# Six unfairly obscure medieval villains **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335 "2011-01-04T08:28:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/101 "2011-02-23T01:55:39Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > PS. _Somebody_ needs to make a biopic on Fulk Nerra, tout de suite. I say we call it _The Incredible Fulk._ “Just don’t make him mad!” ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/102 "2011-02-24T02:38:24Z")
I was actually so intrigued by **Mississippienne** ’s write-up of Fulk Nerra that I got Bernard Bachrach’s [Fulk Nerra: the First Neo-Roman Consul](http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520079960) from interlibrary loan. I’ve only read 20 pgs so far, but Bachrach surmises that the fact that his mother died when he was a baby and his younger brother died when Fulk was (iirc) six years old really did a number on his psychology. I don’t know. Lots of people lose their mothers and siblings as children, and they don’t grow up to be…_that_. Fascinating guy, though. Besides being a raving lunatic, he was also apparently an excellent military and political strategist. I can’t wait to learn more! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/103 "2011-02-24T03:11:38Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > I was actually so intrigued by **Mississippienne** ’s write-up of Fulk Nerra that I got Bernard Bachrach’s [Fulk Nerra: the First Neo-Roman Consul](http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520079960) from interlibrary loan. Excellent idea! ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/104 "2011-02-24T03:27:26Z")
And unlike most villains of his era, Fulk Nerra had a name you can sing to the tune of [Shipoopi](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1iZarUHt04&feature=player_embedded) (though the dance steps may give one pause). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/105 "2011-02-24T03:47:12Z")
Does anybody watch the Horrible Histories shorts from BBC? To give an example here’s one for [The Viking Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qSkaAwKMD4). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/106 "2011-03-03T00:10:58Z")
oops ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/107 "2011-03-03T02:12:06Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > I work hard on these to make them entertaining because I know there’s a couple of posters who really like these threads, Speaking! ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/108 "2011-03-03T03:27:26Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Having fun with these, **Mississippienne**. Are you a Will Cuppy reader? These bios give me a pleasant _The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody_ vibe. Oh, I love that book. I have read most of his books (I have that one and It All Started with Europa somewhere). > [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Speaking! Me too! It’s like TMZ for history lovers. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335/109 "2011-03-03T06:24:58Z")
Good work so far, **Mississippienne** ; but amidst the exciting depravity and other antics, this caught my eye: > [@Mississippienne](#): > > who suspected him of conspiring with the Hungarians What’s this about…? (Incidentally, even as a teenager I was fascinated by history, but found history **classes** deathly dull.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/six-unfairly-obscure-medieval-villains/566335.md?page=5)