tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post7537121709795811406..comments2024-02-02T06:07:56.982+00:00Comments on LIVING THE HISTORY: CLOTHING THE BONES: FINDING MAHELT MARSHALElizabeth Chadwickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16911841862257909703noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-22722458826576109382012-02-23T09:48:50.069+00:002012-02-23T09:48:50.069+00:00I love your books and have really enjoyed reading ...I love your books and have really enjoyed reading each one - you have a great way of bringing the characters alive. Once I pick one up, I find I cannot put it down. I am and English teacher and am interested in writing a book myself - I have some ideas, but I am interested in where you find your ideas. I really want to write about a strong, lesser-known woman from history, but I am not sure where exactly to start looking - what can you advise?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-67581275409117012812008-09-29T19:48:00.000+00:002008-09-29T19:48:00.000+00:00Hi EC - I just wanted to tell you that I nominated...Hi EC - I just wanted to tell you that I nominated you for an award because I really like your blog. Here is a link to my blog: http://passagestothepast.blogspot.com/2008/09/they-like-methey-really-like-me.htmlPassages to the Pasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16357366263195042306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-28112438207758761362008-09-17T15:47:00.000+00:002008-09-17T15:47:00.000+00:00Absolutely fascinating! I'm still at least a book ...Absolutely fascinating! I'm still at least a book behind, but wow, I can hardly wait for this one now. I LOVE reading about strong women from times past and Mahelt sounds very interesting. LOVE the bit about her being the Marshal!<BR/><BR/>Re: the gaps between her children - it's possible she was miscarrying between them. Just a thought.Tesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15636189059910920978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-45795325574571726152008-09-15T22:47:00.000+00:002008-09-15T22:47:00.000+00:00You are a tease! :) I can't wait to read the book....You are a tease! :) I can't wait to read the book. I remember Mahelt from The Scarlet Lion.<BR/><BR/>In fact, I'd like to read all the novels you write about all the other characters in all your other books. That should keep you (and me) busy for awhile. ;-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-61070612576803370852008-09-10T22:16:00.000+00:002008-09-10T22:16:00.000+00:00Carla,Your question is why I mentioned I'd know mo...Carla,<BR/>Your question is why I mentioned I'd know more if I had the abilities of a historian - and the time come to that - to go delving about in old charters. I don't know the answer at the moment to the bigger picture. It just caught my attention in this case that she was Mahelt Marshal. Then she married and became Mahelt la Bigot. In her second marriage she remained Mahelt La Bigot and then as a widow second time around, she becomes Mahelt Marescalla. It's an interesting question.<BR/><BR/>Hi Steven,<BR/><BR/>Mahelt is one of many medieval spellings for Matilda. Maheut is another version. In the Histoire, she is called Mahelt, which I liked because it was slightly different. In the Latin charters I have seen she is called Matildis, Matill, and Matilda.<BR/><BR/>As for Longespee. I have his birth date down slightly later than in your blog, but said birth date is a matter for conjecture (and argument!) so take your pick. My new novel The Time of Singing involves Longespee as a major secondary character - starting from babyhood and going into young manhood, and the work in progress, about Mahelt Marshal has a strong sub-plot about the relationship between him and his Bigod half-siblings. I have done very extensive work on him via the Akashic Records, and read up the usual stuff via conventional resources - much the same as your own. I recently visited his tomb in Salisbury Cathedral - it's a beautiful effigy - very delicately wrought and it does have some of his character in the way the figure is posed.Elizabeth Chadwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911841862257909703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-51407747630237154512008-09-10T21:36:00.000+00:002008-09-10T21:36:00.000+00:00I suppose it is a bit like skiing, which in my cas...I suppose it is a bit like skiing, which in my case is not always pretty (just learned to snowboard this past winter in Colorado). <BR/><BR/>In regards to her name, I noticed Matilda was also used. Would Maltida be a sort of nickname for Mahelt, so to speak?<BR/><BR/>Also, what more do you know of William Longespee besides what you mentioned in the post? Have you researched him much? I did a brief biographical sketch on him in one of my recent posts, but have not delved into his history too deeply: <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://steventill.com/2008/09/01/william-de-longespee-3rd-earl-of-salisbury/" REL="nofollow">http://steventill.com/2008/09/01/william-de-longespee-3rd-earl-of-salisbury/</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-42142285115307324352008-09-10T18:14:00.000+00:002008-09-10T18:14:00.000+00:00Fascinating material, and a lot of space for the n...Fascinating material, and a lot of space for the novelist to work in! How unconventional was it for a woman of the time to sign herself with a name other than her current husband's? Would most women have signed themselves Warenne, or was it more or less a matter of personal choice by the time of a second marriage?Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-841311406141098302008-09-09T21:39:00.000+00:002008-09-09T21:39:00.000+00:00Hi Steven,Obviously I will take into account what ...Hi Steven,<BR/><BR/>Obviously I will take into account what the Histoire says, but since the descriptions are indeed standards of the time, I will strongly balance them by what else I know. I haven't mentioned it much in this post as I was mostly concentrating on conventional sources, but for Mahelt's appearance, characteristics and the life she led, I will be fleshing out such details using the psychic resource of the Akashic Records which have never yet let me down. I believe I absolutely know what she looked like and how she behaved. However, such a resource is not available to everyone, nor does everyone believe in its veracity. The historical record will only take a novelist so far and once you've garnered as much as you can possibly known, then it's time to use the imagination. I guess it's like skiing. Use the sticks and the skiis (historical fact) to propel, control and guide you, but use your imagination to select your route.Elizabeth Chadwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911841862257909703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-70041102439566218832008-09-09T21:27:00.000+00:002008-09-09T21:27:00.000+00:00Elizabeth, I enjoyed reading this latest post. How...Elizabeth, I enjoyed reading this latest post. How much, when re-creating Mahelt, will you go by the description from the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal that says Mahelt "had the gifts of 'wisdom, generosity, beauty, nobility of heart, graciousness ...' " <BR/><BR/>I know you mentioned you take those descriptions with a "pinch of salt" and I can understand why. Will these characteristics indeed factor into the novel when recreating Mahelt, or is it best to leave those types of details out entirely (for example: her appearance)? Since we cannot know for sure what Mahelt looked like, is it in the author's best interest to exclude those details, or do you believe it's acceptable for the author to take some liberties with these types of areas?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-91429885031968375102008-09-09T01:08:00.000+00:002008-09-09T01:08:00.000+00:00She sounds like a fascinating woman. I'm already ...She sounds like a fascinating woman. I'm already looking forward to the book!Daphnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12838072651419264066noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-11719025573199554542008-09-09T00:07:00.000+00:002008-09-09T00:07:00.000+00:00I think it may be possible for you,even without be...I think it may be possible for you,even without being a historian(jeez, you practically are one now!), to "trawl charters" for more of the kind of information you seem to want, about Mahelt Marshal and her various relatives. I did a bit of that with geneology for one (very real) character in the the Great Medieval Science Fiction Masterpiece I'm writing. It was difficult, but I got enough bits and pieces of information that I could use to more or less construct this character. It might be worth the time and effort you put into it, to do that. Anyway, I found this particular blog entry to be very good, and I linked it to my latest blog entry(along with something else relevant to my Great Medieval Science Fiction Masterpiece. <BR/><BR/>Finally, I just wanted you to know I look forward to your eventual publication of this work on Mahelt Marshal. She sounds like a really interesting person.<BR/>Anne GAnne Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03045500116098233731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-73872559923088185522008-09-08T08:52:00.000+00:002008-09-08T08:52:00.000+00:00Hi Tammy,Good question. She wouldn't have seen so...Hi Tammy,<BR/>Good question. She wouldn't have seen some of them for years on end. Her family decamped to Ireland for five years and at that point the two youngest Marshals, Ancel and Joanna were as yet unborn, so she wouldn't have even met them until at least 1212/1213. Her two older brothers were hostages at that time. Richard, the younger of the two was bound for a life and career in Normandy. I suspect she would not have seen much of him until later in life when he returned to England as Earl of Pembroke - and that swiftly ended in tears before bedtime when he was murdered by the agents of Henry III, leaving her very little time to know him. I like to think she would have touched base with her siblings. Kinship ties were an important part of medieval politics. There's a charter of hers dated to around the time just after Hugh's death which is witnessed by her brother William, her youngest sister's husband and her cousin John Marshal.<BR/>It seems that Mahelt's sons kept in touch with their Bigod relatives, particularly their FitzRanulf cousins (Mary Bigod's sons) and they are found hunting with them in Yorkshire as grown men. If I were a historian I'd probably be able to trawl various charters and archives to come up with more information, but that's about as much as I can say at the moment.Elizabeth Chadwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16911841862257909703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24348391.post-28971587011686217352008-09-08T01:11:00.000+00:002008-09-08T01:11:00.000+00:00I love this quick summation of Mahelt. I think th...I love this quick summation of Mahelt. I think that even without the Akashic record, you can garner that Mahelt was very much her own woman. I didn't realize she outlived all her siblings. Did she continue to meet with them on a regular basis after her marriage?Taminatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12375642888613084170noreply@blogger.com