King John was not a good man.... ~ from A.A. Milne's "King John"
With her inimitable brand of poignancy, wit and humor, Leslie Carroll entertains us once more with her newly released book
Royal Pains: A Rogues' Gallery of Brats, Brutes, and Bad Seeds
. Once again, I looked for spare moments in which to slip away to my reading corner. Although the stories of naughty (and sometimes genuinely evil) royals are not without tragedy and pathos, Leslie's piquant observations are such that one cannot help but chuckle out loud from time to time. However, I do not recommend reading the horrific accounts of Vlad the Impaler, Ivan the Terrible, or Erzsébet Báthory (the Blood Countess, whose picture I do not even want on my blog) before bedtime because the magnitude of their crimes might make it difficult to sleep. I suppose one should be comforted in the knowledge that there have always been psychopaths; our age is not unique in that respect. Nevertheless, in days gone by people did not try to justify or sanitize the actions of evildoers; a wicked tyrant was a wicked tyrant, and everyone knew it.
As in her previous books, Leslie skillfully pulls together reams of information into flowing narratives. Although I had encountered each of the historical personages before, in every case I found myself learning a great deal as well as garnering deeper insights into the various eras of history. The author is careful to mention the good deeds of the likes of bad King John and Ivan the Terrible; they did do a few magnanimous things for the common people, and so a balanced picture is given. As for some of the more complicated and mysterious characters such as Richard III and Crown Prince Rudolph, the evidence is presented but the reader is allowed to make up his or her own mind.
Some royals came off much better than I had expected. I always had the impression that Prince Albert Victor ("Eddy") was a total degenerate. After reading
Royal Pains I am now able to see him as a deeply romantic young man, yearning for the princess of his dreams. He was not overly clever and enjoyed fast living but he was by no means Jack the Ripper. If Eddy had lived and married Mary of Teck, she would have straightened him out, I think. As it was, she straightened out his brother George.
The Mayerling tragedy,
which I have written about before, is dealt with very astutely in
Royal Pains. Crown Prince Rudolph is shown to have been perfectly capable of doing away with himself although the theories that he was assassinated are also explored. Rudolph, although he fell into drugs and dissipation, had an endearing side and genuinely cared about his people. He is one of the most sympathetic figures in the book albeit he was a bit mad. Being psychologically tortured as a small child did not help his mental equilibrium as an adult.
As I was growing up in the 1970's, Princess Margaret was always in the news, although I had no idea until now of the extent of the mess she made of her life. Hers is a sad story. At the end of her chapter, I realized once more how early childhood influences can make or break people. Being overindulged and spoiled can warp a child's character as much as cruelty and neglect. There is nothing like a book which charms even as it provokes reflection, which takes us on a journey to the past in order to better understand the present...and better understand ourselves.
(*Note:
Royal Pains was sent to me by the author in exchange for my honest opinion.)
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| Vlad Dracula |
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| Richard III |
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| Ivan the Terrible |
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| Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester |
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| The Duke of Cumberland |
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| Crown Prince Rudolph |
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| Prince Albert Victor |
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| Princess Margaret Rose |
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9 comments:
Elena, as always it is a great pleasure to read your blog. However, I'd like to add that Vlad the Impaler is considered a hero in my country (Romania). He was one of our few rulers who fought constantly against the Ottoman invaders and although his methods of punishment for the wrongdoings of his subjects may seem too harsh to us today, they must be viewed in the context of Vlad's times. He was ruthless to those who broke the laws and especially to the local aristocracy, the boyars, who were known for their dishonesty, disloyalty to the crown and rapaciousness. Vlad's reign is known in Romanian history as one of the few periods when the rule of law actually prevaled and when stealing, lying, adultery, etc were not tolerated. The black legend surrounding Vlad is mostly the product of his enemies' propaganda.
Alix
Thank you, Alix, for your comment. The book does go into the improvements and the just laws protecting trade that Vlad the Impaler passed when he was prince. He certainly didn't tolerate any nonsense. And he certainly kept the Turks from overrunning Wallachia.....Everyone was terrified of him.
Elena do you really think a woman can change a man, as you said in the paragraph about Pr. Albert Victor? Any woman who thinks she can cahnge a man with out his desire to change is basing a Forlorn Hope. Men have to want to change, (being one I know) the woman can be there to aide him but the change comes from him alone. Richard
No King John was not a good king.
Richard, I have known many wild young men who settled down and became good husbands and upstanding citizens when they got married. Many. I have also known others who were beyond reform. However, in this case, Prince George gave up other women when he married Mary of Teck and was a very faithful husband ever after.
And yes, they have to want to change. That applies to everyone, not just husbands....
I would like to thank Elena for her beautiful review, and to mention to Alix that in my chapter on Vlad III of Wallachia I do in fact mention that he is regarded today as a hero in Romania for the very reasons you refer to, and I also discuss the issue of propaganda. That said, he was undeniably a ruthless autocrat.
Thank you for stopping by, Leslie. I should have mentioned Pauline Bonaparte in my review. She was not only a royal pain but a royal mess!
Maybe that should be...an imperial pain and an imperial mess;-)
Indeed! ;->
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