more historical telly please
This is a shiny, shiny meme that makes me sad because I had six years of Lovely Historical Telly (Rome, The Tudors) and now I've got bloody Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Hmph.
fannish5: Name five historical characters whose lives you'd like to see adapted into movies or TV series.
1) Catherine de' Medici - This is the historical telly I want more than any other by QUITE A LOT. Mostly cause Catherine was amazing, partly because she gets a bad rep that I think's pretty much undeserved. (It's not her fault one tiny little political assassination went HORRIBLY WRONG.) Anyway, she was born into a merchant family, orphaned and imprisoned at a young age, and ended up ruling France as regent for fourteen years and exerting enormous political influence for another fifteen. During this time there were the French Wars of Religion, to which Catherine constantly sought a diplomatic compromise (despite, y'know, popular history) and kept the country from plummetting full on into the abyss.
(And so it's not all about the 16th century what I love maybe too much, I'll say here I'd totally be for a telly show about Marguerite de Valois or Marie de Guise as well.)
2) Empress Matilda - there are many, many things I loved about Cadfael and one of them was the little hints there'd be about what was going on in the struggle between Matilda and Stephen. Probably this telly would be like every time I watch a Napoleon thing and hope he wins and then AM V SAD that Waterloo always ends the same way. Apart from in Blackadder.
Anyway, here there was a nineteen year conflict because Henry I decided to die and leave A GIRL IN CHARGE. Some people weren't so keen on that and decided to support some dude called Stephen instead. Matilda wasn't going quietly, thus WAR. In the end, Stephen won, but he eventually made Matilda's son his heir.
3) Theodora - Empress of Byzantine, wife of Justinian II (he who's responsible for the Corpus Iuris Civilus and thus I love him influenced all civil law legal systems of today.) Comic, mimic, strip-tease artist and prostitute, Theodora first became Justinian's mistress and then, after getting the then-emperor, his uncle Justin, to make an edict, they were permitted to marry. She's responsible for saving the Empire during the Nika revolt - Justinian wanted to flee, she insisted they stay - and fought for changes in the law to allow women more power.
4) Isabella of France - married Edward II; not the most successful marriage ever, partially due to her husband being gay bisexual and ending up with a guy who was a bit keen on having Isabella killed. Isabella wasn't big on this plan. She went off to France, met up with her own lover, Roger Mortimer, set up an alternative government-in-exile and told everyone she was a widow. Got herself an army, invaded England, had her husband and his lover captured, then executed the lover, imprisoned the husband, probably had him murdered. Had her son installed as king and ruled through him. Her son, however, thought Mortimer might be a bit too keen on his death as well, so had his mother and Mortimer captured. Mortimer got the blame for everything and was hung, Isabella was forgiven, and spent the next thirty years in nice castles, spending lots of money. A heartwarming tale.
5) Tamara of Georgia - first Queen regnant of Georgia; presided over its Golden Age. Had lolarious relationship with her first husband where she kept on exiling him and he kept on thinking what a great idea it was to raise an army and try and usurp her throne. He never succeeded and, despite having more than one opportunity, she never had him killed.
She pursued a policy of aggressive expansionism for some twenty years and had a keen knack for military strategy. Alas, while she left the kingdom prosperous and whole to her son, it all ended a bit tragically some fifty years later with her daughter running from Ghengis Khan's invasion.
fannish5: Name five historical characters whose lives you'd like to see adapted into movies or TV series.
1) Catherine de' Medici - This is the historical telly I want more than any other by QUITE A LOT. Mostly cause Catherine was amazing, partly because she gets a bad rep that I think's pretty much undeserved. (It's not her fault one tiny little political assassination went HORRIBLY WRONG.) Anyway, she was born into a merchant family, orphaned and imprisoned at a young age, and ended up ruling France as regent for fourteen years and exerting enormous political influence for another fifteen. During this time there were the French Wars of Religion, to which Catherine constantly sought a diplomatic compromise (despite, y'know, popular history) and kept the country from plummetting full on into the abyss.
(And so it's not all about the 16th century what I love maybe too much, I'll say here I'd totally be for a telly show about Marguerite de Valois or Marie de Guise as well.)
2) Empress Matilda - there are many, many things I loved about Cadfael and one of them was the little hints there'd be about what was going on in the struggle between Matilda and Stephen. Probably this telly would be like every time I watch a Napoleon thing and hope he wins and then AM V SAD that Waterloo always ends the same way. Apart from in Blackadder.
Anyway, here there was a nineteen year conflict because Henry I decided to die and leave A GIRL IN CHARGE. Some people weren't so keen on that and decided to support some dude called Stephen instead. Matilda wasn't going quietly, thus WAR. In the end, Stephen won, but he eventually made Matilda's son his heir.
3) Theodora - Empress of Byzantine, wife of Justinian II (he who's responsible for the Corpus Iuris Civilus and thus I love him influenced all civil law legal systems of today.) Comic, mimic, strip-tease artist and prostitute, Theodora first became Justinian's mistress and then, after getting the then-emperor, his uncle Justin, to make an edict, they were permitted to marry. She's responsible for saving the Empire during the Nika revolt - Justinian wanted to flee, she insisted they stay - and fought for changes in the law to allow women more power.
4) Isabella of France - married Edward II; not the most successful marriage ever, partially due to her husband being gay bisexual and ending up with a guy who was a bit keen on having Isabella killed. Isabella wasn't big on this plan. She went off to France, met up with her own lover, Roger Mortimer, set up an alternative government-in-exile and told everyone she was a widow. Got herself an army, invaded England, had her husband and his lover captured, then executed the lover, imprisoned the husband, probably had him murdered. Had her son installed as king and ruled through him. Her son, however, thought Mortimer might be a bit too keen on his death as well, so had his mother and Mortimer captured. Mortimer got the blame for everything and was hung, Isabella was forgiven, and spent the next thirty years in nice castles, spending lots of money. A heartwarming tale.
5) Tamara of Georgia - first Queen regnant of Georgia; presided over its Golden Age. Had lolarious relationship with her first husband where she kept on exiling him and he kept on thinking what a great idea it was to raise an army and try and usurp her throne. He never succeeded and, despite having more than one opportunity, she never had him killed.
She pursued a policy of aggressive expansionism for some twenty years and had a keen knack for military strategy. Alas, while she left the kingdom prosperous and whole to her son, it all ended a bit tragically some fifty years later with her daughter running from Ghengis Khan's invasion.