Two of history's more intriguing men
October 2nd is an important date on the Penman calendar. On this date in 1187, the city of Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin after Balian d’Ibelin convinced him to agree to a peaceful takeover rather than to take the city by storm as he’d vowed to do—vengeance for the blood bath staged by the men of the First Crusade when they captured Jerusalem in 1099. Balian saved thousands of lives and spared thousands from slavery when he persuaded Saladin to allow the people to ransom themselves; he also contributed greatly to Saladin’s reputation by keeping the sultan from carrying out that blood-vow. Had Saladin massacred the city’s inhabitants, it is unlikely that his legend would have burned so brightly, for one of the aspects of that legend was his generosity to fallen foes. Balian really deserves considerable credit for what he accomplished via pleading and threats, but history has generally ignored him. Well, he did attract the notice of Ridley Scott, but the director did him no favor, transforming one of the most powerful lords of Outremer into an illegitimate French blacksmith.
October 2nd is also the birthday of a man dear to many of our hearts---the future Richard III was born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle, better known as the site of Mary, Queen of Scots’ execution—at least to non-Yorkists.
I am actually writing this post tonight (October 1st) for we are getting a nasty storm tomorrow and they are warning of widespread loss of power. And this is not even Joaquin! Good luck to all my friends and readers on the water-logged East Coast this weekend.
PS It is now Friday and it looks as if Joaquin will be heading out to sea—a huge break for those of us already dealing with bad flooding.
October 2nd is also the birthday of a man dear to many of our hearts---the future Richard III was born in 1452 at Fotheringhay Castle, better known as the site of Mary, Queen of Scots’ execution—at least to non-Yorkists.
I am actually writing this post tonight (October 1st) for we are getting a nasty storm tomorrow and they are warning of widespread loss of power. And this is not even Joaquin! Good luck to all my friends and readers on the water-logged East Coast this weekend.
PS It is now Friday and it looks as if Joaquin will be heading out to sea—a huge break for those of us already dealing with bad flooding.
date
newest »
newest »
Transforming Balian into an illegitimate blacksmith is less of a disservice to him, IMO, and more of a disservice to realism and plausibility of the movie.
I doubt that he'd have been thrilled about it, though, Ivana.:-) The film was visually a triumph, a treat for the eyes, but in terms of credibility, it falls into the Braveheart category. Balian's real story was interesting enough in its own right, didn't need to be totally fictionalized. But then I'm never going to be a hugely successful director, so I doubt my opinion would matter much to the powers-that=be.
Sharon Kay Penman's Blog
- Sharon Kay Penman's profile
- 4037 followers
Sharon Kay Penman isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
Here in my part of the world, summer has come early(Argh!) temps will be in the 90's.....I hope you & your neighbours keep safe Sharon and that all will turn out well....Unfortunately the weather is a tempestuous creature which no one can control....Otherwise I'd have it forever winter:D