Is there a figure you want to see covered? Drop their name in the suggestion box. (And, for more fun, tell me why you want to see them covered on Unruly Figures!)
One of my favorite Unruly Figures has always been August Landmesser. He was a German shipyard worker who refused to give the Nazi salute in a famous photograph of a thousand Germans who were giving an enthusiastic Heil Hitler. But he refused. I always wonder: Would I have had the courage he did, in a crowd like that? I fear not. All the more reason to admire and learn from Herr Landmesser!
I think Ching Shih would make for an interesting episode. She was a Chinese prostitute turned pirate. Some regard her as the most successful pirate of history and she negotiated her own advantageous surrender to the British. Commanded over 1400 ships and 10,000 men. “Mistress Ching” in POTC is a subtle reference to the real Madame Ching
I think I mentioned this when we were chatting on a substack office hours thread ages ago. But big props to John Paul Jones. He captured a ship during the American Revolution, then sailed across to England. There, he and his crew terrorized shipping vessels, straining the supply chain feeding British soldiers occupying New York. His raids also alarmed the citizenry, and parliament, who were concerned the navy was over in the colonies suppressing the rebellion, not guarding their home port against pirates -- or worse: the French.
He's almost completely left out of the telling of revolutionary war history. I think, this is largely because teachers would then have to explain to students that being unruly and chaotic can also be a good thing.
My favourite Unruly Figure is Prince John. Prince John would have been Queen Elizabeth lls uncle had he lived. He was considered rude by some due to his behaviour and was sent to live in a house near to the castle. I suspect that behaviour today was simply being bluntly honest. You seem to be honest about such things so I'd love to hear your take on it. Some REALLY don't like blunt honesty but I can't say that I think that alone is a medical condition. Personally, I think that's just the way some are. Still due to that, people are also curious if he had a form of Autism. He did have a form of Epilepsy that took his life at 13yrs. Both conditions do bother the brain so it would not be that surprising if there were a connection. I'm unsure if the fact that he had Epilepsy or both were why he had to move away from his family. His parents may not have wanted their children to suffer watching him having seizures. It is traumatizing to go through them so I'm sure it's traumatizing to watch. His doctors probably explained that it would have been very harmful to his condition had he been in the public eye constantly. His family would have just had to watch more seizures too. In watching the movie The Lost Prince (2003) it does not note any positive things in his life though. I would be interested to know the positive things as well. Seizures alone do not define someone. I think that his family did come to visit him until his seizures got out of control. This wasn't noted and again I am unsure. I truly would love to find out! I DO know that his parents actually did what was best for him at the time due to his condition. That was NOT noted either. The fact that he would have passed earlier if he had stress put on him constantly with no way of helping to control his seizures was completely ignored. The fact that his family did what was best for him probably because they loved him was ignored. I would love that to be noted publicly and I'm sure the Royals would as well. I'm unsure as to why he was not put to rest with his family though. I am really curious there and would love help in finding that out. I think that may be out of respect for the dead but am not 100% sure. Maybe they thought that because he wasn't in the public eye as much during life, he shouldn't be during death. At the same time, maybe they considered him a Saint. Who knows? I certainly don't know but am interested. I have no doubt that having Epilepsy is hard and watching someone with it is hard. Still, to be with his family was his birth right. Epilepsy does not change that fact nor should it to anyone. It could also be because his condition was an embarrassment to the public/people and the Royals are about the public/people.
One of my favorite Unruly Figures has always been August Landmesser. He was a German shipyard worker who refused to give the Nazi salute in a famous photograph of a thousand Germans who were giving an enthusiastic Heil Hitler. But he refused. I always wonder: Would I have had the courage he did, in a crowd like that? I fear not. All the more reason to admire and learn from Herr Landmesser!
I think Ching Shih would make for an interesting episode. She was a Chinese prostitute turned pirate. Some regard her as the most successful pirate of history and she negotiated her own advantageous surrender to the British. Commanded over 1400 ships and 10,000 men. “Mistress Ching” in POTC is a subtle reference to the real Madame Ching
Zora Neale Hurston, Elizabeth Catlett, and Alain Locke. All unruly, but in very different ways.
I think I mentioned this when we were chatting on a substack office hours thread ages ago. But big props to John Paul Jones. He captured a ship during the American Revolution, then sailed across to England. There, he and his crew terrorized shipping vessels, straining the supply chain feeding British soldiers occupying New York. His raids also alarmed the citizenry, and parliament, who were concerned the navy was over in the colonies suppressing the rebellion, not guarding their home port against pirates -- or worse: the French.
He's almost completely left out of the telling of revolutionary war history. I think, this is largely because teachers would then have to explain to students that being unruly and chaotic can also be a good thing.
My favourite Unruly Figure is Prince John. Prince John would have been Queen Elizabeth lls uncle had he lived. He was considered rude by some due to his behaviour and was sent to live in a house near to the castle. I suspect that behaviour today was simply being bluntly honest. You seem to be honest about such things so I'd love to hear your take on it. Some REALLY don't like blunt honesty but I can't say that I think that alone is a medical condition. Personally, I think that's just the way some are. Still due to that, people are also curious if he had a form of Autism. He did have a form of Epilepsy that took his life at 13yrs. Both conditions do bother the brain so it would not be that surprising if there were a connection. I'm unsure if the fact that he had Epilepsy or both were why he had to move away from his family. His parents may not have wanted their children to suffer watching him having seizures. It is traumatizing to go through them so I'm sure it's traumatizing to watch. His doctors probably explained that it would have been very harmful to his condition had he been in the public eye constantly. His family would have just had to watch more seizures too. In watching the movie The Lost Prince (2003) it does not note any positive things in his life though. I would be interested to know the positive things as well. Seizures alone do not define someone. I think that his family did come to visit him until his seizures got out of control. This wasn't noted and again I am unsure. I truly would love to find out! I DO know that his parents actually did what was best for him at the time due to his condition. That was NOT noted either. The fact that he would have passed earlier if he had stress put on him constantly with no way of helping to control his seizures was completely ignored. The fact that his family did what was best for him probably because they loved him was ignored. I would love that to be noted publicly and I'm sure the Royals would as well. I'm unsure as to why he was not put to rest with his family though. I am really curious there and would love help in finding that out. I think that may be out of respect for the dead but am not 100% sure. Maybe they thought that because he wasn't in the public eye as much during life, he shouldn't be during death. At the same time, maybe they considered him a Saint. Who knows? I certainly don't know but am interested. I have no doubt that having Epilepsy is hard and watching someone with it is hard. Still, to be with his family was his birth right. Epilepsy does not change that fact nor should it to anyone. It could also be because his condition was an embarrassment to the public/people and the Royals are about the public/people.