Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 76

The Empty Throne

Sorry about the silence, but Dracarys is still learning to be a good dragon and it is more time-consuming than we expected. I do have good news for my fellow Bernard Cornwell fans. His new Uhtred adventure, The Empty Throne, will be published in the US tomorrow; it has already been published in the UK and Commonwealth countries, of course. Here is the link. I will have an interview with BC up this week on my blog. I was lucky enough to be able to read an ARC of The Empty Throne, and I recommend it highly—Cornwell at his best, and we know that is very good, indeed. http://www.amazon.com/Empty-Throne-No...

Dracarys is stricken and Henry is outraged

Well, guess how I spent New Year ’s Day? On-line with the Geek Squad, as they tried to exorcise Dracarys’s demons. Yes, my new laptop of one whole day crashed. This is a world record even for me. Apparently malware got past Windows Defender, which is the Windows 8 version of Microsoft Security Essentials, which I’ve used in the past. I’ve been advised to switch to Webroot. Anyone use that? I don’t blame Dracarys; he couldn’t help getting sick, ie, infected. Not the way I planned to spend the first day of 2015, though.
On the historical front, Henry II learned on this date in 1171 that words have consequences and his careless, angry outburst set in motion the assassination off the Archbishop of Canterbury in his own cathedral. Thomas Becket had infuriated Henry by his Christmas excommunication Henry’s own chancellor, the Bishops of London and Salisbury, and the Archbishop of York, among others, an act of provocation that could hardly be improved upon. But Henry did not say, as is widely believed, “Will none rid me of this turbulent priest?” His actual words were “What miserable drones and traitors I have nourished in my household, who let their lord be mocked so shamefully by a lowborn clerk.” For four knights, that was enough.

Dracarys and the new year

Sorry for dropping off the radar screen again, but I got caught up in the post-Christmas craziness. I also bought a new laptop, as Melusine has been living up to her namesake, the Demon Countess of Anjou. I’ve been using my second laptop, Spock, but a backup computer is like a backup QB; they do their best but they are not likely to lead us deep into the playoffs. So Melusine is now relegated to third-string, and a wonderful tech from the Geek Squad came by yesterday to set the new one up and transfer files from Melusine. I am looking forward to starting the new year with a new computer, although I wish Windows 8 were not part of the deal. I was thinking of naming it Merlin—trying the power of positive thinking—but the last time I tried that, it did not work out very well; I ended up have to give Merlin a name better suited to his evil nature—Demon Spawn. Stephanie convinced me I should name the new one Dracarys, High Valerian for Dragonfire, which is not only a cool name but reminds me of my favorite scene in Game of Thrones, where Danni says “Dracarys!” and her dragon incinerates the evil slaver. This may not mean much to some of my readers but all of my fellow Thrones addicts will understand perfectly.
Unfortunately, I do not know the High Valerian equivalent of “Happy New Year,” so I’ll have to settle for English. I hope the new year will be a better one for us all.

One of my favorite medieval women

I hope all my friends and readers who celebrate Christmas had as lovely a one as I did. In the medieval spirit of the Twelve Days of Christmas, I plan to keep playing Christmas music and let my Christmas trees continue to glow brightly until at least Epiphany, if not later.. (The longest I ever kept a tree up was until mid-February, but that record was due as much to laziness as a reluctance to turn the page on Christmas for another year.)
On this date in 1194, Constance de Hauteville, the unhappy wife of the Holy Roman Emperor, Heinrich von Hohenstaufen, gave birth to a son in the small Italian town of Jesi. By now most of you are familiar with her story—at least you are if you read Ransom or my short story, Queen in exile, in the George RR Martin anthology, Dangerous Women! Constance’s unexpected pregnancy at age forty was greeted with considerable skepticism by Heinrich’s legion of enemies, for she was believed to be barren; many insisted the pregnancy was a scam, an attempt by Heinrich to pass off a baby as hers in order to have an heir. When she learned of these rumors, Constance did something both remarkable and courageous. She invited all of the matrons of Jesi to watch her give birth in a large tent she had set up in the center of the town, and nursed her baby son in public a few days later in case there were any skeptics still in need of convincing. Her son would become one of the most colorful and controversial rulers of the Middle Ages, and his enemies did indeed try to claim he was not the true son of Constance and Heinrich, but thanks to his mother’s action, this was a slander that never gained traction.

Faith in humanity restored

I hope all of my friends and readers who’ll be traveling today get safely to their destinations; the combination of heavy traffic and bad weather is a very stressful and often dangerous one. Henry and Eleanor and their boisterous brood would have wished you all Joyeux Noel. The Welsh princes would have said Nadolig Llawen. I will settle for Merry Christmas. Here is a present for you all, one sure to make you smile. The reunion of the mother elephant and her baby gets to me every time. And I remember the story of the men freeing the whale tangled in fishing nets. They said it circled their boat for at least a quarter hour after it was free, breeching and splashing in a spectacular display that they are convinced was its way of thanking them. Take care, everyone! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=...

A dark December day for the Lionheart

I cannot say for a certainty that December 21st, 1192 was the worst day of the Lionheart’s life. He had a lot of bad days during his captivity. And March 26th at Chalus was certainly on the list. But December 19th had to be one of the worst, for it was then that he learned he was not invincible, after all, just as vulnerable as other mortals to the vagaries of fate—or the vengeance of enemies. On this day, he was taken prisoner in the village of Ertpurch by the men of the Duke of Austria. His capture was in violation of the laws of the Church and of war, so he held the high moral ground, but as a German chronicler would observe cynically, that did not do him much good. History was literally changed in that small Austrian hamlet—for the English, the French, the Sicilians, the Austrians, and the Germans—and above all, for Richard himself. It is interesting to speculate what might have happened if he’d been able to get safely through Leopold’s lands; he was only fifty miles from the Moravian border when his legendary luck finally ran out. But speaking as a historical novelist, I can’t help being happy that he did not, for writers are hooked on high drama and his capture and captivity definitely provided that.

Christmas around the world

If those beautiful Christmas lights around the world do not put you in the holiday spirit, nothing will. Enjoy. Oh, and go, Eagles!
http://www.nbcnews.com/…/sparkling-ho...-…

It all began on December 19th

December 19th is a day of great significance to those of us who are fascinated by the Plantagenets in general and the Angevins in particular, for on this date in 1154, the twenty-one year old Henry Fitz Empress, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, and his thirty year old pregnant wife, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, were crowned in Westminster Abbey. The dynasty they founded would endure for three hundred years and today they and their Devil’s Brood continue to cast a royal spell. That had to be such a happy day for them. When Christ and his Saints Slept, page 738.
* * *
Ranulf had no regrets about what he was leaving behind. After nineteen years of fighting over the English throne, he had no doubts whatsoever that the most dangerous quarry was neither wild boar nor wolf. No hunt was so hazardous as the pursuit of power. Fortunately, his nephew Harry was a skilled huntsman, one of the best he’d ever seen.
He glanced back once. Henry and Eleanor were still out in the snow-blanketed bailey. They waved as Ranulf turned, and that was to be the memory he would carry into Wales: the two of them, standing together in the bright winter sunlight, smiling, sure that the world, like the English crown, was theirs for the taking.
* * *

Death in Westeros

Nothing medieval that struck my fancy on December 18th, so I moved on to the semi-medieval world of Westeros. This is not exactly holiday fare, but here is a quiz to find out how you’d likely die if you were one of Master Martin’s captive characters. Unfortunately, I’d be barbecued by teenage dragons, which is not encouraging in light of my on-going struggles with deadline dragons. I also learned something fascinating from Rania, that Master Martin sees Dorne as a cross between Wales and Outremer.
http://www.medievalists.net/2014/06/1...

Horror beyond words

I’d hoped to begin my post by wishing my Jewish friends and readers a Happy Hanukkah, but
the world seems to be caught up in even more horrific violence than usual. First the hostage tragedy in Australia and today I awoke to learn that terrorists had attacked a school in Pakistan, deliberately killing as many children as they could. It is almost impossible to fathom evil like that. I will never understand how someone can kill a child. And it seems grimly appropriate to remember that Saturday was the second anniversary of the massacre of six year olds and their teachers at Sandy Hook. My heart goes out to all who lost loved ones to violence, for they are wounds that never heal.