Scott Fitzgerald and Eleanor of Aquitaine

It seems to be “feast or famine” with my Today in Medieval History notes. September 24th was not just a slow day, it was a total non-starter. Well, in 1180, Manuel Comnenus, the Byzantine emperor (called the empire of the Greeks in Lionheart since “Byzantine” was coined later) died. He was a very important ruler in Byzantine history and he does have a tenuous connection to my books, for his young son wed Agnes, the even younger daughter of Eleanor’s former husband, Louis VII. Thankfully both Manuel and Louis were dead when the lives of these youngsters came to such grief—Overthrown in a palace coup, the boy was murdered and Agnes was compelled to wed his murderer.
But that is all I could come up with for September 24th in the MA. The date was the birthday, though, of a celebrated American novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on this date in 1896. He is best known for his novel The Great Gatsby, of course, and for his Paris sojourn in the 1920s with his wife Zelda and other expat writers, including Ernest Hemingway. A very talented writer, he was not as impressive when it came to social commentary. His claim that “There are no second acts in American life” could not be more off-base. We thrive on second acts here, and third and fourth acts. Although I have to say that the most awesome second act belongs to a former queen of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who not only gained another crown in her own second act but founded a dynasty that would last for 300 years. Okay….it took a bit of doing, but I managed to connect F. Scott Fitzgerald to the MA!