Back again!
The Mad King Aerys is probably based on a lot of mad kings from our collective history. Basically, every country in Europe had at least one mad king in their Middle Age periods of history. Maybe some nation had a King who thought that he could turn into a dragon! That’s worth researching…
The Sparrows from Game of Thrones have a very obvious real-life inspiration. I’m naturally talking about the many reformist churches that started appearing in the 15th and 16th century. They all preached a return to the more humble church beginnings and getting rid of all the wealth, etc. They all saw the Catholic Church as a big and very rich organization that had lost its way and original mission. This is basically the identical story we see in Game of Thrones with the Sparrows and the Church of the Seven. You can even draw a parallel between the High Sparrow and Martin Luther (not King, the “older” Martin Luther…)
The Purple Wedding also has a real-life parallel! Prince Eustace of Boulogne was supposedly very unpopular like Joffrey. He also mysteriously died at his feast. I know it’s not a wedding, but the whole event is still quite similar to the Purple Wedding from Game of Thrones.
Rhaegar Targaryen is probably slightly based on the Black Prince. He was the son of Edward III, the King of England. He was also considered by the masses to be the epitome of a true knight. in the end, he died before his father and never got to rule, just like Rhaegar. Unfortunately, history is full of such stories. In retrospect, Rhaegar might even be based on some of those other princes…
In the end, something that many know (maybe?). The Iron Bank is very clearly inspired by the Medici Bank of Florence. This bank also loaned large sums of money to many noblemen and monarchs of Europe, It was the richest bank in the 15th century, but that’s not a hard thing to achieve since there weren’t many banks back in those days… Joking aside, the Medici family and their bank truly were extremely rich and thus powerful and influential in Europe, just like the Iron Bank.
