Game of Thrones / Things you didn't know / Cersei's Walk of Shame

13 Aug 2017

Game of Thrones: Things you didn't know

Cersei's Walk of Shame in season five was based on a real-life historical incident

Many Game of Thrones viewers were shocked by the brutal punishment endured by Cersei (Lena Headey) in the season five finale. Shorn and stripped, the fallen queen was made to walk naked through the streets of King's Landing after confessing to adultery with her cousin Lancel. 

But during a 2011 interview, Game of Thrones author George RR Martin revealed that, while the public shaming might seem unusually cruel, the scenes, were in fact inspired by a real-life case from Medieval Britain.

"Jane Shore, mistress of King Edward IV, was punished that way after Edward died," he explained. "It wasn’t a punishment ever inflicted on men. It was a punishment directed at women to break their pride. And Cersei is defined by her pride."

Jane Shore herself, it transpires, was in fact named Elizabeth Shore (the name "Jane" appears to be a mistake, passed down through history after it was invented by a playwright in the 17th century).

A notably beautiful woman, according to contemporary accounts, she was mistress to not just the King, but to several other noblemen. But when Edward died, in 1483, he was succeeded by his brother Richard, who initially ruled as Lord Protector but later became Richard III – and who was none too fond of Shore.

Accused by the new monarch of conspiracy and promiscuity, the former king's mistress, who would have been in her late 30s at the time, was forced to carry out a walk of penance through the streets of London, before being sent to Ludgate prison. Unlike her fictional counterpart, however, Shore was at least permitted to wear her undergarments during the walk. 

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