Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 30

Game of Thrones premiere episode, season seven

EW’s snarky James Hibberd is back with his review of last night’s episode of Game of Thrones. There are so many people now reviewing Thrones that you could spend all your time till the next episode reading them, but I enjoy Hibberd’s commentaries the most. Even the Washington Post got into the act today, with a first page review on their website. This upset a few of their readers, who complained about giving screen time to a “fantasy television show.” That prompted even more people to explain to them the functions of a mouse and touchpad which allows them to scroll down without having to read such stories. Hey, if watching Thrones for the past six years has done anything for us, it has helped to hone our collective sense of sarcasm, right? Those shocked WP readers would probably be stunned to be told that the New York Times has been reviewing Thrones for years. The reviews were almost all raves and the audience it attracted was amazing for a cable show—over sixteen million of us tuned in to catch Arya’s great line, “Tell them winter came to House Frey.” This was a mind-boggling 50% increase over the audience for last season’s premiere episode.
http://ew.com/recap/game-of-thrones-s...

Time Interview with George RR Martin

Game of Throners are starting the countdown till Sunday evening; I hope it is premiering tomorrow, too, in other countries and there is no wait for anyone. Meanwhile, here is an excellent and insightful interview in Time Magazine with George RR Martin. I found it riveting, especially his confession about how difficult it was for him to write the Red Wedding chapter, so much so that he actually skipped it and then came back later. He also reveals his one real disagreement with HBO, a change they made that he did not agree with. I found that very interesting since that I’d totally approved of that particular HBO change. I’m curious to see how the rest of you feel? On this point, are you on Team GRRM or Team HBO? Here is the link. Enjoy. http://time.com/4791258/game-of-thron...

The most haunting battlefield I've ever seen

Well, the bodies are falling like autumn leaves, three major characters in just two chapters, with another one coming up in the next chapter. And I have not even gotten to the battle of Hattin yet! This probably would be a good place to assure my readers that there really are survivors and the ending will not resemble a medieval Apocalypse. In other words, not as tragic as the ending of The Reckoning, which I still consider my hardest book to write and to read. In fact, The Land Beyond the Sea actually concludes on what could be called an upbeat note, for it shows human nature at its best, and we desperately need reminders of the capacity of people for heroism and empathy and mercy.
July 4th is, of course, Independence Day in the US. But it was a very significant date in the history of the MA, for it was on this day that the Battle of Hattin was fought, which would result in the launching of the Third Crusade. I have always tried to visit the places I write about, even though I realized that on-site inspection was not all that necessary in most cases. Often the landscape had changed so dramatically over the centuries that any medieval echoes had long since faded. A good example of that is Kenilworth Castle; I visited it a number of times, but never felt Simon de Montfort’s presence. Queen Elizabeth’s lover, Robert Dudley, had made Kenilworth his own and that still holds true long after his death. Many castles are just memories today and many battlefields have fallen victim to modern development. Some important medieval cities—like Toulouse—have long since seen their pasts vanish in their rear view mirrors.
Fortunately, for history lovers, we still have York and Carcassonne and Siena and battlefields like Bosworth. And while I was researching The Land Beyond the Sea, I discovered how valuable it was for me to see the battlefield at Hattin for myself. For that visit—and that inspiration—I am deeply grateful to my Israeli friend, Valerie Ben David. We’d rented a car but Hattin was off the beaten path. So I was delighted when Valerie generously offered to take us out to see it for ourselves. Once we got there, I at once realized what a blessing she’d conferred on me. I’d not realized that the ground was so rough and rock-strewn and dangerous. I was immediately able to understand how difficult it would have been to send horses up the steep slopes of this extinct volcano. The utter bleakness of the landscape made it even easier to imagine the despair of the kingdom’s soldiers, soon to be sacrificed in one of history’s most bone-headed military blunders. I’d known, of course, that the Franks were doomed by their lack of water, that some of them surrendered because they were half-mad with thirst by then. But knowing this was not the same as standing on the hill where they’d made their final stand and to see glimmering in the distance like a shimmering mirage—the Sea of Galilee. It was almost too easy then to identify with their desperation, trapped by a large Saracen army that would show no mercy, choking on the smoke from the fires Saladin had set to undermine their will to fight on, sweltering under the heat of the relentless summer sun, with the blue waters of Galilee so close and yet so far. And for that insight, I thank Valerie. In this case, seeing it for myself made a great difference. When you all get to read the battle scene, I hope you agree with me!

the Grim Reaper and Game of Thrones

Greetings from the Grim Reaper again; yes, I am still mired down doing another death scene…sigh. Wish me luck; the way things have been going, I will need it.
It is a natural segue-way from the Grim Reaper to Game of Thrones. I think I usually have a high body count by the end of one of my books, but mine read like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm when compared to a blood-soaked opus by the magnificent Master Martin. Here is a link to a story about the coming season of Game of Thrones.
http://ew.com/tv/2017/07/07/game-of-t...

The King's Daughter

Many of you enjoyed Stephanie Churchill’s The Scribe’s Daughter, so I am sure you will be very pleased to learn that Stephanie’s second book will soon be out. The title is The King’s Daughter and it takes up the story of Kassia’s sister, Irisa. Like the first book, it is vividly written, suspenseful, and dramatic, with characters you will care about; I know I did. It will be published on September 1st but can be preordered on Amazon. Here is the link, which will take readers to their own Amazon site. http://mybook.to/TheKingsDaughter
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I continue my Grim Reaper duties, getting ready to dispatch yet more characters to the Great Beyond. And I have not even fought the battles at Cresson Springs and Hattin yet! Please wish me luck; I’ll likely need it.
Now I would like to wish a Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends and readers and a Happy July 4th to my American Facebook friends. A good way to remember how fortunate we were to have such remarkable men as our Founding Fathers is to watch a film I love, 1776, which showcases the genius of three great Americans—John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and my own favorite Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin—and reminds us of the strife and turmoil that swirled around our birth as a nation.

Medieval Deaths on June 29th

A quick escape from the Deadline Dragon to post about this date in history, and yes, it is a repeat, but from three years ago, so surely no one remembers it by now?
A significant death occurred on June 29, 1149, when Raymond, Prince of Antioch, was slain at the battle of Inab after foolishly engaging a much larger force. Raymond was the uncle of our Eleanor, and her supposed partner in incestuous infidelity during her brief stay in Antioch during the Second Crusade. This is highly unlikely; the best discussion of her supposed bad behavior can be found in Ralph Turner’s biography in which he demonstrates how sexual slander was the weapon of choice against women in the MA, and guess what, it still is.
But---drum roll here—Raymond’s death was probably not the most significant one to happen on the battlefield that day. IMHO, that would be Renauld, the Lord of Marash, one of Raymond’s vassals. Why? Because Renauld left a young widow named Agnes de Courtenay. Agnes was very beautiful and very unlucky. She was widowed at fourteen and she was fifteen when her father, the Count of Edessa, was captured by the Saracen emir, Nur al-Din, who refused to ransom him, instead ordering him blinded and thrown into an Aleppo dungeon, where he eventually died. Although Agnes no longer had a marriage portion to tempt would-be suitors, when she was in her early twenties, she caught the eye of the young lord of Ramla, Hugh d’Ibelin, who was willing to marry her anyway. Unfortunately for Agnes, Hugh was then captured by the Saracens. When Agnes went to appeal to the Count of Jaffa, the King of Jerusalem’s brother, hoping to gain help in raising Hugh’s ransom, the count became just as smitten with her as Hugh had been. One chronicler claims that she was taken by force, but she married the count, Amalric, instead of Hugh, and during six years of marriage, she gave birth to a son, Baldwin, and a daughter, Sybilla. Amalric became King of Jerusalem on his brother’s unexpected death without heirs, but Agnes’s bad luck continued to dog her and Amalric was compelled to end their marriage as a condition of becoming king; it was elective.
So Agnes never wore a crown herself, although she probably thought she wore one of thorns, for she became very bitter, not surprisingly. But her two children would both be crowned and her son Baldwin would tragically go down in history as the Leper King. The turmoil and political in-fighting that ravaged the kingdom due to his illness set the stage for Saladin’s triumph at Hattin. Had Baldwin been healthy, Hattin would never have occurred, for as great as the victory was for Saladin, it depended upon the circumstances that had led to the king in 1187---Guy de Lusignan---making one of the most bone-headed and reckless blunders in military history. Magically cure Baldwin of his leprosy, no Hattin. Remove Baldwin and his sister completely from the equation, again no Hattin. And that is what would have happened if Renauld of Marash had not died on that June day in 1149 due to another foolish military mistake, this one made by Raymond of Antioch.
Had Renauld survived, he and Agnes would have remained married and she would not have been placed in a situation where she aroused the lust of the Count of Jaffa. And of course, no Hattin, no Third Crusade, and the history of England, France, and Germany would have been dramatically changed, as well. There is a great line in The Lion in Winter in which Eleanor reminds her sons that she’d have stayed married to the French king if she’d given him sons instead of daughters, saying wryly, “Such is the role that sex plays in history.” That could apply to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, too.
In other happenings, on this date in 1509, Margaret Beaufort died. I will heroically refrain from commenting further. And in 1613, the Globe Theatre burned to the ground; fortunately it was rebuilt the following year. Even more fortunately, it has now been recreated in magnificent detail on the banks of the Thames. When readers ask me what to see if they have limited time in London, I’ve always advised them to be sure to visit the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and at least one of the city’s great museums. Now I’ve added a matinee performance at the Globe to my recommendations.

Winter is Coming

Probably many of my fellow Game of Throners have seen this already, but for the slower ones like me, here is the trailer for the new season. Yes, after waiting two or three centuries, we now have to wait less than three weeks. Winter is coming.
http://ew.com/tv/2017/06/21/game-of-t...

Musings on medieval monarchs and leprosy

Another day, another squabble with the Deadline Dragon, who has so outworn his welcome. I am currently doing medical research which is not fun; if I spend too much time dwelling on the grim details of a disease, I start to worry that I’m infected with it, too! Well, not always; so far I have not been worrying that I contracted Baldwin’s leprosy. We tend to think of it as a disease of the past, but that is not exactly true. I’ve read that 250,000 people worldwide have leprosy, most of them in India. It is estimated that a person is diagnosed with it every two minutes, but in the US, only 150 people a year contract it. The difference is that we now have the means to treat it, whereas Baldwin had little to combat it besides prayer. And of course we now know that it is nowhere near as contagious as people once thought and up to 90% of the population has a natural immunity to it. This is hardly the most cheerful way to begin a post, but at least I am sparing you all a detailed discussion of the symptoms!
On the historical front, June 21st, 1377 was the death date of the Plantagenet king, Edward III. He was not yet 65, so I think we can consider his death in our favorite What If game. Had he lived for another ten years, for example, his grandson Richard would have followed him to the throne as a man grown, not a child, and that would surely have changed British history; for better or for worse, who knows? Watching from the Hereafter, Henry II might have felt a twinge or two of envy for Edward’s parenting skills He had five sons and they gave him none of the troubles and grief that Henry’s four sons gave him. Edward is known for his devotion to his wife, Philippa, and then for his infatuation with his mistress, Alice Perrers. I have been trying to think if he has ever been the subject of a novel, but nothing came to mind. Readers?

The Grim Reaper

I am feeling like the Grim Reaper for the bodies are falling fast and furious in Outremer. I had to kill off a major character in the last chapter and I will be bloodying my hands with two deaths in the next chapter…..yikes. Anyone who has read my books knows that by the end, the landscape is usually littered with bodies. But I rarely have to deal out so many deaths in such close succession. I think one of the hardest deaths I’ve had to write was that of Ellen de Montfort, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. Here is a scene from her death in childbirth chapter on June 19, 1282.
The Reckoning, p. 485
The chamber was deep in shadows. Llywelyn was alone with his wife, sitting very still in a chair by the bed. He did not look up as they entered, not until Elizabeth said his name. He showed no surprise at sight of Davydd, showed no emotion at all. Davydd stepped forward, still not knowing what he would say. “Llywelyn….” He stopped, started again. “I’m sorry. Christ, but I’m so sorry….How does she?”
Llywelyn was holding Ellen’s hand in his, staring down at the jeweled wedding band, the ring she’d called her talisman, her luck. Just when Davydd had decided he was not going to answer, he said tonelessly, “She is dead.”

Medieval monarchs, a medieval saint, and the cute Beatle

I hope all my readers are enjoying the weekend, and a special shout-out to my American male readers who are lucky enough to have children on this Father’s Day. Sadly, medieval fathers too often came up short, at least the ones I write about. Since King John has flaws beyond counting, it is only fair to give him credit when he did something right, and he seems to have been a good father, both to all his illegitimate children and to those he had with Isabelle. (This is for you, Owen!) Below are some occurrences on this date in history.
On June 18, 1155, Frederick Barbarossa, father of Richard’s nemesis, Heinrich, was crowned Holy Roman emperor by Pope Adrian IV, who is the only Englishman to occupy the papal throne. Frederick is considered one of the great rulers of the Middle Ages, and it is intriguing to speculate how the Third Crusade may have gone had he not drowned on his way to the Holy Land.
On June 18, 1429, Joan of Arc led the French in a decisive victory over the English at the battle of Patay, a triumph that helped to turn the tide in the One Hundred Years’ War.
Lastly, on June 18, 1942, Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool, England. So today is his 75th birthday. Hope it is a good one, Sir Paul, who was known to those of us of a “certain age” as the Cute Beatle.