Top 10 Historical Events that Inspired Game of Thrones

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down the real-life events, movements, and figures that “Game of Thrones” derived plot points and characters from. Our countdown of historical events that inspired "Game of Thrones" includes The Fall of the Roman Empire, the Siege of Constantinople, The Wars of the Roses, and more! Did any of these historical inspirations surprise you? Let us know in the comments.

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[WatchMojo]

Did any of these historical inspirations surprise you? Let us know in the comments.

[missydehart]

This list makes me so happy! Game of Thrones addict here 🙋🏼‍♀️. The Wars of the Roses is my favorite historical event to read about and I was thrilled when I read it influenced this story.

[Vivalarosa]

101 Reasons to pay more attention in history class. 😊 Its not so boring as you think it is.

[danielsantiagourtado]

Westeros is basically fantasy england and i'm here for it: Aegon i/William the conqueror, Dance of dragons/Anarchy, Empress Matilda/Rhaenyra, Stephen I/Aegon II, Viserys i/Henry i, Starks/Yorks, Lannisters/Lancaster. And the whole mess that's happening after the death of Robert is the wars of the roses

[corymorimacori]

“Kings, queens, dragons, dwarves, horses, fortresses, magic and swords!” JRR Tolkien

[NewtBannner]

This is wild, I literally got back into GoT last week and there’s so much GoT content still being put out

[juniormagxala]

I never understood why a lot of people didn't like Stannis Baratheon, In my opinion, he would have been the best king for westeros. I really feel like he was misunderstood

[nicole]

This video is amazing! The content is always so engaging.

[tessat]

James II, the Scots king at the "Black Dinner, " had only just turned ten years old. William, the Earl Douglas was only about 16 and his younger brother, David, was only about 12. They were the son's of Archibald Douglas who had been the young king's regent for the past three years before Archibald Douglass died, so young James would certainly have known the sons well. The new regents, who also had custody of the young king's mother and sisters, were the ones who invited the Douglas boys to the dinner. The king had a good time with them and knew nothing about the planned assassination. Given that he had only become king after his own father's assassination, one can only guess how traumatic and horrifying the whole event was to the young king. When the Douglass boys were dragged out to the block, Earl William asked the assassins to kill his younger brother first so that David would not have to suffer the horror of seeing his elder brother killed. They granted him that request. The boys were killed for the treason of being the heirs to the dead rival of the new regents. It was sort of the reverse of Joffrey's order for the death of Ned Stark. Instead of an out-of-control boy king acting against his advisors' advice, James was a frightened figurehead under the control of ruthless men who committed horrors in his name while he pleaded for the boys' lives.

[Jeremiah_Rivers]

Interestingly enough, my college world history class’s Rome unit covered Julius Caesar’s death and the Roman Empire’s fall. I never knew they, along with the other eight picks here, inspired several GOT storylines and characters.

[johnnybacklund]

The Red Wedding also has some similarities (although it wasnt based on it at all) to the Stockholm Bloodbath, where the Danish king Christian II invited many higher up noblemen for a feast to celebrate him sitting on the Swedish throne, only to declare them traitors and during the coming days, had them executed on the square outside the castle, filling the streets with blood. Unlike in game of thrones where they crushed the rebellion with the red wedding, the kings actions in Stockholm rather launched a Rebellion led by Gustav Vasa which led to the foundation of Sweden as we know it today basically. It has similarities although are not exactly the same as the Red Wedding

[Slayde.Wilson]

I love learning about the Vikings. Especially after playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla and watching The Last Kingdom.

[siniebeck]

Cersei wasn't based on Anne Boelyn. She's based on Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia and her brother Cesare were lovers. All of Lucrezia's children were (rumored to be) fathered by Cesare. They even said "Only a Borgia can love a Borgia"

Anne Boelyn was accused of having an affair with her brother, but it was most likely made up just so Henry could get rid of her.

[kleine.]

IF there are any other historical significance in history that inspired game of thrones, will definitely be hoping for the eventual part 2 please 🤞🥺?

[saratdas]

Having studied Julius Caesar and about Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan in school, while watching I was pretty sure about the inspiration of the Dothraki and the stabbing of Jon

[robertdoran]

Did Tiberius burn his daughter alive?, Stannis did.

[jacobdrolet]

Amazing video watch mojo of real historical events that inspired games of thrones, fantastic job.

[brendenwright]

Another comparison for the red wedding could be the Bloodfeast of Roskilde.

During a civil war in Denmark in the between 1146 and 1157, three different claimants to the throne had emerged, Sweyn, Canute, and Valdemar.

Eventually losing in the Civil War and having the kingdom partitioned between himself and his rivals, Sweyn invited Valdemar and Canute to a peace banquet in Roskilde ( hence the event's name ) only to then order his men to stab the other two kings to death in an attempt to seize the throne back for himself, and he succeeded in killing the latter, but Valdemar escaped, and would eventually emerge victorius over Sweyn at the Battle of Grathe Heath, becoming sole king and reuniting Denmark, and he would be remembered as Valdemar the Great.

[gevorg]

Constantinople had a chain closing ship entrance to the bay. Book version of Blackeater Bay had one, too

[hunterblackforesthy]

i would say it wasnt just war of the roses i also think the war of the 5 kings was based on the war of the 4 kingdoms also