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APPENDIX DETAILS OF THE GREAT HALL FRIEZE. FIGURES ON THE EAST WALL DESDEMONA. The wife of Othello, killed by him on a false suspicion of unfaithfulness. (Shakespeare, Othello.) MARINO FALIERO, 1278 - 1355. Doge of Venice 1354. He was executed for treason after a conspiracy against the Patricians. CORDELIA. The youngest daughter of King Lear. She is banished by Lear and marries the King of France; later returns to help Lear against her sisters, but is captured and killed. (Shakespeare, King Lear.) LORENZO DE MEDICI, 1449 - 1492, succeeded to his father's wealth and political power in Florence in 1469. He became a patron of letters, and was surnamed 'The Magnificent'. IOLANDE DE FRANZO. WILLIAM THE SILENT, 1533 - 1584. Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau; led the revolt against Philip II of Spain, and brought about the Union of Utrecht between the northern provinces of the Netherlands. These provinces became a Republic in 1581, with William as hereditary Stadtholder. FAIR ROSAMUND. Rosamund Clifford, mistress of Henry II, died about 1176. ERICCSON. John Ericcson, marine engineer and inventor, was born in Sweden 1803, and died in New York 1889.
FRANCESCA DA RIMINI. Italian. Killed by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, about 1288, when he discovered the love between her and his brother Paolo. The story is told in Dante's Inferno MARTIN LUTHER, 1483 - 1546. German, chiefly remembered as a leader in the Reformation. He studied theology and became a monk, but his writings were condemned as heretical, and he was excommunicated 1520. He translated the Bible into German, and was the author of a number of hymns and controversial pamphlets. His works established the literary language of Germany - 'New High German'. BIANCA CAPELLO, 1548 - 87. Eloped with Buonaventuri, 1563, but married Francesco, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1578. DANTE, 1265 - 1321. Italian poet, author of Divina Comedia, etc. He took a prominent part in the government of Florence and in political struggles until 1303; afterwards studied and wrote in exile. OPHELIA, daughter of Polonius. When forsaken by Hamlet she becomes insane and is drowned in a brook. (Shakespeare, Hamlet ) CAPTAIN COOK. James Cook, 1728 - 79, English navigator, entered the Navy 1755. Marine surveyor of coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1763. He commanded Endeavour on a voyage to Tahiti, 1768 - 71, when New Zealand and the east coast of Australia were explored, and later discovered Sandwich Islands in attempt to find a passage round the north of America. On this voyage he was murdered by natives 1779. ELAINE. 'The lily maid of Astolat', who is also portrayed in one of the panels on the door of the Great Hall. CARDINAL RICHELIEU, 1585 - 1642. Statesman under Louis XIII of France, 1624 - 42. A character in Dumas' Three Musketeers. POCAHONTAS. A Red Indian Princess, said to have saved the life of John Smith, an early English colonist in Virginia, from her father, the Chief Powhatan. She was baptised as Rebecca; married John Rolfe, and accompanied him to England, 1616. Died and was buried at Gravesend 1617. PRINCE RUPERT, 1619 - 82. Prince of the Palatinate, nephew of Charles I of England. He served in the Thirty Years War and in the English Civil War as cavalry leader, and as naval commander, 1648 - 53. Commander of the English fleet against the Dutch, 1665 and 1673. Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. Born 1542; reigned 1542 - 67; died 1587. She married the French Dauphin and was educated in France. Her husband became King (Francis II) of France 1559, but died 156o. Mary claimed the English throne on the death of Mary Tudor. On her return to Scotland she married Lord Darnley, and after his murder married Bothwell. She was compelled to abdicate 1567 in favour of her son, James VI (later James I of England). Mary fled to England, but was beheaded, 1587, after trial for conspiring against the life of Elizabeth. MARCO POLO, 1254 - 1324. A Venetian who travelled in the East, especially China, and wrote an account of his adventures which attained a wide popularity. QUEEN LOUISE OF PRUSSIA. Wife of Frederick William III. Born 1776; died 1810. Her husband reigned 1797 - 1840. RICHARD COEUR DE LION. Richard I of England, 1189 - 99. Born 1157. He joined the third Crusade 1190 - 92; was imprisoned in Austria on his return, but ransomed 1194, when he returned to England. Killed in war with France. Scott introduced him as a character in Ivanhoe and The Talisman. QUEEN ANNE. Born 1665; Queen 1702 - 14. Daughter of James II. CORTEZ, 1485 - 1547. Spanish soldier. Conquered Mexico 1521, after much fighting. JULIET. Heroine of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. LA FONTAINE, 1621 - 95. French writer; author of fables, contes, comedies, etc. QUEEN ELIZABETH. Born 1533: Queen of England 1558 - 1603. Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Her reign was the epoch of such diverse achievements as those of Shakespeare and Spenser, Drake and Raleigh.
IGNATIUS LOYOLA, 1491 - 1556. Spaniard. Founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a religious order formed to counteract the Reformation and to convert the infidels. Loyola was General of the Order, 1541 - 56. QUEEN GUINEVERE. Wife of King Arthur. The love between her and Sir Lancelot du Lac caused the war between Arthur and Lancelot which brought about the dissolution of the Knights of the Round Table. (Malory, Morte d'Arthur. Tennyson, Idylls of the King.) RAPHAEL, 1483 - 1520. Italian painter. His numerous works include the Coronation of the Virgin, a number of portraits of the Madonna, and paintings for the walls of the Vatican and for tapestries of the Sistine Chapel. QUEEN MARIE ANTOINETTE. Wife of Louis XVI of France, daughter of Emperor Francis I of Austria. Executed in French Revolution, 1793. KING ALFRED. Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, 871 - 901. Repulsed the Danes from Wessex after long war, and brought about reforms in administration of law and in education. Patron of scholarship, and translator of works of Bede and others into Saxon. LADY CLARA VERE DE VERE. Heroine of the poem of that name by Tennyson.
GALILEO, 1564 - 1642. Italian astronomer. Compelled by the Inquisition to recant the Copernican theory that the earth moved round the sun. DIANE DE POITIERS, 1499 - 1566. A mistress of Henry II of France. Comtesse de Brézé, Duchesse de Valentinois.
LOUIS XI. Born 1423; King of France 1461 - 1483. His suppression of the great nobles enabled him to establish an absolute monarchy. Scott's novel, Quentin Durward, shows him as a cruel and suspicious tyrant. MARGUERITE, 1492 - 1549, Queen of Navarre, sister of Francis I of France; author, and patroness of letters. The chief work attributed to her is the Heptameron, a collection of love stories. EDWARD, BLACK PRINCE, 1330 - 76. Eldest son of Edward III and father of Richard II. He fought with distinction in the Hundred Years War, especially at Crecy and Poitiers. LADY OF SHALOTT. The heroine of a poem by Tennyson. She incurs a curse by 'looking down to Camelot' when Sir Lancelot rides by. BISMARCK, 1815 - 98. Prussian statesman, leader in the movement for the unity of Germany. He took a prominent part in connection with the Schleswig-Holstein War, the war against Austria, 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War, 1870. In 1871 he became first Chancellor of the German Empire, and was created Prince von Bismarck. DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. John Churchill, 1650 - 1722, created first Duke 1702. Commander of the British forces in the War of the Spanish Succession. His most famous victory was won at Blenheim in 1702. CORINNE. Heroine of a novel by Madame de Stael. MACCHIAVELLI, 1469 - 1527. Italian statesman and author. His most famous work is Il Principe, a discourse on methods of government. QUEEN HENRIETTA MARIE, 1609 - 1669. Daughter of Henry IV of France, married to Charles I of England 1625. She sought help for Charles in Holland 1642 - 43, but finally left England for France in 1644. VOLTAIRE, 1694 - 1778, French author. (Real name, François Marie Arouet.) He lived in Prussia from 1750 to 1753, at the invitation of Frederick the Great, and later went to Switzerland. His works include tragedies, poems, histories and philosophy. JESSICA. Daughter of Shylock in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice. She is disinherited on her marriage to a Christian, but reinstated as part of the settlement after the trial. COLUMBUS, 1446 - 1506. Discovered America in 1492, while trying to reach Asia by the westward route. QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN, 1507 - 36. Married Henry VIII in 1533, after the divorce of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, but was executed 1536. She was the mother of Queen Elizabeth. WALLENSTEIN, 1583 - 1634. Austrian general. Duke of Friedland, Mecklenberg and Sagan. MADAME RÉCAMIER, 1777 - 1849, leader of a salon in Paris during the Consulate and Empire, until she was exiled by Napoleon. She was a friend of Madame de Staël and Chateaubriand. MICHELANGELO, 1475 - 1564. Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet. GABRIELLE D'ESTREE, 1571 - 99. Mistress of Henry IV of France. SIR WALTER RALEIGH, 1552 - 1618, courtier of Queen Elizabeth, sent expeditions to explore and colonise Virginia. After participating in various expeditions against the Spaniards, he was executed in the reign of James I.
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