Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 63

WINNERS OF SUNNE BOOK DRAWING

I would like to thank all of you who entered the drawing and posted such lovely comments about Sunne.  That meant so much to me; I never imagined that Sunne would  resonate so strongly with so many or that it would continue to attract new readers three decades and counting after its initial publication.   And I certainly never imagined that Richard’s lost grave would be found or that he’d be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral with such ceremony and world-wide attention.  Richard the rock star?   No, I definitely did not see that one coming!

I am happy to announce that the winner of a signed hardcover copy of the new British edition of Sunne is Laurie Spencer.    And the runner-up winner of a signed paperback edition is Cynthia Fuller.     As soon as I get mailing addresses from you both, I will put your copies in the post.   I know many of you will be disappointed, so I promise to hold another Sunne book drawing before the year is out.

When I was listing all the unexpected developments concerning Richard and Sunne, I neglected to mention the remarkable fact that we now know what he looked like, thanks to that forensic reconstruction of his face.   I do not see him as a blond, though.  I do not doubt that his hair was that shade as a small child, but I think it darkened as he grew into maturity.    My own hair was the color of sunlight until I was about three or so, and then it darkened, too, as is usually the case.    I suppose it is possible that his hair did not, but I am not yet willing to surrender the mental image of Richard that served as inspiration during the twelve years that it took me to write Sunne.  So I can say with certainty that my Richard was not a blond!   At least his youthful appearance has been restored; he was not yet thirty-three at the time of his death, but the portraits—all done after Bosworth when it was highly advisable to portray him in as sinister a light as possible—made him appear as if he had one foot in the grave.

We rarely get detailed descriptions of the medieval dead in the years before the age of portrait painting.  Until the 16th century, we must depend upon the chroniclers, and they were notoriously indifferent to the needs of future historical novelists.   The best we can usually hope for is a throw-away line or two.   We know that Randulph de Blundeville, the Earl of Chester in Here be Dragons, and Robert Beaumont, the Earl of Leicester in Lionheart and Ransom, were both shorter than average, for they were praised for the valor of their spirits in such small bodies.  We know that Llywelyn ab Iorwerth’s rebellious son, Gruffydd, was a big man and had put on weight during his captivity in the Tower of London, for a chronicler tells us that this was a contributing factor in his death; he was so heavy that his makeshift sheet-rope broke, hurling him to his doom.     We know that Balian d’Ibelin, the major character in my current work, Outremer, was very tall, for a chronicler reports that he was chosen to carry the young child-king, Baldwin V, to his coronation because he was the tallest man in the kingdom.

The chroniclers of that same kingdom rather unkindly describe Renaud, Lord of Sidon, as very ugly, while lauding his intelligence.   But that is positively benign compared to one Saracen chronicler’s comments about the controversial and brilliant Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, son of the Lionheart’s nemesis, Heinrich von Hohenstaufen, and his unhappy consort, Constance de Hauteville, Queen of Sicily in her own right.    According to Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, “The Emperor was covered with red hair, was bald and myopic. Had he been a slave, he would not have fetched 200 dirhams at market.”     It is only fair to include a more favorable description of Frederick from the Cronica of Salimbene:   “He could read, write, sing, and compose music and songs. He was a handsome man, well-built but of medium stature.”    Which one was right?    Who knows?

William, the Archbishop of Tyre, tutor to the young king Baldwin, and author of Deeds Beyond the Sea, which is considered by many to be the finest history written by a man of the Middle Ages, provides some remarkably detailed descriptions of the highborn lords of their kingdom.   William of Montferrat was the elder brother of Conrad of Montferrat, the latter a character in Lionheart, whose fate haunted Richard in A King’s Ransom.  William came to Jerusalem to wed Sybilla, Baldwin’s sister, with the expectation that he and she would rule once Baldwin’s leprosy incapacitated or killed him.   William of Tyre brings him vividly to life in his chronicle, telling us that he was tall and handsome with blond hair, that he was “exceedingly irascible but very generous and of an open disposition and manly courage.   He never concealed any purpose but showed frankly just what he thought in his own mind.   He was fond of eating and altogether too devoted to drinking, although not to such an extent to as to injure his mind.”

William offers an even more remarkable description of King Amalric, father to the tragic Baldwin and uncle to our Henry II; Amalric’s father, Fulk of Anjou, was Henry’s grandfather.   It is worth quoting in full:

“He was a man endowed with worldly experience, very shrewd and circumspect in his deeds. He had a slight impediment of the tongue, not so much that could be considered a defect, but so that he had no elegance in spontaneous, flowing speech… His body was of pleasing stature, as if it had been measured proportionally so that he was taller than the average, but smaller than the very tall… His face was attractive… His eyes were bright, and somewhat protruding; his nose, like his brother’s, aquiline; his hair yellow, and slightly receding; his beard covered his cheeks and chin with pleasing fullness. However, he had an uncontrollable laugh, which made him shake all over… He was fat beyond measure, in such a way that he had breasts like a woman, hanging down to his belt…”

William also tells us of Amalric’s shrewdness, his ambition and courage, his greed, his taciturn nature, and his indifference to the boundaries of matrimony.   He may not have been loved by his subjects, but he commanded their respect, and if not for his untimely death, at age thirty-eight, the history of his kingdom might have been far different.

William saw Amalric clearly, aware of both his vices and his virtues, but he loved Amalric’s son.  It was William who first discovered the symptoms of that dreaded disease when Baldwin was only about ten or eleven.     Here is his description of the young leper king:

“I cannot keep my eyes dry while speaking of it. For as he began to reach the age of puberty, it became apparent that he was suffering from that most terrible disease, leprosy. Each day he grew more ill. The extremities and the face were most affected, so that the hearts of his faithful men were touched by compassion when they looked at him. Baldwin was adept at literary studies. Daily he grew more promising and developed a more loving disposition. He was handsome for his age and he was quick to learn to ride and handle horses — more so than his ancestors. He had a tenacious memory and loved to talk. He was economical, but he well remembered both favors and injuries. He resembled his father, not only in his face, but in his whole appearance. He was also like his father in his walk and in the timbre of his voice. He had a quick mind, but his speech was slow. He was, like his father, an avid listener to history and he was very willing to follow good advice.”

If only William had been so generous in his descriptions of the highborn women of Outremer.   He apparently took his vows of chastity seriously, for he says not a word about the appearances of any of them.   He calls Queen Melisende, mother to Amalric, whom he admired, “sparse.”    He says of Baldwin’s mother, Agnes de Courtenay, whom he loathed, that she was “detestable to God.”     And that is it.

Fortunately one of the Saracen chroniclers was more verbose, at least when describing Baldwin’s youngest sister, Isabella, who would one day rule as queen and, as readers of Lionheart will remember, married Henri, the Count of Champagne, only days after the murder of her husband, Conrad of Montferrat, by two Assassins as he rode through the streets of Tyre.    Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, a member of Saladin’s inner circle, seems to have been rather smitten by Isabella, describing her poetically, as follows:

“…one of the daughters of heaven; her face, shining white, appeared like the morning in the night of her very black hair.”

Moving on to Baldwin’s Angevin cousins, we have very detailed descriptions of Henry II.   We know that his hair was red, but greyed as he aged, that he kept it cropped short because he worried about going bald.   We are told that he had grey, bloodshot eyes that were “dove-like” when he was feeling peaceful but “gleamed like fire” when he was in a temper.   He was of “medium height,” and powerfully built, with a broad chest and a boxer’s arms; he was also bow-legged, which they ascribed to the long hours he spent in the saddle.   He was said to be “a man blessed with sound limbs and a handsome countenance, one upon whom men gazed a thousand times, yet took occasion to return.”   The chroniclers lauded his intelligence, his memory, his sardonic humor, and his “knowledge of all tongues spoken from the coasts of France to the River Jordan, but making use of only Latin and French.”

We know that Henry’s two eldest sons, the Young King (Hal in my books) and Richard, were taller than average, and his two youngest sons, Geoffrey and John, were shorter than average but handsome.     Thanks to an invasion of John’s tomb at Worcester Cathedral, we know that he was five feet, six inches tall, so that fits with the guess of historians that Henry would have been about five feet, nine inches, and Hal and Richard over six feet.    One who knew Richard said that “He was tall, of elegant build; the color of his hair was between red and gold; his limbs were supple and straight. He had long arms suited to wielding a sword. His long legs matched the rest of his body.”    As for Richard’s neglected wife, Berengaria, it is believed that she was only five feet, based upon a discovery of bones thought to be hers at the abbey she founded.  The most famous description of her comes from the acid pen of Richard of Devizes, who deemed her “more prudent than pretty.”   Very catchy, so it is not surprising it has been so often quoted, but Richard of Devizes never laid eyes upon her.    One chronicler who did, Ambroise, tells us she was very fair and lovely.   We do know that her younger sister was thought to be quite beautiful, so my guess is that she would not have scared any children had she ventured out without a veil.   I don’t think the breakdown of her marriage to Richard had anything to do with her appearance; they had much more serious differences to deal with, as I hope I was able to portray convincingly in Ransom.

Henry’s daughters, Mathilda and Joanna and Eleanora were all said to be lovely, and of course not a single chronicler thought to mention the hair or eye color of their celebrated mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine.    This lapse has led to some unintentional humor on the part of Eleanor’s biographers, with one assuring us that she had golden hair and blue eyes while another one tells us with equal certainty that she had black hair and eyes and a voluptuous figure.

As a dynasty, the Plantagenets seem to have been a good-looking lot, but it is such a pity that we have no portraits of any of them that are comparable to the portraits done of the Tudors.   We do have some fascinating reconstructions, though.   Click onto this YouTube link if you’ve not seen Eleanor and Richard, brought to mesmerizing life by Jude Maris, based upon their effigies at Fontevrault Abbey.  Watching them “wake up” from their long sleep is both amazing and a bit eerie.   She also does Henry II, Elizabeth Woodville, and the six wives of Henry VIII.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVOFwLfchWA

Lastly, here is the link to ten very interesting historical forensic reconstructions which are, of course, much more reliable than those that are done from effigies.   Here you will find Richard III in his blond incarnation and Mary, Queen of Scots, among others.   Well worth a look.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art520745-the-top-ten-historical-forensic-facial-reconstructions

Again, thank you all for participating in the drawing, and congratulations to the winners.

June 1, 2015

Mothers of kings and last call to win free copy of Sunne

May 31st is a significant date for two women who played important roles in the Wars of the Roses and whom—it is probably safe to say—loathed each other. On May 31, 1443, Margaret Beaufort, future mother of Henry Tudor, was born; I’ve no plans to bake a cake for that lady. And on May 31, 1495, Cecily Neville, the Duchess of York, died, full of years and griefs. Also on May 31st, this time in 1246, John’s Jezebel, as one historian colorfully called her, Isabelle d’Angouleme, died in exile at Fontevrault Abbey. I’ve had people wonder how she ended up crashing the Angevin party as she was given a modest burial in the nuns’ cemetery. When her son, Henry III, visited the abbey a few years later, he was very upset that she was not buried with more pomp and ceremony. The result is that her tomb resides today with those of her son’s celebrated family---Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Richard Lionheart.
Today is the last day to enter the contest on my blog to win a personalized hardcover copy of Sunne; this is the commemorative edition published by my British publisher, Macmillan, which includes a new AN that discusses the remarkable discovery of Richard’s lost grave.

Last chance to win free copy of Sunne

One last mention of the Sunne in Splendour book give-away on my current blog. I hope to do the drawing on June 1st, so there are still two days to enter. Just post a comment and you’ll be eligible to win a signed hardcover copy of Sunne, the new British edition, with the runner-up getting a signed copy of the new paperback edition. And for my British readers, Sunne is still available on Amazon.Uk for the bargain price of 99 pence; I believe the promotion lasts until June 6th or thereabouts.
Here is a remarkable story of a K—9 officer whose life was saved by his canine partner, Lucas, on a dark, lonely Mississippi road. He’d stopped to investigate a lone car parked in a deserted rest stop, only to be attacked by three men with box cutters. They were dragging him into the woods when he was able to hit a remote control that opened his patrol car and freed Lucas to come to his aid. Here is a link to the story; it has been covered world-wide by now. http://abcnews.go.com/US/deputy-ambus...
Briefly, on the historical front, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on this date in 1431 and the Tudor Bluebeard wed Jane Seymour in 1536, having waited twelve whole days after having his last wife, Anne Boleyn, beheaded at the Tower of London. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to know Jane’s thoughts on her wedding day? Was she a willing participant in her family’s ambitious plans to snare a king? A pawn? An unwilling bride? Sadly, she took her secrets to the grave with her, so we’ll never know. Of course that means that historical novelists have free rein to conjure up those secrets without fear of being wrong.

For my fellow dog lovers

On this date in 1265, the future Edward I made fools of his de Montfort cousins again by tricking them into a horse race that enabled him to escape. Since his escape led to the battle of Evesham and a resounding defeat for Simon and his supporters, I don’t see the need to celebrate this occurrence. 
I would rather post a link for my fellow pet lovers for my spaniel, Holly, enjoying a play-date with some canine pals. Yes, she has play-dates now, but hey, only children need to socialize, too, right? (Holly is the glamorous white spaniel with the sweeping plume of a tail, which is the way God meant spaniels to look.) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...

More on Coldplay

Such heartbreaking and horrible stories coming out of Texas and the other Midwest states battered by the weekend storms and severe flooding. They all need our prayers and good thoughts.
For my fellow Game of Throners, here is the full 12 minutes of the Coldplay fun and games. Parts of it had me laughing out loud, and not once did I have to cover my eyes the way some Game of Thrones scenes make me do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs7xO...

Recap of Sunday's Game of Thrones episode

Here is Sunday’s delightfully snarky recap by EW’s James Hibberd of the last episode of Game of Thrones, with the usual Spoiler alert for those who have not watched it yet.
http://www.ew.com/recap/game-of-thron...

Coldplay at Westeros

I hope all of my American friends and readers have been enjoying a tranquil Memorial Day holiday, and that everyone else is enjoying a sunny weekend—yes, even in Wales, where the sun does shine occasionally. I have been trying to remember if I’ve ever celebrated a Memorial Day weekend in which we did not have troops in danger somewhere; sadly, I could not think of any.
Coldplay wrote a couple of sardonic songs for Game of Thrones. The amazing, multi-talented Peter Dinklage performs the first one as Tyrion, followed by a “plea” from Jaime to Cersei. Enjoy. I didn’t know that Coldplay’s drummer had a cameo in the infamous Red Wedding scene; I guess I was too distracted by all that blood.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05...

Edward IV and mercy and last call for free copy of Sunne

May 21st, 1471 was the death date for the saddest of the English kings, who was put to death in the Tower of London, proof that Edward was capable of both mercy and ruthlessness. Aside from poor Henry, all the other medieval kings were capable of ruthlessness, some more so than others; calling the first Edward. But not all of them were capable of mercy. It is unfortunate, though, that Edward was not heeding his merciful angel on May 21stt.
I also wanted to remind you all that there is still time to enter my book giveaway for Sunne; just go to my blog, post a comment, and you’re in! And for my British readers, Sunne is still being offered on Amazon.UK for only 99 pence; that price should hold till the first week in June.

Some Game of Thrones musings

My wonderful chiropractor—who really should be named Merlin—has returned, which means that I am no longer being held hostage by a recalcitrant back and can contact the real world once again. (Does Facebook qualify as the “real world,” you think?) To celebrate my liberation, I am posting EW’s delightfully snarky recaps by James Hibberd for the last two episodes of Game of Thrones.
This season is about as dark as the bottom of a mine shaft, making the tragic endings of some of my books seem like a day at the circus. I had an unsettling thought about the Game of Thrones series the other day. We all have hopes and expectations as to how we would like it to end. But it occurred to me that the last man standing could be Littlefinger. Do you guys think GRRM would do that to us?
I do have some non-negotiable demands, which mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, of course. But I want Roose Bolton and his psycho son to die, preferably in the most painful way possible. I want Sansa to get revenge for the destruction of her family and if she wants to include the HBO writers on her hit list, that is okay with me; not even Master Martin married her off to Ramsay, who is even worse than Joffrey, as horrifying as that is to contemplate. I want Daenerys to thrive; her anti-slavery passion is probably not in her best interest, but it is admirable and that is not a word we often get to use in Westeros, is it? I want her dragons to thrive, too; maybe they could be taught to eat the more obnoxious characters instead of the children of shepherds? I want Jon Snow to discover that the world will not end if he repudiates an oath he never wanted to make in the first place. And I want Tyrion to have whatever his heart desires; he’s earned it.
Now here are the links, as promised.
http://www.ew.com/recap/game-of-thron...
http://www.ew.com/recap/game-of-thron...

For historical fiction lovers

A bargain day for readers of historical fiction. As many of you know by now, Amazon.UK has selected Sunne as a Deal of the Month, which means it is available for only 99 pence. And one of my readers noticed that Elizabeth Chadwick's novel, Shadows and Strongholds, is currently being offered by the Amazon mother ship for only $1.99. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A...