Susan Higginbotham's Blog: History Refreshed by Susan HIgginbotham, page 32

The Captive Queen by Alison Weir

Having read the reviews of this novel about this year's "It" girl in historical fiction, Eleanor of Aquitaine, I fully expected to hate this book. Instead, I found myself rather liking it.

The Captive Queen follows Eleanor from her marriage to Henry II to his death, with an epilogue that breezes through Eleanor's last years. As the title implies, much of the novel takes place after Eleanor, having helped her sons to rebel against their father, is imprisoned by a furious Henry.

There are some th...

Excerpt from The Queen of Last Hopes

Since my new editor at Sourcebooks liked the manuscript for The Queen of Last Hopes and hasn't requested any major changes, I've placed an excerpt on my website. Hope you enjoy it! It's scheduled for publication in January 2011.

Waiting for Fall: Books I'm Craving

One of the worst things about summer, aside from the heat and the humidity, is having to wait until publishers bring out their fall books. Here are some of the ones that I'm awaiting eagerly:

Elizabeth's Women: Friends, Rivals, and Foes Who Shaped the Virgin Queen by Tracy Borman (already published in the UK; September for the US):

A source of endless fascination and speculation, the subject of countless biographies, novels, and films, Elizabeth I is now considered from a thrilling new angle...

In Which We Review a Paper Doll Book for the First Time

A couple of weeks ago on e-Bay, I came across a book called Infamous Women Paper Dolls, featuring, among other women, Margaret of Anjou. Naturally, I had to see a copy, and it arrived in my mailbox today.

Infamous Women was published in 1994 by Bellerophon Books, which has produced a number of other books in this vein, including Great Women, Henry VIII and His Wives, and Elizabeth I. The book contains a figure for each woman featured and an extra outfit to dress her in, along with a brief bio...

Light Bulbs Redux: Lancastrians, Yorkists, and the Rest of the Gang

What can I say? It's as if a light bulb went off in my head last night. Here are some historical light bulb jokes:

How many Lancastrians does it take to change a light bulb? Seventeen--twelve to take shifts changing the light bulb, two to hide the Keeper of the Light Bulbs from the wrath of Queen Margaret, two to conceal the queen's Beaufort lover of the moment in the wardrobe while the light bulb is being changed, and one to reassure King Henry that the new light bulb will not be used to help...

How Many Historical Novelists Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?

How many historical novelists does it take to change a light bulb? A shocking 21, it turns out:

One to screw in the light bulb.

One to complain that the new light bulb is too dim for reading.

One to complain that the new light bulb is too bright for reading.

One to say that it's just right.

One to ask about how homes were illuminated in the (say) fourteenth century.

One to supply a list of references.

One to say that the list of references supplied is all wrong, and that he or she has better referen...

The Stoner Letters and Papers

In the always commendable spirit of making history more accessible, here's a letter from June 21, 1483, in two versions: The Stonor Letters and Papers and The Stoner Letters and Papers.

As reproduced by Charles Kingsford in The Stonor Letters and Papers:

SIMON STALLWORTH TO SIR WILLIAM STONOR

Worschipfull Sir, I commend me to you, and for tydynges I hold you happy that ye ar oute of the prese, for with huse is myche trobull, and every manne dowtes other. As on Fryday last was the lord Chamberley...

Margaret of Anjou's Supposed Lovers

Leaving aside the question of the paternity of Edward of Lancaster (as we've seen, there's no proof that anyone other than Henry VI was the boy's father), what of the various men that popular historians have romantically linked with Margaret of Anjou?

Bertram Fields in his book Royal Blood, a defense of Richard III, baldly asserts that Margaret "had been known for years to have dallied with her favorites, notably the dukes of Suffolk and Somerset." Like too many admirers of Richard III, Field...

Jane Stonor, Daughter of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk

When William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, was murdered in 1450, he left behind a son, John de la Pole. He also left behind an illegitimate daughter: Jane, who married Thomas Stonor.

Jane has the unfortunate distinction of having her conception discussed in Parliament. In 1450, England's losses in France had made Suffolk the most hated man in the realm, and he was impeached in January of that year. In response to his answer to the charges against him, his accusers prepared a reply, which survi...

The Last Will and Testament of Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers

Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, brother of Queen Elizabeth Woodville, was executed on orders of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, soon to be Richard III, at Pontefract Castle on June 25, 1483, having made his will at Sheriff Hutton Castle on June 23, 1483. The will is printed in Excerpta Historica, or, Illustrations of English History (Samuel Bentley, editor).

It has been claimed, falsely, that Anthony named Richard III one of the executors of his will; in fact, as the will plainly shows, Anthony a...