A Bicentenial for a Scandalous Poet
Death in Greece
If Regency-era England had scandalous rock stars, one of them would have been the famous poet, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. Last Friday, April 19, 2024, was the 200th anniversary of his death from a fever in Greece at the tender age of thirty-six.
He had at least one crazed “groupie” in his time. Lady Caroline Lamb pursued him obsessively and famously called him “mad, bad, and dangerous to know.” He was certainly a handsome devil.
And a devil he was, especially where his wife was concerned. She left him soon after their marriage, and he never knew his only legitimate daughter. Promiscuous and supposedly bisexual and given to pederasty, Byron fathered other children, all illegitimate.
His daughter, Ada Lovelace left her own legacy as a mathematician. I blogged about her ten years ago:
The Greek Revolution
Byron left England forever on April 24, 1816 and lived in Europe until joining the Greeks in their revolt against Turkish rule. When I visited Greece in 2022, the Greek tour guide said he’s revered as a hero there. Though his time fighting in Greece amounted to one hundred days, a statue in Athens honors his commitment to their revolution.
A Colorful Life
EnglishHistory.net offers a timeline of Byron’s life and perhaps sheds some light on why he was the way he was: https://englishhistory.net/byron/life-chronology-timeline/ (His father was Captain John “Mad Jack” Byron.)
And here are a couple of more links about this famous and fascinating Regency-era poet:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/lord-byron-most-perverted-man-070000832.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall