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History club

Do you have any historical figures who fascinate you?

198 replies

WilburIsSomePig · 09/04/2015 21:18

Just watched a programme about Mary Queen of Scots. Well she had a real shady taste in men and made some rubbish decisions but my god the woman really did have a shite time of it. I have always been a bit obsessed with her so are there any historical figures that really capture your thoughts?

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TheArchchancellorsHat · 09/04/2015 21:28

Lucius Aelius Sejanus
The pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read
Alexander the Great
Marcus Aurelius
Another pirate, Jean LaFitte


And (horribly) people like Elizabeth Bathory, Gilles de Rais and Vlad the Impaler.

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Redhead11 · 09/04/2015 21:32

Loads!

I'm a serious Richard III fan and have been for years. My books about him appear to have started breeding...

All the Plantagenets

The Welsh Princes who fought the Plantagenets

Mary Queen of Scots

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CatthiefKeith · 09/04/2015 21:36

Boudicca,

Dick Turpin

King Arthur (even though he probably wasn't real)

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CaveMum · 09/04/2015 21:45

Lady Jane Grey

Ever since learning about her at school and watching the film about her with a young Helena Bonham-Carter I've just been fascinated by her.

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TheTravellingLemon · 09/04/2015 21:49

I find Eleanor of Aquitaine just fascinating. I very read a few books about her. Such an amazing, roller coaster life.

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Muskey · 09/04/2015 21:54

Henry viii you couldn't imagine a character like him, I also was very interested in lady Jane grey after I read a book about her from the library when my dad let me use his ticket (in the good old days when children couldn't use the adult library). The plantaginants, Oliver Cromwell, Michael Collins, Martin Luther king, ghandi and Charles 1 and bonny prince charlie

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WilburIsSomePig · 09/04/2015 21:59

Yes Henry VIII is always fascinating and Amelia Earhart is another one I love reading about. There are loads of people!

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ApplaudMyFandango · 09/04/2015 22:01

Josephine de Beauharnais
Gustavus Adolphus
Peter the Great
Hereward the Wake

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spanky2 · 09/04/2015 22:05

Winston Churchill . An amazing leader and writer and speech giver. But also supported eugenics? ! Was he a Victorian to have these views or what? To win a world war with depression... Amazing artist too.

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duvetfan · 09/04/2015 22:08

Peter the Great
Gustavus Afolphus
Otto Von Bismarck
Elsie Inglis
Elizabeth and Mary tudor
Millicent Fawcett
There are many more but my brain is mush.

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DuchessofMalfi · 09/04/2015 22:15

Margaret Beaufort. Fascinated by her unswerving conviction that her son should be king. The beginning of the line of the Tudors.

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JackRackham · 09/04/2015 22:40

I also love reading about Anne Bonny and Mary Read my username, also known as Calico Jack was the Captain of the ship they sailed on. I have always thought Mary Read's life would make a great film.
I had never heard of them until I worked in a racing stables and two of the horses were called Jack Rackham and Mary Read and I googled the names.

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Maliceaforethought · 09/04/2015 22:46

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Shenanagins · 09/04/2015 22:49

Mary queen of Scots and Anne Boleyn.

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MrsKoala · 09/04/2015 22:58

Anne Boleyn.

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TwoNoisyBoys · 09/04/2015 22:58

Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I and Jackie Kennedy......well, all the Kennedys, actually.

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catlovingdoctor · 09/04/2015 23:06

Napoleon Bonaparte. Not just a political/military genius but also such a clever, complex man with a lot to his personality.

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PrincessUnicorn · 09/04/2015 23:12

Alan Turing.
I can't describe the amount I admire him and his mind.

I'm more fascinated by historical events rather than people Smile

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MollyAir · 09/04/2015 23:14

Lady Jane Grey had interesting political & religious beliefs, didn't she?

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Imnotbeingyourbestfriendanymor · 09/04/2015 23:16

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TormundsMember · 09/04/2015 23:16

I saw the thread title and immediately thought Mary queen of scots. I was really fascinated as a teenager, had a few books about her.

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lemonyone · 09/04/2015 23:19

YY Cavemum - Lady Jane Grey. I mean, come on, that poor poor girl.

(and yes, it doesn't harm that I used to be all swoony about Carey Elwes in the film about her)

Also quite intrigued by Oscar Wilde.
Spanky - I'm finally reading the Boris Johnson book on Churchill the PILs gave me for Xmas and finding it easy and informative. He certainly was perplexing!

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RedCheckedTablecloth · 09/04/2015 23:22

The Romanovs
Edith Nesbit
Edward II

Anything to do with laundry in Tudor/Elizabethan times. I cannot understand why I am so fascinated with the laundry rooms in Tudor houses/castles. It feels like home.

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MumSnotBU · 09/04/2015 23:24

The Buddha

Jesus

Einstein

Da Vinci

Ghandhi

Van Gogh

Shakespeare

Wordsworth

Whistler

Monet

Mozart

Bach

Thelonious Monk

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RolandPryzbylewski · 09/04/2015 23:27

Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera - I am a history teacher and am a lottle bit obsessed by the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War.

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