Game of Thrones: The Real-Life Inspirations Behind The Red Wedding
The Red Wedding was one of the most horrific events in Game of Thrones but creator George R.R. Martin based the massacre of the Starks on two real-life events in Scottish history. Game of Thrones was in its prime in season 3 and the Red Wedding was the culmination of that season and of the conflict between House Stark, led by King Robb (Richard Madden) and the Iron Throne, which was occupied by King Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) and House Lannister.
Arguably the most despicable act of betrayal in Game of Thrones, the Red Wedding was Lord Walder Frey's (David Bradley) revenge for Robb Stark breaking his marriage pact with House Frey to instead marry Talisa (Oona Chaplin). The King in the North needed to pass through the Twins in order to attack the Lannisters' stronghold, Casterly Rock, and he wanted a peaceful settlement with Lord Walder, which he believed was achieved by marrying his uncle, Lord Edmure Tully (Tobias Menzies), to one of Walder's daughters. The Starks were welcomed into the Twins for the wedding and a feast, and the Starks ate Lord Walder's bread and salt, which customarily guarantees the rights of guests.
However, the doors to the hall were sealed and the musicians at the feast began playing "The Rains of Castamere", the ominous theme of the Lannisters. The Frey then attacked the unsuspecting Starks; Talisa and the baby in her womb were stabbed to death, as was King Robb. Catelyn Stark (Michelle Farley) was the last to die, with her throat being slit after she killed one of Lord Walder's daughters. The Frey men also ambushed the Stark army and massacred them, as well as killing Robb's direwolf Grey Wind. Robb was then beheaded and Grey Wind's head was mounted on the King in the North's body, which was paraded around the Twins - which was witnessed by Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) when she arrived at the castle with the Hound Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann), hoping to reunite with her family.
The Red Wedding's bloody tragedy is partly based on the Black Dinner, an infamous event that occurred in Scotland in November 1440. The 16-year-old William, Earl of Douglas, and his younger brother David were invited to join James II, the 10-year-old King of Scotland, to Edinburgh Castle for dinner. However, even though James and William were friends, the Black Douglas clan was seen as a threat to the new King and this was a trap laid by the Scottish Chancellor, Sir William Crichton. At the dinner, a plate with a beheaded black bull was placed in front of the Douglas boys - a symbol of the death of the Black Douglas. William and David were then arrested, found guilty of treason in a mock trial, and beheaded.
Four centuries later, Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott wrote about the Black Dinner, and George R.R. Martin borrowed details when conceiving the brutal betrayal and death of Robb Stark and his family. The bull's head served to the Black Douglas is parallel to Robb and his direwolf being beheaded, and as is the hosts murdering their dinner guests who were invited in good faith.
The Red Wedding also has origins in the Glencoe Massacre of 1692, which was a bit of a reversal where it was the guests who massacred their hosts. Captain Robert Campbell, a supporter of the new King of England and Scotland, William III, traveled to Glencoe with his men, seeking the hospitality of the MacDonald clan. The MacDonalds were considered potential enemies of the Crown and Campbell hatched a preemptive plot to eliminate them.
12 days into their stay, Campbell and his men attacked their hosts and brutally massacred them. Women and children fled from their homes, which Campbell had burned down, and died of exposure from the blizzard-like winter. Just like the Black Dinner and the Red Wedding, the Glencoe Massacre involved the violation of the rules of hospitality, which are among the precious few rights held sacred by the people of Westeros in Game of Thrones.