Friday, 17 February 2012
New Link Added
Link to the blog of Barbara Gaskell Denvil, who is an excellent writer of fiction for this period.
Friday, 13 January 2012
Saturday, 7 January 2012
No Progress
Sorry, but so far I have not found the time, energy and inclination to read up properly on Somerset's capture, so the substantive post I wanted to write can't happen yet. Nor have any ideas for non-substantive posts dropped into my head, hence the lack of recent developments in this space.
Anyone who fancies doing a guest post to disturb the tumbleweed will be duly appreciated. You can even write from a Lancastrian point of view if you like...
Anyone who fancies doing a guest post to disturb the tumbleweed will be duly appreciated. You can even write from a Lancastrian point of view if you like...
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Nothing much happening????
It's been pointed out to me that I haven't been blogging much lately. This is true. It's partly because the days go past so quickly. Those of you under 30 (if any) be grateful for the fact you currently have 36 hours in a day. By the time you get to my age you'll find it's more like 12. I have been doing some writing but I've also been engaged in quite a bit of more tedious stuff, and I often doss as my ailments make me the sort of lazy person my younger self would have held in contempt.
I have in mind some quite interesting write-ups about Edward IV and his crowd but before I write them I need to do you all the courtesy of checking my facts, given that this blog, at least, is not supposed to be part of my world of fiction.
In particular, I want to write about Edward IV and Henry Duke of Somerset, who for a time shared his bed even though they were not at all gay. It has also been pointed out to me that initially Somerset surrendered on terms to Warwick, and thus Warwick's alleged dissatisfaction with the favour shown to Somerset does not make entire sense. I suspect it was the degree of favour that was the problem.
However, before I try to make sense of it I need to work out the chronology of the surrender of the northern castles and the deeds and whereabouts of Queen Margaret and Henry VI, which is currently as clear as mud in my mind.
In the interim, another book recommendation for you: Malory by Christina Hardyment. There's some really interesting stuff in here, especially about the chaos that was England under Henry VI. If you don't 'get' why York and the other reformers were so unhappy with the set-up, this book will certainly help your understanding.
I have in mind some quite interesting write-ups about Edward IV and his crowd but before I write them I need to do you all the courtesy of checking my facts, given that this blog, at least, is not supposed to be part of my world of fiction.
In particular, I want to write about Edward IV and Henry Duke of Somerset, who for a time shared his bed even though they were not at all gay. It has also been pointed out to me that initially Somerset surrendered on terms to Warwick, and thus Warwick's alleged dissatisfaction with the favour shown to Somerset does not make entire sense. I suspect it was the degree of favour that was the problem.
However, before I try to make sense of it I need to work out the chronology of the surrender of the northern castles and the deeds and whereabouts of Queen Margaret and Henry VI, which is currently as clear as mud in my mind.
In the interim, another book recommendation for you: Malory by Christina Hardyment. There's some really interesting stuff in here, especially about the chaos that was England under Henry VI. If you don't 'get' why York and the other reformers were so unhappy with the set-up, this book will certainly help your understanding.
Monday, 18 July 2011
The Open Fetterlock
For anyone interested my new kindle 'book' The Open Fetterlock is now available from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and indeed Amazon.de for those who would prefer to pay in Euros.
There isn't a single complete story in here. It amounts to a collection from my 'cutting-room floor', which is why it's so cheap. Short sections from four incomplete novels (including two Ricardian ones and one light-hearted 'Yorkist' one). I hope some of you will enjoy it, and it will at least prove I have done slightly more than zip these last five years.
I am going to try to put it on Smashwords too, so those of you who haven't got a kindle can buy one of the other e-versions. PDF, for example. This is most unlikely ever to be a real book, unless I get really famous and people start bringing out anthologies and stuff. I don't flatter myself.
The Richard III Society have asked me for an Alianore short story and I am working on that right now. After the reception the last lot of fiction got in their letters page I'm surprised that they want it. Still I shall do my best, even though it's a bit like being asked to do stand-up at the Glasgow Empire.
I have also turned my thoughts to This New Spring of Time the Richard II/Anne of Bohemia novel. Don't be surprised if that ends being next up.
There isn't a single complete story in here. It amounts to a collection from my 'cutting-room floor', which is why it's so cheap. Short sections from four incomplete novels (including two Ricardian ones and one light-hearted 'Yorkist' one). I hope some of you will enjoy it, and it will at least prove I have done slightly more than zip these last five years.
I am going to try to put it on Smashwords too, so those of you who haven't got a kindle can buy one of the other e-versions. PDF, for example. This is most unlikely ever to be a real book, unless I get really famous and people start bringing out anthologies and stuff. I don't flatter myself.
The Richard III Society have asked me for an Alianore short story and I am working on that right now. After the reception the last lot of fiction got in their letters page I'm surprised that they want it. Still I shall do my best, even though it's a bit like being asked to do stand-up at the Glasgow Empire.
I have also turned my thoughts to This New Spring of Time the Richard II/Anne of Bohemia novel. Don't be surprised if that ends being next up.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Edward and Elizabeth
Not a post as such, but a link to an interesting article by Eric Ives.
It's a pity that Ives doesn't quote his sources as his conclusions as to the nature of the initial relationship between Edward and Elizabeth are intriguing.
It's a pity that Ives doesn't quote his sources as his conclusions as to the nature of the initial relationship between Edward and Elizabeth are intriguing.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Edward IV and Eleanor Talbot
For those of you who wish to know more about Eleanor Talbot, I strongly recommend Eleanor, The Secret Queen by John Ashdown-Hill. Even if you disagree with Dr. Ashdown-Hill's conclusions - and if you are sceptical about Richard III you will feel obliged to - there is nothing wrong with the factual content of the book, which gathers together everything that can be known about this lady.
Instead of trying to give you a digest of this text, I shall give you the key points of my conclusions on Eleanor, following my study of this book.
1. She was quite definitely the daughter of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, which (incredibly) has been doubted by some historians. Talbot's name is little known these days, but at the time he was a hero, roughly equivalent to Churchill or at least Field Marshal Montgomery.
2. It is wrong, therefore, to think of Eleanor as 'obscure'. Although her own marriage to Sir Thmas Butler of Sudeley was a modest one, her father was a leading nobleman and her sister was the Duchess of Norfolk. (The same Duchess of Norfolk who served as Principal Lady-in-Waiting at Margaret of York's wedding and was the mother of Anne Mowbray.)
3. Eleanor's mother was a Beauchamp - Margaret, eldest daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. A lady of very high rank by birth, if this needs to be said, half-sister to Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick. Which makes the 'Kingmaker' Eleanor's uncle. (Perhaps fortunately for Edward IV the family quarrel between the Beauchamp sisters meant this connection was not emphasised.)
4. Another Beauchamp sister, Eleanor, married the Somerset killed at St. Albans. So, Henry Duke of Somerset and his brothers were Eleanor's first cousins.
Of course it is impossible for Ashdown-Hill, or anyone else to prove that Eleanor's alleged secret marriage to Edward IV took place. By the nature of such marriages no evidence can be extant, the witnesses being long dead. Then again, we have almost as much evidence for the ceremony as we have for that between Edward and Elizabeth W. It's really Edward's acknowledgement of the latter ceremony that makes the difference. The event itself was equally irregular.
Edward was evidently attracted to women some years older than himself and preferably widows - Eleanor, Elizabeth, 'Jane' Shore and Elizabeth Waite/Lucy all seem to fit the template.
However, let's forget personal attractions for a minute. Could there have been a political reason for Edward to marry Eleanor? Possibly, just possibly. Edward was keen to conciliate Somerset (an issue to which I shall return in due course) and in that context his marriage to Somerset's cousin might have been seen as a white rose/red rose union. With the added bonus of bringing the powerful Talbot family on board into the bargain. Given that Warwick and Montagu were very annoyed by Edward's pardon of Somerset, it would be in line with Edward's trouble-avoidance philosophy to keep the matter temporarily secret. And then when Somerset defected to the other side again, it would give a reason for an angry Edward to dump Eleanor and turn to the gorgeous Elizabeth.
It's a fascinating subject for speculation, but it can't be proved. What Ashdown-Hill has proved is that Eleanor had land which a) she did not inherit b) she did not hold by dower or jointure c) which she could not afford to buy. This land was almost certainly granted to her by Edward; and since Edward did not go around granting lands to random females, there is something there that cannot easily be explained away.
Anyway, read the book, see what you think.
Instead of trying to give you a digest of this text, I shall give you the key points of my conclusions on Eleanor, following my study of this book.
1. She was quite definitely the daughter of John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, which (incredibly) has been doubted by some historians. Talbot's name is little known these days, but at the time he was a hero, roughly equivalent to Churchill or at least Field Marshal Montgomery.
2. It is wrong, therefore, to think of Eleanor as 'obscure'. Although her own marriage to Sir Thmas Butler of Sudeley was a modest one, her father was a leading nobleman and her sister was the Duchess of Norfolk. (The same Duchess of Norfolk who served as Principal Lady-in-Waiting at Margaret of York's wedding and was the mother of Anne Mowbray.)
3. Eleanor's mother was a Beauchamp - Margaret, eldest daughter of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. A lady of very high rank by birth, if this needs to be said, half-sister to Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick. Which makes the 'Kingmaker' Eleanor's uncle. (Perhaps fortunately for Edward IV the family quarrel between the Beauchamp sisters meant this connection was not emphasised.)
4. Another Beauchamp sister, Eleanor, married the Somerset killed at St. Albans. So, Henry Duke of Somerset and his brothers were Eleanor's first cousins.
Of course it is impossible for Ashdown-Hill, or anyone else to prove that Eleanor's alleged secret marriage to Edward IV took place. By the nature of such marriages no evidence can be extant, the witnesses being long dead. Then again, we have almost as much evidence for the ceremony as we have for that between Edward and Elizabeth W. It's really Edward's acknowledgement of the latter ceremony that makes the difference. The event itself was equally irregular.
Edward was evidently attracted to women some years older than himself and preferably widows - Eleanor, Elizabeth, 'Jane' Shore and Elizabeth Waite/Lucy all seem to fit the template.
However, let's forget personal attractions for a minute. Could there have been a political reason for Edward to marry Eleanor? Possibly, just possibly. Edward was keen to conciliate Somerset (an issue to which I shall return in due course) and in that context his marriage to Somerset's cousin might have been seen as a white rose/red rose union. With the added bonus of bringing the powerful Talbot family on board into the bargain. Given that Warwick and Montagu were very annoyed by Edward's pardon of Somerset, it would be in line with Edward's trouble-avoidance philosophy to keep the matter temporarily secret. And then when Somerset defected to the other side again, it would give a reason for an angry Edward to dump Eleanor and turn to the gorgeous Elizabeth.
It's a fascinating subject for speculation, but it can't be proved. What Ashdown-Hill has proved is that Eleanor had land which a) she did not inherit b) she did not hold by dower or jointure c) which she could not afford to buy. This land was almost certainly granted to her by Edward; and since Edward did not go around granting lands to random females, there is something there that cannot easily be explained away.
Anyway, read the book, see what you think.
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