Much Ado about (Sea)Horses

My sister is getting married tomorrow, and the theme of the wedding is seahorses! I was due to have a post up on English Historical Fiction Authors the same day. It seemed a little too challenging to tie in seahorses with my period of interest, the Middle Ages, but regular, old horses of the land variety tied in quite nicely. Head on over to EHFA if you'd like to hear just how expensive those medieval horses were. If you were a peasant, the cheapest warhorse might have been twice as much as your annual salary....

I know, I know--not romantic at all. On to another topic. Happy wedding day (tomorrow), Ange! Glad you found your knight in shining armor (literally).

Persecuted by Christians but Protected by the Church? Jews in the Middle Ages

People's Crusade attacking the Jews

One thing I unearthed during my research on the First Crusade was the schizophrenia in Christian views regarding the Jews. On the one hand we have the People's Crusade spreading a path of havoc through the Rhineland, killing all the Jews they could find since the Jews killed Christ. On the other hand we have the bishops from those same cities in the Rhineland standing up against the Crusaders and condemning their actions. On the one hand we have regional robber barons like Count Emico declaring that, "Anyone who kills a Jew will have his sins forgiven." On the other hand we have popes like Alexander II declaring that the lives and property of the Jews are not to be harmed.

Today on English Historical Fiction Authors I write about the Church's role in the medieval persecution of the Jews...not exactly what popular history might lead you to believe....

The Romance of Commerce: Medieval England and the County of Flanders

My post on English Historical Fiction Authors got somewhat out of hand this month. I started with a princess locked up in a tower until her knight in shining armor came and rescued her. I ended with a discussion of the wool trade in England and the trade route with Flanders. The two things fit together. I promise.

If you'd like to know how, click on over to English Historical Fiction Authors, and while you're there, you can find out what exactly is going on in this picture....

Three Arguments concerning Richard the Lionheart

Now is the winter of our discontent....

Actually, I just wanted to say that line because I like it, not because it has anything to do with this blog post. Although, it has been a very bad winter (and now spring) for sickness around here! Cold, flu, cold, flu, over and over again. We're still finishing up a bout of the former right now.

I didn't get an EHFA post up in March, due to all the health drama, but today I break my blog silence with a post on "Was Richard the Lionheart a Homosexual?" There are three standard arguments to "prove" that he was. I address them each in turn. Click on over and a have a read if you like.... :-)

A Fashionable Phony: The Diary of Cleone Knox

March 3rd   

This morning had a vastly unpleasant interview with my Father. Last night, Mr. Ancaster, who is the indescreetest young man alive, was seized suddenly while riding home along the shore with the desire to say good night to me. He climbed the wall, the postern gate being locked at the late hour, and had the Boldness to attempt to climb the ivy below my window; while but half way up the Poor Impudent young man fell. (If he hadn’t, Lord knows what would have happened, for I am terribly catched by the Handsome Wretch.) As ill luck would have it, Papa and Ned, who were conversing in the library, looked out at the moment and saw him lying Prostrate on the ground!  

No need to describe the scene that followed....

Interested in reading more of this 18th century diary by Cleone Knox? Interested in finding out why she's a phony? You can read more at my post over at English Historical Fiction Authors.

A Gainsborough portrait of a fashionable lady
from the same era as Cleone Knox

King Alfred "Wins His Spurs"

The youngest of five brothers, Alfred was an unlikely candidate to ever become king of Wessex. But when the Danish invaders kept leaving Wessex without a ruler, he assumed the crown at 22 years of age. That year, 871, was also the first year where he won a pitched battle, the Battle of Ashdown. 

Today at English Historical Fiction Authors I describe that battle and how Alfred won his spurs, so to speak, against the Viking hordes.

...Æthelred, being the king, was to engage the Danish kings. Alfred would engage the part of the Danish army led by the earls. Merkle notes that with Alfred’s lack of military experience and with the disaster at Reading fresh on everyone’s minds, “he had little to commend himself to the men of Wessex who were now expected to follow him up the soon-to-be-bloodied slope of Ashdown"... (read more)

If Not for the Hundred Years' War, Would Shakespeare Have Written in French?

Today, over at the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, I take a short look at what prompted the change from the use of French to the use of English as the "proper" language in England.

The St. Crispin’s Day speech, written by Shakespeare and placed in the mouth of King Henry V, contains some of the most stirring phrases in the English language. Yet, interestingly enough, that very language might not have been what spilled from Shakespeare’s pen had the Hundred Years’ War not been fought.... (read more)

And speaking of English, here's a shameless plug for a book written by English Historical Fiction Authors...not all of them English themselves, but instead, people from all over the world who write English Historical Fiction. I have a few essays in there myself--fun stuff about Bede, William the Conqueror, and the Black Plague.

Elizabeth Chadwick calls it recommended "leisure reading for any history fan." If you're looking for that hard to buy person on your Christmas list, this book might be just the ticket. :-)

Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors

A Knight's Tale, England, and a Prejudiced Pope

Today I discuss the phrase, "The pope may be French, but Jesus is English," from the movie A Knight's Tale. It's a line that hints at great animosity between England and the papacy during the 14th century. What was the real state of affairs? Find out at English Historical Fiction Authors....

Too Busy to Write about the "Massacre" at Limoges...

I was supposed to have a post up on the English Historical Fiction Authors blog on the 9th, but...well, things happened (see picture below), and I didn't make my deadline.

Hugh Franklin Spears, born October 2, 2013

Debbie Brown, the fearless leader of the EHFA blog and editor of Castles, Customs, and Kings, graciously traded posting dates with me, which gave me two more weeks to write up my piece on the massacre at Limoges, an event that, at face value, makes it difficult +to portray the Black Prince as a romantic hero. How did I reconcile that atrocity with my portrayal of the prince in I Serve? Find out on today's post over at EHFA....

Think *You're* Busy? Check Out the Duties of a Dead Medieval Saint....

Today I get to blog over at English Historical Fiction Authors about Thomas Becket and the not-so-peaceful afterlife for medieval saints who were expected to be constant intercessors between the faithful and Christ. Head on over and have a read if you're so inclined....

* * *

And in other news, the final cover for Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors made its way into my inbox yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous? And I love the quote by Elizabeth Chadwick in the top corner. Release date is September 23!

Castles, Customs, and Kings: Goodreads Giveaway

Where have I been for the last three weeks? (Or is it the last eight months?) Reading history essays for an anthology that Madison Street Publishing is putting out next month.

One more week till the final proofreading deadline for Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors. Then it will go back to the book designer for finishing touches and be released on September 23. This is the longest book we've published so far at Madison Street Publishing, well over 500 pages. It's also been a challenging project, coordinating text edits from 50+ authors.

But despite the challenges--or perhaps because of them--this book is shaping up to be one of the most exciting items in our catalog. The cover is beautiful, the essays are a history-lover's dream, and if you don't treat yourself to an early Christmas present on September 23...well, let's just say you will be missing out. :-)

We're running a giveaway of two copies of the book on Goodreads for the month leading up to the release. Feel free to enter and spread the word!

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          Castles, Customs, and Kings
     
     

          by Debra  Brown
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends September 23, 2013.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

      Enter to win

How a Legend Became History: Brutus of Troy and the Birth of Britain

Today I get to talk about some history that almost assuredly didn't happen over at English Historical Fiction Authors. Did one of the survivors of the Trojan War go on to found Britain? That's what medieval historians claimed....

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If you’re an ancient Greek, you have wrathful Achilles, the “swift-footed son of Peleus” who defeats Priam’s mighty son Hector and paves the way for the eventual destruction of Troy. Or if guile is more your style, you have Odysseus, the resourceful hero who wanders the world for ten years on his homeward voyage, braving Cyclops, Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, before slaying the scores of suitors ensconced in his own halls.

If you’re an imperial Roman, you have Aeneas, striding proudly out of the flames of Troy, escaping the wiles of Dido of Carthage and carving out a new home in Italy.

But if you’re British and living in the ninth century A.D., you have…nothing. And frankly, it’s kind of embarrassing. Or, at least, it was to the historian Nennius.... (read more) 

A How-To Manual for Sainthood?

Well, how did one become a saint in the high Middle Ages? I'm sure it's been a pressing question on your mind.

Today, over at English Historical Fiction Authors I look at the requirements that Thomas Becket had to fulfill in order to become a saint--they might be a little bit more stringent than you had previously imagined....

The Mirror of Christian Kings--and His Interest in Music

It was going to go up Wednesday, but things got switched around a bit, and so my post about "Henry V: King, Conqueror, and...Musician?" is up today on English Historical Fiction Authors. You know that he beat the French at the battle of Agincourt, but did you know that that victory opened up the way for England to become a world-leader in music? I'd love it if you would head over there and read it and give me your thoughts.

What Makes a King Great?: The Law Code of King Alfred

I've been reading up on King Alfred lately. It's research...but not for a novel. It's actually in preparation for a play that I'm hoping to write (collaboratively) to be performed at one of our church festivals in the fall. And since I've been focusing on Alfred, I decided to make that research do double duty for my monthly blog post over at English Historical Fiction Authors.

If you'd like to learn a little more about the only English monarch who has ever received the title "the Great," head on over and read my post "Alfred the Great and the Importance of the Oath." It's all about the foundations of English law, and Beowulf gets a mention or two, just for kicks.

Typology in History

So, I know what you're thinking: "You never post on this blog anymore except to tell us that you've posted something else on another blog." Sadly, that does seem to be the case. I have the privilege of posting monthly over at the English Historical Fiction Authors blog, and while I often neglect my own site, I am quite diligent to write up regular historical essays for EHFA.

This month I am talking about typology over at that other place I blog--about how the bishop Germanus woke from sleep to calm the wind and the waves, and how the people of England threw down their coats in front of Thomas Becket and shouted "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" Both of them are "types" of Christ, doncha know? Or, at least, that's what the medieval historians thought. You can go here to read more about it.

Sticking up for Thomas Becket

The Murder of Thomas Becket

Today I have a post up on English Historical Fiction Authors. Last month, I got to talk about Anselm, the archbishop who defied two kings. This month, I turn my attention to a more famous conflict between archbishop and monarch--Thomas Becket and his fight with Henry II.

The subject I 'm specifically addressing is the Case of the Criminous Clerks. Over the centuries, Thomas Becket has taken a lot of heat for his stance on this, his argument that churchmen, even if they commit murder, can only be punished by the Church and not by the State. I try to look at the issue in its context, providing a little more sympathy for the archbishop, although not complete agreement.... (read the article!)

Thomas Becket's Hero?: Anselm of Canterbury

Today, I get to post over at English Historical Fiction Authors about the archbishop who defied a king...two kings, actually. No, it's not Thomas Becket. It's his predecessor, Anselm. One of the interesting things I discovered while researching this is that it was Thomas Becket who requested that Anselm be canonized as a saint. It certainly makes sense, given that Becket was following in Anselm's footsteps by defying royal authority and defending the power of the Church.

English Historical Fiction Authors is a fabulous blog run by Debra Brown with around forty member authors and a new historical post every day. The blog celebrated its first anniversary a few months back and Debra is compiling a book of the first year's blog posts, to be published by Madison Street Publishing. A very exciting project for us, and lots of proofreading for me to do! I'm thrilled to get to read through all the posts again and help present them in a more accessible format to readers. The release date for Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors has not yet been set, but I'll be sure to keep you posted.

The Great Debate: Eleven Norman Conquest Sources Duke It Out

Way back when, when I used to teach high school history, one of my favorite projects was the Norman Conquest Debate. I would split the class into two teams, give them a packet of primary sources, and have them prepare to argue that William or Harold was the rightful heir to the English throne. Given the chance, high schoolers can become amazingly impassioned on the subject of history. And one of the best ways to give them that chance is to let them work out history like a puzzle--to let them be a "historian" not just a "history student."

This week on English Historical Fiction Authors, I had the pleasure of doing a two-part post about the Norman Conquest. I shared eleven primary sources about the event and talked about the questions they raise. The first post, which came out yesterday, has generated quite a bit of fabulous discussion. It seems that blog readers can get just as impassioned about this subject as high schoolers. The second post was just added to the mix, but I'm afraid it adds more questions than it does conclusions. Enjoy!

"Harold made an oath to Duke William"
But what were the terms of the oath?
And was it under compulsion?

The Treasured Tapestry

When I taught high school history classes, I used to let the students borrow my books to use as sources in their research papers. All except one. I remember a student asking if he could take The Bayeux Tapestry home, a coffee table book sized volume with full color plates of the Tapestry edited by David M. Wilson, and my answer was, "Absolutely not!" Then I softened it a little. "You can look at it here in the classroom. But be careful with the pages. And don't rip the dust jacket." That same book currently sits on display on the top shelf of our living room bookshelf. It "faces out", a high mark of favor when bookshelf space is at such a premium in our house.

Today I have a post up at the English Historical Fiction Authors blog about the Bayeux Tapestry. Did you know that Aesop's Fables appear in the margin 12 times in the Tapestry? Are they just decorative or do they have some deeper commentary on the larger narrative? My post hypothesizes the latter with a detailed look at the embroiderers' use of "The Fox and the Crow." I'd love it if you'd head on over and take a look...just be careful with the dust jacket!