Biggest Bastards in British History

[Wannabestepfordwife]

I've read through the Henry VIII what a bastard thread and it's made me wonder who is the biggest bastard in British history.

My historical knowledge is pretty limited to the wars of the roses and Tudor era so it would be great to learn about some new historical figures.

My nominations are-
Earl of Warwick (the kingmaker)- a vicious bastard to all that encountered him.
Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard)- a reprehensible man with seemingly few redeeming qualities but I can't help but like and be fascinated by him
Thomas Boleyn- Odious man pimping his daughters out and discarding them when they were no longer useful
Cromwell both Thomas and Oliver
Duke of Northumberland (John Dudley)- the way he used Lady Jane Grey to further his own ends with no regard for her welfare.
Duke of Suffolk (Henry Grey)- the indefensible way he treated him daughter I don't know who was worse him or his wife

Need to look up Henry I.

Is anyone on this thread into historical biographies? I'd love a recommendation on what to read next. The last one I read was Alison weir's Isabella, she wolf of France.

Cecil Rhodes and all the other twattish imperialists. Yes, let's carve up Africa between the white powers and set up a two-tier social structure with no secondary or university level education for native Africans! Great plan.

Oh and Butcher Cumberland for ravaging the Highlands after the '45.

Oswald Mosley. Posho nazi. (And all the nazi sympathisers. Including any members of the royal family.)
Thatcher
Richard 1

William the Conqueror as well for the devastation wreaked on the north of England.

Another vote for Thatcher.

Yes, Thatcher my stepfather never got a proper job again after the pits in South Yorkshire were closed. The misery that monster caused ...

enormouse I've recently read
The sisters who would be queen by Leanda de Lisle
Bess of Hardwick by Mary S Lovell
Katherine Howard by Joanna Denny (which is surprisingly good seeing as her Ann Boleyn biography made me cringe)
I would recommend all of them. Is there a particular era you were wanting to look at?

mooncup had never heard of either I'm ashamed to say my historic knowledge is restricted to Tudor England but I'm definitely going to take a more in depth look than Wikipedia

Henry VIII the way he closed the monasteries who cared for the poor etc and treatment of his wives.

Neither did my grandad, HP

The village my mum grew up in (West of Scotland) never recovered. My grandad died younger than his own father and grandfather, after becoming depressed when he lost his job as a miner.

James mightn't make top of the list, but he was an asshole: tried to do the "divine right of kings" bullshit and turn the country back to Catholicism, against the law.

King John

Bloody Mary.

It would be interesting to see a graph or chart of deaths per monarch, wouldn't it?

James II !

Oooh, wally, good idea!

it'd have to be index-linked to overall population, though, get a per capita figure.

Cecil Rhodes

and Gandhi of course

I bet there'd be a few surprises on there....

James 1 was not a very nice man and killed oodles of people in Scotland for 'being witches'

Hannah Pakula's biographies for Vicky (Empress of German and daughter of Queen Victoria) and of Marie, Queen of Roumania (and g/daughter of Queen Victoria) are both good.

Both Blair and Henry VIII are said to have/have had something wrong with their heads, accounting for them being monsters.

Mary I for her savagery in burning non-Catholics at the behest of her husband.

Oliver Cromwell for his genocide in Ireland.

Must read up on Henry I, didn't realise he was so awful.

I did once look up how many people had been executed during the reign of Henry VIII and it was a staggering number and must have been a high percentage of the overall population.

Brilliant idea wally!

Would it count during war periods or I could see George V or George VI coming out top

It was Edward I who expelled the Jews from England, wasn't it?

Cock.

Yes mooncup and he was pretty viscious towards the scots

IIRC, Edward I wasn't nice to the Welsh, either. Isn't he the one who built all the castles?

You know, I think we forget it was such different times back then, and a lot of this was people trying to protect their own lives and families, I'm not getting sentimental I promise! But if you think how war hardened many of these men were, and women, perhaps a lot of what they did seemed very fair and just to them rather than them being evil.

It's hard to get into a mindset like theirs and think what we would do without having lived like they did...

Sir Charles Trevelyan, Assistant Secretary to the Treasury from 1840-59. He insisted that Ireland export 1/2 million tonnes of corn in the middle of the potato famine, to teach the Irish to be self sufficient. He was also in charge of famine relief, a programme which he sabotaged.

Basically, he made sure that everybody died. And he did a pretty good job of it, really.