Resurrecting a Courtier Part 1

S. A. Bray — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:06:39 +0000

I once read that writing about a historical person is often more difficult than creating a fictitious character because of the tendency to create a monotonous list of events that resembles a history lecture instead of a story. So why, when an author is so passionate about a single person, or group of people, does a history lecture start to form? The answer is simply that there is no real connection beyond a sequence of events. It is necessary to make some one who existed years ago more than a name associated with events. In other words, that person has to be resurrected–what makes that person come to life and not remain a name found in a dusty text book.

Starting with a list is a nice jumping off point. For example: Robert Dudley was born June 23rd, 1533, in 1549 he rode out with his father to quell the Norfolk uprising, better known as Kett’s Rebellion, in 1550 he married and ten years later he was under suspicion for possibly murdering his wife. But, who was Robert Dudley? Did he love his wife? Was she an unfortunate pawn in courtly intrigues? How did he view the world around him? Was he as self serving and ambitious as has been previously thought, or was it a case of jealousy that painted a rather dark picture of him and his predecessors? These are just a few of the questions that I have been struggling with as most readily available sources don’t go into great detail about what makes a person, or group of people tick. For this information, it is necessary to dig a little deeper for social standards, education, snooping in the journals and correspondence of the long dead citizenry…

Anyway, during the Renaissance there was great interest in learning and embodying the ideals set forth by Plato, Cicero, Aristotle, Plutarch and others. There were also a great many contemporary people writing about the ideals of humanity and the princely state. One such person was Count Baldassare Castiglione. In his book Il Libro del Cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier), Castiglione and his friends–by way of playful discussion–outline the traits of the ideal courtier. Castiglione’s work greatly influenced the nobility of the English Renaissance and after having read just the first bit, I now have a sort of road map to follow in creating a character profile as it almost reads like a check list of traits needed to be an Elizabethan “A-Lister”.

The comical part: during the dialogue, the people defining what the ideal courtier should be, readily admit that they are lacking some of the very traits being discussed in their capacities as courtiers…after all, it is a discussion on the ideal courtier. The short list is as follows in no particular order:

Noble
Graceful
Athletic
Skilled in feats of Arms
Excellent Horsemanship
Hunting & Hawking
Practices Prudence and Temperance
Loyal to the Prince

and the list goes on…

Of course, these qualities are primarily what make up the exterior of our man with only the smallest hint of the inner workings. Regardless, it is a great start in reviving a courtier!

Stay tuned for more adventures in character development…

Just starting out…

S. A. Bray — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:32:36 +0000

Newer to the blogging culture, I discovered a blog carnival: two really, but I have really only had time to look at one. If you’re interested in reading about early modern or ancient medieval history pop on over to Carnivalesque XLIII hosted at Archaeoporn

In the Past Tense

Resurrecting a Courtier Part 1

Just starting out…