical representation of the celebration that still survives.
However, it ended badly for both the House of Tudor and the House of the Dragon.
In the House of the Dragon, Viserys’ heir dies.
Just six weeks after being born, Henry, Duke of Cornwall, also mysteriously died.
In both cases, the “celebration” tournaments proved to be anything but.
Aemma dies in childbirth. The King is forced to make an impossible choice between the baby and its mother. While HenryVIII was never forced to make that choice, Jane Seymour suffered a long and challenging labour. She succumbed to what was known as childbed fever. She died shortly afterward.
The next comparison to raise is the King’s brother’s performances in the jousts. Prince Daemon Targaryen is the man to beat. This is very similar to how Henry VIII himself would’ve been during his reign. From the scorecards that have survived, the King consistently ranked highly.
photograph: HBO/2022 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
Episode one of House of the Dragon has considerable debate regarding whether a Queen should take the throne as a ruler in her own right.
Before the House of Tudor, that had never happened in England before; however, just like in the House of the Dragon, there was no law to prevent it from happening.
Henry VIII produced the act of succession and his own will, which clearly stated both of his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, should take the rightful place in the succession behind Prince Edward. Viserys names his only Princess Rhaenyra his heir.
photograph: HBO/2022 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
Finally, Ser Otto Hightower, the Hand of the King, sent his daughter to entertain Viserys after the Queen’s death. She is young and beautiful. It seems like the advisor is dangling something in front of the King.
photograph: HBO/2022 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved. HBO® and all related programs are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.
Could this be a comparison between the Duke of Norfolk, who history tells put two of his nieces, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, in front of the King to tempt him?
We will see how this plotline pans out and if further comparisons can be made as the series develops.
