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RICHARD FITZJAMES
* Aut inveniam viam aut facciam – I will find the way or I will create it
.HEY THERE. THE NAME IS
EDDIE, AND I AM
18.
I'VE BEEN ROLEPLAYING FOR ABOUT
ALMOST 4 YEARSAND MY OTHER CHARACTERS WOULD BE
NONE AS OF YET. I FOUND FKAC AT
RPG-DIRECTORY. OH, BY THE WAY, I READ THE RULES. WANT PROOF?
THE CODE WORD IS
THE TREATY OF ROSKILDEWANT TO REACH ME? HERE'S MY IM:
eddieviking@hotmail.se
- - - - Full Name, Richard FitzJames
- - - - Title, Bishop of London
- - - - Gender, Male
- - - - Sexuality, Asexual (used to be hetero)
- - - - Age, 50
- - - - Place at Court, Courtier (Bishop?)
- - - - PB (Play-By), Alan Rickman
- - - - Loves
Being a bishop
Power
Good food
Money
Architecture
Beautiful things
Philosophy
Poetry
Peace and quiet
Working
Books
- - - - Loathes, Drunkenness
Unnecessary violence
Laziness/sloth
Dirt and filth
Sexual misconduct
Ignorant people who think they know best
Macho men who are full of themselves
Salacious women, especially those at court
Corruption
Inefficiency
- - - - Strengths,
- Intelligent
- Cunning and resourceful
- Hard worker
- Good at masking his emotions when needed
- A good administrator
- - - - Weaknesses,
- Greedy
- Power-hungry
- Good food
- Gifts
- Feels insecure around important people (nothing he displays willingly or admits though)
- - - - Dreams,
- To be an important political figure
- To be rich
- To be known at court
- To be liked at court
- - - - Fears,
- Being accused of being a traitor
- Losing his position as bishop
- Sickness
- - - - Overall Personality,
As with all people, Richard harbours a broad spectrum of good and bad qualities which makes him hard to define.
Richard is a person who shields his emotions very well; he seems to wear a mask of stone sometimes. He is not the one being emotional very often, or at least he doesn’t show his emotions very often, which can be interpreted to that he is a bit grumpy. Yet he can be kind and helping, but he often is in his own special way.
You get the feeling Richard is a very calm and methodical person, which he is most of the time, and he will at all times and at all costs maintain that picture, even if it sometimes is untrue.
Richard’s area of expertise is work, he loves working, in fact he makes little difference between private life and work, they are one and the same to him. Loving working comes from his skills as a worker, he is intelligent, industrious and resourceful, and so he often finds his way around problems and obstacles in his way. So naturally Richard is the opposite of lazy, he is a most diligent worker.
A social genius would hardly be a word connected to Richard, but in some way he know how to play the social game, at least to his own advantage. Furthermore Richard know how to have a conversation, and lately he has even learnt how to small talk in a proper way.
The lesser good qualities of Richard is his lust for power and acknowledgement, they call upon his darker side. Greed and selfishness are just parts of that dark side. Richard can be very cunning and treacherous when situations that would benefit him arise. At the same time Richard wishes to be a good catholic clergyman, and he does his best to be, but sometimes his self-interest and his wish to follow the words of God clashes and that gives him issues.
- - - - Family Members,
Mother Selma Bilber, deceased
Father James, deceased
- - - - Overall History
To tell the story of Richard’s life one has to go back 50 years if not more. A rather cold and grey day in April Richard saw the light of the day, he was born as the bastard son of a bishop. Naturally he did not grow up with his father, it was his mother who took care of him. Eventually she married a carpenter; he didn’t like Richard at all. The couple got their own children, a son and two daughters. Richard’s mother was of course loving towards him, but she was the only one in the family. Just as Richards life seemed to be at the darkest hour, his biological father had decided to educate the boy, he sent a man to collect Richard and to give the family an amount of money.
At the age of eight Richard was sent to a monastery to be taught in writing, reading and speaking Latin. He was both sad and glad to leave his family, his younger brother was not very kind to him, neither was his father, but he would miss his mother, and in some strange way even his brother and father. The monastery was not a bed of roses, early mornings, hard discipline and long days in the school bench. Initially he did not like it at all in the monastery, he found it boring, so he did quite a lot of pranks. Mostly he ended up being punished by getting less food or having to do some household duty, but sometimes he was beaten for his misconduct. Of course he made some friends in the monastery, but most of the other pupils didn’t want anything to do with a rouge like him. Richard’s savior appeared in the form of an old monk, brother Ian, who was responsible for the monastery’s library. Perhaps he saw himself in the boy or just felt petty for him. Howsoever Ian adopted Richard, helping him with his studies and reading him stories from books in the library. Richard was very fascinated by the stories and longed to be able to read for himself. During this period Richard was transformed form a stripling to a pious, hardworking pupil. Ian also introduced Richard to the words of the bible, and soon Richard found that it also contained many stories which he found interesting. Ergo Richard became one of the most diligent pupils and struck many with surprise. To read and understand texts was henceforth his strongest side.
Soon enough the monastery had no more knowledge to give Reginald and his contemporaries, and at the age of twelve he was sent to the Cathedral school in Rochester. It was painful to leave behind his many friends in the monastery, especially his beloved mentor brother Ian. But Richard pressed on, he had now realized his talent and with that he begun to dream of being something great, he developed ambition. At the cathedral school he proved once again to be a diligent pupil, he knew Latin very well and even Greek, he read, wrote and spoke without any problems and with great enthusiasm.
From time to time his father visited him, of course Richard had no knowledge of who his real father was, to him the bishop was a very lovable man who was very kind and generous towards him.
After showing such skills and intelligence Richard was offered to advance in his studies, a place at Magdalen School at Oxford. Richard, now eighteen, with growing ambitions and enthusiastically encouraged by his father the bishop decided to attend the school. It was every bit as hard and every bit as wonderful as Richard had imagined. Of course he pressed on, before his eyes a dream was displayed, he would one day become a bishop. At Magdalen School he met many new friends, who like him harbored great ambitions for themselves.
Richard studied theology and philosophy, two subjects that suited him and his nature very well. By this time Richard had begun thinking about how his family could afford his education, his mother had told him that they had gotten some money from a nice gentleman who liked him and his mother very much. Richard begun asking himself who this gentleman might be. After much thought he came to the conclusion that the most likely candidate was his friend the bishop. So one day when he visited the bishop he confronted him with his thoughts, and the old man could do nothing else but confess. Richard was moved, his feelings mixed, he was a bastard, but he was the bastard of a bishop. After having processed his feelings he decided to keep in touch with his father.
At the age of twenty-two Richard had concluded his studies with good results. Soon after graduating a position as assistant priest at the cathedral in Rochester came up. It was here that Richard became incardinated as a priest, by his father the bishop.
Richard carried out his duties well, and proved to be inventive and industrious; he often gave suggestions on how to do things differently and in a more efficient way. Not everybody liked that and so he was not too well liked by his fellows.
Richard complained about this to his father the bishop, who felt the young man’s ambition as his own and appointed him his personal secretary and chaplain. Richard was of course very pleased and did his job diligently as always. He could now spend some more time with his father whom he became really close to.
Through his position Richard could bond the necessary connections that would be useful for him in the future, of course he made himself quite a few enemies as well considering his overly ambitious and somewhat arrogant way.
Suddenly a catastrophe struck, the bishop fell ill, and died of pneumonia. This was a very hard blow on Richard, he lost his father and friend but also his patron and employer. Richard was devastated, he mourned for several months. But slowly the light of life returned to him, and he was more determined than ever to be a bishop, just like his father.
His father had left him some money, not very much, but still enough for him to live a decent life. As Richard had little friends with in Rochester diocese, he looked for employment elsewhere. It came from an unexpected direction; he was offered a position as a lector at his old college, Magdalen School in Oxford.
As he had nowhere else to go he accepted the offer, he was rather a lector than some forgotten village priest.
Back at the college he met many old friends, some of them had advanced within the college. Once again Richard’s ambition woke from its stupor, he wanted to advance within the academic world. After only a couple of years he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, it was with great pride he shouldered the mantel of the Vice-Chancellor.
He left his post after a year as customs said and continued to teach another couple of years until when his acquaintance Thomas Savage became bishop of Rochester. Savage offered him a position as Vicar general. It was an offer Richard could not refuse, since it would bring him closer to being a bishop. He became a good friend with Savage, whom he had known just a little from before. The position of Vicar General suited Richard fine, he had the liberty to do much as he wanted and he could really put to use his qualities. By now many of his enemies within the diocese had either died or been transferred and so it was with growing enthusiasm he imagined himself to be the next bishop of Rochester.
In 1494 when Thomas Savage was to be translated to be the bishop of London, Richard saw his chance. Howsoever through his sources Richard learned that he was not the obvious candidate, in fact it was likely he would not be the next bishop. He then started an intensive campaign to reach his goal. He used what money he had to buy favours, and he called in as many favours he could from friends and friends’ friends. It seemed his exhausting effort paid off, he received news that he was to be raised to bishop of Rochester. On the day of his appointment he cried tears of joy and pride, he was sure his father smiled towards him from the heavens.
Richard rose to be the Bishop of Rochester, but as one of the poorest that ever held that office. But he did not mind, he knew that once he had been appointed he would have a good opportunity to be rich. Reform became the word on everyone’s tongues, he had started his reformation as Vicar General and would not continue as bishop. Richard changed most things, he made everything more efficient, and waterproof, not a single penny was to be spilled on mistakes and inefficiency. His enemies called him a businessman who made the diocese into a company. Yet Richard had not very much money for himself, be he managed to attract the attention of important men by his effectiveness and resourcefulness. He also saw to it that the cathedral and other important public buildings were in perfect shape, so that he could show them off to important men when they visited.
For his hard work he was translated to the see of Chichester, a very surprising reward for Richard, he had not thought that he would advance further. Now it seemed that he was accepted into the higher levels of society. But as bishop of Chichester he was still poor, at least by a bishop’s standard. Richard begun the process of making the diocese more efficient just as he had done in Rochester. At the same time he was more often invited to court, and even to some dinners hosted by the nobility and by fellow clergymen. Of course in the grand scale of things Richard was still a nobody, but in his perspective he had advanced more than he ever had hoped for.
For his quite controversial leader style and management of his diocese he made himself disliked by bishop Foxe of Winchester. He considered Richard to be too self-serving, which he laughed off, since Foxe himself was no pious Lamb of God.
In 1506 Richard was nominated to be the bishop of London after the death of William Barons. Richard had earlier competed with William Barons for the position of bishop of London, but bishop Foxe had intervened and so the King had favoured William Barons. Now Richard was the obvious choice, even for the King, and Foxe could do little to stop Richard’s translation to the see of London.
But instead Foxe did everything to hinder the progress of Richard as bishop, and so Richard became isolated, he was rarely invited to court, or to any other social gatherings. And still he was a poor bishop, but he struggled on both in despair and in determination to show himself strong. Richard found the diocese of London to be much different from the other dioceses he had ruled, this was an urban area and it did not function as the more country-like dioceses of Rochester or Chichester. Richard had to acquaint himself with the dealings of merchants, since London was a great city of commerce. He had quite good contacts within the merchant rank and the common people within the diocese, and so he was quite well-liked, mostly because he fought corruption and power abuse, but that was mostly for his own gain, since he needed the money.
Soon the balance of power changed, King Henry VII died and his son Henry VIII succeeded him on the throne. New King, new times, a certain Thomas Wolsey rose quickly in rank while bishop Foxe lost more and more power. Slowly the winter turned into spring for Richard, and he was let into the warmth again. By now he felt established as bishop of London, he knew the city and its inhabitants, but still the court and the higher social levels were quite unknown to him, and since he was still relatively poor he felt he did not belong there. For instance his residence, Fullham Palace was more of a ruin than a palace. To Richard maintaining the grace and glory within his diocese came before his personal wealth, for no one should ever blame him of misconduct of his office.
As for now, Richard is trying to become a real member of the court, he has little friends there and among the nobility in general, and he has a tough fight before him to be established at court, but at least he is no longer a nobody.
Timeline
- - - - Roleplay Sample,
((http://www.aeternaroma.com/showthread.php?tid=6172))
It was a day of joy for the silver haired princeps senatus, Aulus Volumnius Decianus, namely he had the pleasure and the honor to arrange a small dinner party to which he had invited the imperial family. He had regular contact with them professionally at least with Marcus Honorius, and sometimes the young prince Junus. But the Augusta, Lucilla he had meet by accident one day at the imperial palace. She was such a agreeable person that he could do no other thing than to invite her and her family to his villa. So the reason was not to gain prestige or power through the imperial’s visit, it was from Aulus side a gesture from the heart. He loved making new friends, and he loved social events so it was only natural one could say.
The day had been very hot, but it was evening now and the intense heat had calmed down quite considerably. It was now delightful to be outside, as a light breeze had drew in from the sea some miles away. Aulus had always loathed the heat that the city harbored thus why he normally would be on his countryside estate, but this was an exception he was willing to accept, gladly.
The dinner party had been thoroughly prepared by Aulus, every little detail had been measured and contemplated. The whole house was decorated with flowers and cloth in different colors, the walls and floors had been washed thoroughly and the garden had been prepared to look impeccable. Aulus had after much thought decided that the meal would be eaten outside in the lovely garden, so a canvas had been raised with columns to support it on the edges, it was almost like an open tent, without sides. Within that provisional gazebo chaise longues had been placed, around a table. Normally, following the roman tradition women would eat separately from the men, but Aulus had never really applied that tradition. And in this case they were so few, and it would be an insult to the Augusta to place here in a separate room.
Aulus had too been made ready for his guest’s arrival, he was newly bathed, his beard was shaved and his silver hair combed. He was dressed in one of his finest togas and wore the finest rings he had, and the most pompous and extravagant broche decorated his toga. Even the slaves had new clothes to honour the occasions.
His excellent cook had been brought to his villa to make the evening meals, which Aulus had dictated with some council from his cook. He hoped this would be a meal the imperial family would soon forget, for he had spent quite a lot of money on this evening. He had even brought fruit from his lovely orchard on the countryside estate to make up part of the dessert. As the hour of the guest’s arrival drew closer Aulus walked back and forth in the Atrium tangling his fingers in nervousness, excitement and cheer joy.
