Sharon Kay Penman's Blog, page 78
December 5, 2014
Rudolph in Latin--yes, really
I may as well admit I am addicted to Christmas music. I start listening to it earlier than all but Santa and his elves and am one of the last holdouts when it comes time to pulling the plug for the season. Of course one year I also kept my Christmas tree up well into February. So when I found this posted on the Mediev-l list, naturally I could not resist checking it out and then sharing it with you all. So here is Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer---in Latin. This link gives you the lyrics, but it also has a link for those of you with a burning curiosity to hear how it sounds. http://thurible.net/2013/12/12/rudolp...
Since we’re on the subject, we usually have at least one posting about Christmas songs every December. So….what are your favorite Christmas songs or carols? And do you have any that make you want to kick Santa and reach for something stronger than eggnog? For me, my favorite is What Child is This, set to the music of the hauntingly beautiful Greensleeves. I also love Silent Night, The Little Drummer Boy (my dad’s favorite) Christmas Eve—Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I’ll be Home for Christmas (the saddest of them all, IMHO) and yes, Dominick the Christmas donkey. The one I absolutely loathe is I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, followed by Santa, Baby. I am not fond of All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, either. As you can tell, I don’t much like novelty Christmas songs—even though I do like Rudolph, the outcast reindeer (preferably not in Latin) and I confess I can’t help smiling when I hear Grandma got run over by a reindeer, for the sheer absurdity of it; it helps, too, that it is not a song played over and over ad nauseam. Okay…..what about you, dear readers?
Since we’re on the subject, we usually have at least one posting about Christmas songs every December. So….what are your favorite Christmas songs or carols? And do you have any that make you want to kick Santa and reach for something stronger than eggnog? For me, my favorite is What Child is This, set to the music of the hauntingly beautiful Greensleeves. I also love Silent Night, The Little Drummer Boy (my dad’s favorite) Christmas Eve—Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, I’ll be Home for Christmas (the saddest of them all, IMHO) and yes, Dominick the Christmas donkey. The one I absolutely loathe is I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, followed by Santa, Baby. I am not fond of All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, either. As you can tell, I don’t much like novelty Christmas songs—even though I do like Rudolph, the outcast reindeer (preferably not in Latin) and I confess I can’t help smiling when I hear Grandma got run over by a reindeer, for the sheer absurdity of it; it helps, too, that it is not a song played over and over ad nauseam. Okay…..what about you, dear readers?
December 3, 2014
The Greatest Knight
Many of us find William Marshal to be a very interesting and sympathetic figure and so I am happy to report that there is a new biography of WM out, The Greatest Knight, by Dr Thomas Asbridge, the British historian who is the author of the excellent history, The Crusades. It is definitely high on my To Read List. It was just published in the US, but British readers will have to wait till its January publication. And this would be a good time to re-read Elizabeth Chadwick’s novel with the same title, The Greatest Knight, which is also high on my To Read List and is hugely popular with my readers.
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Knight...
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Knight...
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Knight...
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Knight...
December 2, 2014
Winners of the Goodreads Best Books of 2014
Here are the winners of the Goodreads best books of 2014 contest. And yes, Coeur de Lion is still sulking at not making it to the final round. Not totally his fault, though, for kings are not taught how to be good sports. I explained to him that he should be honored by the nomination since there were some very talented writers in the mix, but he just cocked an Angevin brow at that, looking very much like his sardonic sire. I foolishly mentioned that, irritating them both. https://www.goodreads.com/choiceaward...
December 1, 2014
A great bargain for Brother Cadfael
One of my readers was kind enough to alert us to this on one of my Facebook pages. Amazon is offering the Brother Cadfael e-books at only $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_...
A great bargain for Brother Cadfael
One of my readers was kind enough to alert us to this on one of my Facebook pages. Amazon is offering the Brother Cadfael e-books at only $1.99
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_...
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_...
Golden Retriever goes rogue, wins hearts of dogs everywhere
My Spaniel, Holly, has a soul-mate in this Golden Retriever. She would so have done the exact same thing.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/11/golde...
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/11/golde...
November 30, 2014
Budweiser, how could you?
How can Budweiser do this? Even Scrooge had to smile at those traditional Christmas ads, which simply showed the Clydesdales pulling a sleigh through a tranquil snowy landscape as Christmas songs played softly in the background. Has Budweiser forgotten that people love their Clydesdales? Their ads almost always are voted the most popular in the Super Bowl. Bah, humbug. http://www.nbcnews.com/business/busin...
November 29, 2014
How long would you have survived in Tudor and Elizabethan England?
This is one of the most entertaining quizzes I’ve come across—meant to determine how long any of us would have survived in Tudor or Elizabethan England. The questions are really fun. Oh, and I wouldn’t have lasted more than a month. No great surprise there; flourishing Richard III’’s white boar badge would have been sure to attract the beady eyes of Tudor and his minions.
http://earlymodernengland.com/2014/11...
http://earlymodernengland.com/2014/11...
November 28, 2014
A great Welsh prince, a beloved queen, and a tragic pawn
I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings—a very happy one for Eagles fans, of course!
November 28th is the date upon which several significant deaths occurred. In 1170, the Welsh prince, Owain Gwynedd, died, after a highly successful reign; like his famous grandson, he would be honored with the epithet—Fawr or Great. Sadly, his death resulted in a struggle for power amongst his sons and the most capable of the lot, the poet-prince Hywel ab Owain, would lose his life in an ambush not long after Owain’s death. And on November 28, 1291, Eleanora of Castile, the queen of Edward I, died after a brief illness at the age of forty-nine. Her grieving husband honored her memory with the twelve spectacular Eleanor crosses, erected at each place where her body had rested as it was conveyed from Lincoln to Westminster. (Three of the twelve survived) As you all know, Edward is not one of my favorite kings (although he was fun to write about), but this was a very romantic gesture—even I’ll admit that. I’d put it in the same class as the founding of a friary by Llywelyn Fawr to honor Joanna’s memory. Lastly, the tragic young Earl of Warwick, Edward, son of George of Clarence, was judicially murdered on this date in 1499. Plantagenet blood would become a lethal legacy during the Tudor dynasty.
November 28th is the date upon which several significant deaths occurred. In 1170, the Welsh prince, Owain Gwynedd, died, after a highly successful reign; like his famous grandson, he would be honored with the epithet—Fawr or Great. Sadly, his death resulted in a struggle for power amongst his sons and the most capable of the lot, the poet-prince Hywel ab Owain, would lose his life in an ambush not long after Owain’s death. And on November 28, 1291, Eleanora of Castile, the queen of Edward I, died after a brief illness at the age of forty-nine. Her grieving husband honored her memory with the twelve spectacular Eleanor crosses, erected at each place where her body had rested as it was conveyed from Lincoln to Westminster. (Three of the twelve survived) As you all know, Edward is not one of my favorite kings (although he was fun to write about), but this was a very romantic gesture—even I’ll admit that. I’d put it in the same class as the founding of a friary by Llywelyn Fawr to honor Joanna’s memory. Lastly, the tragic young Earl of Warwick, Edward, son of George of Clarence, was judicially murdered on this date in 1499. Plantagenet blood would become a lethal legacy during the Tudor dynasty.
November 27, 2014
A woman no less remarkable than Eleanor of Aquitaine
Happy Thanksgiving to all. I hope those who had to travel got there safely. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for it is all about family and friends and recognition of our blessings. Add delicious meals and football and who could ask for more?
Historically, the 27th of November was the date of death in 1198 of one of the most interesting and courageous medieval women, Constance de Hauteville, Queen of Sicily in her own right, unhappy wife and happy widow of the royal sociopath, Heinrich von Hohenstaufen, and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederic II, one of the most colorful and controversial rulers of the MA. Constance had a remarkably eventful life—nearly being killed in a Salerno riot, captured and turned over to her husband’s rival, Tancred, only to escape as she was being taken under guard to Rome. She is most famous for getting pregnant for the first time at age 40 and then arranging to invite all of the local matrons to watch her give birth after learning that Heinrich’s enemies were claiming her pregnancy was a hoax. She also involved herself in a rebellion against her despot husband, horrified by the cruelty he was inflicting upon her Sicilian subjects, and likely would have been punished far worse than Henry punished Eleanor if not for an opportunist mosquito who chose that time to give Heinrich the malaria that claimed his life. (It has also been suggested he was poisoned, but while that is certainly plausible, historians tend to accept the malaria story) Constance at once kicked all the Germans out of Sicily and took the reins of power on behalf of her three year old son. Sadly, she outlived Heinrich by little more than a year, spending her last months in a desperate attempt to safeguard Frederick’s inheritance. She is the star of my first (and probably last) short story, A Queen in Exile, which appeared in George RR Martin’s anthology, Dangerous Women. She also made appearances in both Lionheart and A King’s Ransom. Here is my depiction of her death in Ransom, pages 567-568
* * *
Constance de Hauteville had celebrated her forty-fourth birthday on All Soul’s Day, but she knew it would be her last. She was dying. She’d been ill for months, and not even the doctors of the famed medical school in Salerno had been able to offer either hope or relief from the pain. She’d been very bitter at first, for she’d had little more than a year of freedom, a year to rule Sicily, to rid her kingdom of the Germans, to have her son with her—a privilege that Heinrich hade denied her, for he’d given Friedrich into the care of the Duchess of Spoleto soon after his birth. One year, one month, and twenty-seven days to have been a queen, a mother, and, God be praised, a widow. Not enough time. Not nearly enough.
She’d faced it as she’d faced every crisis in her life, without flinching, without self-pity or panic. What mattered was her son, still a month shy of his fourth birthday. She’d done all she could. She’d exiled Markward von Annweiler, who’d been made Duke of Ravenna and Romagna by Heinrich. In May, she’d had Friedrich crowned as King of Sicily, letting Otto and Heinrich’s brother Philip fight over the imperial crown. And she’d turned to the only man powerful enough to protect her son, the new Pope, Innocent III. In her last will and testament, she’d named Innocent as Friedrich’s guardian until he came of age. Now, in what she knew to be her last hours, she could only pray that it would be enough, that her son would be kept safe, his rights defended by the Church, and that he would not forget her too quickly.
* * *
Historically, the 27th of November was the date of death in 1198 of one of the most interesting and courageous medieval women, Constance de Hauteville, Queen of Sicily in her own right, unhappy wife and happy widow of the royal sociopath, Heinrich von Hohenstaufen, and mother of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederic II, one of the most colorful and controversial rulers of the MA. Constance had a remarkably eventful life—nearly being killed in a Salerno riot, captured and turned over to her husband’s rival, Tancred, only to escape as she was being taken under guard to Rome. She is most famous for getting pregnant for the first time at age 40 and then arranging to invite all of the local matrons to watch her give birth after learning that Heinrich’s enemies were claiming her pregnancy was a hoax. She also involved herself in a rebellion against her despot husband, horrified by the cruelty he was inflicting upon her Sicilian subjects, and likely would have been punished far worse than Henry punished Eleanor if not for an opportunist mosquito who chose that time to give Heinrich the malaria that claimed his life. (It has also been suggested he was poisoned, but while that is certainly plausible, historians tend to accept the malaria story) Constance at once kicked all the Germans out of Sicily and took the reins of power on behalf of her three year old son. Sadly, she outlived Heinrich by little more than a year, spending her last months in a desperate attempt to safeguard Frederick’s inheritance. She is the star of my first (and probably last) short story, A Queen in Exile, which appeared in George RR Martin’s anthology, Dangerous Women. She also made appearances in both Lionheart and A King’s Ransom. Here is my depiction of her death in Ransom, pages 567-568
* * *
Constance de Hauteville had celebrated her forty-fourth birthday on All Soul’s Day, but she knew it would be her last. She was dying. She’d been ill for months, and not even the doctors of the famed medical school in Salerno had been able to offer either hope or relief from the pain. She’d been very bitter at first, for she’d had little more than a year of freedom, a year to rule Sicily, to rid her kingdom of the Germans, to have her son with her—a privilege that Heinrich hade denied her, for he’d given Friedrich into the care of the Duchess of Spoleto soon after his birth. One year, one month, and twenty-seven days to have been a queen, a mother, and, God be praised, a widow. Not enough time. Not nearly enough.
She’d faced it as she’d faced every crisis in her life, without flinching, without self-pity or panic. What mattered was her son, still a month shy of his fourth birthday. She’d done all she could. She’d exiled Markward von Annweiler, who’d been made Duke of Ravenna and Romagna by Heinrich. In May, she’d had Friedrich crowned as King of Sicily, letting Otto and Heinrich’s brother Philip fight over the imperial crown. And she’d turned to the only man powerful enough to protect her son, the new Pope, Innocent III. In her last will and testament, she’d named Innocent as Friedrich’s guardian until he came of age. Now, in what she knew to be her last hours, she could only pray that it would be enough, that her son would be kept safe, his rights defended by the Church, and that he would not forget her too quickly.
* * *
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