Edmund Blackadder - Historicity

Historicity

Blackadder is a genuine surname, its usage in the UK currently documented back to the 15th century, which may explain the choice of the name, with the first series being set in this time period. The name is thought to be mostly Scottish in origin, which is not contradicted in the series, as the first Blackadder begins as the Duke of Edinburgh. In the third series it is revealed that a branch of the Blackadder family is a significant clan in Scotland, although they have become known by the name MacAdder. There is a Clan Blackadder in reality. Dr Eric Blackadder, Chief Medical Officer at the BBC at the time of the first programme, claims that the series is named after him. In 1567 Henry Darnley, the second husband of Mary Queen Of Scots, was assassinated by men under the employ of the Earl of Bothwell. A William Blackadder, of the Clan Blackadder was the first upon the scene and initially taken to be one of the conspirators, though subsequently cleared. He was later accused and made a scapegoat for the murder and was executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered, with each of his four limbs being sent to a different Scottish city to be put on display.

The name 'Baldrick' is also authentic – but much rarer – and has been dated in Britain all the way back to the Norman Conquest of 1066. This name is Germanic in origin.

Of interest to fans of twentieth century humour is the fact that "George Buchanan, her chief traducer, tells us, with lipsmacking relish, in his Rerum Scoticarum Historia - 'William and Edmund Blaccader, Edward Robertson and Thomas Dickson, all Bothwell's men and notorious pirates' ".