It's been a few weeks since I blogged, but I hope to get up and running again now (as you'll all have read, I've had some disruption with e-mails too, but the new address is on the right sidebar and I'll keep it there for a while). I'm back from a research break/holiday in Yorkshire that I'll be blogging about soon, but first up I thought I'd ease myself back into blogging by posting about a recent re-enactment event at Kenilworth Castle for English Heritage. No pictures of me (probably a relief :-) ) because I was behind the camera taking the photographs. As I often mention, I'm a member of Regia Anglorum re-enactment society www.regia.org Sometimes though, I go to play with friends in other societies, and this was one of those occasions when I went along as a guest member of Conquest, who do Norman, Angevin and Plantagenet Living History. http://www.angevin.org/ I love attending these events because I always find out things I didn't know. Here's a picture gallery of show and tell - enjoy! You can enlarge any picture by clicking on it.
Talking to medieval surgeon Toby Whittey, I was fascinated to learn about the thread used as sutures for stitching up wounds. Silk sometimes, but if that wasn't available, then horse-tail hair was the usual alternative, preferably from a stallion as apparently a stallion produces finer tail hair than a mare! Toby's stitching kit also included staples to hold the wound together while it was stitched, and goose feathers. The shafts of the goose feathers are used in cases where the doughty surgeon has to removed a barbed arrow from a wound. The quills are slipped onto the tines of the barb, thus minimising the damage as the arrow head is withdrawn. Toby was also practising his trepanning skills with a tool copied from a 12thc treatise on medieval surgery - essential for men in the field struck on the skull and suffering from compression. It would be their one (slim) chance of survival.
Tony's stichery kit complete with horsehair suture. Click to enlarge! Apparently modern gynaecological needles aren't much smaller - yikes!
A spot of trepanning practice
More tools of the trade. Love the dried frog in the foreground!
Tony's display and demonstration were only part of the day's delights. There was also a wise woman displaying her crafts, a woodturner and a weaver. Authentic food was provided on both days, being assorted pies on day one, and a stuffed salmon baked in a salt crust on day two. Various nibbles such as gingerbread, cheese and seasonal fruits were also on the menu.
Something to drink... (would have been alcoholic back in the day, but modern men who are going on the battlefield are not permitted intoxicating brews for health and safety reasons!).
Pies and a plum and apple compote from the visitor's tent.
Fishy goings on. The Salmon awaits his salt crust cover.
Weaving on a handloom. The end result is going to be a tunic. Click to enlarge
'Tigwald', busy at his wood turning with the walls of Kenilworth Castle in backdrop.
Tigwald's rather spiffy brooch. I love seeing replica details like this in 3D because the touch and feel add that extra dimension when it comes to the writing. Click on photo to enlarge.
A board game
A deacon's outfit.
A baron's private devotional in his campaign tent.
Preparing for battle. Where are the squires when you need them? Probably at the food tent!
Guard duty late 12thC style
Bring on the archers - standard archer and crossbowman. The latter apparently were much feared because it didn't take years of training. Half an hour and anyone could kill a king - and one did at Chalus Chabrol. The sniper weapon of the 12th and 13thC
I returned from holiday to find my e-mail account with BT had very messily died in my absence. Not being inclined (after two TRULY TERRIBLE experiences with BT's non UK call centres) to get them to fix things this time around I have done what needed doing long ago, and transferred elsewhere. This does mean though that for the past week I have been unable to read any incoming e-mails to my Elizabeth Chadwick account, and also that until I get things moved over, I won't be able to read incoming e-mails on my old account. If anyone does want to get in touch with me, my new account address as of today (Saturday 12th September 2009) is elizabethchadwick@live.co.uk So sorry for any inconvenience, but believe me, this is sooooo much easier than going through the torturous circular rigmarole of a BT overseas call centre experience (shudder).
Once I've got my e-mail addy changed throughout Internet land, I'll be posting about a day out with Conquest and Regia Anglorum at Kenilworth Castle and then posting about my research visit to Yorkshire.
I have something rather special for everyone this time around - an interview with my good friend and fellow author Sharon Kay Penman. She has been very generous and taken time out of her busy writing schedule to answer a few questions.
I have loved all of Sharon's books since first becoming hooked on her first novel The Sunne in Splendour - my edition is Macmillan 1983 - see foot of this post. At the time I was just an avid reader, not an author myself and I was blown away by this fabulous historical novel about Richard III, his family, life and times. Sharon has continued to hit it out of the park with every novel she writes, whether they be mysteries or or her richly detailed historical novels set in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, particularly featuring the 'Devil's Brood' of Angevin royalty. There's no one better.
So here, without further ado, Sharon Kay Penman welcome.
Q.I really enjoyed Devil’s Brood.I am always amazed at how you managed to keep so many threads spinning at once and I think you have a particular skill for explaining the politics of the period in a thoroughly readable manner.Do you keep spreadsheets or charts of who was related to whoand what political game plans were, or is it all stored in your head?
A.I keep it all stored in my head; is that weird or what?I make extensive notes on various topics like medieval sexuality or ships or Cyprus—all subjects of heavy-duty research now for Lionheart.But I seem to have no trouble remembering the shifting political alliances or the behind-the scenes double-dealing.Maybe I was a Borgia in a past life?
Q. There are some spine tingling scenes in Devil’s Brood.The one in Canterbury Cathedral with Henry doing penance for Becket’s death will stay with me for a long, long time. Do you know that you’ve written a particularly memorable scene at the time or does it take a while/other opinions before it sinks in?
A.Usually I know if a scene is going to work.When Henry did penance at Becket’s tomb, I just sensed that it was going the way that I’d hoped.I was surprised, though, that it came so easily; I’d expected to have to suffer more!Another dramatic scene that I was satisfied with was Simon de Montfort’s death scene in Falls the Shadow.But sometimes a scene will resonate with my readers in ways I didn’t expect.The Here Be Dragons scene that readers mention most is the one in which Joanna burned Llewelyn’s bed, and I didn’t see that one coming.
Q Henry II’s son Geoffrey seems to have been a real hit with the readers in Devil’s Brood.I get the feeling you enjoyed writing about him and his relationship with Constance.There doesn’t seem to be a lot known about Geoffrey – or am I wrong?How did you find out about him, and did you have more leeway in creating his character and scenes than you did with Henry and Eleanor?
A.Your writer’s instinct is right on target here.I have always found Geoffrey to be the most intriguing of the brothers. But he has been overshadowed by his more celebrated brothers, Richard and John, and historians rarely bothered to consider his motivations.Fortunately for me, a Breton historian named Judith Everard finally made up for those years of neglect.I don’t think I could have written Devil’s Brood had she not written Brittany and the Angevins first.I certainly would not have been able to flesh out Geoffrey’s portrayal without her input, and he would have remained an enigma.She was able to reveal the reasons behind Geoffrey’s actions, and this enabled me to create a plausible, three-dimensional character, not the one described by a biographer of Richard as motivated by “mindless malice.”
Q. A member of a Penman fan e-list where I participate asked the following question when she heard I was going to be interviewing you: How could such a smart, charismatic leader have been so utterly clueless in interpersonal relationships? Did he have the kind of ego that prevented him from recognizing that anyone could have a viewpoint different from his?
A.I think Henry was the ultimate control freak, unable to delegate any real authority to his sons or to Eleanor.And he paid a high price for that sort of pride.I also think he was deeply wounded by the rebellion of 1173, and those wounds never fully healed.He forgave his sons, but he no longer trusted them, and that set him on a road which led to his terrible, tragic death at Chinon.
Q. Your next project is Richard The Lionheart, and then the story of Balien of Ibelin – the true story, not the Kingdom of Heaven version.I’m really looking forward to both.Are you finding it any different working to a tighter deadline than with some of your earlier books?
A. Oh, yes!I have always had three years to do one of my historical novels, but I only have two years for Lionheart, so I am having to fight off periodic panic attacks.
Q. Is Richard proving to be surprising in any way, or is he as you imagined so far?
A.A total surprise in many ways.When I wrote Here Be Dragons more than twenty years ago, I did not have a particularly high opinion of Richard, accepting the then popular view of him as a brilliant but bloodthirsty soldier, an ungrateful son,and a careless king.Since he was only a minor character in Dragons, I did not do extensive research about him.It was not until I was writing Time and Chance and then Devil’s Brood that my research revealed a different man.He was indeed a brilliant battle commander, but I was fascinated to discover that, while he was utterly reckless when it came to his own safety, he was very conservative when it came to the lives of his men.Henry will always be one of my favorite historical figures, but I came to see that his sons had some legitimate grievances, particularly Geoffrey and Richard.So scratch the ungrateful son charge.And research in the past twenty years has given us a more nuanced and favorable view of Richard the king.He was a good judge of other men, had a real flair for multi-tasking and strategic thinking, and his father’s sardonic sense of humor.Twenty years ago, I saw him as arrogant and ruthless, and I was right—he was.But he was a much more complicated man than I’d originally thought.I think it is only fair to judge historical figures by the standards of their time, and to medieval eyes, Richard was what they most admired, a “man of prowess.”
Q. If you were going to attend a great banquet set in the time of Henry II, but Henry and Eleanor weren’t there, who would you choose to be sat either side of you?
A.Geoffrey, most definitely.And Richard, to see if my portrayal of him in Lionheart is on-target.I wouldn’t mind getting to meet his queen, Berengaria, either.And John, of course, and…well, we’d soon have a full house.
Q. Did you ever do any fiction writing before you wrote Sunne in Splendor?When was the first time you actually wrote anything down?
A.Sunne was my first novel.I’d written stories as a child, and I’d written a “novel” in my teens about young love that mercifully later disappeared.
Q. I know you’ve said you craft each chapter and polish it before you move on.Do you ever have to go back and rewrite once you have finished the book, either because by the time you’ve got the whole in your hand a certain early piece doesn’t feel quite right, or because research you’ve done along the way necessitates a change?
A.I’ve gone back to do some minor tinkering, but I’ve never done a major rewrite.It would be wonderful, though, to be able to go back in time and correct mistakes that subsequently came to light—like my little time-traveling grey squirrel in Sunne. (I know what you mean! I have a few errors of dateline or detail that I would love to be able to correct in my earlier work!)
QWhat is a typical working day?Suppose I became a fly on your wall on a typical weekday when you got upand buzzed off when you put the light out.How would I see your day panning out?
A. I don’t keep set hours as some writers do.So if I’m working on a chapter and it is going well, I am likely to spend hours at my computer, coming up for air occasionally and to feed or walk the dogs.And since I’m an owl, not a lark, I’m likely to be writing well into the night.
Q. Do you take a day off in the week.
A. No.Spoken like a true workaholic, I know.But not a day passes when I’m not either writing or researching or thinking about plot developments.
Q. Is there anything that inspires your muse?I ask this because I listen to music away from my PC, and it resonates in my subconscious for when I’m ready to write at the PC.I wondered if there’s anything that stirs your creative juices.
A.I have a number of wonderful photographs of North Wales, taken by a brilliant Welsh photographer friend, Dave O’Shea, and I think they help to stir the “creative juices.”
Q. From talking to you by e-mail, you seem to have an excellent library of research books.Do you know how many you have?Where do you get them from? (I know we both know about Oxbow and Abe etc but not sure if readers do).
A. Yes, I have an extensive library by now, several thousand or more.I used to make day-long trips to the University of Pennsylvania about fifty miles away, for they have a wonderful medieval library.But I’ve not had to do that for years.In the old pre-internet days, I would buy my books from second-hand bookshops in the U.K.I would arrive with a wish list, and snatch up anything that might be remotely useful to me in the distant future.Then I’d have the fun of packing them up and lugging them to the Royal Post Office.But the internet has changed all that, of course.I find many of my books on ABE, both the English and French websites.The Medieval Bookshop is one of my favorites.Amazon’s mother ship and its sites for England and France are also great sources. Life is so much easier for writers now, isn’t it?I wanted to find a collection of miracles supposedly performed at Becket’s tomb, written by one of the monks at Christchurch priory.I knew it had been translated in the 19th century, so I set out to find it.And eventually I did—in Japan.So an American author bought a book from a Tokyo book-seller that was a translation by a Victorian historian of a medieval monk’s work!And the result was the scene in Devil’s Brood where Henry is doing penance at Becket’s tomb while being kept company by a garrulous monk who just won’t shut up and who happens to be the author of that collection of miracles.
Q. You have mentioned favourite research books before that readers might like, such as Robert Bartlett’s England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings and David Crouch’s History of William Marshal. Do you have any quirky favourites? I confess that my own quirky favourite is Malcolm Jones’ The secret Middle Ages with all its strange folk art objects (such as the erotic biscuit moulds!)Can you give one that you’ve found fun that’s a bit left field?
A. I don’t know if it is quirky or not, but I really like Daily Life in the Twelfth Century (That's one of my favourites too!)
Q A question from medieval historian Gillian Polack who's a member of the Penmanreview forum: I’m really curious to know ifSharonfinds it easier/harder/different to talk about the Middle Ages with Medievalists (the ones who don’t write fiction) now than it was when her first book came out?
A.An interesting question.I’ve lurked on Mediev-l for years, but I don’t travel in academic circles.I know I am always very flattered when professors write and tell me they enjoy my books, trust my research, or recommend my novels to their students.
Q From Tamara Mazzei(owner of Penmanreview and publisher of Brian Wainwright)If I were to ask Sharon a question, I think it would be whether she felt constrained by the known history of Eleanor, Henry and Thomas Becket. IMO, I think that's one thing that makes it hard to write about those particular characters -- because so much has already been written about them, in their own times and later --and in fiction and nonfiction. That's a lot of expections to have to plowthrough, even if one is able to ignore most of them.Looking back over all the different books she's written, HBD is still myfavorite, and I suspect at least part of the reason for that is because,with the exception of some of the political events and the parts concerningJohn, she had fewer constraints because there was less documented historysurrounding Johanna and her everyday life with Llewelyn -- and it gave hermore latitude to create a self-contained story. Perhaps I am wrong on that,but I would be curious to know Sharon's take on it.
A.I think I might feel that way about the Tudors, Tamara.So much has been written about Elizabeth Tudor, etc, that I think it would be challenging to find ground that hadn’t already been thoroughly ploughed.We don’t know as much about Eleanor as we do about Henry or their sons, lacking the personal anecdotes about her that the chroniclers passed on about her husband and sons.Women, even women like Eleanor, too often slipped through history’s cracks.
I think one reason Here Be Dragons is such a favorite with my readers is because it was unknown territory.Most readers—even in Wales—were not familiar with Llewelyn’s history, and so I was able to surprise them.It probably helped, too, that Dragons has such a compelling and true love story.And like Devil’s Brood, Dragons is the story of family entanglements and the pain we bring upon ourselves—Joanna and her father, Llewelyn and his estranged son Gruffydd.I think we can all identify with family vicissitudes and conflict, even if ours are not played out on such a grand stage.
It doesn’t seem right to be discussing the MA without mentioning a writer you publish, Tamara—Brian Wainwright.He has written an excellent historical novel about Constance of York, called Within the Fetterlock, and a hysterical spoof set in the time of the Yorkists called The Adventures of AlianoreAudley.
Lastly, I’d like to thank you, Elizabeth, for inviting me to visit with you and to give me a forum to to speak to your readers about the Middle Ages, a subject dear to both our hearts.
You're very welcome Sharon. I have so enjoyed reading your answers and I'm sure visitors to the blog will too! Apologies for some slightly strange formatting. Blogger does not always take kindly to cut and paste!
My first ever venture into reading one of Sharon's novels!
Having recently finished my latest novel and having handed it in, I got round to a bit of tidying around and came to perusing my keeper bookshelf. This gave me the idea for a post listing twenty medieval historical novels that live there. All are friends I wouldn't dream of parting with. I haven't listed them in order of preference - just in order of scanning, and they are only representative, but here they are with brief notes. A selection of the well-worn and the slightly newer that have taken me on far-ranging adventures, educated me, and kept me sane. (I know the latter is debatable, but you know what I mean)!
1.
I was very tempted to put all of Sharon Kay Penman's novels on my list, just as I was tempted to put all my Dunnet's or Gellis' but that would have left room for nothing else. So I've put up my 'read most times' Penman as a representative of the rest. Sharon Penman has an unsurpassed talent for bringing the Middle Ages to life and for explaining the complex politics in a thoroughly readable way that leaves you wanting more. Her research is deep and her characters are of their time, but people you can still recognise. SKP is the true royalty when it comes to writing historical fiction set in the medieval period.
2.
Part 2 of a trilogy, but I read this first and it stands alone. The story of Margaret Kendall, wealthy merchant's widow, who is forced into marriage with Gregory de Villiers, a younger son and unfrocked monk. A glorious, tongue in cheek romp. The others in the trilogy are A Vision of Light and The Water Devil. First read this around 1990
3.
Arn de Gothia is given to the church, but his skills lie with the military arts. Something of a Parsifal character, this is the story of his early years and the forging of a Templar Knight. Don't expect a strong resolution at the end though. This is only the beginning of the journey. Read this year.
4.
I love all of Cecelia Holland's Medieval novels. Hammer For Princes and Great Maria could have as easily appeared here, but Until the Sun Falls is also a tour de Force. The story of the Mongol Empire following the death of Ghenghis Khan.
5.
Another Holland. Kevin Crossley this time. This is the story of 12th century boy Arthur, living on the Welsh Marches and with a mystic connection to older legends. Holland has a gift for bringing the period to life. It's a young adult novel but easily makes the crossover.
6.
The story of Henry I. Not many authors have tackled this particular king who is probably one of England's greatest monarchs - but in an understated kind of way. He ruled with a rod of iron and his nature was not always endearing, but the country had 35 years of peace under his rule. Juliet Dymoke writes his story with apblomb.
7.
From the days when medieval romances were meatier tomes you could really sink into. Eden Hawkhurst's husband goes missing on crusade and of course she sets out to find him, but on her way she meets Tristan Damartin and things start to get complicated. A great romp - sexy and forthright but rich story telling nevertheless - or so I thought back in 1977!
8.
More Crusader stuff. I read this one last year and it made me laugh out loud. The tale of a young lad who becomes a Templar squire, the narrative told through his irreverent and cheeky banter. Aimed at the YA market, but I loved it.
9.
More Holy Land mayhem. The background to the events that led to the third crusade. This was probably the first 'gritty' historical that I read in the early 1970's. Retail price 30p
10
The incomparible Dorothy Dunnett and the first of her six books about Francis Crawford of Lymond. I can't say it better than one of the original quotes for this book from Neil Patterson of the Sunday Times: 'This is the first time I have stood in the market place and shouted and I wish I were more practised and my voice were bigger, for I have something of delight for all who care for excellence.' There are historical novelists, and then there is Dorothy Dunnett. My edition, bought after having read it from the library, is the 1984 printing.
11.
Another great dame of the genre, Roberta Gellis. Alinor has one of the best romantic heroes I have ever come across. Ian de Vipont is a tour de force - and so is Alinor. She's a woman of her time and yet she runs ring around the men. I've read this one to bits in the past. Ignore the cheesy cover. It's a well-researched, meaty historical novel.
12
Madselin - my favourite Norah Lofts. The story of a noble Saxon young woman forced to make adjustments in the wake of the Norman Conquest. A very fine novel.
13.
Having read all the Dunnett and suffering from withdrawal symptoms, I came across this one. Vainglory by Geraldine McCaughrean is like stepping into a richly illuminated Book of Hours. I love the language, and I am still a little in love with the hero, Victoire de Gloriole.
14
Grace Ingram is also known as Doris Sutcliffe Adams. This particular novel is part romance, part medieval mystery, written in a pacy, tongue in cheek style with an endearing 'feisty' heroine very much of her time and a believable, vulnerable hero. A favourite comfort read for me.
15
Carla Nayland is a friend from the historical fiction community but I wasn't asked to read this; I did it of my own accord and read it just like any other book. This is early medieval - what used to be called the 'Dark Ages' but Carla skillfully weaves the story of Eadwine and his struggle for survival and inheritance. I read this about a year ago or thereabouts.
16
Queen Melisande of Jerusalem and the Christian Holy Land in a state of flux comes to life in this one. Again, the rich texture and use of language puts this one in the Dorothy Dunnett field of operation. I was hooked from the moment I read the opening paragraph.
17
The first work of historical fiction I ever bought for myself with a book token. I was fifteen at the time. I'd bought books in other genres before, but this was the first historical. I'd recently fallen in love with the Middle Ages in a swash buckling romantic sort of way, and the cover sucked me in!
18
A fast-paced intelligent romance novel that isn't just about the bonk. In fact, although the intimate moments have you reaching for a cold drink, they are not over done and the story itself with its mystery and developing cooperation between hero and heroine, is very rewarding. One of the best historical romances I've read.
19
H.A. Douglas is a re-enactor friend and this is self-published by Lulu. Again, I wasn't pushed into reading it, nor obliged to say nice things, but this is a superb little novel about life in the north of England in the tenth century. The author is very good at writing a female viewpoint and the story has a powerful sense of time and place. It's as good as anything published by the big houses.
20
I was a fan of Ellis Peters' Cadfael looooong before the mainstream cottoned on. Here's my bookclub edition from 1979. This was my first meeting with the gorgeous Hugh Berenger for whom I formed a lifelong attachment. Never mind the mystery, never mind the monk, just give me dark-eyed light on his feet Hugh! Seriously, I loved the Cadfael books and I have them all.
'Have you had sex with your wife on a Sunday?' You shall do penance for four days on bread and water.'
'Have you had sex with your wife or with another woman from behind doggy style? If you have done this, you shall do penance for ten days on bread and water.'
'Have you kissed some woman due to foul desire and thus polluted yourself? If you have done this, you shall do penance for three days on bread and water. But if this happened in church, you shall do penance for twenty days on bread and water.'
'Have you tasted your husband's semen in the hope that because of your diabolical deed he might burn the more with love for you? If you have done this, you should do penance for seven years on the legitimate holy days.'
Excerpts from History Laid Bare by Richard Zacks, in turn extracted from the early 11thC penitential of Burchard of Worms. Continuing my blog post on medieval attitutes to sexuality, the aboveis copied from a penitential written around 1012 by German bishop Burchard of Worms. It's part of a twenty volume work covering every imaginable sin, but volume 19 chapter 5 contains the ones pertaining to sexual sins, of which 194 are listed. I should think that by the time the scribe finished writing them down, he would have had to go and dunk himself in a cold bath and head for confession himself! It appears that every permutation likely to ocurr in the confessional has been touched on and then some! The ones above are the more mundane. I haven't listed the ones pertaining to nun ravishing, various forms of incest and ummm... bread abuse. Obviously people did these things or there wouldn't be a need to have the guidelines, although some sins were rarer than others and some were seen as far more serious. Semen swallowing for example, gets you seven years' worth of penance, whereas kissing is only three days (except in a church!) and sex on a Sunday four. Other than the missionary, alternative sexual positions equals ten days on bread and water. It upset the order of the world to have the woman on top or to engage in unnatural sexual positions. And since sex was for conception as mentioned in my earlier post, there was only one place semen was supposed to be deposited so there were heavy penances for putting it elsewhere. Albert of Cologne, a Dominican friar and bishop was of the opinion that the missionary position was 'the blameless path.' A slight deviation was the sideways position, 'then comes the sitting position, the standing, and, finally, the greatest sin is 'retrorsum' like mares. That's why certain people have said this position constitutes a mortal sin, but that's not my opinion.' Did people keep to the letter of church law? Did they go to confession with clear consciences? Again, it's a case of different strokes for different folks. Side by side with strictures from the church to behave in a sexually restrained and exemplary fashion, went medieval straightforwardness, fun and bawdiness. (you only need to see the British joy in Pantomime to see it at work in the national psyche). Grape Street in London was once Gropecu*t Lane. Pelican Street in Paris was once (13thC) the Rue de Poile-Con (Cu*t trimming street). Then there was Swylcontdich in Cheshire. By 1848 it was Swillinditch. Alongside the religious chants, the teachings, the warnings from the pulpit, were bawdy folk tales and soldier's songs involving lusty copulation all night long. There are explicit riddles such as this one from a book of Anglo Saxon Riddles.
I am a wonderful help to women The hope of something good to come I harm only my slayer I grow very tall, erect in a bed I am shaggy down below The lovely girl grabs my body, rubs my red skin Holds me hard, claims my head. That girl will feel our meeting! I bring tears to her eyes! What am I?
You can almost hear and see the giggles can't you? Answer is at the end of the post.
A marriage did not have to be consummated to be valid but the non consummation had to be voluntary on both sides. If either party was unable to have sexual intercourse then the marriage could be dissolved. A jury of matrons could be called to examine the woman and say whether or not she was capable and and the same for the man. There is a known English court case where a man was brought before a female jury, having been accused of being unable to produce the goods. The jury then proceeded to give him a physical examination. One of their number showed him her breasts and fondled him him intimately and tried to get him interested while the others looked on. When nothing stirred in the bushes, he was pronounced a fraud. In another case though, similar treatment resulted in a response that made the jury declare that the man's equipment was 'large enough for any woman living in the world.'
As a writer of historical fiction, I have plenty of examples of variation through which to choose my path. I think the most important thing for me in choosing that path is being as aware as possible of all the variations. Absorbing the rich melange of thought and custom by detailed reading across the disciplines is, I believe, the best way to get the hang of a workable model of the mindset.
Illustration of a Medieval badge from The Secret Middle Ages by Malcolm Jones.
Here are some books from my own library covering the subject - not comprehensive. I have other works with snippets here and there.
History Laid Bare - Love, sex and perversity from the ancient Etruscans to Lawrence of Arabia by Richard Zacks
Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing unto Others by Ruth Mazo Karras.
The Language of Sex: Five Voices from Northern France around 1200 by John.W. Baldwin
Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages: A Sourcebook edited by Conor McCarthy
The Medieval Idea of Marriage by Christopher Brooke
Medieval Obscenities Edited by Nicola McDonald
Common Women: Prostitution and Sexuality in Medieval England by Ruth Mazo Karras
Handbook of Medieval Sexuality edited by Bullough and Brundage
There have been one or two discussions online about Medieval sexuality, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts of my own on the subject. Being a historical novelist who features detailed relationships between my characters, it's inevitable that their sex lives become part of the equation. So, the question is: If I'm going to try and be as historically accurate as possible, what are the do's and don'ts for my characters? Over the next few days, I'm going to post on matters of the heart and areas further south in the medieval world view.
The first thing to realise even before I begin, is that just like now, one size doesn't fit all. I have to be prepared to accept that there's more than one model going on here, but that within the spread of opinion, there are still general rules.
Incidentally the tasteful above illustration is courtesy of the border of the Bayeux Tapestry.
They married really young didn't they? Well, that depends. The aristocracy tended to marry at a younger age than the peasantry. Aristocratic women were married off pretty young, while aristocratic men were often batchelors into their forties - William Marshal being a case in point. Roger Bigod was well into his thirties. His son Hugh was 25 when he married the probably 14 year old Mahelt Marshal. Twelve was the age of consent for a girl and fourteen for a boy. Some marriages were consummated at this young age. On other occasions the girl - or boy was left to mature a while longer. There are marriage clauses in existence where pacts are made between families concerning consummation dates. Mahelt Marshal bore her first child when she was about 16 years old. Margaret Beaufort was just thirteen when she bore the future Henry VII. While our society is somewhat censorious about the age thing, the medieval mindset on the matter was somewhat different. The medievals would have been shocked to think that we might regard such juvenile marriages as child abuse. A teenage girl getting married in the middle ages was seen as taking a responsible place in adult society. i.e. maturity was placed earlier than it is now. Most medieval children would have been accustomed to the mundane aspects of sexual activity among adults. There was little privacy in society and the medievals were not prudes. They had no problem placing a married couple in bed together, naked, with witnesses - but would probably be horrified by the titilation offered by a standard modern pop video, available for children of any age to watch. e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoVeAGaO27I
Sex wasn't for fun - it was to beget children. Yup. That was the general idea. Medieval writers regarded sex as sinful, but that sin was mitigated if you did the deed to procreate. 'Carnal connection with wives must take place for the sake of offspring, not pleasure, and a man should abstain from sex with his pregnant wife.' So said a 9th century Frankish church council. Henry I of England had more than 20 illegitimate children - apparently because he liked children. (oh yeah?) No one asked what the mothers thought! This of course would have nothing to do with his wife's predeliction for kissing the feet of lepers. Her brother, the future King David of Scotland caught her at this habit on one occasion and asked her if her husband knew about it. The fact that they had one son and one daughter, as opposed to the other scattered twenty, does make one pause for thought! Basically the Christian idea was that if sex took place in marriage, it should be open to the possibility of conception and contraception was forbidden.
But people used contraception anyway? That would depend on their own belief and how strongly they followed church teaching. Sometimes people know the rules but break them anyway. (riding a bicycle on a pavement for e.g. or dropping a cigarette stub on the pavement). Contraceptive practices were undertaken. The Trotula, an 11thC treatise on women's health has various suggestions on preventing conception. The woman should wear against her naked flesh the womb of a goat that has never borne offspring, or hang the testicles of a weasel around her neck. After a difficult birth, if a woman did not wish to conceive ever again, she should throw a handful of barley into the placenta. Perhaps with slightly more success, other methods such as inserting a stone or piece of moss up against the cervix, or douching with vinegar are recommended elsewhere. Coitus interruptus was practised. How widespread all this was, we don't know, but since it's all mentioned here and there, it was obviously part of life's pattern. Breast feeding might have given some natural protection for a while, but breastfeeding women were supposed to abstain from sex anyway. The nobility often employed wet nurses (although not always. It bears emphasising that not everyone was running down the same path) and once a wife emerged from her forty days of childbirth confinement, she was straight back on the breeding programme. I found it rather interesting when researching TO DEFY A KING, that Hugh Bigod and Mahelt |Marshal appeare to have had several of their children at three year intervals i.e. 1209, 1212, 1215, 1218. I don't know when the fifth was born. In the novel, I've gone with them using contraceptive practises.
Next time around: Getting into position Who wears the trousers Grounds for divorce
It's been a few weeks since I blogged, but I hope to get up and running again now (as you'll all have read, I've had some disruption with e-mails too, but the new address is on the right sidebar and I'll keep it there for a while).
up wounds. Silk sometimes, but if that wasn't available, then horse-tail hair was the usual alternative, preferably from a stallion as apparently a stallion produces finer tail hair than a mare! Toby's stitching kit also included staples to hold the wound together while it was stitched, and goose feathers. The shafts of the goose feathers are used in cases where the doughty surgeon has to removed a barbed arrow from a wound. The quills are slipped onto the tines of the barb, thus minimising the damage as the arrow head is withdrawn.
