[Boaz]

elliomc, In March, I read A Brief History of the War of the Roses by Desmond Seward. The UK title is A Brief History of the Wars of the Roses. The book appealed to me (and I think to Martin fans) because the entire book is told from a variety of POVs. Well, they are not actual first person points of view, but more of an assumed perspective of events from involved characters. Margaret Beaufort (Henry Tudor's mother), William Hastings (lesser noble promoted to peer of the realm), John Morton (clergyman and government official), Jane Shore (mistress to Edward IV), and John de Vere (Lancastrian general) are the five people whom Seward chooses to tell his third person story through.

I don't think I saw any one to one correlations between real fifteenth century English men and women and any of Martin's fictional characters. But I do believe I found some of Martin's inspirations for Tywin (Richard Neville and John de Vere), Shae (Jane Shore), Tyrion (Richard III), Eddard (Richard Plantagenet and Owen Tudor), Catelyn (Catherine of Valois), Olenna (Margaret Beaufort), Pycelle (John Morton), Jon, Robert (Henry IV and Henry V), Stannis and Renly (Edward IV, George Plantagent and Richard III), Cersei (Margaret of Anjou), Margaery (Elizabeth Woodville), Robert Arryn (Henry VI), Jaime (John Neville), House Lannister and House Stark (Lancaster and York), House Tyrell (Woodville), and more. Martin does a great job of fleshing out his characters, so it is impossible to say Tyrion is Richard III, in fact I see Richard III in Tyrion, Stannis, and Renly.