Bluebeard Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I think I have found the closest family to the Frey in actual history. The Baglioni from Perugia. An extremely vast Renaissance family with many bastards, side branches, always fighting with each other to control the city. They are the biggest kinslaying family in Europe: I haven't counted all the episodes but we're talking of dozens and dozens of murders and kinslayings in the 50 years in which the family held Perugia. They also hosted the real Red Wedding, "le nozze rosse", In July 1500, during the celebration for the wedding of Astorre Baglioni and Lavinia Colonna, a faction led by one of the bastards of the family, Filippo di Braccio, along with Grifonetto and Carlo Baglioni, attacked the guests, caused an onslaught and killed everyone. Filippo Baglioni even cut Astorre's (the husband) heart out and ate it. Apparently more than 200 people died in the Red Wedding. Filippo di Braccio and Grifonetto Baglioni were later killed by Giampaolo Baglioni, who was in turn killed by another Baglioni. Even women of the clan would murder each other, and there is a recorded episode in which some Baglioni women assaulted another in the streets of the town and murdered her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eish2306 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I think I have found the closest family to the Frey in actual history. The Baglioni from Perugia. An extremely vast Renaissance family with many bastards, side branches, always fighting with each other to control the city. They are the biggest kinslaying family in Europe: I haven't counted all the episodes but we're talking of dozens and dozens of murders and kinslayings in the 50 years in which the family held Perugia. They also hosted the real Red Wedding, "le nozze rosse", In July 1500, during the celebration for the wedding of Astorre Baglioni and Lavinia Colonna, a faction led by one of the bastards of the family, Filippo di Braccio, along with Grifonetto and Carlo Baglioni, attacked the guests, caused an onslaught and killed everyone. Filippo Baglioni even cut Astorre's (the husband) heart out and ate it. Apparently more than 200 people died in the Red Wedding. Filippo di Braccio and Grifonetto Baglioni were later killed by Giampaolo Baglioni, who was in turn killed by another Baglioni. Even women of the clan would murder each other, and there is a recorded episode in which some Baglioni women assaulted another in the streets of the town and murdered her. Renaissance families like the Visconti, Sforza, Malatesta, Della Scala, Baglioni are enormous fun to read about - although you wouldn't want to be in close proximity to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebeard Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Renaissance families like the Visconti, Sforza, Malatesta, Della Scala, Baglioni are enormous fun to read about - although you wouldn't want to be in close proximity to them. I think it's because Italy didn't have a central power like other european countries. Without rules and laws the only law was basically the law of might and violence. Assassinations, usurpations, murders and even kinslayings were exceptionally common. In fact it was most likely a far more brutal world than ASOIAF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oegon Targaryen Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Those Renaissance Italian city states were totally badass. Yeah, they would have been horrendous to live in unless you were megarich, but let's not forget Orson Welles's great speech in The Third Man: You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they producedMichelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. EDIT(Copied and pasted from wikipedia hence all the unintentional links) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singer's stew Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Those Renaissance Italian city states were totally badass. Yeah, they would have been horrendous to live in unless you were megarich, but let's not forget Orson Welles's great speech in The Third Man: You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they producedMichelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. EDIT (Copied and pasted from wikipedia hence all the unintentional links) But eventually Italy was united and after this event lost all wars that participated in. Not to mention that Italy was only European country which was able to lose against africans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebeard Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 But eventually Italy was united and after this event lost all wars that participated in. Not to mention that Italy was only European country which was able to lose against africans. That's uncorrect. Italy won in the third independence war vs Austria (although it performed badly). It won in 1911-1912 vs the Ottoman Empire. It won in WW1 against the Central Powers, beating the Austrians repeteadly at Monte Grappa, Piave River and then Vittorio Veneto, ending the war. It won in several colonial wars in the years leading to WW2, when they lost. As for the disastrous expedition in Africa in 1896, the Russians had given them officers, training and modern weapons. Italians walked in that not knowing it and greatly outnumbered. Besides, Ethiopia was also the only independent african nation, and the only african nation able to field an army of 120.000 soldiers with guns given to them by europeans. WW2 and the 1896 expedition in Ethiopia are the only wars Italy lost. Anyway, I don't see how war prowess is relevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greymoon Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 But eventually Italy was united and after this event lost all wars that participated in. Not to mention that Italy was only European country which was able to lose against africans. Prejudiced, much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singer's stew Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Prejudiced, much? Not really, just facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluebeard Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Not really, just facts. Yeah, mostly wrong facts as I demonstrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blow My Horn Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I think of The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia whenever the Freys are mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dya of Oldstones Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I think of The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia whenever the Freys are mentioned. :rofl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4wEyiFZanA So true. I know GRRM has said repeatedly that he based the RW on the Black Dinner in Scotland, but so many other historical families and events fit too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.