Laurel A. Rockefeller's Blog, page 8

The Greatest Gift. October 2024

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Good morning! Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. I hope everyone is having a good day so far. Last night I opened my cockatiels’ presents of some Planet Pleasures toys and a big bag of spray millet which they are eating for breakfast today. For myself I got a throw blanket that matches Clara’s feathers. Naturally the girls are terrified of the blanket! Yeah, life with cockatiels!

Gifts are central to many of our holiday traditions. Whatever the variant or specifics we have a buy, b...

Navidad en la Torre Blanca. Extracto del capítulo tres: La muerte de los príncipes.

Me encantan las fiestas. No solo porque nací en diciembre, sino porque la temporada está llena de luces y música. No es de extrañar entonces que en mis biografías las escenas se desarrollen en torno a la Navidad.

La siguiente escena del capítulo tres de La emperatriz Matilda de Inglaterra es probablemente mi favorita de todos los tiempos de todos mis libros. ¡Feliz Navidad!

Navidad en la Torre Blanca. Extracto del capítulo tres: La muerte de los príncipes.

“Veni, veni Emmanuel c...

Music and Lyrics for Christmas carol Personent Hodie

Good morning and happy holidays. A few days ago I shared the youtube video from “A Feast of Songs” for the 1420 Christmas carol “Gaudete,” one of the many favorites I sang when I was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Today I would like to share another favorite: Personent Hodie. Like Gaudete it’s in Latin — you expect that with medieval music. Very fun to sing.

Personae HodiePersonae Hodie

Written circa 1582.

Verse 1:

Personent hodie
voces puerulae,...

Music and lyrics for “Gaudete”

If you follow my work, you probably know that for about 20 years I was a singer in the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment society that loosely studies and practices the “best part” of the middle ages. For SCA purposes, that’s approximately from 600 CE to 1603 CE with the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth I Tudor.

Along the years I learned many medieval carols. One of my favorites to sing is a Latin carol from 1420 called “Gaudete.” It appears on the album “A Feas...

Timeline: Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine (Aliénor d’Aquitaine) is one of the most famous medieval queens in all of European history, much more famous than her equally influential mother-in-law Empress Matilda of England.

Here is the timeline appendix from my narrative biography about Eleanor.

Timeline

583; Gallo-Roman Desiderius of Aquitaine is gifted the duchy of Aquitaine by Merovingian king of the Franks, Chilperic I. Beginning of Aquitaine as an independent duchy.

987; Hugh Capet establishes the...

Una celebración de Janucá. Extracto de Hipatia de Alejandría

Hipatia de Alejandría fue una de las mayores científicas y filósofas del Egipto ptolemaico. Respetaba profundamente a sus colegas judíos y se enfrentó a los apasionados seguidores del patriarca Teófilo, dispuestos a usar la violencia contra quienes no estaban de acuerdo con ellos.

En esta escena del capítulo cinco de “Hipatia de Alejandría”, Hipatia celebra Hanukkah con sus amigos más cercanos durante una cena con una gran botella de vino y conversaciones intensas sobre política.

Una c...

Feliz navidad Catalina. Extracto de Catalina de Valois: Princesa Francesa, Matriarca De Los Tudor

Me encanta Shakespeare. Mi obra favorita siempre ha sido Enrique V. No es de extrañar, entonces, que el segundo libro que escribí para la serie Mujeres legendarias de la historia mundial fuera Catalina de Valois.

En vísperas de la guerra con Inglaterra, Catalina celebra la Navidad con su madre, la reina Isabeau de Baviera. Presenta el villancico, Veni Veni.

Feliz navidad Catalina. Extracto del capítulo uno: París

“Veni veni, Emmanuel captivum solve Israel, qui gemit in exsilio, pri...

María visita a su hijo por última vez. Extracto de María Estuardo, reina de Escocia

La pérdida de su hijo James fue una de las mayores tragedias en la vida de la reina María. Los enemigos protestantes de la corte se lo robaron para que lo criara, y María se vio obligada a abdicar del trono en favor del pequeño James. En la siguiente escena, ambientada el 24 de abril de 1567, María sostiene a su bebé por última vez.

María visita a su hijo por última vez. Extracto del capítulo 5: La pérdida del trono

“Alas my love you do me wrong to cast me off discourteously. For I...

At the Poseidium. Excerpt from chapter one of “Cleopatra VII: Egypt’s Last Pharaoh”

The Ptolemaic dynasty begun when Alexander the Great delegated rule over Egypt to his beloved general Ptolemy was turbulent — at best. It’s bejeweled capital, Alexandria, frequently experienced riots against its many rulers. When the people were not at war with Ptolemy and his descendants, they were typically at war with each other. Which is why it was the seventh queen named Cleopatra who ultimately became Egypt’s final Greek ruler.

Cleopatra VII was different from all her relatives thoug...

If you’re birdy and you know it

A cute variant of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” for parrot people. I constantly sing to my birds. This song came spontaneously when singing to Arwen. Parrots have hinged upper beaks, allowing them to both climb and to break open tough seeds and nuts. Whether you call it yawning or stretching, parrots love to open their beaks wide and stick out their tongues. When they do, it’s very cute!

Mithril preening

If you’re birdy and You Know It

by Laurel A. Rockefeller

If...