Love Of Leaves

A Year Has Passed...

2011-09-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

...since I have last posted anything in this sorry blog. I have read far too little and have thought about what I have read far too little. In reopening this blog, I am hoping for a fall of increased medieval activity passing through my brain and putting something of interest on this blog.

Edward I - British Caesar

2010-08-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

This king that was, Edward I, was a shivery king with a heart of steel and a grasp for empire. As such he forged Britain through hearty attempted conquest over native celtic peoples (Welsh, Scottish Gaels and to some extent the Irish) - through invasion, then settlement and consequently the attempted eradication of the indigenous cultures. Not pretty, the stuff of empire building. Like its component, war, it is ugly and everywhere.

I am reading Marc Morris' recent popular history "A Great and Terrible King - Edward I and the Forging of Britain". It is very sobering reading, and now I have the background for the Welsh novels of Sharon Kay Penman. This work has so far turned out to be an eye opener - as this is another period where I am a little lost and thirsty for a bit of "knowledge". Sometimes I despair at my late arrival to several eras of English history, but, with an American education and a collegiate stint at classical languages, it is only in the last few years I have been lucky enough to have the time to peer into the story of these deeply fascinating British Isles.

Back to Edward (please) - I was interested to learn of his interest in Arthur as a unifying king (or so the myth that was taken as fact at the time bore out). Geoffrey of Monmouth's flight of fantasy as it is seen now was taken as history to the thinking sorts then, and may be considered a work of propaganda. I have pulled his "History of the Kings of Britain" off my shelf, so maybe next will come a walk into a subroutine of the whole Arthur shtick. Of course, Henry VII bought into all of the Arthur magic when he so named his son.

And to think England was almost ruled by a king named Alfonso.

Civil Servant Extraordinaire

2010-07-25T16:18:00.001-07:00

Warning: This post may state the obvious. So many have waxed euphoric (or something) about this book that I really have nothing new to contribute. However, this state of reviews won't stop me from a couple of thoughts:

Two Thomases of Tudor England are set in opposition in the wondrously absorbing award winning novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - Thomas Cromwell and Thomas More. More has gotten much better press over the centuries, and it is gratifying to see a less favorable view that is very well presented. More's Chelsea comes off effete and barren compared to the Cromwell lair, Austin Friars. Though a ruthless servant of the King, Cromwell's home life is nurturing to the ones under his roof.

Getting home to that roof every day is a challenge for Cromwell, who, after the death of Cardinal Wolsey, his totally larger than life mentor, rises to become Henry VIII's top adviser, administrator, and general ear. Wolsey's fate stands in the background, however. These are the Anne Boleyn years, and Mantel's characterization of Anne is also original and different from the standard treatment of her in historical novels (at least the few I have read). Jane Seymour pokes her head in at times and is also portrayed in an interesting light.

The prose is also a bit unconventional, and though initially I thought the third person about one person clumsy, once I oriented myself to it the technique worked well. This is a work of original depth-charging insight, and well worth completing though it may seem a bit daunting at times.

Mary Well Drawn

2010-07-02T16:57:00.000-07:00

Mary, Queen of Scots - part damsel in distress, part slighted monarch, completely the prisoner who thinks deeply of escape. A sad business, the list of castle-prisons doleful and dreary, a journey from one place to another place, jailor to jailor, slowly and unfailingly towards the violent end that, by any road, couldn't be put off any longer. Alongside this slide sits an endangered and fretful Queen Elizabeth.

A Tudor/Stuart tragedy. And, as portrayed in Jean Plaidy's "The Captive Queen of Scots", so so sad. Elizabeth and Mary - bifurcated womanhood? Head and heart? A queen with a realm placed on her at a very young age vs. a queen who started as a princess with no definite future. A meeting between these two would have thematically logistically been impossible. The story would have run quite differently, methinks.

Mary is no solitary prisoner, she enjoys the continual devotion of servants and young idealistic would be rescuers. Plaidy draws them artfully, as well as she does the jailors. The sub plot of the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury (Bess of Hardwick) is of interest as I am completely new to this pair.

At length regicide happened. But, though not Queen of England, our Mary, she may be considered the mother of the Stuart dynasty to rule for a few generations.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

2010-06-14T17:16:00.000-07:00

I have been fortunate over the years in my license to read what appeals to me rather than something assigned. This allows one book to lead to another. The story of the doomed House of Howard depicted in "House of Treason" by Robert Hutchinson led me almost without a hiccup to "Her Majesty's Spymaster" by Stephen Budiansky. The thread is the foolhardy 4th Duke of Norfolk, only duke in the land, who tangled himself up with Mary, Queen of Scots. He was no match for Francis Walsingham, and, perhaps because I have a modest position in the civil service, I wanted to know more about "Mr. Secretary", what made him tick and how he was able to expose Mary.

Mary was reckless in her imprisonment, and Norfolk aimed too high in his hopes for the marrying of her. He was, due to his naivete, rather easily dispensed with, beheaded in 1572. Mary was the center of other plots that were laid bare by Walsingham. She was saved, perhaps, for as long as she was, by a wavering Elizabeth, who didn't want to set an example of regicide.

From here, I will step into some historical fiction, namely "The Captive Queen of Scots", by the mistress, Jean Plaidy.

Knocking on Devil's Door

2010-06-13T19:32:00.001-07:00

This beautiful aged church has a feature I had never seen, and have since found out is indigenous to the UK. It is called the "Devil's Door", built into the north face of some medieval and earlier churches. Here it can be seen under the third window, and is perhaps too small for a human to enter. Its purpose is to provide an escape hatch for the Devil as he carries the soul of an unbaptized child to an unpleasant place. I wonder if this practice is a crossover from pagan beliefs.

Unfortunately, I have no idea of the name of this church as I took this picture from the second storey of a tour bus, the use of which fitted our need for low impact sightseeing whilst I was suffering a coughy illness.

The Streets of York City

2010-06-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

Throughout the two weeks or so we dallied in York, we returned repeatedly to the medieval streets of the City Centre. Tight and confusing to the visitor, they were exceedingly delicious. Continually becoming lost was truly a privilege. Within aged lanes were such phenomena as Poundworld, more enjoyable to experience than American Dollar Stores, and an Oxfam charity shop that I perceived to be a better deal than our Salvation Army Stores.

Micklegate Bar

2010-06-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

It was one of those omigod moments when I saw Micklegate Bar, the southern entrance to the City Walls of York. On a few occasions, famous heads greeted the visitor. Chief in my mind is Richard, Duke of York. I was drawn to the period of the Wars of the Roses many years ago because of enjoyment of the Shakespeare history plays spanning from Richard II to Richard III. I realize that Henry VI is conspicuous in his relative absence in his plays, but I love the speech at 3 Henry VI, II. 5 - "This battle fairs like to the morning's war", because it is the clearest picture of him in the plays, miserable and mournfully alone.

Anyway, I digressed. It was a magical moment seeing this gate to York.

Air Conditioned Comfort

2010-06-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

My dreams of becoming a writer of something worthwhile have, since the UK2010 trip, crashed and burned, with scorched wings trembling on a gritty ground. I have all the physical tools - now and iPad among them - but they all lie dormant save this one currently being used. This dream death has left me a little breathless, with the wind whooshed out of me.

But, you see, it may be a good thing - it may be like growing up. It may seem a yawning hopelessness now, but this loss may lead to some grounding in the present that has been lacking in my psyche. Approaching the workplace with some seriousness now, I am thinking about my job as more important than I have done. There was within a feeling of "just passing through", and now I see that my innate mother-given respect for any task in front of me has stood by me well. This attitude was drilled in me and I am glad of it.

On a domestic note, my spouse has laudably ripped the rug out from under all the living and dining room furniture (well, he did move it all first), exposing quite a nice dark hardwood floor. The rug had been there, we estimate, about 40 years. It appeared so anyway. This deed will completely change how we interact with our living room space in a good way. Also, the air conditioner in my office is up and humming. Let summer come in!

Enough about me. I am reading Robert Hutchinson's "House of Treason" and find it very informative regarding the ill-fated Tudor House of Howard, which brought two queens to be beheaded along with a cast of several men who sojourned in the Tower. Hopefully I will bring together some thoughts about these folks soon.

In a Good Place

2010-05-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

There's our Henry Sext, contemplative in York Minster, next to his father, who ruled with the sword. He has the look of melancholy, and is the last in the line of sculpted kings here.

The UK trip, my first overseas trip in nearly twenty years, was a mixture of glorious sightseeing and personal discomfort, as I contracted pneumonia, probably on the plane ride over, and never fully recovered. That said, my mother and I did not hesitate to tramp around York, a city with a vivid center core. She picked up my ailment in the second week, making travel home challenging. The grounding of everything due to the effects of the ash of the Icelandic volcano ended the day before we were set to fly - and we were able to get home with hopes that we did not cause much trouble.

My book buying sickness was rampant, as I had to buy a piece of carryon luggage to deal with its results. Hopefully, they will fuel this blog. Now to get beyond the travel letdown and go back to my career as a tax collector in this New York city. Much to digest and learn - and grateful for the time away.

Silken Bonds

2010-03-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I first bumped into Jane Shore, the celebrated mistress of King Edward IV. She was being examined by a biographer, who was fleshing out a likely picture of her life as a late 15th century courtesan. Recently, however, I met her in a pleasantly lively novel by Vanora Bennett - "Figures in Silk". However, it is her sister Isabel who turns into an achiever of another type - that of a prosperous silk merchant.

Her capability and verve in establishing the prominence of the House of Claver is set against a hopeless and intense affair with an unattainable personage. This is almost a bifurcation, aptitude and cleverness on the one side of her life, and the heartfelt ambivalence in her illicit relationship comprising another side of her life.

Jane and Isabel are quite different, in appearance, attitude and modes of survival. However, they near each other by story's end. This is a good story although some of the character depictions may be a little of a stretch. It is a fine look at the merchant class in 15th century England, however, and worth reading for that reason included.

The Stolen Crown

2010-03-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

I always like meeting new people, especially new English dead people. Susan Higginbotham's latest work delves into the emotions, thoughts, and precarious lives of Katherine Woodville and Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. My knowledge of the period (Wars of the Roses) is incomplete, though I am trying to ingest all of the facts, feelings and fictions of the era for a good feel of what I will be looking for in England in the near future.

Edward IV wedded Elizabeth Woodville in secret and tried to keep it so as long as possible. After the union was discovered/proclaimed, a passel of Woodvilles made advantageous marriage alliances with nobles and/or their heirs, including our headlining pair. Katherine (Kate), the youngest of the tribe links up with Henry (Harry) and the rest of their lives are spent in the furious uncertainty of the time of the Wars. Especially interesting is Higginbotham's portrayal of Richard of Gloucester, who, in the early days, was best friend to Harry - some time before he took the crown and assumed the name of Richard III. I found it to be the most plausible of the solutions to the Princes in the Tower mystery, totally fitting in with the character of those involved.

As far as the title of the book is concerned, the crown was stolen more than once - these thefts could embody the dynamic shifts in power between the red and the white and are their core. I'd say - read this book for a number of reasons, all good.

Academic Would I Be

2010-02-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

I am pushing through the last twenty pages of an insightful book - "The Hollow Crown" by Miri Rubin - that is, despite the author's position stated in the introduction to the contrary, an "academic" work. It reminds me of a book I slogged through in college - "A History of Greece" by A. R. Bury (or maybe it is Burns? - anyway a dense work that left me uninspired). This present book is an ambitious review of the Late Middle Ages in Britain that assumes a good amount of prior knowledge of the history of said time period.

The book is full of insights and interesting facts. I noted that the words "buoyancy" and "buoyant" occur at several junctures, usually applied to trade. The style is such that concerted concentration is needed, and at times I have driven through pages without remembering what I read (a defect in me, not the book) and having to backtrack.

This is not a traditional history - the kings are covered but the wool trade has just as much attention. I was fortunate to know the bones of the period (1307 - 1485), and this work was a deep enhancement of said knowledge. I learned that I have not the tenacity of an academic - perhaps my job takes that aspect out of me - but wish I could retain the information imparted by a work such as "The Hollow Crown" is.

Illuminated

2010-01-28T18:48:00.000-08:00

Should one write about a book that made one cry right away? Or should one wait a bit. I am going to try for right away....

"The Illuminator" by Brenda Rickman Vantrease is, I gather, a first novel - which surprises me. The plotting is so perfect with rarely a wasted scene that one would suspect it to be the work of a seasoned author. Many figures of late 14th century England are either participants or in the shadows. John of Gaunt's palace sacked, Boy King Richard meeting with the rebels - these events are background colors in this intricate painting of a book that has at its core a painted altarpiece done by an artist in captivity.

The anchoress Julian of Norwich is a prominent person, with her vision of the Mother Love of Christ shining through the events of the story. This permeation makes me want to explore the stories of female mystics of the time. And Wycliffe's influence is shot through the text both in the efforts at the translation of the Bible into English and a result of mob rule without respect for the established Church. It is altogether a rippling time of convulsive change, a fine era to explore by reading an architecturally fine novel.

Stoke Field

2010-01-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Soon I will be traveling to England for a stay of two weeks, basing in York. At this point my main concern will be in the visiting of battlefields at least relatively close to York. With this in mind, I am turning to accounts of pertinent battles and have just finished "Stoke Field - the Last Battle of the Wars of the Roses" by David Baldwin. Particularly enjoyable is his device of using quotes from early sources in the original diction and spelling.

Stoke is a fine "what-if" battle, between the newly conquering Henry VII who is fighting an uprising led by the Earl of Lincoln, a Plantagenet heir in support of the pretender Lambert Simnel. Lincoln's army is a compound of Swiss/German mercenaries, Irish recruits, English lords who had much to gain from overthrowing the current ruler, and professional archers and other soldiers. Henry's Royal Army appears to have been more homogeneous. The Earl of Oxford was his principal leader, and Henry's wing of the army was in support of the main forces led by him. Apparently the battle surged for three hours or more, with the rebel lines finally breaking down and its soldiers put to flight and in the main, death.

What if the Pretender had won, and the Earl of Lincoln had become king? The Tudor dynasty never to have happened, and Henry Tudor relegated to a blip in the Wars of the Roses, which probably would have continued? Of course what-ifs of history are as useful as they are in one's personal life - that is to say a mere exercise with little real import - but fun to run through.

I would like to see this battlefield, but we will not have access to a car - perhaps we can hire someone to take us there.

Owen Glendower

2010-01-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

I wish to write a little about a book I have only read 17 pages of. Since the number of pages of said book is pushing 750, it would seem quite premature to write anything at all. So ist may be. Anyway, the book is "Owen Glendower" by John Cowper Powys, an author I stumbled into while looking for fictive works concerning Henry V.

Is it the thorough and well rounded diction of the work? I don't know, but Powys has been declared by some to be the English Dostoevsky or Tolstoy. The first chapter, about the homecoming to a place he had never been before of Rhisiart, a young Oxford scholar. He so far is plunging into his Welshness as he approaches an ancestral castle. The scentences rumble and bump along, descriptions are to savor.

I will attempt to post my experience reading this book - and learning about Wales in the early fifteenth century.,

Elizabeth of York

2009-12-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth of York appears to be chiefly known for being the daughter, sister, niece, wife, and mother of kings. How could a queen be more family connected and oriented? These happenstances are definining in how she is seen in a medium depth historical novel I recently finished called "The Tudor Rose" by Margaret Campbell Barnes, whose work has been reissued of late, which body was originally written in the late 40s to early 50s.

Elizabeth spends an awful amount of time preoccupied with other's needs to the exclusion of her own. She acquiesces in a joyless marriage because she has no choice, and, because she has always sublimated her desires, this is done without lasting regret. Her sheerest happiness comes at the sight of her son Harry (to be the 8th).

In another novel of this first Tudor Queen, "The King's Daughter" by Sandra Worth, her connection to Richard III is more deeply imagined, and Henry VII is much more menacing. The royal pair's firstborn, Arthur, is Elizabeth's core raison d'etre, and the gushing over him is the more poignant because his eventual death, most probably known to the reader, lurks in the consciousness throughout. Henry to be VIII is much more darkly drawn, as a boy reveling in the suffering of others, a source of deep worry to his mother.

The two treatments of Elizabeth may be indicative of the times when the novels were written. Elizabeth's suffering seems to be the defining factor of her life, with love lost being the central cause in the current rendition, whereas her strength and attention to duty is paramount in the Barnes novel. The Barnes novel, written during early postwar Britain, stresses the duty angle, and the American author stresses Elizabeth's response to her sufferings.

The three Elizabeths, the Yorkist Elizabeth Woodville, the York/Tudor Elizabeth, and the glorious Tudor Elizabeth her granddaughter span the emergence of England from the internecine strife of the Wars of the Roses to the early modern age styled the Elizabethan, the greatest point in English history to that time.

Elizabeth

2009-10-25T13:03:00.000-07:00

A recent trip to Borders (armed with some skimpy coupon - enough to stimulate an outlay of cash) brought two books about Elizabeth, the last Tudor. "Elizabeth and Leicester" by Sarah Gristwood, and "Elizabeth - The Struggle for the Throne" by David Starkey. Together they formed a good introduction to her youth, heart, and reign.

No surprise that she eluded marriage - though for a time it was a very near thing - with her father's disastrous unions, the popular condemnation of her sister Mary's being knotted with Philip of Spain and Mary's hysterical behavior thereby, and the observation of Mary Queen of Scots letting her heart rule her head. Better to be the unattainable as a focus of courtly love affairs. Better to be in control of her status, especially since her youth held dangers, in and out of legitimacy and later the figure around which plots to overthrow the throne throve.

Elizabeth, named after her grandmother Elizabeth of York, "vain and clever", was a fascinating sovereign with a taste for the theatrical that stands alongside the great theatrical works and performances of her era. Ferociously educated, deeply thoughtful in her caution, maybe England's greatest ruler. I am glad to have met you through well written popular history.

Henry IV, Well Met

2009-09-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I have met another Henry, and he is quite fine, at least as presented by Ian Mortimer in "The Fears of Henry IV". Was he a sort of bridge between the glories of Edward III and the breakdown of chivalry in the Wars of the Roses? Mortimer makes the case that the Usurpation and the regicide were inevitable, given the history between Richard II and Henry of Bolingbroke. They seem to be complete opposites - Henry a great jouster, Richard unathletic - Richard horrifically insecure, Henry comfortable enough to journey to the Holy Land - Richard totally unable to compromise, Henry able to bend with the wind.

Henry was literally beset on all sides as he survived assassination attempts, put down rebellions in Scotland and Wales (I think I will next look into the heroic Owen Glendower) more than once, rebellions within England with the rallying cry "King Richard is alive!", and later the opposition of his cold hearted son, Henry of Monmouth, who was itching to be Henry V. And there was always the problem of money - the parliament never seemed to make quelling rebellions any easier - causing the royal entourage to be seriously reduced.

Henry IV, as presented by Mortimer, was one of those men for all seasons to me, by power of his very survival through stiff odds, and his pragmatism in doing what needed to be done to hold the kingdom together. Though his time as king was brief, he is an object lesson for capable government in very tough times.

How Much Change?

2009-08-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

I took a flight of fancy during my recovery from my operation last month - read two very pleasant court romances by Susan Holloway Scott - "The French Mistress" about Charles II's last main squeeze, Louise de Keroualle, and "Duchess", regarding Queen Anne's right arm, Sarah Churchill (pictured). They were very easy to read and quite entertaining - and led me to wonder about the evolution of court life in England over the early modern period. Both stories were told in the first person, with just enough color and not too much sartorial detail.

I know little about the period - the weakening of the monarchy due to its unresponsiveness to social movements (could that be?), the rise of Parliament, the prominent placement on the world stage. The nobility did weird stuff with the styling of their hair. The presence of lap dogs...\

Perhaps similar to the courtesans of Ancient Greece, the mistresses of Restoration England, at least as Louise is portrayed here, have unexpected political influence. Indeed, Louise is employed as a spy for the court of France. Sarah Churchill, of course, exacted great pull with Queen Anne, though she never acted as a courtesan, marrying as a young lady in waiting.

We have here come a long way from Margaret of Anjou's court, dingy as they say, with Elizabeth Woodville appearing far too fetchingly beautiful a lady for comfort, and also the ladies-in-waiting stitching altar cloths in the Tudor court. Seems like Restoration ladies played a ridiculous amount of cards rather than employing their hands at needlework. Their gaming debts remind me of modern credit card debt holes. Somehow the money wasn't real.

What was real was the commerce of the nation and its military might. The display of the court remains the same - the concept of show equalling majesty that it did in Tudor England.

I realized this post is but ramblings, but historical fiction at its best for me elicits same. I am sure I will read more of Ms. Scott's work.

"The Queen's Sorrow"

2009-08-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

"The Queen's Sorrow" by Suzannah Dunn, gives a portrait of England under Mary Tudor that has thick background brush strokes fronted by delicious detail. With a very deceptive cover, it is marginally about Queen Mary herself, but rather a Spaniard in her Philip's entourage named Rafael. Rafael starts with almost no English and goes through his experience in Tudor London with thoughtfulness. He lodges with an English family that soon goes to the country, leaving a skeleton crew behind, including a housekeeper that is drawn poetically and lovingly by the author and Rafael as well.

Rafael is in England to execute plans for a sundial at court, a paradoxical commission as there seems to be little sun. His preoccupation throughout is going home, an elusive event, even after the sundial project is in jeopardy. Cecily, the housekeeper, has a son, Nicholas, who recalls Rafael's own son in Spain. The story of these three plays out with a backdrop of burnings, which shock Rafael ("They don't burn people in England!").

This book drew me in completely, and I felt like I was looking into Rafael's experience fully. Also I acquired a poetical picture of Marian England, a period of which I know little.

Two Annes, Different Results

2009-08-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

I must confess to a fascination with the wives of Henry VIII, though their stories be a century along from my area of greater interest (Lancaster and York). Our century is a huge distance from the 19th, but I have yet to learn how different the 15th and 16th centuries were in practice. In any case, it was easy to read two novels about two Annes, "The Concubine" by Norah Lofts, and "My Lady of Cleves" by Margaret Campbell Barnes.

Anne Boleyn, briefly "The Most Happy" and Anne of Cleves, for awhile the least happy. Of all the wives, Anne of Cleves, initially called the Flanders Mare by her boorish self centered royal husband, and deeply insulted, turned out to be the only one who left Henry with her head and a comfortable home intact. The comparison between their respective visages is deceptive, the old story of the lack of the surety of surfaces. In Anne Boleyn's case, Henry is enchanted with a vivacious sprightly young thing, and in Anne of Cleves' case, he falls for what he sees in a portrait. He falls out of love in both cases, cruelly so, and all in a moment, as both authors describe the Annes' individual catastrophes.

Both of these women are presented very sympathetically, and it is interesting to speculate how their lives would have played out if they hadn't fallen under the royal eye. Would Anne Boleyn have been hardened by grief to dip into ambition due to the loss of young love in any case? Would Anne of Cleves have glided in the Flemish countryside unremarked? Anne of Cleves, in the royal bedchamber - "if he only gives me children" she could bear it. Anne Boleyn totally devastated by the birth of Elizabeth, and crazed under the pressure that was life and death.

I have ordered a biography of Jane Seymour, so my preoccupation with the wives will continue. What a collection of gutsy women! What a king trapped by circumstance and his view of his place in history.

Living In Utopia

2009-07-24T15:04:00.000-07:00

A King and his Chancellor, Henry VIII and Thomas More - their collision is a story that I have been taken by for decades now - I saw "A Man for All Seasons" as a teenager, and just now finished "The King's Confidante" (previously issued as "St. Thomas' Eve") bye the Mistress, Jean Plaidy.

She has taken the far famed homestead at Chelsea and made it into a sort of utopia, with all living in harmony with animals and plant life, from the bustling Dame Alice, More's second wife (who acts as a foil with her worldliness set against his erudition), to itinerants who find a place at their table. It is a wondrous microcosm centered on More and his children, both natural and adopted, and their spouses, humble and ambitious.

More serves his sovereign reluctantly, ghosting Henry's tract against Martin Luther, pointing out constellations to the King and Queen Catherine, all the while regretting his time away from his family as the children grow up happy in his regard. He for a time fills a need of Henry's to have intellectuals around him, and ultimately can't fulfill Henry's need for his approval of what he did to ensure the succession, that is turning the English Church to his rule as it's head. No, Thomas could not come out in favor of the divorce. His silence had to be shown to be assent.

Anne Boleyn has a background part and Thomas More is empathetic, realizing that her hold on life is as tenuous as his. It is enjoyable to read enough Plaidy to have characters walk out of one book into another.

Thomas More was a huge hero of mine in my teenage years. Now I know his story had not that simple purity of explanation. He was a heretic hating zealot, and did wrestle with Will Roper, his son-in-law in a way over Will's beliefs that seems unreasonable to me, with his dear daughter Meg torn between them. Dame Alice spoke of his pride in refusing to approve the divorce, and the more I think of it, the more I see her point. It is justice vs expediency, martyrdom vs the middle road. Perhaps his family would not have loved him as deeply as they did had he taken that middle road. In the end, he had no choice, really, as so many victims of Henry VIII found.

King John - A King Beset

2009-07-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

There are fewer books more pleasant than those that draw you in to dispel your set of preconceptions and received hardened assumptions about a historical figures. At least I think this to be true after reading "The Maligned Monarch" by Alan Lloyd (1972) a biography of King John with a difference - the presentation of this dark king as not so bad after all.

John was hampered by a prejudiced press of clerical dudes - he couldn't do anything right by them due to the complicated relationship between he, his archbishops, and his pope. Following a king that hardly acknowledged England as somewhere important (Richard), John was to travel the country coast to coast, in peace time as an adjudicator and as a the Royal Commander in the war against the 25 barons. Many of the myths regarding John were fanciful fabrications by such as Matthew Paris, a chronicler always looking for a good story.

John made some serious mistakes, including starving a noblewoman and her son to death, but Lloyd asserts that he was quite the man of his rough times. Jean Plaidy's "Prince of Darkness" set out all the horrific stories chapter by chapter - and I am glad I read her take before this biography, as Lloyd refuted each horrific story in turn.

Oh and then there was the baronial war and that Magna Carta thing - a charter celebrated far beyond its due - only affecting freemen (one-quarter of the population) for one thing - and that warm day at Runnymede didn't solve the differences between baron and king. John kept his side of the bargain and seemed to bend backwards to try to bring peace to his land under his control.

Why is Richard the Lionheart celebrated as chivalrous although he shafted his Queen Berengaria, and John, by account a loving husband with a brood of children to carry on in the 13th century, is vilified as a faithless womanizer? It is all in the propaganda of the times.

Another note - John inherited a financial mess after Richard bankrupted the nation when it collected untold riches to ransom him after his capture in Germany. Henry VI inherited a financial mess after Henry V all but bankrupted England in search of chivalric empiric glory. Glory takes money, but such a cost.

A Secret Alchemy

2009-07-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Let me say first that "A Secret Alchemy"(by Emma Darwin) is a moving trance-like work of historical and contemporary fiction. Presenting parallel unfoldings of the tragic story of Anthony Woodville at the mercy of Richard of Gloucester (Richard III) and of the heart-twisting homecoming of a professor of history studying the books of Anthony and his sister Queen Elizabeth (Woodville), this work left me breathless.

There is a leap from the study of the books in their possession to a narrative revealing how Anthony and Elizabeth felt about the cruel blows of irreversible history as they walk toward their fates. Their story is laid out alongside Professor Una's leap from living in childhood memory connected to a professional press to her discoveries of the intricacies of her own past, including both that of the press that is in a position to be saved from ruin, and also her connection with one Mark who, though an outsider to the press, is a man central in its story. Books are life. The alchemy is the leap.

Anthony Woodville is noble, sympathetic, a martyr among many to being on the wrong side when that side changes with time. Elizabeth, who impresses me more in each novel she appears in, is faced with the worst torture of all, that of not knowing the fate of her prince children. The 15th century characters are breathing, as well as those in the 20th century. The descriptive language is well done, to be savored. The story is strong, especially in its conclusions. This book must be the best of the fictive attempts to solve the riddle of the Princes in the Tower.

Initial Thoughts on Richard II

2009-06-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

I was made better acquainted with Richard II by reading Jean Plaidy's "Passage to Pontefract", her handling of the story of John of Gaunt and Richard of Bordeaux, who became the second of that name on the death of his grandfather, Edward III.

This book was a retelling of the history serially, with little extraneous material. Actually, it was like reading a history book with the characters strengthened into fiction. What characters they were! - senile Edward III and his rapacious paramour Alice Perrers, Good Plump Queen Philippa, the wanton turned troubled Fair Maid of Kent, the ambitious (how many times were we reminded) John of Gaunt, a wonderful and treasured Catherine Swynford, down to the quite complex figure of Richard II. History of course is written by the winners, and the Lancastrians may have exaggerated the depth of this monarch's ineptitude.

Another Martyr to the Cause

2009-06-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Tudor Dynasty, one haunted by a need to perpetuate itself if ever there was, had a number of martyrs to the Cause. Anne Boleyn and the anti-Anne, Jane Seymour, are among the number. In a sense, Henry VIII himself had a life and value system driven by the need to provide an heir, thus he was a martyr of sorts too.

"Plain Jane", by Laurien Gardner (who I gather is also Jennifer Ashley), is a cut above a romance novel, and a level or two below masterful historical fiction. Jane's "plainness" is an attribute beaten to death, and is one that defines her. In truth, (I think) this attribute is her greatest strength, as a foil to the erstwhile fascinating Anne, and its concomitant virtuousness perceived is as strong a draw to Henry as Anne's bewitching smile was. Whatever. Sometimes I see the Six Wives as types enslaved by the Tudor dilemma and victims of the tragedy of not delivering the required societal result for which they were chosen. Jane is the one that delivers, but she has to pay with her life anyway.

The Jane in "Plain Jane" was in the bind of all of the wives, not to be able to question the boss with any long range success, as seen by her defense of a ransacked nunnery which elicited the statement from Henry that he could kill her off too if she opposed him.

Plain Jane was virtuous but not insipid. Of the wives, she may be the least documented, and the treatment in this novel is thus welcome.

Anne Boleyn in her own words

2009-06-02T16:22:00.000-07:00

I just read "The Lady in the Tower" by the mistress, Jean Plaidy. Anne tells her story, and one is drawn in by her wisdom in hindsight. She writes/tells from the time when she lives and now her life is done, to paraphrase Chidiock Tichborne. Such a vantage point has made her quite perceptive, especially regarding her imperious behavior around Henry VIII, a man she admits she never loved. Well, he really wasn't that lovable, I should think.

Unlucky in love and embittered thereby - Henry Percy of the North being an early beau, she feels that Henry prevented their union so he could have this tasty morsel to himself. She traded any hope for further love for ambition, a quality that stood her in good standing in her relationship with Henry Tudor. The result is resounding success at getting her way with the King, but at such a cost to the nation, and a knife edge of danger, though she believes the necessary son will result from their relationship.

One may regard Anne as something of a silly woman, but Plaidy's take on her introspection, however late, is very engaging and believable. Basically, she was in over her head, and only in looking back she sees the power of the despot she was dealing with, power over her very life.

Please Accept...

2009-05-06T19:18:00.001-07:00

...my apologies for lack of posts lately. I have accepted a new position in municipal government and this sea change has taken up the very most of my energies. I have read "The King's Grace" by Anne Easter Smith, and found it to be enjoyable. While there are some thoughts about what it means to be a bastard in late Medieval England, and the employment of a scarcely known character to be the main character of a historical novel, I haven't the energy to put them together at this point.

Thank you for reading...hope to be back soon!

More on William Marshal

2009-04-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading "The Greatest Knight", Elizabeth Chadwick's take on the story of William Marshal. There was a lot of horse coaching and tricking out which reminded me of some male friends who are addicted to their cars. I started reading "car" for "horse" and could channel the emotion of man and beast. As one who never has sat astride a horse (only a pony at the Bronx Zoo), the fact that I could sense the feeling of what it must have been like for a knight such as William Marshal is a testament to Chadwick's writing.

As I was first introduced to this knight in "Devil's Brood" by Sharon Kay Penman, I knew what to expect in Chadwick's character delineation. And I was not disappointed, there were no lapses in strength of character, though there were lapses in Marshal's fortunes. He served first Henry the Young King until a specious slur engendered by jealous fellow knights caused Henry to send him packing. But Marshal was there at his deathbed, and took up the Cross to honor him with a journey to Jerusalem. Similar events unfold in his life in service to the Angevins. His loyalty to his king, whoever it may be at the moment, is his defining attribute.

At the beginning of Marshal's life he was an endangered hostage under King Stephen. When his father, an unfortunate cuss, broke with the conditions and left William to die, Stephen did not kill him. And so the figure that held England together upon the death of King John could easily have been someone else without the innate stamping of the code of chivalry.

This was a good book, well drawn characters, believable intimate scenes, lots of handsome horses. I understand it will be available in the US in the early fall. Maybe then it will get the attention here that it has earned.

The Evil King - King John of England

2009-04-02T15:29:00.001-07:00

Just how bad was King John? According to Jean Plaidy, THIS BAD. In her novel, "The Prince of Darkness", he is so absolutely evil that there is not a single redeeming feature to act as a kind of internal foil to flesh out the unscrupulous, unconscionable acts described, among them murder, rapine, egregious theft, inordinate lust, lack of valor and military success, disrespect for the Church, etc.

I had thought John had some connection with Robin Hood (the whole Robin Hood legend is one of my cultural gaps), but upon reading superficially I find that the proto Robin Hood was first mentioned with regard to the 1230's, and thus a little later than King John. Plaidy makes no reference to Robin Hood in her novel. Anyway, to her John is the physical embodiment of evil, and no one else in the novel is permitted to be bad, with the possible exception of King Philip of France. All of the barons are exemplary, contained, assuredly not rapacious as a 13th century baron might have been.

William Marshal puts in appearances throughout, an example of a throwback to when times were better and he, as the embodiment of chivalry, was respected, consulted, and listened to.

This novel definitely had its uses because I knew nothing of King John, so this was new territory for me. Of course he was driven to affix his seal to Magna Carta. Plaidy's treatment of John was so slamming that it got to be a touch tiresome.

As a digression - almost 15 years ago I was lucky enough to take a trip to London. There I saw a contemporary Magna Carta in the British Library and it was one of those OMIGOD moments - THERE IT IS. I had a similar moment when I saw the Wilton Diptych in one of the museums - (across a spacious room, in the middle of the room - OMIGOD it IS the Wilton Diptych!!!) But I am just a poor lass, and can no longer afford London, or Europe, so I am building something of an affinity with Arthur Waley, that great translator of "The Tale of Genji" who never went to Japan. Luckily the internet is something of a substitute, but not as good as the real thing.

Back to John - a little surfing convinces me he had some good points, chiefly administrative talents. Apparently he functioned as an impartial adjudicator in the Royal Courts. But he has been compared unfavorably to Nixon, and Wikipedia tells me he was elected Worst Briton of the 13th century. In any case not a cardboard figure of seething evil.

The Early 14th Century

2009-03-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

I have just finished "The Greatest Traitor", Ian Mortimer's study of Roger Mortimer, grandson to William Marshal. Particularly interesting therein is the depiction of the Great Famine of 1315-1317, but some say lasting as far as 1322. Hail the power of weather to change demographics. The Famine contributed to events of the entire 14th century, laying the groundwork for, among other things, the horrifically extensive ravages of the Black Death 30 years later. And, of course, I ordered a book from Amazon that treats the subject in book form depth.

I needn't go into a study of Edward II now, as there is a website that I believe covers the subject quite well, but I am beginning to see the fascination his story can engender. His dispensation of personal favoritism to the max as we would say today - the corruption of those close to him, his utter incapability as a soldier. Of course, there is the fascination regarding his death, a debated puzzle that recalls the murder of the Princes 160 or so years later.

This book is a teaser taste for finding out more about the early 14th century. And, as Roger Mortimer was the first Earl of March, his life was to presage dynastic problems in the coming decades.

Internecine Strife

2009-03-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Just finished "Devil's Brood" by Sharon Kay Penman. I am still in the glow of finishing this book and wanted to try to say what a fulfilling reading experience it was before the magic recedes. Son against father, husband against wife, brother against brother - 700 pages of internecine strife. Penman made each historical figure breathe, even the minor characters such as servants and lesser knights.

History may be one darned thing after another, and in the scope of the 20-something years covered in this novel, lots of darned things and motives abound - the depiction of sons being very different from their fathers (Louis Capet and his son Philippe, for example), of women suspended waiting for news (Eleanor and Constance of Brittany), of mistrust (Henry II and his devil's brood). It is the stuff of history, but above all, a family saga - a family that played its tensions and successes over a huge area of mainland Europe and the kingdom by the sea.

William Marshal - Flower of Knighthood

2009-03-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

Using my academic training to spot themes and patterns in literature, I see William Marshal in the novel "Devil's Brood" to be personal embodiment of chivalry. In a prior post, I used a passage about him to introduce to myself the concept of chivalry. I would like to pick up on Marshal's importance, though relative scarcity, in the story. He is a knight attached to the "young king", Hal (pictured), the firstborn of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane. Hal is a spendthrift, superficial, self-important lord. However, the presence of William Marshal ennobles him, makes him chivalric by association.

When Marshal leaves his service, under a cloud, Hal becomes even more dissolute and reckless, raiding monasteries for funds to pay his routiers. His knights and followers are totally out of control. Hal becomes sick and, during his slide into ill health Marshal reappears. Under his care and in his presence, his liege Hal dies honorably, a repentant sinner. Hal's outer garment, adorned with the cross, is taken up by Marshal for a journey to the Holy Land.

We are not done with our exemplary knight yet, though. He comes with the tidings of the death of the fourth son, Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany to deliver the message to Henry II. He then is attached to Henry II's service.

When Marshal is absent from the story, all sorts of hell break out, brother against brother, son against father. The rivalries are played out all over what is modern day France, with the countryside pillaged and destroyed by the scorched-earth style of the time, and with the castles of the towns besieged and brought down.

Of course Marshal moves on to greater power, responsibilities and wealth, but his subsequent career is beyond the scope of this vivid and comprehensive novel. I look forward to reading Elizabeth Chadwick's novels about him ("The Greatest Knight" and "The Scarlet Lion") to learn more about this knight through the pleasant medium of historical fiction.

Introduction to Chivalry 101

2009-03-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

I quote Sharon Kay Penman, in "Devil's Brood", pp 144-5: (William Marshal)

"Will firmly believed that the world would descend into chaos and hellish turmoil if men did not obey those laws meant to govern their behavior and tame their more shameful impulses, laws set forth by the

Holy Church, by the Crown, and now by the chivalric canons. Chivalry was the foundation stone of his life, offering more than a code of conduct, offering a map which would enable men of good faith to avoid those sinful temptations that might jeopardize their chances of salvation".

This book, along with being engaging, is turning out to be my fictive return to the age of chivalry. Definitively not a concept thought that very much about in the Wars of the Roses. The application was going, going, gone, goodbye. The Knights Templar, Crusades, Teutonic dudes, tournaments - like any code, perhaps, clarified in the breach. Thank you, Ms. Penman, for re-opening my eyes to the world of chivalric intent. Also to see what glory was lost.

(pictured 14th century tournament melee)

A Few Thoughts on Henry V

2009-03-05T13:49:00.001-08:00

Like many, I returned to our neighborhood art cinema theatre to see "Henry V", the Branagh version, about six times. (Speech from the film) It was released about twenty years ago, displaying the timeless dance of war - "the suffering and the sorrow and the glory and the pain" as the song goes. The book I am reading now, "Henry V" by Harold Hutchison, a work from the sixties, tells of his ruthlessness, his pig-headed one-mindedness that was presaged by his youthful fighting of Glendower in Wales, his relative neglect of domestic issues and the bankrupting of English resources - (the crown and the crown jewels were in pawn, for example), to raise the cash necessary for a small island nation to attempt annexation of the crown of France.

Agincourt, though a overwhelming tactical victory, did not give Henry France. It took a extremely well planned later invasion, and a totally wrecked situation among the French duchies to do that. In a generation, and it would have taken less time than that save some inspired soldiering by the English, it was nearly gone, as Henry VI "lost all". Back to the book now, it is very absorbing.

The Mismatch of the Century

2009-02-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

The story of Owen Tudor and Katherine of Valois is, to me, the most romantic and tragic of all medieval love stories. This tale was addressed by Rosemary Hawley Jarman's book, "Crown in Candlelight". She teases out of the known facts of the story a thematically charged work of poetry and density.

The two most lushly and lovingly described parts of the book are apposite - the playing out of the battle of Agincourt, and the resounding loving of Owen Tydier (as the author. calls him) and Cathryn (as Owen calls her). The other parts of the narrative appeared to swirl around these two poles, with many foreshadowings and stepbacks.

Henry V is totally and painfully anal, the symbolic also real, visceral pain that comes with glory. Katherine of Valois seems to have walked through life almost numb in response to the abuse done her by her parents, a mad king about to shatter and a queen of great appetite and indulged will.

Henry VI, 'Little Harry', the focus of an intensely dysfunctional extended family, seemed to reach for his mother as she receded continually into her wished-to-be corner of the world where she could pursue conjugal bliss with one Owen Tudor, of gloried Welsh descent, though a clerk of the wardrobe. She wished to see her son continually but was impeded by Henry's uncle Gloucester, seen here as licentiously evil, and conjugally joined with the supposed witch Eleanor Cobham.

Owen's Welshness is encompassed by the earth and sky and the harp of a bard and the protection of a woman. She is Hywelis, who to me represents Wales, as Owen's connection with her is his unknown talisman. The story has an epic completeness, pulled from the mess of historical fact, and drawn from mystic mountains and rain soaked battlefields.

Their union bore sons, and thus was the seed of the Tudor dynasty. And then the rest, they say, is history.

The end of Owen and Katherine's story found me weeping, a sure sign of its power.

(pictured: the wedding of Henry V and Katherine of Valois at Troyes)

And Those of Us Who Do Love Jane...

2009-02-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

The title of this post was a phrase used by someone in the Jane Austen Society to preface a great truth about literary folk. I have forgotten the pronouncement, but I remember her. The Jane may have been Jane Austen, but I am thinking of another Jane, a Jane who wasn't really a Jane but an Elizabeth. Jane Shore. And, having read a short study concerning her, I can say that I really do love her.

Jane, or Elizabeth, didn't cash in on her dalliance with Edward IV. Initially trapped in a marriage with William Shore, a goldsmith, she was then able to divorce him armed with the fact that the he was impotent. Then she was free to be scooped up by Edward. "Of his loves, she was the merriest." Their pleasant relationship lasted until his death at the age of forty.

It fell to Richard III to make an example of her by making her walk through London in a shift carrying a lighted taper. I suppose it was part of the package of discrediting his elder brother, but the shaming backfired, as was reported, when the people of London cheered her instead of reviling her.

Her fortunes improved. While she was in Ludgate Prison, Thomas Lynam, a solicitor and right arm of Richard, was captivated by her and took her to wife, as they say. Richard needed Lynam's service so much that he had to put up with the marriage. Jane must have again become penurious upon his death. She lived far into the 16th Century, impoverished and defeated.

However, Jane lived on in ballad and anecdote. She was an example of wantonness coming to a bad end. Her story was often told, with embellishments in literature and later on, in film.

I suppose the only way for a woman to enjoy some sort of power and influence in the Middle Ages was to become a concubine of a royal. A mistress sometimes had more influence than a queen. The only physical description in the literature painted her as being blond, short and pleasantly plump. I find her to have been a figure of courage and forthrightness. May her story live on.

(the work was "The Mysterious Mistress" by Margaret Crosland)

United in a Disunited World

2009-02-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

Just read a wonderfully tasty story about a pair of lovers in war torn England. The time was the 15th century and the pair: John Neville (brother of the Kingmaker) and Isobel Ingoldsthorpe, a ward of Margaret of Anjou. The novel is "Lady of the Roses" by Sandra Worth. Her work is delightfully comprehensive. Henry VI has a fairly sizeable part - called "Holy Harry" by the populace, he is gentle and somewhat simple. There is one scene wherein he stands up to his queen, in a needful request of Isobel's. I enjoyed his character depiction.

This novel tells of the excruciatingly divided loyalties, twists and turns of military alliances, and the courage of women who are mostly powerless to act but must deal with the results. The colors, tastes and weather events of the time are well described, and the period comes alive in an accessible and moving melange. (Have the hankies ready at the close)

I'll have to step back and hit some nonfiction before I read another novel. It will be hard to find another that directly deals with the Wars of the Roses so well. Any suggestions?

The Woodville Woman

2009-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

I am an ardent fan of Elizabeth Woodville. The last book of historical fiction that I have read - "The King's Grey Mare" by Rosemary Hawley Jarman presented a complex portrait of this lucky then unlucky woman. The Wheel of Fortune may have been her principal tarot concept card. The witchcraft angle is deeply scored, the interfering mother, Jacquetta of Bedford a force to be dealt with.

Married for love to her own Sir John Grey and ensconced in beautiful Bradgate Park, her fortunes change abruptly for the worse when he is killed in battle, and then change again in the famous scene under a spreading woody tree where she captivates Edward IV. Many children later, the Wars of the Roses shift against her husband, and she folds into Sanctuary. After Edward's death, she is at the mercy of Richard III and Henry VII. Though she has a beautiful woman's power, and the weapon of her fecundity, she comes to be powerless and boxed out towards the end of her life.

Jarman's book held the first portrait of Henry VI as a little more than a bit player in my fictive reading experience. He is a caricature of the henpecked husband, and his monkishness powers one of the early scenes with Elizabeth at his court (or rather Margaret of Anjou's court). It was very good to see him with a speaking part in a novel.

Henry and Elizabeth and Elizabeth

2009-01-28T09:25:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading "To Hold the Crown", a reissued work of Jean Plaidy. It chronicles the reign of Henry VII in rather direct and unsophisticated style. Plaidy is of the opinion that Henry killed the Princes in the Tower, and was plagued by the fear of this "secret" coming out to threaten his hold on the monarchy. Elizabeth of York is portrayed as almost too good to be true, the purely submissive and comforting wife. Elizabeth Woodville is caught up in a power struggle with her son-in-law's mother, Margaret Beaufort.

A good part of the novel concerns Henry, initially Duke of York, then Prince of Wales, then King. His character is well developed, though I don't think Plaidy does justice to Henry VII as his depiction is rather flat, almost that of a villain. My personal view of him is much brighter. The novel covers a lot of ground, and reads pleasantly smoothly. I don't agree with a few of the characterizations, but this is a good start in reading fiction of the period.

Where I Have Been...

2008-12-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

...not in the 15th century, that is sadly for sure. It took me two months to read "The Uncrowned Kings of England" by Derek Wilson, a bargain from Amazon, which followed the history of the Dudley family, one so intwined with Tudor history. I was amazed at how one Dudley would go to the block and then his offspring became so close to Elizabeth's power. I found Robert Dudley's life to be quite remarkable as he walked a difficult path between his public and private personas (pictured here as a young man).

I spent two months taken up by American politics, often going to sleep in dread that we would regress into an even less responsive government than we have. I viewed far too much political television and was able to read little. Now that that situation is resolved for the bestest reasons, I am looking into Richard II, and the event that started the Lancastrian dynasty. Time to start at the beginning, with the regicide. The progeny of John of Gaunt by his wife and then his mistress who was then his wife figured greatly in the 15th century, and I think it is to these people that I will turn next.

Someone told me that Henry VI was probably autistic, but I have yet to find a reference that supports that. I feel that he never fully recovered from his longest spell of madness, and this may be something of an explanation. If anyone knows about the autistic angle, please let me know what you know.

But I Diverge

2008-09-07T15:19:00.000-07:00

I seem to be hitting the 14th or 16th century in England lately in my reading and the latest book in front of me is "Jane Boleyn" (by Julia Fox), an account of a lady-in-waiting who was in waiting all the way to the block. This biography posits that Jane, Viscountess Rochford, sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn, has been given a tough deal by the writers of history. Perhaps she was a scapegoat, but I see her as being in the wrong place, etc., especially the final place, where she followed Queen Catherine (pictured) after she was unable to save her.

The most human thing she did was lose her wits after being imprisoned, and as the former time had let to the deaths of her husband George and his sister Anne Boleyn, she must have been in intolerable suspense. Her wits were restored under the care of those who needed a sane and calm Jane for the next steps in the process of bloodletting for the treason of the moment. And Jane met her death nobly, in so doing with the best of them.

I didn't necessarily plan to read into the parenthetical centuries around the 15th that interests me the most, but that may be the path of reading. I must get back to Henry VI, but my next book in line regards the Tudors as well. Which epoch is the most violent?

Darkness Yet Green

2008-09-05T10:03:00.000-07:00

My total absorption with Anya Seton's "Katherine" led me to read "Green Darkness". I would like to put some disordered thoughts about this absorbing novel here. Though a century after the Battle of St. Albans, and Henry VI's capture, this novel is largely set in a time period equally as turbulent - 16th Century England.

It was a violent time - when practice of one's religion was by royal fiat which changed from ruler to ruler in England - one either practiced the faith in favor, or secretly practiced the faith out of favor. Abruptly, with the accession of a new ruler, the faith in favor would change and some could profess openly what they had hidden and others suddenly had to hide what they had previously professed openly - a situation that affected viscerally every person in the realm.

In this narrative, the royals (Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth with a cameo by Lady Jane Grey) are offstage for the most part, although there are appearances. Their impact, however, on the kingdom they rule is all too present and center stage.

Two characters in this novel that opens in 1968 and telescopes back to the troubled 1550's come to the point of rejecting the strictures of religion altogether. A logical outcome for them, and I won't say how it played out here in case anyone reading this wants to read this work. The presentation of reincarnation comes through as a vehicle for redemption. In reaching from 1968 back to 1559 and back again, the story elicits hope that tragic situations can be resolved in better times. In darkness is the green seed for the future.

I almost liked this one as much as "Katherine", bold praise.

Katherine

2008-08-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

And then I read "Katherine". Since then, I am on a kick to see how the whole Lancaster thing started, reading John Gardner's 1977 work on Chaucer, and taking shots at what before now was an inaccessible Shakespeare play - "Richard II". It is a sort of a rush - before the last few weeks, I have never read Chaucer, previously knew little about the Peasant's Revolt, or even thought about that complex king, Richard II (pictured here addressing the rebels in Froissart).

Anya Seton, through what must have been a sustained period of thoroughly hard, painstaking work, created a masterpiece in "Katherine". Never have I seen a great man's mistress so nobly and sympathetically described. One roots for her from page one. And so much happens in her 53 years, events in a life made to fit into a span replete with thematic and dramatic content, a love affair of four decades with its own epic conclusions. Historical fiction at its classic best.

Old John of Gaunt, what a lady killer. Katherine, lithe and pleasing. I think it was good to read Weir's biography of Katherine before the novel because it gave me background in a period I knew naught of, and underscored that this novel, though of a real historical remarkable lady, had its wellspring in recorded fact. The encounters described, one thinks, may very well have happened that way, and did so as all literature exists to me from some kernel of truth embossed in beautiful soul moving language.

Remarkable Lady

2008-08-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

I would like to gather a few thoughts on Katherine Swynford after reading Alison Weir's biography of her relationship with John of Gaunt (pictured). I plan to read the Anya Seton novel at some point, but now I am so into Plaidy's historical fictive style it may be awhile.

Hers is a very impressive story - upwardly mobile - to come from such humble ancestry to the attention of a maternally sympathetic Queen Philippa (to Edward III) to a hardscrabble first marriage to a knight to a lush affair with several children to that most prominent Duke. Next came calumny and furtive living as a byproduct of the Peasant's Revolt. The cap on her life was marriage to that prominent Duke and legitimization of her children. It is a story that spans decades of faithfulness to a scandalous relationship, turning mores upside down.

She is the ancestress of Margaret Beaufort, and thus the Tudor kings. She is also ancestress of the House of Stuart through her granddaughter Joan. So the Tudors are descended from two misalliances involving initially illegitimate children (better check my facts here).

Margaret Tudor, Divorce, and Dismay

2008-07-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

I zipped through Jean Plaidy's "The Thistle and the Rose" yesterday. Though she only had half the number of husbands as her brother Henry VIII had wives, there are some similarities between these lusty siblings. According to Plaidy, Margaret had a real weakness for a pretty face, and her judgement was corrupted thereby. All of her husbands had mistresses (surprise!), and children they wanted to bring up as if legitimate. Sadly, she could not accept infidelity, past, present or future.

James IV (pictured), a connoisseur of women, was her first king, infatuation and then disappointment. Plaidy's characterization of him was, I thought, very sympathetic. It would be interesting to meet such a man- a charmer without modern morals, sort of a male Madonna (the singer). James and Margaret appear to have worked things out pretty well. Unfortunately the Warfare Sickness claimed a royal soldier and left his son a crown on a child. The others were earls I think, pretty and not too bright.

Hester Chapman stressed Margaret's plainness, here Plaidy pronounces her beautiful. (Or maybe it was the clothes that were beautiful.) (Or maybe in royal circles it is close to the same thing.)

Elizabeth Woodville (My Heroine)

2008-07-17T17:03:00.000-07:00

The breadth and depth of suffering in the daily lives of those of the nobility who lived in times of high infant mortality, civil war, and delicate political situations is palpable. Elizabeth Woodville lost all five of her brothers, six of her seven sisters, four of her five sons, two daughters, and both husbands. When her time came she had little to spend on her soul. Her poverty at the end of her life may mirror that of Margaret of Anjou, although she left key progeny and Margaret was to be at the end the Lancastrian line.

Elizabeth was grandmother to two queens, Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France, as well as that monster Henry VIII. Edward IV couldn't have been the easiest husband, but they must have seen eye to eye as her many pregnancies suggest. Was she a witch - no - she inspired jealousy perhaps, and perhaps the charge of witchcraft explained a marriage so "imprudent".

My heroine? She is very person-al, genuine, gifted and beautiful.

Battle of Northampton

2008-07-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

7/10/1460 - Henry VI captured at Northampton. What was he wearing? Or, as they say around here with people robbed in the sad side of town - what was he doing there? Will forthwith study the battle and its aftermath. Factors of good mental skies and plenty of rest may make this possible. I will be happy to reacquaint myself with my royal historical friends.

Henry VII reenjoyed

2008-06-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately the past month or so has seen me turn away from books and have to oh my (!) concentrate relatively exclusively on my work life. I did, however, read another book on the best businessman ever to occupy the English throne - namely Henry Tudor. Titled simply Henry VII, it was authored by Charles Williams, an intellectual of the thirties. The style reminded me of Lytton Strachey's Eminent Victorians. The most interesting relationship explored is that of the Spanish Ambassador, De Puebla. This book is a gentle biography and thoughtful character assessment.

It is hard to remember the bright colors that were popular in the early Tudor years. Henry, Williams says, brought the concept of "Majesty" to the kingship. This book helped me picture the stage a little better.

A Few Stray Tudors

2008-04-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

I just devoured "The Thistle and the Rose" by Hester Chapman. This work detailed the lives of two more Tudors I knew nothing of - sisters to Henry VIII (daughters of Henry VII) - Mary and Margaret Tudor. A long tortuous road for Margaret as Queen of Scotland from a young age was dealt with at three times the length of the relatively simple and straightforward life of Mary as, briefly, Queen of France and then Duchess of Suffolk.

Of course, the plain one, Margaret, received the tougher shakes of life. And Mary, universally considered beautiful, was able to enjoy Tudor court life for much longer, have a brief (82 day) reign as Queen to Louis XII, thence to marry her long true love. One a nightmare, the other a fairy tale. One in the wild inhospitable poorly managed land of Scotland, the other in the rich realm of France.

I side with Margaret. She needed all the help she could get.

A Late Introduction

2008-04-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I am amazed that, learning English history so arbitrarily it seems, there are sizeable areas of which I know very little. Chance brings me to who looks to be an underappreciated king, Henry VII. I read a fairly dense piece of historical fiction by Roberta Gellis (written in the 70's, I believe) - "The Dragon and the Rose". The cast of characters, including Elizabeth Woodville as a manipulative catty shrew, Elizabeth of York as an innocent princess torn between mother and husband, Margaret Beaufort as a well meaning presence who gently dominates her son was believably drawn. Since I don't know much about any of these people, and thus can't fully appreciate the novel, I am spurred to learn more.

Finally, a good Lancastrian. Of course he had to be suspicious of his Yorkist in-laws, as well as his queen. He is portrayed here as being a good family man, a scrupulous king with a sense of humor, and a lover of show. The world view and inner workings of people of the middle ages were so different from how we stack up internally now, so historical fiction that portrays people through our lens may be misleading. If the King died of a broken heart, losing Prince Arthur and Elizabeth in short order, he seems an example of the fact that grief is timeless and basic to human relations.

116 years

2008-04-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

of making fortunes, plunder, misery, abject poverty, and so on. Starting with Edward III, carried on through the Black Prince, England, a poor, sparsely inhabited country, systematically plundered and made miserable one of untold riches. In this context Henry V had a bit of Bush in him, an unshakable belief in his own calling to arms, a pronounced piety, and the continuance of the bankrupting of the English state in order to pay for the war. Something I didn't know, from Mr. Seward, is that the 7 years after Henry's death from that most military of causes (dysentery) were the most successful years for the English in France. This mostly due to his brother, the Duke of Bedford (shown left here)

Without the Hundred Years War, perhaps the Wars of the Roses would have been avoided. Did the fall of Lancastrian France presage the eventual fall of the House of Lancaster? Also, an internecine strife extant between the Burgundians and the Armagnacs was in the mix. Of course a series of events such as the Wars of the Roses doesn't happen in isolation. Of course, in a general sense, nothing happens in isolation.

The Lady Jane

2008-04-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just finished In the Shadow of Lady Jane by Edward Charles. Despite some internal problems, I think it a good addition to the historical fiction genre. Lady Jane Grey and Lady Catherine Grey can be compared to the young ladies in Sense and Sensibility - Lady Jane representing reason and Lady Catherine emotion. The hero of the novel is one Richard Stocker, a precocious rising star in Tudor England.

It is good to get a male point of view. It is going to be hard for me to use H6 as a narrator, so this book was instructive. However, Richard Stocker is very capable, and comfortable in a variety of social situations. He has no military experience, nor does he obtain any. Other than that, he is at 16, the consummate servant.

Now, of late, I have read works of historical fiction taking place in three different centuries. It is time to tuck into some historical fact - I believe I will attempt the popular historian Desmond Seward.

The Sins of the Father

2008-03-25T17:58:00.001-07:00

This fellow is one scary dude (or "dread lord"). Kenneth Branagh's portrayal of Henry V resonated with me - a mixture of a romantic view of war through the soliloquies ("a touch of Harry in the night"), and the bloody gory hopelessly tragic detail of the film sequences at Harfleur and Agincourt. He bankrupted the treasury for his son, and only postponed the reckoning of the central Lancastrian moral problem- that they stood on the shoulders of a murdered Richard II.

I often think of the parallels to today - how the Bush administration has all but bankrupted our national treasury for a war whose premise is even more flimsy as Henry V's reason for war. I don't see a way out - and hope it doesn't turn out like the Hundred Years War, with an empire dwindling back to the original size, and seemingly irreparable loss of credibility in the world.

Margaret of York - Part 2

2008-03-24T18:05:00.001-07:00

Having finished Daughter of York, a reading undertaken last week, I found the work entertaining, but there is another book that someone should pen, and that is what happened next. The disintegration of all that Charles the Bold (pictured) worked for, as empires do rise and fall, and how Margaret had to employ her considerable political skills to try and prevent the denouement - well, the following historical period could ask for someone to flesh out a good work of fiction for its explication.

I will not attempt a book review here, and Smith had to stop somewhere, as Margaret's hero would in historical reality be married in a couple of years to someone else it was best to stop where she did.

Charles the Bold is portrayed very severely, and looking at his portrait, straight, simple and unadorned, I find it hard to picture him as the villain as he was in this book. He was probably very much a man of his times, and the sumptuousness of the Burgundian court required more conquest to perpetuate itself. (I suppose). He was, to me, a soldier no less strident than Henry V.

Margaret of Anjou was an enemy of Burgundy as a princess of France, and she never took her hatreds lightly. She has a small role in this novel, as she should. During the bulk of this time, having lost her husband and son, she was a ward, so to speak, of Louis XI, who allowed her space in his kingdom to fade out in poverty. Another 180 degree turn in the Wheel of Fortune.

Under a fine tree (fiction)

2008-03-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

(just setting this down - haven't researched fully)

Was it an oak tree? It was really rather green, and the noise from the battle nearby buzzed in his brain. The Queen, who knew how to fight a battle, had told Henry to get him hither and please, try not to be captured. He knew that he, in marked contrast to his father, was unable to lead troops into battle.

The air was soft and warm under the tree, and ants crawled over Henry's round toed shoes. The sky shifted as he fixed his gaze on the clouds in the opposite direction from the battle. It is a pleasant market town, St. Albans, with a monastery. The nearness and finality of bloodshed stabbed at his heart, and he didn't know whether to laugh or weep. Then he lapsed into a helpless self pity .. if only he weren't king...

In times like these, he was really only happy to be swayed by Margaret. She had evolved from that 15 year old beauty from France to someone who emphatically took charge. She stepped in to fill the power vacuum in the marriage with an intensity that surprised him. He loved his queen, and took heart from her vibrancy. And now they had a fine son. Edward's birth energized Margaret in another way, she had someone to protect, to shape into a ruler. As Edward IV, someday he would repair the reeling Lancastrian inheritance.

Margaret of York

2008-03-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

So far I am meeting with this lady through a novel of historical fiction that seems to this point to be historical romance. Daughter of York by Anne Easter Smith. It is a new book in the mix, and so far I am enjoying it - the first novel I have started concerning an era I know a deal about. The use of the 1460's as a backdrop is something I aspire to, so it is good to see another work with it.

Margaret seems realistic enough, a jeune fille with too much time on her hands. So far, a dwarf has been bestowed upon her and she is showing some sophistication for her age in her dealings with that gift. This in contrast to her amorous proclivities. I fear she may become like Elizabeth I, in one pulled close to astray when young.

The Wall (Fiction)

2008-03-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

And of course, there was the Wall, the outward manifestation of what was going on within Henry's mind. A mind that had shut itself off, unnoticing of when the body performed any function.

He sat, or rather was arranged on a pile of rags in a vague room in Windsor Castle. The mood of the others dwelling in the castle was somber, fearful, yet daring to hope that their anointed king would soon free himself from the blankness of the Wall.

This was sometimes made unlikely, as when his mind climbed a step and he saw the ghost of a father he never had known - with a disapproving grimace on his hard haughty famous face. This apparition knocked Henry back, his head against one wall and his mind against another. Like many sons of famous fathers, he had often been able to do nothing but shrug that he was a grave disappointment to his father's example.

When the news came to him that all was lost in France, that he was the son of the one who had won all, and that as that son he had lost all, well, it was the logical outcome of the way things were going. That was when he was first blocked by the Wall. Queen Margaret could have been heard in the room crying angry tears, burning with fear of what would happen if he never stepped through that Wall. The Queen was in the middle of her first pregnancy, and she knew that the court all assumed another to be the father. She knew, however, that it was Henry, and that the same fate might come upon a child of theirs as came upon the King.

And the recurrence of a reign of a boy king at this time would be a great burden upon the country, even greater than the reign of this king who had had so many fingers in the pie that was the Regency of the boy king.

The Queen was fearful of so many things, and as she often sat in the room hoping to see some sort of life in Henry, she occasionally saw a line of spittle draw itself down from the corner of his mouth. This was so sad to see his wheel come to its nadir (sum sine regno), I am unable to reign, I am without a crown. He had seemed to be so innocent, why was he (and the realm) being punished?

Not Really a Revelation

2008-03-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

Just finished surfing blogs that handle medieval history, and someone, don't remember who, said that H6 was "the worst disaster ever to sit upon the English throne". That is probably patently true - sort of like saying George Bush is the worst president ever to inhabit the Presidency. There is no way I would want to delve into the intricacies (or lack thereof) of our President, so why a medieval English failure? I think I outlined reasons in the first post. It is hard to say which leader was worse. There are a lot of similarities - the father issue, the reckless spending, the loss of credibility in the world.

To my moderately tutored knowledge, one has to address the question: why did each country put up with such disastrous "leadership" for so long? I have a couple of books on my shelf that I haven't gone through yet that address this of Henry. (I buy books when I fall into mania at my workspace - amazon.com is scary). So, maybe as the year progresses I will have a handle on the why of some of the aspects of Henry's kingship that were so disastrous.

Cruelty in the 14th Century

2008-03-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

Another period I know little about was made fascinating by what I deem an excellent work of historical fiction - The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham. In focusing on a figure who was well connected (well for much of her life) but not well known, she tells the story of a woman buffeted by the currents around her. She is Eleanor de Clare, niece to Edward II, wife of Hugh le Despenser the Younger (his execution pictured here). Like the novel previously mentioned presenting Constance of York, artistic license is manifest, but the whole work holds together very well focusing on this beautiful heiress.

What does this have to do with H6? Stephen King wrote that to write you must read a lot and write a lot, baldly put. I absorb, I hope, this example of well written historical fiction, and start to connect up what I can attempt. I know the period is not the same, but this novel depicts ancestors of the people I intend to write about. One should know as much background and ancestry of their historical protagonist as one can.

Some Brief Thoughts on Shakespeare

2008-03-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Shakespeare's Henry VI trilogy, part of a tetralogy if you add the logical next installment Richard III, never fails to provide something new upon each reading. The Henry plays span his lifetime, from cradle to Tower. Even though the plays bear his name, Henry is not a central character in any of them. The Henry plays were Shakespeare's first performed plays, so I read. The scope of the end of the Hundred Years War to the end of the Wars of the Roses was daunting, to be sure.

Henry himself always makes me want to either cry or shake him. I don't know if I really see Henry the way Shakespeare does, but Shakespeare probably defined the way Henry was viewed in Elizabethan times. Ah, the myth of the royal saint! Miracles were attributed to him for a century or so following his murder. But, somehow, Henry just doesn't make it as a saint. His ineffectuality is rampant throughout the play, becoming more of a contrast to those around him as the trilogy marches on.

I have read through the plays six or seven times now, with an emphasis on Part 3. That play has a plethora of action, and the best soliloquies. I am sure I will read through them all again soon.

Richard III Society

2008-02-27T10:57:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I joined the Richard III Society, and recently received publications covering the last three years. The Winter 2006 issue of The Ricardian Register has an interesting article "Sheep, Cattle and Sword: Some Thoughts about Richard, Duke of York 1411-1460". I haven't had the time to go through the entire piece, but Richard is a very important person in the life of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou. It criticises Margaret's adherence to one party as a destructive alliance enhancing civil war.

I will write more about this article soon.

Constance of York

2008-02-19T05:20:00.000-08:00

My knowledge of Henry IV's reign (Henry VI's grandfather) is spotty at best - I've never read the plays, or indeed anything in depth. Having just finished Within the Fetterlock by Brian Wainwright, I can't say that anymore. Even though it is historical fiction, and not historical fact, it gives a sense of the far-reaching problem of H4's reign - that it rules upon the deposition and murder of the anointed King Richard II. The novel also stresses the financial problems of the reign, a factor that dogged the Lancastrian house to the end.

The story is built around that of Constance of York, a newcomer to my consciousness. She was pulled in a few directions, both personally and politically. That she was cousin to both Richard and Henry made it hard for her initially, though, as the story goes, she aligned herself against Henry. And paid for it.

The novel was exceptionally well written. In fact, after a slowish start, I was totally pulled in. Unlike many readers, I was not hampered in my enjoyment by knowing what happens next. I look forward to reading more of this author.

What I Intend

2008-02-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

Here he is, my inspiration, my example of mediocrity, madness, and suffering in the wrong job.

I have long wished to delve into his story, as a medieval misfit, a constrained civil servant, and a henpecked husband.

The desire to tell his story is central to this my little life. I am in recovery, and look to historical figures in turmoil, and find him to be important, with a history most poignant. There are so many elements, a forceful queen, a horribly timed bout of madness, the signal oddity of being deposed twice...

Shakespeare's Henry is wistful and self-pitying, totally ineffectual. With a power vacuum, upon his marriage to Margaret of Anjou he seemed only too content to hand over the fact of power.

My interest in Henry began 20 years ago. As events in my life often became hard to handle, I thought of him and his predicament. What king sits under a tree during a key battle? One with a painful ambivalence and willingness to let others rule his destiny. There was a time in my life that I let things go, handed my being over to others, sat under that tree.