Showing posts with label middle ages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label middle ages. Show all posts

Monday, February 14, 2022

The past is more familiar than we think....by Sheila Claydon





Readers who have read the first two books of my Mapleby Memories trilogy will know that the heroines in both books travel back in time. In Remembering Rose, Rachel travelled back to the 1800s, while in Loving Ellen, Millie only travelled back a few years. The final book is different because this time both the hero and heroine travel back in time together, to the thirteenth century. Writing it has required more research than my other books. Thank goodness for the Internet!

I have learned so much while writing, some of it really surprising. It is, for example, a fairly commonly held belief that people in the Middle Ages never bathed and rarely changed their clothes. This, I discovered, is wrong. True they didn't have bathrooms or showers, and water had to be heated over a fire, but they did wash, both themselves and their clothes, and were as clean as it was possible to be in the often very difficult circumstances of their lives.

I learned, too, that when buying and selling goods they issued receipts much as we do today, and kept invoice books. And towns in medieval times were bustling with traders and craftsmen. No malls and supermarkets then. The people were all individual traders. As well as those we still recognise today such as bakers, brewers, bricklayers, locksmiths and carpenters, there were jesters, acrobats and minstrels who also played a part in everyday life. It was a sophisticated society too. There were barristers, engineers and architects for example, and diplomats, navigators and playwrights. In fact there were far too many occupations available in the Middle Ages for me to mention here. The list is endless.

Castles, too, were interesting. Even the smallest castle had around 50 servants, from chamberlains, laundresses, cooks, chefs and butlers to stewards, marshals and chaplains. Many even had their own doctor, dentist and apothecary. Living in a castle was like residing in a small town. And of course there were knights and soldiers as well. The downside of working in a castle was that the majority of employees were paid by the day. Only people such as the steward, the marshal and the chaplain were paid annually. Consequently most jobs were not secure because whenever the Lord travelled away, to battle or to court, or for any other business, many of the workers would be laid off until his return.

There were huge discrepancies in wealth too, far more than today, and most of the population had to survive on very little. There were no pensions, benefits or sickness payments. No health service. The majority of the population were peasants who had to rely on the goodwill of the Lord who owned the land they worked, and on monks and friars treating them when they were ill.  Some were lucky enough to have a benevolent master, but many were not.

I have woven many of these facts, the good and the bad, into my book, and when it is published in May I hope readers will not only enjoy the story but also the facts they will learn. Now all I have to do is edit it myself before sending to Books We Love for a second edit. Then there might be a third one before, all being well, it is published in May.

Oh and I have to do one other thing. Find a title! The first two books in the trilogy are Remembering Rose and Loving Ellen. To keep things neat I really need to come up with something similar. Unfortunately I am finding this really, really difficult. Still that is a writer's lot. I'm sure I'll get there.

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

What's in a name"... by Sheila Claydon


"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." 

 So said William Shakespeare when he wrote Romeo and Juliet c 1600.

Well when you are writing a book where the protagonists travel back over the centuries, I am afraid names do matter! 

It wasn't until I was over halfway through writing the final book of my Mapleby Memories trilogy, part of which is set 600 years ago, that I thought to check the name of my heroine, Sophie. When I did, I discovered that it is a derivation of the Greek Sophia (meaning wisdom) and has been a common female name in Eastern Orthodox countries since the fourth century. What it wasn't, however, was a common medieval name in the English Middle Ages. I'm not even sure it was a name people had heard of, so to keep my story as authentic as possible, Sophie had to go. 

In her place I have chosen Alice. Strangely, Alice also derives from the Ancient Greek ('aletheia - truth), but for some reason it is a name that travelled to France and Germany, becoming Aalis (France) and Adalheidis (Germany) in the process before eventually travelling to the UK as Alice.

Of course once I had checked out my heroine I had to check my hero too, so Josh(ua) quickly became Will. I needed a name that was fairly common to the time and also one that had no religious connotations as that isn't part of my story. Joshua was a name only given to Jews in medieval times whereas William was introduced to Britain by William the Conqueror. It means Resolute Protector, a meaning derived from Will (desire) and helm (helmet). (Wilhelm in Germany)

I haven't decided yet whether the rest of the characters need totally authentic names although there are a couple I need to check out, but it is important that the two main characters do. Something that is becoming clearer to me as the book progresses. 

I also have to somehow marry together the Medieval Alice and the modern Alice despite the vast differences between them. In Medieval England peasant women had to marry whomsoever their father chose for them and even he had to ask his feudal lord for permission. While the lord rarely refused, he would often demand payment, especially if  the woman was leaving his land and thus reducing his workforce. 

In contrast, my modern Alice is independent. She makes her own decisions and is someone who can survive on her own, so finding a way to link the two together will require a certain amount of thought. I'm getting there though. 






Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Warrior Women Part 2 –The Dark and Middle Ages - by Vijaya Schartz

Queen Boadicea or Boudicca of Roman Britain

Early on, Boudicca was publicly flogged by the Roman occupants for claiming her father’s crown and lands, and treated like a slave despite her rank. Then she was forced to watch the rape and torture of her two daughters, who were about 12 years old.

An ancient historian tells us that this Celtic queen of the Iceni “possessed greater intelligence than often belongs to women.” She is represented with waist-length, flaming red hair, wearing a gold torque and colorful clothing.

With a piercing gaze and a harsh voice, she rallied the Celtic tribes into an army of 100,000 and killed 80,000 Roman soldiers with superior armament. With her daughters, she led the charge on her light chariot, carrying flaming torches, like raging Furies.

Decimated at first, the Romans eventually received more reinforcements, the Celts lost and were exterminated. Boudicca, who survived the last battle, escaped, only to kill herself with poisonous hemlock. She refused to be paraded in Rome as a vanquished enemy.


Norse mythology - Valkyries and shieldmaidens

Norse legends speak of Valkyries, heavenly shieldmaidens, who flew over the battlefield and collected the souls of brave warriors slain in battle. So, for a long time, history assumed the stories of Viking Warrior Women to be legend as well.

A Viking grave from the tenth Century in Birka revealed weapons, gaming equipment, and two horses. Assumed to be that of a powerful Viking warrior, the skeleton suggested the person was female. Recently, a DNA analysis confirmed the powerful warrior was indeed a woman.

In truth, the Vikings counted many shieldmaidens in their ranks. Many were mentioned throughout history. Now, we know they were real.

One of the most famous Viking warrior women is Lagertha, wife of Ragnar, portrayed prominently in the History Channel series Vikings.


Japan’s Samurai women

Since the 12th century, many women of the Samurai class learned how to handle the sword and the naginata primarily to defend themselves and their homes. In the event that their castle was overrun by enemy warriors, the women were expected to fight to the end and die with honor, weapons in hand.

The Onna Bugeisha were female Samurai trained to protect entire villages and communities, not only the family property. If a Samurai had no son, he reserved the right to train his daughters as full-time onna bugeisha.


Rather than sitting at home waiting for the fight to come to them, some young women with exceptional fighting skills rode out to war with the men. They behaved like Samurai. They had the strength to fight with two swords. They could enlist in the army of a daimyo and fight side by side with male Samurai. They wore the attire and the hairstyles commonly worn by the men of the army.

An example of such an onna-bugeisha is Tomoe Gozen. Of course, like many warrior women of her time, official history labeled her more of a legend than a real person. But nowadays, we know better…


Joan of Arc - Medieval Warrior maiden – 1412-1431

As France was losing at home against the English during the 100-year war, this teenage peasant girl, a maiden, managed to convince the heir to the throne of France to give her control of his flailing armies. Among the chaos of war, she secured and attended his coronation.

As a keen strategist, Joan of Arc won many battles for the king of France. She didn’t hesitate to reprimand prestigious knights for swearing, behaving indecently, skipping Mass, or dismissing her battle plans. Personal attacks by the English, who called her rude names and joked that she should return home to her cows, upset her greatly.

Joan of Arc wore weapons and armor and brandished a standard as she led her men to battle. But it is said she never killed anyone. She was wounded at least twice, taking an arrow to the shoulder during her famed Orléans campaign and a crossbow bolt to the thigh during her failed attempt to liberate Paris.

Betrayed and delivered to the English, she was imprisoned. After she made a solemn promise never to wear men’s clothes again, they stole her woman’s clothes, forcing her to dress like a man. With the complicity of a French Bishop, they condemned her for that crime. They also condemned her for cutting her hair like a man, hearing voices, and being convinced she was following the will of God. She was burned at the stake in Rouen in 1431. She was 19 years old.

In my writings, I like to portray warrior women. Here is my medieval maiden in the Celtic legends Curse of the Lost Isle series. Damsel of the Hawk is a standalone in the series. Find it on Amazon HERE Find it at BWL Publishing HERE

1204 AD - Meliora, the legendary damsel of Hawk Castle, grants gold and wishes on Mount Ararat, but must forever remain chaste. When Spartak, a Kipchak warrior gravely wounded in Constantinople, requests sanctuary, she breaks the rule to save his life. The fierce, warrior prince stirs in her forbidden passions. Captivated, Spartak will not bow to superstition. Despite tribal opposition, he wants her as his queen. Should Meliora renounce true love, or embrace it and trigger the sinister curse... and the wrath of the Goddess? Meanwhile, a thwarted knight and his greedy band of Crusaders have vowed to steal her Pagan gold and burn her at the stake...

Happy Reading

Vijaya Schartz, author
Strong Heroines, Brave Heroes, cats
http://www.vijayaschartz.com
amazon B&N - Smashwords - Kobo FB 






Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Cemetery: spooky or fascinating? by J.S. Marlo


Call me weird, but I love visiting cemeteries where people have been buried—unburied and reburied—for centuries. Day or night, graveyards are quiet and peaceful, but I'll admit I've never ventured in one in the middle of the night alone. I might find it spooky...

While I was in Paris, I made a point for visiting the catacombs with my daughter. It was eerie to see the skeletons neatly stacks into a solid wall so they wouldn’t tumble. Some of these bones or skulls were three or four hundred years old. Though I write romantic suspense (there are a fair amount of dead people and old bones in my stories) I've never googled how long it took for bones to decompose. Maybe I should have, because I would have guessed way less than four hundred years.

While seeing bones and skulls is interesting, I’m most fascinated with grave markers and the inscriptions on them. There are a lot to learn from the names, descriptions, and dates.

During a three-day vacation in Iceland, hubby and I rented a car and toured the island. In the countryside, we stumbled onto an old church dating back to the middle ages. Behind it was a small cemetery. Graves were marked with wooden crosses or headstones. The oldest grave dated back to the 11th century while the most recent burial had occurred in my lifetime. I was amazed that most of the inscriptions had weathered the centuries. It was interesting to see how some names change through time (an "S" that disappears, or a "D" that becomes a "T"), and to travel from one generation to the next and discover the family connections between the dead. Some had died young while others had lived to see their seventieth or eightieth birthday. To be honest, I was surprised to see so many of them reach an advanced age during the 12th or 13th century.

The early markings on the gravestones behind that little Icelandic church fascinated me, especially the ones dating back to the middle ages. I have seen many ways to write dates, but  that was my first encounter with this specific form. I wish I had taken a picture, but the battery on my phone was dead. I wrote an example of the markings on a piece of paper (see photo).  In that example, the person would have been born on April 17, 1263 and would have died on October 30, 1318.

My current story "Misguided Honor", which I'm hoping to finish by Christmas, revolves around an unusual  graveyard near Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia.  I've lived near Annapolis Royal for three years and my second daughter was born there. Back then, I was too busy raising my young children to spend time in graveyards. If only I'd known then what I know now...

Last year my hubby built my family tree. My ancestors arrived in Canada in the early 1600s. In my youth I'd heard stories about some of the males marrying native women, so I wasn't surprised to learn I indeed possess native blood, though it's very diluted after thirteen generations. What I didn't expect was to learn that a big branch on my father side settled in Annapolis Royal in the mid 1600s then fled to Quebec in the mid 1700s to avoid the great deportation. I had no idea that many of my ancestors were Acadians. These first settlers from whom I descend are probably buried in Annapolis Royal cemeterya few streets from the hospital where my daughter was born more then two hundred and fifty years later.

I wish I had known when I lived in Annapolis Royal that I had come full circle. Now I long for a chance to walk into that cemetery. Maybe one day...
JS


Wednesday, August 27, 2014

THE THRILL OF STARTING A NEW NOVEL by Vijaya Schartz


I just started writing Book 6 in the CURSE OF THE LOST ISLE medieval fantasy romance series, and I am so excited about it. I do not have a title, yet, but I have a plot, and strong characters. This novel is going to take the reader on the greatest adventure of the middle ages, the First Crusade.


The heroine is Melusine's sister Palatina, an erudite with a curious mind. At the end of Book 2, Pagan Queen, she was fifteen, and for making a dreadful mistake, she ended up with a curse, condemned to guard her father's treasure in a secret cave in the Pyrenees... until a knight of her own lineage comes to claim it for a worthy cause. This is definitely a romance despite all the action. I have a yummy hero in chain mail, a shiny French Christian knight, Pierre de Belfort, and I'm already falling in love with him, so I know you ladies will love him, too.

I'm following the historical frame to the letter, since the story of the First Crusade is well known and well documented. Like in the other books, I also rely on the legends to fill the gaps and explain some of the many fantastic feats reported by the historians of the time. Like the other novels, this one will be filled with battles, adventure, intrigue, heroic feats, and deadly villains.

In this book, however, I'm turning the tables on the reader. This is a departure from the previous stories. While Melusine remained stubbornly Pagan despite the religious persecutions, Palatina is more inclined to explore the new Christian faith. For that she will incur the full wrath of the Pagan Goddess.

But I don't want to reveal too much. I should be finished writing in early 2015. That gives you time to catch up with the other books in the Curse of the Lost Isle series.

Latest release from Vijaya Schartz:
Chatelaine of Forez
Curse of the Lost Isle Book 5
Medieval Fantasy Romance
from Books We Love Limited
in kindle:

1028 AD - Afflicted by the ondine curse, Melusine seeks the soul of her lost beloved in the young Artaud of Forez, who reigns over the verdant hills south of Burgundy, on the road of pilgrims, troubadours and merchants. But this dark and brooding Pagan lord is not at all what she expected or even hoped. He knows nothing of their past love, her Fae nature, or her secret curse. Must Melusine seduce and betroth this cold stranger to satisfy the Goddess and redeem her curse?

The gold in the rivers instills greed in the powerful, and many envy the rich Lord of Forez, including his most trusted vassals... even the Bishop of Lyon. When Artaud’s attraction to Melusine makes them the target of a holy hunt, will she find redemption from the curse, or will they burn at the stake?


Each book in the series can be read individually, but if you are like me, you'll want to read them in the right order. Here it is:

Book 1 - Princess of Bretagne http://amzn.com/B007K1EGAM
Book 2 - Pagan Queen http://amzn.com/B007Z8F7IA
Book 3 - Seducing Sigefroi http://amzn.com/B008LW18EG
Book 4 - Lady of Luxembourg http://amzn.com/B00BO0MYX6
Book 5 - Chatelaine of Forez http://amzn.com/B00I3T9VYG

Special edition box set of the first three novels (Curse of the Lost Isle) also available for a bargain price. http://amzn.com/B0091HX7EE

"Well written and factual, the book weaves history with fantasy and magic into a story that I could not put down." 5-stars on Amazon

HAPPY READING!

Vijaya Schartz

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