Richard forgets to duck
A quick escape from the deadline doldrums to report that on January 18th, 1486, Henry Tudor wed Elizabeth of York.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the medieval one, of course, Richard suffers what may be his first ever military defeat, so of course the English chroniclers don’t even mention it! He then gets shot by a crossbow (no, not the one you’re thinking of) so all in all, he is not having a good summer.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the medieval one, of course, Richard suffers what may be his first ever military defeat, so of course the English chroniclers don’t even mention it! He then gets shot by a crossbow (no, not the one you’re thinking of) so all in all, he is not having a good summer.
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David
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Jan 18, 2013 11:20AM
I sent you a note, but you must not have seen it. I finished the death scene of King John. It was excellent (at least he is related to Richard so a tad of relevance here). His death was by dysentary, correct? Secondly, I loved the part about the river and bogs. I actually cared he died. How much literay license did you use for the ending of his life?
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I finished the Reckoning. A great book.
I don't think I did, David; could you resend? The literary license was with the dialogue, his cracking jokes about "auctioning off the best parts" and saying he always knew he'd die alone. His last words were not recorded; sadly,they rarely are. Dysentery was a deadly killer in the MA; there wer two variants, one of them highly contagious. It could sweep through an army camp like the plague. The German emperor Heinrich had to abandon his siege of Naples in 1191 because of a dysentery outbreak, which was called the "bloody flux" in the MA. Heinrich almost died of it himself--if only! In Devil's Brood, Henry II's eldest son and namesake died of it, and since I gave Hal an entire chapter for his death scene, I go into the symptoms in gruesome detail!
I need to get busy reading! Eleanor of Aquitaine is my all time favorite queen, hands down. I own a copy of your book, "When Christ and his Saints Slept." I will add to my collection of yours on the Plantagenet line, as I have noticed by your posts, that you have your history "spot on."
Thanks for the answer, Sharon. The message was about the same. To Marilyn, the story of Stephen is so very well done by the Sharon. Still one of my favorites.
I love writing about Eleanor, Marilyn. She has appeared briefly in my second novel, Here Be Dragons, and then had a starring role in my Angevin quintet, Saints, Time and Chance, Devil's Brood, Lionheart, and the one I'm working on now, A King's Ransom. Oh, and she is also a major character in my four medieval mysteries. Great fun to write about.
thanks, David. Saints is one of my favorites, too, though I'm never sure if writers should admit that!
Thank you for the heads up, Sharon! I will add your new books to my library, I never tire of reading books on the British Monarchy. My youngest grandson picked up on that, when he was about 6 years old. My daughter Mary also shares my interest, but do no share favorites...which makes comparing notes far more interesting. I also have a dear friend Therese, who reads many of the same books as I do. I really cherish our discussions on the books we have read.
I agree, Marilyn. It is so much fun to discuss books that we enjoy. I do not understand how so many people can go through life without even opening a book. They are missing so much!
I can not speak for anyone other than myself, but I think it is sad to deny themselves the wonderful adventures, places, and amazing people we meet in books! I can say that the more I read, the more I want to absorb. I thank you Sharon, for providing such treasures to those of us who love to read.
To David, thank you, for your heads up! I will of course add all of Sharon's books to my to read list.
Yeah, Sharon makes me get attached to everyone and even feel for those ones who have no future because of their parents' actions
Imagine how hard it is to write aboout then, Gabriel. The good guys didn't often get to win in the MA, rarely died peacefully in bed, and usually by the end of one of my books,the landscape is littered with bodies.
To Gabriel, I agree with you, although all I have read yet of Sharon's are her posts, however, one of her books is next in line, and it just so happens to be her favorite. I am so looking forward to actually beginning my adventure via Sharon. :-)
I have her other books in my collection. I am now trying to convince my wife to read them even though we have different tastes in books. She likes the character development and Sharon does a great job.
Thanks, Gabriel! You mean Here be Dragons, Marilyn? There are a few things I would change if I could go back in time and do a bit of rewriting, for it was published thirty years ago. Nothing major, but there have been some new discoveries in the intervening decades. And I would love to rewrite the brief scene involving John's brother the Lionheart so I'd not have to keep explaining to my readers who write to ask me why Richard is gay in Dragons and not in Devil's Brood! Dragons was only my second book and I was still learning my craft. Since Richard was such a minor character in Dragons, only in two scenes, I did no real research about him. I've since become much more obsessive-compulsive about my research, for better or worse. When I later began to do serious research about Richard for Devil's Brood, I discovered that there was no evidence he preferred men to women as bed partners and some evidence to the contrary. Most people don't know that this view of Richard was first argued in 1948. So I am paying the price for not being more conscientious about my Dragons research, having to answer lots of undertandably curious readers. But the Lion in Winter still remains one of my favorite films, even if it is not all that historically accurate. I will happily suspend disbelief for two hours any time to watch Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn shine.
Oh goodnness Sharon, I did not pay proper attention to your blogs. I am sorry! Yes, I did mean Here be Dragons. I do not own that book yet, but I will keep in mind what you said about the minor role of Richard. I too love the move, the Lion in Winter, I own both the version with Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, and the one with Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close, and a young Jonathan Rhys-Meyer. I never tire of those movies! I know that they are not 100 percent historically accurate. But, you are right in that up until fairly recently it was thought that Richard might have chosen men over women, or at the very least slept with both. As I delve into the lives of these amazing people, I have reached a point that I choose books written after exhaustive research has been done. I know I tend to be obsessive about knowing what is historically correct.
I also can not learn enough about Lady Jane Grey. Sadly, she seems to be but a mere footnote, if mentioned at all in books written about the 1550's. I did find a jewel of a book, written by Eric Ives. He did an quite a bit of research on Jane, and even uncovered some little known information concerning her right to the Tudor throne, which is fascinating. I own the movie Lady Jane, starring Helena Bonham Carter, and Patrick Stewart. I know it is not 100 percent historically correct, however it is worth the time spent watching it. It never fails to make me cry.
As far as you paying the price with the part of Richard not being 100 percent, in Here be Dragons, don't beat yourself up on that. Most of us did not know that there was no proof, as of 1948, that he was not gay.
You are so right about Peter O'Tolle, and Katherine Hepburn in the Lion in Winter....they did shine!
I also can not learn enough about Lady Jane Grey. Sadly, she seems to be but a mere footnote, if mentioned at all in books written about the 1550's. I did find a jewel of a book, written by Eric Ives. He did an quite a bit of research on Jane, and even uncovered some little known information concerning her right to the Tudor throne, which is fascinating. I own the movie Lady Jane, starring Helena Bonham Carter, and Patrick Stewart. I know it is not 100 percent historically correct, however it is worth the time spent watching it. It never fails to make me cry.
As far as you paying the price with the part of Richard not being 100 percent, in Here be Dragons, don't beat yourself up on that. Most of us did not know that there was no proof, as of 1948, that he was not gay.
You are so right about Peter O'Tolle, and Katherine Hepburn in the Lion in Winter....they did shine!
Marilyn, you might like to read Susan Higgenbotham's novel about Jane Grey; it just came out in June. I haven't read it myself, for I have no time for pleasure reading until I finish A King's Ransom (sob). But like you, I find Jane to be a very interesting figure, tragic, really.
I am finishing up Here Be Dragons. (on page 532 of 701). I bogged down in the middle, but got fired up after I read a book about Billy the Kid (weird, eh). I had always believed that Richard was gay. Interesting to discover that it first came up in 1948. You have to wonder if the few actual historians of the time would have broached the subject considering his reputation as a fierce warrior and great Crusader. What I do like about "Here be Dragons" the most though is the history of the Welsh.
Sharon, I will look for Susan Higgenbotham's novel about Jane. I have no idea ( sobbing also) when I will get around to reading it, since I have so many in line. I will look it up, and add it as a want to read. Thank you, for the heads up on that one. Yes, Janes story is indeed a tragic one. I find it difficult to like Mary Tudor these days.
One reason that Dragons is my favorite book, David, is that it began my love affair with Wales. Dragons was supposed to be the story of King John and his daughter joanna. When I moved to Wales to research the book, it took only a fortnight for Llywelyn to steal the book right out from under John's nose. And not satisfied with that, he persuaded me to do a trilogy about the Welsh princes.Actually, the chroniclers in the MA were not shy about accusing kings of mortal sins. They ranted about what they saw as the sinful nature of William Rufus's court and were just as outspoken about Edward II. If Richard were gay or bi, he must have been remarkably discreet about it since there was not even a hint of it in the chronicles; the two chroniclers who accompanied him on crusade believed that he'd long carried a torch for Berengaria of Navarre, even calling her his 'beloved'. I personally doubt that, for I don't think Richard had a romantic bone in his body! But it does show they believed his sexual inclinations were, as his major biographer put it, "conventional" I'd already become skeptical of the gay claim by the time I was writing Devil's Brood but my research for lionheart convinced me. I hadn't realized the intensity of the hatred between Richard and the French king. The French chroniclers accused him of complicity in the assassination of Conrad of Montferrat, of poisoning the Duke of Burgundy, of hiring Muslim Assassins to seek out the French king in Paris and murder him, of betraying Christendom by making peace with Saladin. If they could have accused him of what would have been a mortal sin in the MA, they'd have jumped at the chance! For historians, I think Richard's sexuality is irrelevant, since it would matter only if he'd had favorites, like Edward II. He did not. But as a novelist, of course, a character's sexuality is always in play!
As always you are a delight. Don't forget to recommend a great novel about a Pope of that time when Richard let's you have a spare moment.
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