Introductions

[Elizabeth]

Hi my name is Elizabeth. I live on a farm in IL, with my three siblings, two goats, a dog, and four cats and five mice not to count the numerous chickens and geese. I am homeschooled by my loving parents and two of my greatest interests are medical herbs and the medieval ages. I also enjoys reading, drawing, sewing, spinning, farm animals and playing the piano.

[Robin]

Hi Elizabeth, I live in IL too; we just moved into town from our farm. I'm curious to know which animals(s) are your favorites. :) Have you ever read the Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters?

Welcome - I'm glad you're here! :)

[Elizabeth]

Hey Robin glad to meet you, what town did you move to?

I really like the goats, my family calls them my goats. And no I haven't read that series, but I'll go put a hold on it from my library.

[Elizabeth]

Arg!!! My library has all the books exept the first one.

[Robin]

We moved to Hillsboro (it's about 50 miles south of Springfield.) And if you can't get the first book till later, don't worry too much about it. The second in the series is still a pretty good intro.

Goats, huh? Are they both nannies, billies, or one of each?

[Elizabeth]

Cool, you about four hours from Lake Zurich, where I live. Ok I'll put the second one on hold.

It's a doe and buck (boy and girl). I'm milking the girl right now. We've made cheese from it.

[Laure]

Hi! I'm Laure, from Tacoma, Washington. I'm a writer and artist and currently studying illustration. I've always loved history, anything from the American west to prehistoric times, but my favorite is Irish, English and Scottish history.

I am a huge fan of Robin Hood - the legends, the tv show, books, the disney movie, etc. I'm reading all the Robin books I can get my hands on and loving it. And branching out from there to more medieval books. My English history knowledge is somewhat limited if you go past the traditional Robin Hood scenerio, but I'm working on improving that and would love recommendations.

Nice to meet you all! Happy reading!

[Misfit]

Hi Laure, you are just south of me, I like in the Kent valley. Welcome.

[Owen]

Hi Laure, welcome to the history freak clan. One question from a personal point of view - what is wrong with Welsh history? I would definitely recomment the Sharon Penman Trilogy about the Welsh Princes, titles: Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, and The Reckoning. Also, a book I have recently acquired and loved is To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick. Any books by these two ladies are worth reading as they rank highly in the field of Medieval writers. As far as legends are concerned, Persia Woolley's Guinevere Trilogy which is a different take on the King Arthur story is also well worth a read.
Best Wishes and happy reading.

[Laure]

Misfit wrote: "Hi Laure, you are just south of me, I like in the Kent valley. Welcome."

Thanks for the welcome. Always nice to meet another soggy washingtonian, lol. So it is rainy, sunny or snowing at your place today? I think it's been all three here. Gotta love spring in the northwest.

[Laure]

Owen wrote: "Hi Laure, welcome to the history freak clan. One question from a personal point of view - what is wrong with Welsh history? I would definitely recomment the Sharon Penman Trilogy about the Welsh Pr..."

Not a thing wrong with Wales, I just haven't run into it much. I know I read part of the mabinogion in a mythology class years ago, but just haven't come across a lot of welsh stories. Although I do love the corgi dogs developed there, nothing cuter on earth, lol. Actually, I'm reading Lawhead's King Raven trilogy, so I'm learning a lot more about the country and have enjoyed it quite a bit.

I have just started reading Chadwick, her novels on William Marshal and I know I'll be working my way through her backlist as quickly as I can.

I haven't had the chance to read Penman yet, but I do have While Christ and His Saints Slept high in my tbr mountain. I've been told I'll love Here Be Dragons as well and look forward to it.

I do enjoy a good King Arthur story, too. Not as much as darling Robin Hood, lol, but still good. I haven't tried Woolley yet. I'll have to add her to the list to look up soon. So many books, so little time!

[Misfit]

Thanks for the welcome. Always nice to meet another soggy washingtonian, lol. So it is rainy, sunny or s..."

Dry this morning but cold. I do believe there is frost on the windshield waiting to be scraped when I leave for work :/

[Owen]

Laure, Here Be Dragons is my favourite book of all, probably because most of the action takes place in and around where I grew up in North Wales. All of Sharon's books are excellent because her research is so thorough.
Regards

[Shannon]

Love The Welsh Prince Trilogy. I think I may have liked Falls the Shadow the best. I know most liked Here be Dragons the best but I really liked Simon. I am currently reading The Greatest Knight which is neat to see peoples lives intertwine.

[Nicole]

Hi everyone! I just joined. I love everything medieval - hubby and I even had a Renaissance themed wedding! We try to go to the local Ren faire every year.

I love to read medieval books, especially medieval fantasy. I also am an author and write medieval fantasy as well as other genres.

[Misfit]

Hi Nicole, nice to see a new face. It's been quiet here but feel free to stir the pot.

[Owen]

Just read Times Legacy by Barbara Erskine. I normally buy her books as soon as they are published as I do with Sharon Penman and Elizabeth Chadwick, but this one obviously had slipped through the net. As expected in any book of Barbara's there is the mix of historical, mystical and paranormal which she seems to pull off so well time after time. If it ain't broke - don't fix it! These three ladies are far and away the leading lights in historical novels. Sharon and Elizabeth for their research and accuracy when dealing with real characters from the past, and Barbara for her different approach to history which is so entertaining and gripping. Times Legacy is based on the legend that Jesus visited the UK during the "lost" years of his life between his bar Mitzvah and his ministry and is well worth a read.

[Misfit]

I have to space out Erskine, too many all at once and I get burned out. I really did like Child of the Phoenix, even with a hard start (I was a bit ticked at how Joanna was portrayed at first). Then I just forced myself to remember it's fiction and kicked back and enjoyed the story.

[Owen]

You want historical accuracy and hard facts, Sharon and Elizabeth do it in style. You want historical entertainment Barbara is your lady. You want shallow inaccuracy which only skims the surface, try Plaidy. Edith Pargeter in her day turned out entertaining novels, and her "Princes" project, considering when it was written, with no access to the internet, is well presented.

[Misfit]

I've not had the best of luck with Plaidy, and agree 100% about Sharon and EC, they're the best. Erskine is good, and thank heavens she doesn't go around claiming her books are historically accurate. She just takes bits here and there and runs with it, and those I'm fine with. I just loathe the *fluff* that's being promoted these days as historical fiction.

[Owen]

Without going into detail or mentioning other names I'm with you all the way. Some of the "Historical novels" being written are virtually historical pornography or so inaccurate in content that they are almost totally fiction using real characters' names. There are a number of authors out there who write for sensationalism, and wind up in the realms of fantasy.

[Owen]

I think the biggest gaffe of Plaidy's was having Eleanor having an affair with Saladin in The Plantagenet Prelude, when he would have been about 12 years old when she was in the Holy Land with Saint Louis.

[Misfit]

Owen wrote: "I think the biggest gaffe of Plaidy's was having Eleanor having an affair with Saladin in The Plantagenet Prelude, when he would have been about 12 years old when she was in the Holy Land with Sain..."

I've heard she also had Stephen and Matilda having an affair, but that's something I heard second hand. Alan Savage had the Saladin affair as well in her godawful Eleanor of Aquitaine. Talk about *cough* historical *cough* entertainments.

[Debye]

Hey everyone,
My name is Debye & I'm a librarian in TX. I love All Things Medieval so this group is a great fit. SKP, EC,
BE are all among my favorites. I look forward to many interesting discussions!

[Misfit]

Hi Debye.

[Owen]

Hi Debye, Welcome to the clan. I share wholeheartedly the same three favourites.

[[deleted user]]

Hi, I'm Andy. I've been interested in the Medieval period for quite a while. I've read a number of books set in the period, especially Ellis Peters, Paul Doherty and others.

Now I tend to read more accademic books especially about religion in that period. I'm just fascinated in what people believed and why.

[Owen]

For the most part, Andy, in those days, the Church taught, the Church interpreted, the Church instructed. In other words, the Church ruled. The people believed what the Church told them, mainly because most of them were unable to read, the scriptures were in Latin, and every monk, priest, Cardinal, Bishop, Archbishop and Pope presented their own personal interpretation, regardless of the relevance thereof.

[[deleted user]]

Rather a simplified statement. Marriage Litigation in Medieval England demonstrates that marriage, though the Church wanted it to be religious right held in the church was more often than not a simple pledging to two people to each other, sometimes before witnesses, sometimes not. This lead often to legal battles over if people were married or not. This indicates a lack of concern with the churches teachings.
In the early days also Christianity had to deal with kings with multiple wives, married priests, the continuation of old beliefs in pagan superstition and wise women.
Some of these beliefs carried on, despite Christianity, up to recent times.

[Owen]

Which is the point I was making. The Church interpreted to suit itself.

[[deleted user]]

My point is the church was not the overall power it is made out to be. The image of the locals being blindly obedient to the church is at odds with the facts. The church might have wanted to rule but had to bend to accomodate pre existing beliefs and practices. Oh, and what do you meen by the "Church"?
Given that appointments to bishopricks and the heads of both male and female religious orders was often in the hands of the secular authorities there was a large amount of secular control of the "Church". It was not unknown for secular Abbots to be apointed to govern monastries. The "Abbot" got to control the wealth while the abbey suffered from lack of funding. This even reached right up to the level of the popes with secular authorities forcing their choice on the papacy. In some cases the pope was ordained a priest and made pope the same day.
Given that the Church wrote the history I'd suspect that they had even less control than one might guess by reading historic text.

[Owen]

Fair enough Andy. I was referring to the Church of Rome, and the fact that pre-reformation even Kings had to obtain dispensations for marriages and divorces etc. and that the local clergy tended to give their interpretation of the scriptures to the common people. The fact that relics and dispensations could be bought contributed to the wealth of the Church, which apart from his wish to divorce Katherine and marry Anne Boleyne, was a great spur for Henry to get his hands on considerable riches. I tend to be more into the Plantagenet period, and the influence of the Church being such that Becket felt he could defy Henry II with impunity, and that John even placed his realm in the guardianship of the Church for political gain. The Church, be it run by ordained or secular authorities, exploited the superstition of the common people, and in many cases the nobility too, by threatening their immortal souls with excommunication or even placing a whole country under interdict.

[Nicole]

Hi, I'm Queen Lucy The Valiant but you can just call me Lucy or Queen Lucy. I love reading, horse-back riding, learning about the Middle Ages, playing piano, sewing, and being outside.

[Bryn]

Hello. I'm way medieval, always have been. From novels on medieval times to the original works from medieval times, which I'm into in a big way too. And... from the Norse to the Mongol world, both particular interests of mine.

I'd like to know more medieval languages: I mean, I'd kill to know Old Norse and several forms of Turkish. But I'm not much cop at languages. I did manage Anglo-Saxon and can read Beowulf, with constant consultation of the glossary.

Spent years of my life on a translation of Beowulf, that's in the bottom drawer. Nowadays writing fic on the Mongols.

Whatever, it always seems to be medieval.

[Jeffrey]

Hi, everyone! I just recently found Goodreads and am delighted.

For so many years I've been an avid reader of historical non-fiction, particularly from the Victorian era concerning the spiritualism movement. However, my current favorite is the medieval period - 12th century through Tudor times - and recently took a dive into the fictional side of it. I LOVE IT.

Now I'm trying to find all the tales I can that take place in the Middle Ages, particularly those that emphasize a character overcoming incredible odds (finding their strength, light over darkness, etc.). Bonus if the narrative can do it without a constant need for brutal combat and bloodshed, or melodramatic romance. Since I'm just getting into this area of fiction, if anyone can recommend authors or books you know that might fit the bill, please pass along -- I'd be very grateful ;)

Happy reading!