One or two people have told me that they disagree with my analysis of Margaret and that her son was a bastard. Fair enough, they're entitled to their opinion, and barring the exhumation of his body and a spot of scientific analysis no one can be sure. By the way, according to W.E. Hampton his body could not be found in its supposed location at Tewkesbury and may be in the common pit.
For myself I've come around to the quite radical position on Margaret - that she was more sinned against than sinning. And that even if she did do some naughty things, she certainly paid for them, in her lifetime.
I have got a whole hill of Yorkist-era books for Christmas and am still trying to digest them. Some of them are as difficult to get down as week-old turkey I'm afraid.
And I,--like one lost in a thorny wood,
That rends the thorns and is rent with the thorns,
Seeking a way and straying from the way;
Not knowing how to find the open air,
If you get the picture...
2 comments:
Brian, nice to see you back after an almost two month hiatus! Hope you had a nice holiday and a happy New Year.
It's also nice to see someone defending MoA after all of the unflattering screeds that have been written about her- RIII wasn't the only person slandered by Shakespeare.
I finally got around to reading The Adventures of Alianore Audley and Within the Fetterlock in December and thought they were both quite entertaining. Your writing shows that historical accuracy doesn't need to be sacrificed in order to produce good historical fiction-unlike some of the garbage produced by better known authors.
Thanks for the kind comments.
My 'holiday' is down to various reasons, at the start I was busy writing, later I just got lazy. Normal service may eventually be resumed.
I think MoA had a hard time and very few options. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to live my 15th century life as her - I think I'd sooner have been Edwin the pigman or Emma the laundress!
Helen Maurer's book on Margaret was seminal and it gave me a much better understanding of the Queen and the difficulties she faced. She lacked a degree of political astuteness, undoubtedly, but few would have done better in her shoes.
I shall be putting up a post on her chief supporters soon, and I think it will demonstrate that most were a liability.
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