Character History (Pre-Ivanhoe)
OOC: This post is a work-in-progress, but will eventually contain Sir Brian's complete backstory, up to and including his torture in an Austrian prison and subsequent betrayal of King Richard (the events which precede the opening of Ivanhoe's story, as seen in the A&E/BBC 1997 TV production).
For a synopsis of everything that takes place after this history -- i.e., the plot of Ivanhoe! -- please see Brian's profile.
Born in 1153, the fourth son of a noble and prolific Norman family of Aquitaine, Brian de Bois-Guilbert stood to inherit not an acre of his ancestral lands, and ought to have remained destined for the Church from childhood. Two of his elder brothers died young, however, and out of the surviving sons it was Brian who demonstrated himself most able to tell one end of a sword from the other. Thus he was made squire to a prince of Eleanor's own blood, though not the one next in line for the throne: Richard, warrior of the Devil's Brood.
Though older than Richard by some years, Bois-Guilbert made the prince an unexpectedly well-matched companion. He had already been educated as befits a boy brought up for priesthood, and though not given to poetry himself, Brian often lent a trained ear to Richard's first attempts at verse. He also proved he could do better than tell one end of a sword from the other; his training with the prince's own master-at-arms quickly evinced an impressive aptitude for warfare. In time he was knighted alongside Richard and his other closest squires by King Henry II.
Ambitious to the point of making a name for himself -- especially once he met and courted a lady of Gascony, Adelaide de Montemare -- Brian was yet fiercely loyal to Richard. When the young Lionheart rebelled against his father, Brian backed the revolt for as long as it endured. His support earned him Richard's gratitude, even after the prince begged the King's forgiveness. But Henry's pardon did not come soon enough for Brian; Adelaide, fearing disgrace and disownment at her association with a traitor to the crown, wed a Gascon lord in his absence.
Heartbroken, Bois-Guilbert struggled for a time against blaming Richard for Adelaide's betrayal, but in the end his bitterness brought him to a crossroads. He chose to break with Richard in a way that served both his honor and his ambition, the latter now altered but still very much intact. By joining the Knights Templar, forswearing the claims of property, family, and any lord save Christ, he would be free in the only sense that still mattered to him.
With Richard's regretful and ignorant blessings, Sir Brian made his vows to the Templar Order. Called to the Holy Land, he would not see Richard again until the Crusades brought him there as a king. And by then, another star had arisen at Richard's side: a young Saxon lord, Wilfred of Ivanhoe.
For a synopsis of everything that takes place after this history -- i.e., the plot of Ivanhoe! -- please see Brian's profile.
Born in 1153, the fourth son of a noble and prolific Norman family of Aquitaine, Brian de Bois-Guilbert stood to inherit not an acre of his ancestral lands, and ought to have remained destined for the Church from childhood. Two of his elder brothers died young, however, and out of the surviving sons it was Brian who demonstrated himself most able to tell one end of a sword from the other. Thus he was made squire to a prince of Eleanor's own blood, though not the one next in line for the throne: Richard, warrior of the Devil's Brood.
Though older than Richard by some years, Bois-Guilbert made the prince an unexpectedly well-matched companion. He had already been educated as befits a boy brought up for priesthood, and though not given to poetry himself, Brian often lent a trained ear to Richard's first attempts at verse. He also proved he could do better than tell one end of a sword from the other; his training with the prince's own master-at-arms quickly evinced an impressive aptitude for warfare. In time he was knighted alongside Richard and his other closest squires by King Henry II.
Ambitious to the point of making a name for himself -- especially once he met and courted a lady of Gascony, Adelaide de Montemare -- Brian was yet fiercely loyal to Richard. When the young Lionheart rebelled against his father, Brian backed the revolt for as long as it endured. His support earned him Richard's gratitude, even after the prince begged the King's forgiveness. But Henry's pardon did not come soon enough for Brian; Adelaide, fearing disgrace and disownment at her association with a traitor to the crown, wed a Gascon lord in his absence.
Heartbroken, Bois-Guilbert struggled for a time against blaming Richard for Adelaide's betrayal, but in the end his bitterness brought him to a crossroads. He chose to break with Richard in a way that served both his honor and his ambition, the latter now altered but still very much intact. By joining the Knights Templar, forswearing the claims of property, family, and any lord save Christ, he would be free in the only sense that still mattered to him.
With Richard's regretful and ignorant blessings, Sir Brian made his vows to the Templar Order. Called to the Holy Land, he would not see Richard again until the Crusades brought him there as a king. And by then, another star had arisen at Richard's side: a young Saxon lord, Wilfred of Ivanhoe.