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Is The House of the Dragon based on any real history?

The House of the Dragon, as it happened with Game of Thrones, contains within its fantastic soul with imaginary creatures and magic some elements that remind us of the real world, however, and as the saying goes, Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. Is it the case of the latest success of HBO?

Inspired by real events

Recently the author of the books on which the series is based has confirmed that the story we see on screen about the succession dramas of the Targaryen house It is based on the real events that happened to the English monarchy during the twelfth century, and if we investigate the story, it is practically the same as what we see in the HBO Max fiction, although with some more than obvious changes. You can tell that while the author has an impressive imagination, all these stories of palace trouble have to be inspired by something palpable.

And if not, look what history tells us about the English king Henry I. His legitimate heir died in a shipwreck in the year 1120 and the monarch, desperate to father another son who would become King, married another woman that, again, she could not give birth to a male to continue the dynasty. That forced the head of the ruling house to make a radical decision, which was rarely seen at that time as it was Appoint a woman heiress. In this case Matilda.

Like in The House of the Dragon, Henry I made all the nobles of the kingdom swear allegiance, but there was a rumor that something happened once the monarch died. Matilda married another nobleman of a good house, Geoffrey V of Anjou, although her marriage gradually rotted and led to a war on the very border of the County of Anjou. However (and already taking a time jump) when the King died in the year 1135 the lords betrayed the heiress and the throne was claimed by Matilde’s uncle, Stephen of Blois, causing a period of civil war known as The Anarchy.

Henry I.

Spoilers for the series?

As you have surely been able to appreciate, there are several obvious similarities between what we can see in The House of the Dragon and what happened to the English royal family in the 12th century. The whole story of what happened to Henry I is pretty much the same than that of Viserys I Targaryen, with a female inheritance issue and everything and a second marriage included (although three males were born in the series). Rhaenyra would be the equivalent of Matilde and, as if that were not enough, we have the presence of an uncle (Daemon) who wants to usurp the throne from his brother’s lineage.

Well, knowing that The House of the Dragon is inspired by real events does nothing but fear the community that we could be facing the biggest SPOILER ever seen in recent years because if the outcome has also been taken from the English history of the twelfth century… we practically already know how things are going to go. So let’s hope George RR Martin’s fixation on replicating historical events stopped before the end.

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