WI; King Barbe Bleue

I am truly not in tune with what kings historically did what, so I reach out to you wonderful people in AH forum to help me.
Which king would/could be the most like the fictional Barbe Bleue(bluebeard)?

I'd describe the man as:

Alienated by his own appearence,

'churning through' many wives,

and quite a control freak.
 

archaeogeek

Banned
I am truly not in tune with what kings historically did what, so I reach out to you wonderful people in AH forum to help me.
Which king would/could be the most like the fictional Barbe Bleue(bluebeard)?

I'd describe the man as:

Alienated by his own appearence,

'churning through' many wives,

and quite a control freak.

In terms of historical characters, one of the possible sources of the story is supposedly Conomor of Poher, a 6th century britto-roman prince, however the story it comes from is, IIRC, a hagiography of a local saint.
Another candidate for the inspiration of Perreault's tale would be another breton lord, Gilles de Rais, one of Joan of Arc's companions.
 

Zioneer

Banned
I am truly not in tune with what kings historically did what, so I reach out to you wonderful people in AH forum to help me.
Which king would/could be the most like the fictional Barbe Bleue(bluebeard)?

I'd describe the man as:

Alienated by his own appearence,

'churning through' many wives,

and quite a control freak.

Henry VIII, perhaps?

He was fat towards the end of his life, tremendously so. That probably affected perceptions of his appearance.

He had lots of wives, as any English schoolboy knows.

And he *did* have those wives murdered or divorced if they didn't fit his perfect vision of having a healthy son, did he not?

So if you could call any ruler Bluebeard, It's Henry VIII. Or Julius Caesar, who was bald, had several wives (though not at one time), and enough of a control freak to try and rule all Rome.
 
In History, there are two people who can earn the nickname of Barbe Bleue.

The first one is Gilles de Ray, a Breton noble who fought alongside Joan of Arc in the Hundred Years' War. He is the model for Charles Perrault's Bluebeard as was mentionned ans is suspected of a great number of murders.
On a side note, it seems he started his crimes after Joan of Arc's death.

The second one is Henry VIII of England, for the simple reason the guy had six wives during his lifetime and had two of them killed. Besides, in his later years, he does have a similar look to that of Bluebeard as he is described in popular culture (although he doesn't have the blue beard of course).
 
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