Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 40

Books we will want to read

In keeping with my promise to post items that cheer us up in these stressful times, I have good news for my fellow book lovers. Bernard Cornwell has a new entry in his spectacular Saxon series about the incorrigible yet lovable Uhtred. It is called The Flame Bearer and will be available in the UK, Canada, and Australia on October 6th; in the US, it will not be published till November 29th. Impatient American readers can always buy it from Book Depository, of course. The next two books will not be published till next year, but they are both well worth the wait. Margaret George has a new historical novel coming out next March; called The Confessions of Young Nero, it is set in imperial Rome and caused me to revise many of my preconceived notions about Nero—shades of Richard III! And one of my favorite medieval mystery writers has a new one coming out next February, The Proud Sinner. Barbara Peters, Priscilla’s publisher and editor, made an interesting observation in the Foreword, pointing out that the story evokes faint echoes of The Canterbury Tales crossed with Agatha Christie’s mystery, And Then There Were None, with seven arrogant abbots snowbound at Tyndal Priory, where they find themselves stalked by a killer. Priscilla is very adroit at ratcheting up suspense while sprinkling the plot with red herrings; I am up to Chapter 30 and I still cannot figure out who the villain is!
Since I also promised to post photos of cute animals, I shared a Facebook photo of Holly at her play date last week. Unfortunately, I can't post it here, but if you are Facebook friends with me, you can check it out there. Holly is well worth a click of your mouse!

The forgotten Angevin prince

Well, I am still making progress with the book-sort of. The trouble is that my last four chapters insisted upon breeding like sex-crazed rabbits, each one splitting into two. So I feel as if I am merely treading water instead of getting closer to that elusive shoreline. Thanks to everyone for being so understanding of my frequent absences from Facebook this summer. I may not have the most readers, but I definitely have the best! Here is a post from several years ago about today’s historical happenings.
September 23rd, 1158 is the birthday of my personal favorite of the Devil’s Brood, Henry and Eleanor’s third surviving son, Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany. There was just a year between Geoffrey and Richard, which may have accounted for the constant friction between them. Geoffrey, of course, has gotten short shrift by historians as he was the only son not to wear a crown, and as a result, they tended to accept at face value the critical judgments passed on Geoffrey by the contemporary chroniclers. One historian even went so far to as to claim Geoffrey was motivated by “mindless malice.” It was Geoffrey’s bad luck that there were no Breton chroniclers to record his reign over the duchy or to put his actions in the proper perspective. When seen through a Breton prism, his conduct is far more comprehensible, if not always admirable. I have often recommended Dr Judith Everard’s excellent study of 12th century Brittany, Brittany and the Angevins, and I recommend it again for anyone wanting to understand Geoffrey’s career and the turbulent relationship between the Bretons and the English and French monarchs.
No one should doubt that the death of one man can exert a profound impact upon history. Richard’s carelessness at the siege of Chalus not only altered English history, it changed the course of German history and would bring untold miseries to the people of Languedoc because of the Albigensian Crusade. Perhaps Geoffrey’s death in that French tournament did not have such far-reaching consequences, but it is interesting to speculate what might have happened had Geoffrey not died so prematurely. My own belief is that there would not have been a King John and there would have been a King Arthur, for in a contest for the English crown between Geoffrey and John, my money would have been on Geoffrey. That is assuming, of course, that the trajectory of Richard’s life would remain the same, with him dying at Chalus without an heir of his body.
While this date is memorable to me because of Geoffrey, it is also the date of the battle of Blore Heath in 1459, the first major battle of the War of the Roses. I did not get to dramatize it in Sunne, unfortunately, for it was an unusual battle. Queen Marguerite had instructed Lord Audley to ambush a force led by the Yorkist commander, the Earl of Salisbury, brother to Cecily Neville and father of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick; there is an unsubstantiated tradition that Marguerite was present at the battle. Although Salisbury was considerably outnumbered, he managed to prevail. Audley was slain and when they saw that victory was going to the Yorkists, five hundred Lancastrians switched sides in the midst of the battle and attacked their own, which helps to explain the paranoia of the Lancastrians at Barnet Heath, when in the confusion of the fog, the Earl of Oxford collided with the men led by John Neville.

More random acts of kindness

I am still struggling to get back on-track after losing so much writing and researching time this summer. Okay, I let myself be distracted yesterday by the football games and will take some time off tonight to watch my Eagles defeat the Bears. (Sorry, David.) Keeping to my promise to cheer us up at a time when we desperately need it, here is a post of mine from several years ago that includes two acts of kindness by strangers that meant the world to the recipients.
On September 7, 1151, Geoffrey le Bel, the Count of Anjou, died suddenly upon his return from a Paris conference with the French king; it must have vexed him greatly that his death would be seen as validation of the prophecy of Bernard of Clairvaux, who’d warned he would die within a month. September 7th was the date of another Angevin event of significance; for in 1191, Geoffrey’s grandson Richard defeated Saladin at the battle of Arsuf. And on September 7th, 1533, the only “good Tudor” was born, Elizabeth, who would become a great queen.
And here are two very touching stories of random acts of kindness. If you read these stories, it will make you feel better about the human race and remind us all that we don’t always know how deeply we can impact the lives of strangers.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/03/us/nort...
http://writeshesays.wordpress.com/201...

Of happy endings and whatnot

I suspect that many of you are, like me, counting down the days until the election is over. So I am going to do my part to boost American sagging morale—and hopefully that in other countries, too—by posting stories that restore our faith in humanity, stories to make us smile, and probably photos of cute animals, a sure winner. Now that my vision has been restored and Diablo had his latest demons exorcised by the Geek Squad, I will also be able to resume my Today in History posts; but those are not likely to cheer anyone up. As my friend and fellow writer, Stephanie Churchill, so aptly put it: “And they lived happily ever after…..said no Plantagenet ever.” Anyway, here is a remarkable story of two orphans who bonded in a Chinese orphanage and have now improbably been reunited.
http://www.today.com/video/little-gir...

Why historical fantasy?

My laptop was living up to his name this week—Diablo—giving me so much grief that I wasn’t able to do much on-line posting. He is behaving himself for the moment, so I wanted to share this. Many of you have read and enjoyed Stephanie Churchill’s The Scribe’s Daughter, so this guest blog is sure to appeal to you. And her reasons for choosing historical fantasy over historical fiction are interesting and very tempting. By the time I finished the blog, I was stricken with envy! Anyway, here is the link. http://samanthawilcoxson.blogspot.com...

A royal birth

It will take me a while to be able to start making regular appearances here, as I am still playing catch-up for all the time I lost this summer as various body parts no longer seemed user-friendly. Why is it that Real Life is so relentless? It is bad enough, after all, that I am stuck with a Deadline Dragon for a roommate. But there are a few glimmers of light along the horizon. Less than two months until the election is over. And football is back!
Meanwhile, today is the birthdate 859 years ago, September 8th, 1157, of the most famous of the Devil’s Brood, Eleanor’s favorite son, Richard. I couldn’t resist posting from a scene in Time and Chance, a scene frozen in amber, in which Henry and Eleanor’s marriage was still whole and happy and they still thought the world was theirs for the taking. Interestingly, this was the first and only time that Henry was actually present for the birth of one of their children.
Time and Chance, page 53
* * *
Somewhere along the way from the castle, Henry had found a garden to raid, for he was carrying an armful of Michaelmas daisies. These he handed to Petronilla, rather sheepishly, for romantic gestures did not come easily to him. Crossing the chamber in several strides, he leaned over the bed to give his wife a kiss. (omission)
“Are you hurting, love?”
Eleanor’s smile was tired, but happy. “Not at all,” she lied. “By now the babes just pop right out, like a cork from a bottle.”
Henry laughed. “Well….where is the little cork?”
A wet nurse came forward from the shadows, bobbing a shy curtsy before holding out a swaddled form for his inspection. Henry touched the ringlets of reddish-gold hair, the exact shade of his own, and grinned when the baby’s hand closed around his finger. “Look at the size of him,” he marveled, and as his eyes met Eleanor’s, the same thought was in both their minds: heartfelt relief that God had given them such a robust, sturdy son. No parent who’d lost a child could ever take health or survival for granted again.
“We still have not decided what to name him,” Henry reminded his wife. “I fancy Geoffrey, after my father.”
“The next one,” she promised. “I have a name already in mind for this little lad.”
He cocked a brow. “Need I remind you that it is unseemly to name a child after a former husband?”
Eleanor’s lashes were drooping and her smile turned into a sleepy yawn. “I would not name a stray dog after Louis,” she declared, holding out her arms for her new baby. She was surprised by the intensity of emotion she felt as she gazed down into that small, flushed face. Had God sent him to fill the aching void left by Will’s death? “I want,” she said, “to name him Richard.”
* * *

Hurricanes and the Great Fire of London

We were lucky in New Jersey, spared Hermine’s wrath. I hope none of my readers in less fortunate states were affected by this nasty summer’s-end storm. We are fortunate to live in a time when we receive advance warning of nature’s coming fury. An excellent account of a time in our history when people were not so lucky is Isaac’s Storm, by Erik Larson, which dramatically describes the catastrophe that happened to the coastal city of Galveson, Texas when it was hit by a surprise September hurricane in 1900.
Here is an interesting video that depicts the burning of London 350 years ago. It destroyed virtually all of the city, leaving thousands homeless. Surprisingly, there are only six recorded deaths, but many historians have pointed out that the lives of the poor were not documented in the 17th century, so the death toll is likely much higher. My favorite museum, the Museum of London, has a fascinating scale model of London; you can watch as the fire starts and then spreads from wooden house to wooden house in this still-medieval city. Below is also a link to more information about the Great Fire.
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/watch-re...
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hi...

Apologies

I am sorry for the long absence, but this has been a rough summer. I recently had a MRI of the spine, but what I really need is a full body transplant; Natalie Dormer’s would be nice. Since that would involve time travel to the future, it is probably best that I rely upon the magic my chiropractor can usually conjure up. Meanwhile, I suddenly began to have serious vision problems, serious enough to keep me off Facebook. It turns out I had developed a secondary cataract. This is easily treated but I had to wait weeks for the laser surgery. I was finally able to get it done this week. Within a day, my vision was back to normal and I was able to abandon my backup plan to train Holly as a seeing eye dog.
Now many of us are dealing with an unwelcome visitor, Hermine. I hope that all of my friends and readers in the path of this storm are staying safe and dry. Not a good ending to the summer.
I will try to begin catching up with some of the Today in History posts that fell by the wayside in August. But first here are the results of the Game of Thrones election. The winners are Jon Snow and his running mate, Lyanna Mormont, with 35% . Daenerys and Tyrion came in second with 32%, and Littlefinger and Sansa scored 31%. Sounds as if Westeros is as divided as we are, doesn’t it? Oh, and Cersei managed to garner 2% of the vote; who says the age of miracles is dead? http://thegotparty.com/

A post-birthday message

I may have to start flashing my passport when I venture over to Facebook—just to prove to everyone that it really is me. I am so sorry about my prolonged absences, and they are likely to continue for a while longer. My doctor says I will probably not be able to spend more time on Facebook until September. So I would like to thank all of you who so kindly sent or posted birthday wishes; that is greatly appreciated. I hope that all of my friends and readers who live in Louisiana are staying dry and safe; the stories coming out of Baton Rouge are horrific. And I hope, too, that the millions like me who are trapped in one of the worst heat waves in years will get through it somehow, with many prayers to St Willis, the wonderful man who invented air conditioning. In order to be able to at least mention history, I am now going to cheat and copy and paste a post from a few years ago.
One of history’s more celebrated and intriguing women died on August 12, 30 BC, when Cleopatra committed suicide rather than let Octavian bring her back in triumph as a prisoner to Rome. All of the early sources say that she died after being bitten by an asp, an Egyptian cobra. A modern historian has challenged this, saying she more likely died after taking hemlock, but I’m inclined to accept the early sources. Stacy Schiff wrote a successful biography of the famed Egyptian queen, “Cleopatra: a Life”, to follow up on her wonderful biography of Ben Franklin, “A great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America”, and Margaret George has written a novel about Cleopatra which I recommend. Michelle Moran has also written an interesting novel,“Cleopatra’s Daughter,” about the fates of Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s children, who were sent back to Rome to be raised by his long-suffering wife, Antonia. Her son by Julius Caesar, Caesarian, was murdered by Octavian. He would. I suppose Cleopatra has gotten a small measure of revenge, though, for I’d guess that she is much better known today to the general public than Octavian.
And on August 12, 1099, the Battle of Ascalon was fought, in which Godfrey de Bouillon defeated a much larger army in what is considered to be the last battle of the bloody and brutal First Crusade. Godfrey, a younger son of the Count of Boulogne, distinguished himself in battle and was among the first to breach the wall at Jerusalem. When Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse refused the kingship, it was offered to Godfrey, who accepted but refused the title of king, saying that belonged only to God. His reign was a short one; he died the following year in Jerusalem after a prolonged illness. Nearly a hundred years later, Henri, the Count of Champagne, showed the same reluctance to accept the kingship, and while he did marry the Queen of Jerusalem, Isabella, and seems to have been very happy with her during their time together, he never claimed the kingship for himself, continuing to call himself Count of Champagne or sometimes Lord of Jerusalem.
I’d initially hoped to have Henri appear as a character in Land Beyond the Sea, but that is not going to happen….sigh. I am thinking, though, that I might one day write about Henri in a short story and make it available on Amazon, as a number of other writers are doing with their recurring characters. And yes, I realize what a challenge it would be for me to do a short story. I did manage it once, though, for the George RR Martin anthology, Dangerous Women, so it is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility.

August 5th in history

I am doing better, although I still have to limit my computer time. But here are some historical events that I was not able to post about on the date in question.
On August 5, 1063, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, was betrayed and slain by his own men while struggling to repulse an invasion by Harold Godwinson, later King of England. Gruffydd is the only man to rule over all of Wales, from 1057 until his death, although he was called King of the Britons, not King of Wales. His wife was Ealdgyth of Mercia, who would later wed Harold. Was she willing to wed the man responsible for her husband’s death? We know virtually nothing about this woman, aside from the fact she was said to be beautiful, so we can only conjecture about her marriage to Harold. She would be widowed again three years later when Harold was slain at Hastings, but she then disappears from history, her fate unknown.
August 5, 1100 was the coronation of Henry I, just days after his brother William Rufus’s very convenient death in the New Forest.
August 5, 1301 is the birthdate of Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent, son of Edward I and thus half-brother to Edward II. He would be executed in 1330 for engaging in a plot to free Edward II from captivity. Since Edward had been declared dead in 1327, historians have not been kind to Edmund, seeing him as gullible at best, a fool at worst. His is a complicated story and I hope I can persuade Kathryn Warner to stop by and explain it since I am urgently needed back in Narbonne to finish a scene with Joanna and Berengaria and it is bad manners to keep queens waiting.
On August 5, 1305, William Wallace was captured near Glasgow, betrayed by a Scottish knight loyal to Edward I. He would be executed in a truly barbarous fashion (being drawn and quartered, one of Edward I’s more dubious contributions to the English judicial system). What he said at his trial could also serve as an epitaph for the last Welsh prince, Davydd ap Llywelyn, who was drawn and quartered for treason 22 years earlier: “I could not be a traitor to Edward for I was never his subject.”
Lastly, a non-medieval event worth mentioning. On August 5, 1620, the Mayflower and Speedwell sailed from Southampton for the New World. They had to turn back when the Speedwell sprang a leak. The Mayflower would subsequently sail alone on September 6th, anchoring off the tip of Cape Cod in November after two harrowing months at sea. I have always marveled at the courage it took to sail in bygone times. When I was writing Lionheart, I watched some truly terrifying videos on YouTube of ships being tossed around like toothpicks by angry seas, and these were large ships equipped with modern technology! Imagine how it would have been to be caught in a storm in a medieval ship like Richard’s galley, the Sea-Cleaver. I would so have been a stay-at-home had I been born back then.