Family Feuds

[Volgadon]

Family feuds are some of the most interesting aspects of history. I thought it would be fun to start a thread about them. I recently heard a fascinating but little known story. The north-east of Ukraine during the 17th century was part of the Slobozhanshina (or Sloboda Ukraine), a frontier zone meant to protect Russia from Tartar incursions. In the 1650s, Gerasim Kondratyev, a Cossack Ataman, founded the town of Sumy. Apart from a problematic relationship with his foul-tempered sister, things went well for Kondratyev for years. He was able to indulge his taste in clothing, hunting and art, he built a magnificient cathedral in the cossack baroque style, things couldn't have been better, until he recieved a letter from Peter the Great, stating that unless a certain large band of bandits was apprehended he would suffer the consequences himself. Kondratyev hadn't been unduly disturbed by them, after all, they didn't touch his property and paid their dues, but Peter the Great never made idle threats. After a concerted effort, Kondratyev managed to capture the bandit leaders. It probably wasn't a huge surprise that the chief turned out to be none other than his own sister. He ordered that she be bricked up inside one of the cathedral walls. The story was considered apocryphal until, during reconstruction work a few decades ago, a female skeleton was discovered inside one of the walls....

[diamondlil]

I saw a quote somewhere that talked about the Plantagenets bing the most dysfunctional family in history

[Margaret]

Oh, my, Volgadon, that story is just begging to be turned into a novel!

[Volgadon]

And I have dibs, I think

[Rowan]

Familial angst always makes for good drama. :D

[amyb]

I would read about that in a heartbeat - I love family dynamics!

[Leyland]

LOL - I thought I would be reading about the Hatfields and McCoys when I read the title of your thread, Volgadon! Surely they must be the quintessential feuding families. :)

I seriously like the idea of this brother and sister tale as fiction, though. Times must have been tough.

[Margaret]

Are you really going to write a novel about this, Volgadon? You should - it would make a fantastic book. Not too many authors have enough of a background in Russian history to tackle a subject like this. I wouldn't dare, myself!

[Volgadon]

Yes, I've decided to write one about the late 17th century, just after Khmelnitsky's uprising. As there is a good chance that I might be moving there next year, research should be easier.

[Margaret]

Fabulous, Volgadon! Don't forget to let us all know when you have a publication date. (Not to put any pressure on you...)

[Kveto from Prague]

just to add, the papal family feuds during the pornocracy in rome were real family feuds, especially since the families intermarried so they could owe allegence to different branches.

also, czech history has some nice family feuds mostly with the premyslds who ruled bohemia for 400 years. Boleslav killing his brother vaclav (good king Wececlas from the English christmas carol) was a famous one. Boleslav turned out to be a much better leader protecting bohemia from the saxons for 50 years.

ive always thought the waring brothers Jaromir and Oldrich would make a facinating story. they traded places on the throne so often and kept userping and putting each others eyes out. no czech writers have tried tackling this effectively, imo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaromir_of_Bohemia