1. Bede
a. Leader of the Vikings who invaded England in 865, took York, and martyred King Edmund.
2. Bernard of Clairvaux
b. The older of the two princes in the tower, reportedly killed by Richard III of England so he could become king.
3. Geoffrey Chaucer
c. Leader of the German Reformation, he posted 95 theses in 1517 to protest the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church.
4. Machiavelli
d. A charismatic preacher who convinced many noblemen, including Louis VII of France, to join the Second Crusade.
5. William Marshall
e. Born in ~673, this Saxon monk wrote "A History of the English Church and People" which is one of the main sources we have for Saxon England.
6. Guy Fawkes
f. El Cid (from the Arabic al-Sayyid, 'the lord'). El Cid was an active fighter and leader in Moorish Spain in the late 1000's and took over the Moorish kingdom of Valencia.
7. Caratacus
g. This man seized the throne of England in 1135, ousting his cousin Matilda who was supposed to rule as Queen when her father Henry I died. 18 years of civil war followed before a settlement was reached granting the throne to Matilda's son, Henry.
8. Oliver Cromwell
h. The quintessential knight. This man of humble birth became a champion at tournaments and eventually served 3 Plantagenet Kings, Henry II, Richard the Lion Heart, and John I.
9. Macbeth
i. Catuvellaunian King who resisted the Roman Invasion of Britain in 43 AD.
10. Ivar the Boneless
j. Author of 'The Canterbury Tales', he was an English Renaissance poet, writing in the late 1300's.
11.King Edward V
k. This man attempted to blow up the members of the English Parliament in 1605. 'The Gunpowder Plot' was unsuccessful and the perpetrators were executed.
12. Robert Dudley
l. Born in 1469, this Italian public servant wrote "The Prince," a treatise on statesmanship and political power.
13. Martin Luther
m. This man killed King Duncan in 1040 to become King of Scotland.
14. Stephen of Blois
n. Lt.-General of the New Model Army, ruled England as 'The Protector' from 1648 to 1658.
15. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar
o. Earl of Leicester, the favorite of Elizabeth I of England. She would likely have married him had he not been a commoner.