Of all the characters in Game of Thrones, of course, Tyrion Lanister is the most interesting to me. An unusual character, an interesting actor. Jokes and thoughtful scenes. With all this, you understand how much this person "sipped" in his life of bitterness, humiliation and despair. He was born not a Hollywood star, but not like everyone else. Now he has millions of fans and a lot of money, but how many times was he just laughed at?
The characters of several lucky dwarfs have survived in history, and it seems to me that this one could be the prototype of one of the characters in Game of Thrones.
Read his story …
Several centuries ago it was very popular to keep dwarfs at royal courts. Due to their non-standard stature, people of short stature amused monarchs and aristocrats. Some of them managed to leave their mark on history. So, for example, Queen Henrietta Mary's dwarf Geoffrey Hudson with a height of just over a meter was named the smallest man in England. Many trials fell to his lot, ranging from the role of court jester and the queen's favorite, and ending with complete poverty.
Sir Geoffrey Hudson (1619-1682), dwarf, was born in Oakham, Rutland. His parents were of normal height. At nine years of age, he was introduced to the Duchess of Buckingham and was hired by her. At that time he was about eighteen inches tall, as Fuller says, "without any deformity, correct physique."
Soon the Duchess hosted a dinner party, which was attended by King Charles I of England and his wife Henrientta Maria of France. The hostess decided to surprise the distinguished guests. In the midst of the holiday, a huge cake was served to the king and queen, from which a little man, dressed in tiny knightly armor, jumped out. Henrientta Maria liked Jeffrey Hudson so much that she decided to take him with her to the royal palace. The Duchess of Buckingham was only too happy to serve and gave the boy away.
King Charles I of England with his wife Henrietta Maria and children, 1633.
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Usually at royal courts, dwarfs were treated like pets. Jeffrey was quite calm about the ridicule and ridicule from the courtiers. In addition, he managed to win the Queen's trust and carry out her instructions. They called him "Lord Minimus."
In 1530 he was sent to France to obtain a midwife for the Queen. On the way back, as he was returning with a midwife and dance teacher for the Queen, the ship was captured by Flemish pirates and taken to Dunkirk. This misfortune was said to have cost Hudson two and a half thousand pounds. Davenant wrote the comic poem Jeffriada, published in 1638 with Madagascar, in which he glorified his misadventures.
In 1636, a small volume was published in honor of Hudson, entitled A New Year's Gift, with an elaborate dedication and an engraved portrait of Hudson by Droshaut. The second edition was published in 1638. During the 1637 siege of Breda by the Prince of Orange, Lithgow reports that a dwarf, "energetic Geoffrey", was in his camp, accompanying the Dukes of Warwick and Northampton, who had served as volunteers in the Dutch army. During the Civil War, he was said to have been a cavalry captain.
It is known for certain that he was with the Queen when she fled to Pendennis Castle in June 1644, and then arrived with her in Paris. He was, according to Fuller, "a dwarf, but not a coward." When Crofts insulted him in Paris around 1649, he fought him in a duel and shot him. Crofts confidently turned up to the duel, armed only with an enema tube. The punishment for participating in the duel was a prison from which, although Henrietta Maria managed to save him, he had to leave Paris. At sea, the ship on which he sailed was captured by Turkish pirates. He was brought to Algeria and sold into slavery. Misfortunes, as he himself said, added to his growth. He was able to return to England around 1658 when Heath devotes several lines to him in his collection Clarastella.
After the restoration, he lived quietly for some time in the village, receiving a pension from the Duke of Buckingham and several others. Then he decided to go to London and try his luck at court. But there, as a Catholic, he was suspected of involvement in the papal conspiracy of 1679 and imprisoned in the Gatehouse prison. However, he did not die there, as Scott and others claim. In June 1680 and April 1681, "Captain" Geoffrey Hudson received £ 50 and £ 20, respectively, from Charles II's secret fund. He died in 1682.
His height varies, however, according to his own statement he made for Wright, a historian from Rutland, he was eighteen inches tall when he was seven, and did not grow over thirty when he was three feet six (or nine). inches.