Have you ever had a crush / fallen in love with an historical figure?

[NegroniLover]

This has happened to me in the most unexpected manner. I'm in my early 50s (old enough to know better) & I've developed a massive obsession / crush on a long dead writer. It's so weird & had never happened to me before.
Please tell me someone else has experienced this?

My teenage crushes were Moliere and St Francis of Assisi (or I guess more accurately the actors that played them in 1970s films, though I never knew their names of saw them in anything else).

Also the author Mervyn Peake. Still have a crush on him really.

Another vote for Richard III, it was a combination of the Sunne in Splendour and We Speak No Treason that did it for me

I'm related to BB. Not a looker, by a long shot.

For me, DH Lawrence. Also an enduring crush on Athena. Natalie Haynes' portrayal of her really opened my eyes and has dampened my ardour somewhat.

Another vote for Rupert Brooke!
I studied the War poets for my exams at school.
I have a very old book of his poems and a plaster profile plaque of him.

Ooh @LadyOfTheCanyon that's v interesting!
I have to stress that for me it's not actually about looks. Its about what they've done, the lives they lived, their minds etc it starts as admiration & becomes fascination
I greatly admire Brendan Behan!

Yes, mine too. Someone you could totally trust with your life.

Thomas Hardy after reading his novels.
Less so after reading biographies, his poor wives.

J. Robert Oppenheimer!

That made me laugh

Wilfred Owen was a much greater war poet than Rupert Brooke.

He batted for the other side though

William Shakespeare but only because of Shakespeare in Love ... Joseph Fiennes ❤️

Had a huge crush on Henry VII (NOT VIII) as a teenager - my parents ended up taking me to see Bosworth Field visitor centre, where I bought some lovely postcards of Henry in the gift shop.

Nice to see some Prince Rupert fans on here. I didn’t have a crush on him exactly, but I was obsessed with cavaliers for a period at school. We played a lot of cavalier v Roundhead games in the school field during break, and Prince Rupert was a recurring character.

Had a huge crush on Henry VII (NOT VIII) as a teenager

That reminds me of this sign that was in a Belfast shop window during the last World Cup.

Another vote for Hector. So that’s you, me and Natalie Haynes!

Not RTFT but I've crushed on The Tailor by Moroni for years. it's a 16th Century painting.

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/giovanni-battista-moroni-the-tailor-il-tagliapanni

Ah …I suspect you encountered him in Falls the Shadow by Sharon Penman. Sadly the real S de M was nothing like as romantic. Bit of a thug really. Though this is true of most medieval warriors.

I'm also confessing to yet another John Donne crush as a teenager. Whichever PP said he was a bit of a tortured soul, that was definitely part of it. The angst! The long, sensitive fingers in that one portrait! Sexy but also religious (though probably not at the same time).

I did have other crushes on historical figures in my youth but some of them are so niche I'd have to name change.

Licence my roving hands, and let them go
Before, behind, between, above, below
O my America! my new-found-land

.....

You just know John was great in bed.

What need hast thou of more covering than a man?

Okay , I’ll admit to a teen love for him too. I just haven’t thought about him for about 30 years 😁

Ooo yes! I think George vi, Edward VIII, and thier father were very good looking

the eyes!

but then Prince Albert was too I think.

stopped when it reached King Charles III though and his brothers though. I mean what happened there lol

Zosime I could take her in a fight...

Titian's Man with a Glove en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_a_Glove#/media/File:Titien-homme-au-gant-Louvre.jpg

I'm loving the painting crushes & they're reminded me of the first time I saw Frans Hals The Laughing Cavliere in the flesh in The Wallace Collection. I was about 19 or 20 & was viewing on a university trip.

I wasn't particularly a fan of that painting but I was wandering around & came across it & it gave me the weirdest sensation - that gaze is 100% carnal & those eyes give the impression that he can actually see you & is mentally undressing you. I actually squirmed as I looked at it. It was a totally visceral reaction on my behalf I became a little bit obsessed & fell in love with both him & the power of incredible painting. I bought postcard in the gift shop & kept it for years.
That painting made me feel like he could see into my soul & he was 'knowing' of what I might want- I think I need to revisit him - it's been about 30 years now

Isn't this thread a beautiful example of the sheer power of great art (writing, poetry, music, painting ) though? That makes me happy!

I can’t believe no one’s mentioned William Marshal so far. I have Elizabeth Chadwick to blame for him.