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Summary
While most of the characters in Leigh Bardugo ’s unexampled bookThe Familiarare fictional , there are a few real - life historical figure who play supporting roles . The Familiaris a love story set against a backcloth of conjuring trick and immortality , but evenly against a backdrop of history . Scullery maid Luzia Cotado is thrust into a world of political intrigue and power when her talent for create lilliputian miracles is discovered , and she ’s forced into a partnership with the immortal Guillén Santángel . As they make for together , a deep sexual love flush between them .
Though the twomain grapheme inThe Familiarare wholly made up , The Familiaris rich for being a elaborate historical study of tangible events and real hoi polloi . Most of those real fictitious character wager only small part in the taradiddle , but their contributions are peachy . Their living , and the color they contribute to the story , help make the rich arras ofromantic and racy diachronic fiction ofThe Familiar .
Leigh Bardugo ’s The Familiar ends on a fiery twist , with multiple fictitious character experience karmic circles as their narration electric arc come to a close .
King Philip II
King of Spain From 1556-1598
King Philip II predominate big over the events ofThe intimate , despite only one abbreviated passage really getting into his head . Otherwise , he ’s mouth of by everyone else , but he ’s not a fibre who move through the page of the level . It ’s King Philip who unintentionally typeset the events of the narrative into motion when his fury at his former royal secretary , prompts the secretaire to go to extreme lengths to either get back into the power ’s good grace or fly the country .
The substantial King Philip was part of the House of Habsburg ( hence his Habsburg mentum ) and bear in Valladolid Spain , to Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal . He inherit his Spanish imperium from his father , finally becoming the Duke of Milan in 1540 , Lord of the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands in 1555 , King of Spain in 1556 , King of Portugal in 1580 , and the King of Naples and Sicily from 1554 . Under his rule , Spain entered its Golden Age and the tiptop of its power .
However , Philip ’s ambition and his god-fearing Catholicismalso saw Spain at the height of the Spanish Inquisition , when any non - Catholic was seen as a heretic and people could be execute for even the most innocuous of accusations . His war with England , specifically the Protestant king Elizabeth I , finally saw Spain ’s famous armada ruin in a series of ocean battles . By the end of his life , Philip ’s wellness had importantly started to decline , with historians attribute his demise to some physical body of malignant neoplastic disease .
Antonio Pérez
Royal Secretary From 1543-1579
Of all the tangible - life figure inThe Familiar , Antonio Pérez plays the most pregnant role . It ’s he who organizes the competition between themilagrerosto become the Billie Jean Moffitt King ’s next miracle worker and holy champion . He format the competition , he organize the various trial execute the competitors will undergo , and he offers to hold the contention and house the competitors and their cortege at his Pancho Villa , La Casilia . However , it ’s all a ruse as Pérez merely wants the competition to pretend as a distraction so he can escape Madrid .
Though a challenger of miracle proletarian , of course , never happened , most of Antonio Pérez ’s story beats inThe Familiarare true to history , though the precise date were fudged a bit for dramatic effect . Pérez was King Philip II ’s imperial secretary for decades , beginning when Philip II was still a prince and not yet a tycoon . It was also Pérez ’s own machinations that saw him fall out of the good graces of his royal patron .
In 1575 , Antonio Pérez convince King Phillip II to set up Juan de Escobedo as his twin to Don Juan of Austria - Don Juan being Philip ’s half brother , and someone whom Philip suspect of conspiring against him . Pérez used this to his reward , set suspiciousness in the king ’s ear and drumming up foeman to Escobedo and Don Juan . Eventually , Pérez took matters into his own hands and stage to have Escobedo assassinated . After this , King Philip II actualise his secretary had been manipulate him the entire time , and leave the call for Pérez to be arrested . Pérez ultimately escaped with the aid of his supporters and take flight to France , where he died in 1611 .
Lucrecia de León
The Prophetess Of A Country’s Doom
like to King Phillip II , Lucrecia de León is a character who is spoken of more than ascertain inThe Familiar . She was the veridical - liveliness precursor to the fancied Teoda Halcón of the level , a prophetess who was granted visions , many of which were spectacularly precise . In the book , Lucrecia ’s vision auspicate the downfall of Spain and Phillip II himself and see the court turn against her holy gift and accuse her of roguery . The first time she ’s actually seen in somebody is toward the terminal of the al-Qur’an , in an Inquisitor ' prison in Toledo , Spain .
The veridical Lucrecia de León also reportedly saw visions , though she came from no particularly unparalleled ground . bear in Madrid in 1567 to the daughter of a merchandiser , Lucrecia was born a common person . Though she was said to be quite clever and polite , Lucrecia was ignorant . Most women at the clip were prepare only in the ways of faith and marriage , as that was what could be have a bun in the oven in life , but things changed for Lucrecia when she was not yet a teenager and enter the service of a lady of the court .
Around this meter , Lucrecia begin to live prophetic dreaming , which she and her family initially essay to hide for fright the Inquisition would declare her a hereticand condemn her to destruction . However , her prophecies started to be disseminated when her confessor , Don Alonso de Mendoza , learned of them . As a staunch opponent of the Habsburgs , he tweaked many of Lucrecia ’s prophetic visions to be more political in nature , with her dream apparently foretelling even the licking of the Spanish Armada .
For a while , Lucrecia was celebrated , though her dreams in reality were n’t quite as precise or neutrally influenced asThe Familiarmakes them seem . When her dreams protrude to include King Phillip II himself in an unflattering way , however , Lucrecia was incriminate of being a booster of Antonio Pérez . She was ultimately check and found guilty of sedition , falsehood , blasphemy , sacrilege , and having a pact with the heller . Despite this , a portion of the court still strongly supported her . As such , she was n’t put to death , but merely sentence to 100 lashes , banishment from Madrid , and confinement to a religious convent for a period of two years .
Mateo Vázquez de Leca
Royal Secretary From 1573-1591
Mateo Vázquez de Leca encounter a very small part inThe Familiartoward the end of the story , but it ’s an crucial one , still . He is sent in King Philip II ’s stead to oversee and judge the final test of the challenger . Of of course , the competition and assembled guests make out this for the purposeful slight it is : the world-beater has no such interest in go through Antonio Pérez ’s contention , a thoroughgoing rejection of his former secretary ’s attempts to get back into his secure graces .
The substantial Mateo Vázquez de Leca did indeed succeed Antonio Pérez as the Billie Jean King ’s majestic secretaire , though the dates were shifted a bit forThe Familiar . Little is known of Vázquez ’s early life , just that he was born in Corsica , Italy , as the boy of Santo de Ambrosini of Lecca and Isabella of Luchiano . As a immature human , he entered into the Church , becoming an ordained priest . In March 1573 , he became the second royal escritoire to Philip II , and , despite his unwashed station , became a trusted confidante and close advisor to the baron . Vázquez died in 1591 at the age of 49 from gout .
The Familiaris useable wherever Christian Bible are sold , or as a digital download .
Custom image by Yeider Chacon