One of these events was the Black Dinner of 1440, another was the Glencoe Massacre in 1692

Jun 6, 2013 09:52 GMT  ·  By

The Internet is still buzzing over GoT's "Red Wedding" episode, so perhaps squeezing in a history lesson or two would not be the worst of things.

More so since, just a few days ago, George R.R. Martin told the press that the episode was actually based on real events recorded in history books.

The two events that served as an inspiration for this episode were the Black Dinner of 1440, and the Glencoe Massacre in 1692.

Both are part and parcel of Scottish history, Daily Mail says.

The Black Dinner of 1440 went down in history as the event marking the death of the 16-year-old Earl of Douglas, who was brutally murdered after being invited to dine at Edinburgh Castle.

The person responsible for his death was Chancellor of Scotland Sir William Crichton, who apparently was worried about the fact that the Douglas brothers and their allies were becoming a wee too influential and powerful.

There was one thing left to do, the Chancellor believed: serve the Earl and his followers the head of a black boar, get them drunk, drag them into the courtyard, stage a mock trial and behead them on account of their being traitors.

The Glencoe Massacre of 1692 is basically the story of how one Scottish clan slaughtered another.

The ones who died belonged to clan MacDonald, and the ones who did the killing belonged to clan Campbell.

Apparently, clan Campbell dropped by for a visit at the MacDonald's residence after the latter allegedly failed to send a letter swearing their allegiance to the new king.

As it turns out, clan MacDonald did send their letter. It just got lost in the mail and didn't reach the king in time.

That night, some 78 people died. Of these, 38 were killed in their sleep and about 40 women and children lost their lives after being forced to flee their homes and came face to face with a powerful blizzard.

Both these historical events boil down to the breaking of the rules of hospitality, which say that hosts and guests have no business killing or harming one another, especially after breaking bread together.