What (mysterious) historical figure has always captured your interest and why?

Question

I just watched Marie Antoinette and am captivated by her life; what a rollercoaster! She was so young when she became Queen of France. How unfortunate that her life as Queen had such a bad start not conceiving a child until seven years after her marriage. It does seem a lot of what happened to her was just bad luck, but I'm sure there were some things she contributed like her spending habits. Queen or not, you give a teenager that much money and freedom...duh.

Everyone has put in some awesome answers! I had forgotten about most of them or hadn't really thought of them as being mysterious 'til you put the idea there.
It seems we are very fascinated by royalty and people with great charisma and strong personality, including serial killers. I understand that one, too. Serial killers are on the other end of the spectrum...but, are they?
For me, it is the 'why?' factor that makes anyone mysterious and fascinating. Why did Marie Antoinette face so much scrutiny by the public? Why do serial killers do what they do?
The villains, I guess they truly believe they will get away with their deviancies.
Anyway, I look forward to more answers and input, thanks!

Answer 1

I was a student of Russian & German History. I must say I am still captivated by the Romanovs and not just Anastasia, but Rasputin's influence on Alexandra. That is what captures my attention in history.
Not to be odd or anything but I also read a lot of serial killer books (Zodiac, etc) I'm not sick, just fascinated by their thinking and the fact most are in the upper 10% of intelligence

***ADDED ON 2/28***8 --- to semi-answer your question on serial killers - as I mentioned they are very intelligent and they, like pedophiles, do not see what they are doing as "wrong", they are feeding an addiction and they love the challenge of continuing and taunting authorities and continually getting away with it. I can recommend on book in particular if you're interested "The Evil That Men Do" by Roy Hazelwood (Hazelwood was one of two premier FBI profilers and this book is very good) John Douglas was the other and he has written several books as well (altho to tell you the truth they are slighlty more 'egotistical' at points than Hazelwoods.

Answer 2

That chick musta been a hotty. I think Rasputin was the neaterest mysterious person, that dood went from poor peasant flim flam man to in the company of the royalty flim flam artist.

Answer 3

There are so many that I could choose...Anne Boleyn is the latest to catch my attention...she seemed so devious! and she had a king wrapped around her little finger for years...Queen Nefertiti or Cleopatra...both very powerful women....the family of the last Czar...not sure why! Royalty must fascinate me...

Answer 4

Rasputin. I'm amazed at his ability to help destroy the Romanov dynasty, and the control he exerted over Alexandra. Its intriguing to try to sort the fact from fiction surrounding him - even his assassination is an amazing story. He's one person in history I would have liked to talk to and question.

Answer 5

King Alfred of England. There is so little documentary evidence of his life and reign that understanding him seems just out of reach. I'm sure that some of his exploits were blended into Arthurian myth but we just can't be 100% positive.

Answer 6

Benedict Arnold, a hero of the Revolutionary War, then nefarious traitor. A victim of vain and jealous contemporaries who denied him promotion, he had those same qualities in himself. Ultimately, he destroyed himself with his ambition.

Answer 7

Socrates because he never wrote anything but others wrote everything on him!well now if u like royalties i guess Cleopatra i liked the way she manipulated guys!

Answer 8

Blackbeard the Pirate.

Blackbeard was a buccaneer who seized ships at will, murdered seamen at random, and conducted a reign of terror in the Caribbean.

Edward Teach (or Thatch or Drummond) was born in 1680, at Bristol. History does not record his early life but we know that in 1716, he was in the employ of Benjamin Hornigold, a pirate who worked out of the Island of Matinique. In 1717, Blackbeard was in command of a 40-gun warship, Queen Anne's Revenge, and soon became notorious for his exploits. He had his base in North Carolina, where he exacted levies from passing ships, with the threat of reprisal if his fees were not paid, and had a profit-sharing deal with the colony’s governor.

Blackbeard took his name his luxuriant black beard, which he adorned with lighted firebrands in the heat of battle. He carried multiple swords, knives, and pistols, and wore a distinctive cap, emblazoned with the pirate logo, the skull and crossbones. During his career, he had over a dozen wives, although he only entered into common-law marriages.

There is an abundance of legends concerning Blackbeard. One says that he shot his own first mate, because ‘if he didn’t shoot one now and then, they’d forget who he was.’ Another story goes that Blackbeard challenged his crew to an endurance contest, in the ship's hold, filled with jars of brimstone set alight. Naturally, Blackbeard endured the longest and, when he finally emerged from the self created Hell, he cursed the crew as milksops, for not having his capacity for tolerating torture. A crewman once asked Blackbeard if his current wife knew the whereabouts of his accumulated fortune, reputedly buried in a secret location. Blackbeard replied “Damn ye. Nobody but me and the Devil knows where it be hid, and the longest liver will get it all.

Blackbeard finally exhausted the patience of the authorities when he attacked a Royal Navy man-of-war, HMS Scarborough, and the governor of Virginia ordered a group of militia to hunt him down. In 1718, Lieutenant Robert Maynard, set out on HMS Pearl, accompanied by 3 other vessels to seek out Blackbeard. Maynard caught up with Blackbeard anchored in a North Carolina inlet, unsuspecting any attempt to bring him to natural justice. Having sighted Blackbeard’s vessel, Maynard for a favourable tide, and attacked.

Taken by surprise, Blackbeard cut anchor and moved towards shallow water, hoping to run Maynard’s craft against the sandbanks. Maynard steered a course to cut off Blackbeard before he arrived at shallow water, and came alongside him at which, according to Maynard’s account, Blackbeard screamed curses and cried “damnation to me and my men, whom he styled ‘cowardly puppies’. Blackbeard fired a broadside killing 7 of Maynard’s men and wounding many others, obliging Maynard to order his men to seek refuge in the hold. Blackbeard, seeing the empty decks on his adversary’s vessel, took 10 men and boarded her.

Maynard, hearing the pirates coming aboard, emerged from the hold and engaged in a cutlass fight with Blackbeard. Blackbeard sliced off the tips of the fingers of Maynard’s left hand with one stroke and was on the point of striking the fatal blow when one of Maynard's men, Highlander, struck Blackbeard with his broadsword, about the neck. Maynard fired his pistol at Blackbeard several times, bringing him to his knees, when the Highlander made the final stroke cutting off his head. Blackbeard’s head was placed as a trophy on the bowsprit of Maynard’s ship, while his body was cast overboard. Legend that Blackbeard's body swam around the ship seven times after his body hit the water.

In 1996, what is thought to be Blackbeard’s ship was discovered near Beaufort, North Carolina, and now serves as tourist attraction.

Answer 9

caesar's murderers