Change of Plan!

So, there I am, reading away at the Chronica Majora and biographies of Simon de Montfort, Eleanor of Provence and the Bigot Earls of Norfolk, and I find my eyes glazing over. I begin to realise that writing a novel about the goings on in Henry III's reign isn't for me at the moment. The research is turning out a plot line that is a bit like 'A day at the office with swords'. The hero's wife is coming over as a female version of Tony Blair and the hero himself, being a sensible chappy most of the time, manages to keep himself hidden in the sticks for long periods of time - except for the moment when he has a hissy fit in parliament at Henry III and the 8 years he spends trying to divorce his wife. Bottom line - it seemed like a good idea at the time, but the warning lights had started to blink and I realised I really did not want to do this.
So, heaving a sigh, I moved to plan B, which really should have been plan A to begin with. This time, a big 'Yessssss' sang from my inner writing barometer. The preliminary research has been going very well indeed, the psychic Akashic Record material is fabulous and I can't wait to get started. And who are the stars of the new project? Well, still Roger of Norfolk, but the second earl who was a contemporary of William Marshal and the man responsible for building Framlingham Castle. He married Ida de Tosney, one of Henry II's concubines and the mother of William Longespee, earl of Salisbury. Like William Marshal, Roger had to fight his way from lower down the food chain. In his case he was fighting his way back, rather than up. His father, Hugh Bigod had taken the side of the Young King in the rebellion of 1173 and in consequence, when he died, Henry used a family inheritance dispute to take away the main Bigod strongholds of Framlingham and Bungay and withhold the title of earl. He never did give it to Roger, who had to wait for Richard to come to the throne before he could regain his lands and his title. Behind the scenes there is one hell of a lot of juicy family conflict that would put any modern soap opera to shame - and it echoes down the generations. An additional bonus will be guest appearances from William Marshal and his family. What's not to like on the author's side?
As some blog readers will know, I use the Akashic Records, sometimes known as Remote Viewing, to augment my research. I did a session with my friend yesterday and here, as a small gift, is her description of Roger of Norfolk's physical features:
'He's got ordinary coloured hair - mousey-gold-brown, with a fringe and wavy bits at the side. It's quite fine and floaty but there's lots of it. High cheekbones, straight, very nice eyebrows, tapering at the ends. His nose has a slight bump in the middle. It isn't thin, quite broad at the base. His eyes are intelligent and sensitive and the colour is grey-blue, but more on the grey side. His lips are wide and fine at the ends like his brows, and they're well proportioned. He has a square chin. I feel those features have become finer and sharper since I saw him when he was younger.'
I think I'm going to enjoy working with him - and with Ida. I was going to say 'but that's another story' but it isn't. It's the same one!

The sketch of Framlingham Castle as it might have appeared in the 13thC is from the book Reconstructing The Past by Alan Sorrell

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A GRAVE SITUATION FOR WILLIAM MARSHAL

Embarking on research for the untitled not quite work in progress I found myself obliged to print out all 1,500 pages of the translation of Matthew Paris' Chronica Majora. It's an interesting account of life in the 13thC during the reign of Henry III. Paris needs to be read with caution as he's not always accurate and certainly not impartial. He also tends to go off at sudden tangents. One minute the reader is involved in what the King wore or the state of the weather, the next there's a six page discourse on the prophet Mahommed. Sometimes his writing seems a bit like the old advertising logo for Windows. 'Where do you want to go today?' Thus the reader never quite knows what's coming from page to page.
Even so it's a fascinating read. While waiting for the pages to print I came across this piece.

'When the aforesaid brave and warlike William, surnamed the " Mareschal" (as though " Seneschal of Mars"), was indulging in slaughter and pillage in Ireland, and was acquiring a large territory, he presumptuously and by force took away from a certain holy bishop two manors which belonged to his church, and held possession of them as if they were his own by a just claim,
because they were acquired in war. The bishop in consequence, after frequent warnings, to which the earl replied
with insolence, still retaining possession of the said manors, and contumaciously persisting in his sin, fulminated sentence
of excommunication against him, and with good cause ; but this the earl despised, and, pleading as an excuse that it was in the time of war, he heaped injury on injury. It was owing to these proceedings of his, that one Master Gervase de
Melkeley, composing verses on him, and speaking as if in the person of the earl, said,—
Sum quern Saturnum sibi sensit Hybernia ; Solem Anglia; Mercurium Normannia; Gallia Martem. [In Ireland I am Saturn ; in England the Sun's rays surround me :In Normandy I'm Mercury, but France for ever Mars has found me.]
The said earl, then, held these manors under his jurisdiction all his life. After some years he died, and was buried
at the New Temple, in London, which circumstance coming to the knowledge of the aforesaid bishop (it was the bishop
of Femes, who had been a monk of the Cistercian order, an Irishman by birth, and a man of remarkable sanctity), he,
though not without much personal labour, went to the king, who was at the time staying at London, and, making a heavy
complaint of the above mentioned injury done to him, declared that he had excommunicated the said earl for the
same, not without good cause : he then begged of the king, by his royal authority and warrant, for the release of the
soul of the said Earl William, to restore his manors to him, that the deceased might obtain the benefit of absolution.
The king, touched with sorrow at hearing this, asked the bishop to go to the earl's tomb and absolve him, promising that
he would himself see that satisfaction was given him. The bishop therefore went to the tomb, and, in the presence of
the king and many other persons, as if a live person was addressing a living one in the tomb, said, " William, you who
are entombed here, bound with the bonds of excommunication, if the possessions which you wrongfully deprived my
church of be restored, with adequate satisfaction, by the agency of the king, or by your heir, or any one of your
relations, I absolve you ; if otherwise, I confirm the said sentence, that, being involved in your sins, you may remain
in hell a condemned man for ever." The king, on hearing this, became angry, and reproved the immoderate severity of
the bishop. To this the latter replied, " Do not be astonished, my lord, if I am excited ; for he despoiled my church
of its greatest advantage." The king then, privately, spoke to William, the earl's eldest son, and heir of all his property,
who was now invested with the earldom and also to some of his brothers, and begged of them, by restoring the aforesaid manors which had been unjustly taken away, to release the soul of their father.
To this William replied 'I do not believe, neither ought it to be believed that my father took them away wrongfully, for what is taken in time of war becomes a just possession. If that old and foolish bishop has pronounced the sentence unjustly, may it be hurled back on his own head; I do not choose to diminish the inheritance with which I am invested.  My father died seised of these manors, and I, with good right, entered into possession of what I found.'

In this decision all the brothers agreed, and the king, being at the time a young man, and under a guardian would not on any account give offence to such a powerful noble. When this afterwards became known to the bishop, he grieved more at the contumacy of the sons, than at the injury done him in the first place by the father.  He then went before the King and said: 'What I have said I have said, and what I have written I have written indelibly. The sentence is confirmed; a punishment has been inflicted on malefactors by the Lord and the malediction which is described in the psalm is imposed in a heavy degree on Earl William of whom I complain - 'In one generation his name shall be destroyed'  and his sons shall be without share in the benediction of the Lord, 'Increase and multiply!'  Some of them will die by a lamentable death and their inheritance will be scattered; and all this my lord king, you will see in your lifetime, ay in the prime of your life.'

After delivering this speech in the bitterness of his heart, as if inspired by a prophetic spirit, the bishop went away in sorrow. Thus was the noble Earl William Marshal who had placed his confidence in an arm of flesh, left entangled in the bonds of  the anathema.  As an evident proof of this circumstance, some years afterwards, after the death of all his sons, when the church of the New Temple was dedicated, in the year 1200, (obviously wrong date here!)  the body of the said Earl which had been sewn up in a bull's hide, was found entire, but rotten and loathsome to the sight. The last of the brothers but one, Earl Walter Marshal, followed in his steps, for although he had most faithfully promised a revenue of  sixty shillings to the House of St. Mary belonging to the monks of Hertford, and had given a written promise thereof, because his brother Earl Gilbert died there, and his bowels still remained buried there,  he forgot the pledge and promise which he had made for the redemption of his brother, and after causing much useless vexation to the prior of the said house, he proved himself a manifest deceiver and transgressor.

Lincoln Cathedral grotesque

Moral of the story:  Never get on the wrong side of the church when it comes to land and money!

Getting to grips with the Medieval mindset is one of the things I enjoy about writing historical fiction. I think it a tad suspicious re the bishop's curse and I suspect it was inserted after the demise of William's sons. But did the bishop come to England to remonstrate with William's sons about his lost manors and attempt to trade them in exchange for lifting the excommunication? Is that part true? One can imagine the theatre of threatening the entombed corpse of one of the greatest scions of chivalry before the King and court - or one can try to imagine. I think William II showed remarkable restraint!

It'll be interesting to see what other nuggets turn up during my read of the Chronica....

New Year, New Project

As a jobbing author I have always have to be in front of myself, which can disconcerting and distracting. I traveled on a fantastic emotional journey with William Marshal in The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion. The former came out in paperback in July of 06 and the latter in hardcover in December, with a paperback release of The Scarlet Lion due this summer. To my readers these are fresh and new. To me it's an ongoing part of a process that has lasted at least twelve months and has to share the stage with other projects. Even as the first reviews come in for The Scarlet Lion and Little Brown gear up for the paperback, I have just handed in last year's work in progress to my agent. A Place Beyond Courage, the story of John Marshal, will be published in hardcover in October2007. As from today I am on tenterhooks awaiting that first all important response to what took me all of 2006 to write. However, I also have to focus on the next contracted project for 2008. It's a bit like being a breeding parent all over again. I have to give my attention to the forthcoming paperback (the toddler), the new baby (the hardcover) and the pregnancy (work in progress!) Then of course there are the older children with their various needs (the backlist). I wouldn't swap my job for anything in the world, it's what I've wanted to do all my life, but there's certainly never a dull moment!
Happy New Year to all!
Elizabeth :-)

Season's Greetings

Dropping in briefly to wish everyone compliments of the Season and a happy, peaceful, prosperous New Year. The photo is of one of my support team revelling in last year's cold snap and making doggy snow angels on the back lawn.

California Dreamin'

I have to share a recent amusing moment.
Back in November while visiting a re-enactment fair at Warwick, I ordered a shield. I wanted a mid 12thC kite shield with an early depiction of the Marshal Lion. This is the shield I envisage William Marshal's father John carrying into battle. Same colours as his famous son's but with the green and yellow reversed. The lion figure is based on an early existing manuscript painting.

Anyway, Royal Mail tried to deliver the finished shield today when I was out and left a note. There was a tick beside 'Would not fit in the letterbox.' Ummmm....no, I can understand that. The postman had written at the top of the document 'surf board.' After I'd finished grinning, I thought about my psychic friend's description of John Marshal and his blond good looks. From there I took to imagining him not in a mail shirt, but walking out of the California surf in a wet suit. Phew! It certainly made a frozen, foggy UK day a LOT warmer!

Dark deeds afoot

Although I'm still working on the story of John Marshal - A Place Beyond Courage, I am also looking towards the next project which I'm due to start writing byn March 07. As usual there's no title yet, but I do know it's going to be about Roger Bigod, William Marshal's eldest grandson and will cover much of the reign of Henry III.
I've started preliminary researching and while doing so came across a primary source account of the terrible incident of the death of Roger's uncle, Gilbert Marshal. Roger had five Marshal uncles and all of them died without issue. Foul play is known in the case of the second son, Richard, and highly suspected in Gilbert's. The other three are anyone's guess but I suspect they were helped off the mortal coil since none of them made old bones.
According to Matthew Paris, Gilbert was killed at a tourney near Hertford. He had a new Italian destrier which he was having trouble controlling - he didn't have the equestrian or military skills of his famous father. His first vocation had been as a clergyman and it had been rumoured that he was 'inexperienced and useless as a knight.' His fate was sealed when he attempted to rein the horse in and his bridle leathers snapped off right beside the bit chains. Paris suggests that they had been deliberately cut so that they would snap under pressure. With no means of controlling the horse, it was almost inevitable that he would fall. Unfortunately his foot was caught in the stirrup and he was dragged for some distance, sustaining cuts, bruises and traumatic internal injuries from which he died in agony later that same day. The damaged state of his internal organs was remarked upon when he was eviscerated prior to his body being borne to London for burial in the Temple Church.
Gilbert's effigy bears poignant testimony to his demise - and perhaps something more down the ages. Whereas most knights of this period have their feet couched upon a dog or a lion, Gilbert Marshal's feet reside upon a serpent that is twisted round, chewing at his foot. I am led to wonder if this is a hint from the family that he was murdered as well as being a testimony to the manner of his death. Gilbert had plenty of enemies but I wonder who it was who gave the order to take him down. It's going to be interesting finding out.

Book Signing Date!

I have a piece to write about another visit I made to the Temple Church last week and how it pertains to Gilbert Marshal, it's just a case of getting around to it as Christmas and approaching deadlines, begin to squeeze my time even more than it's usually squeezed.

However, I'm dropping in to say I will be signing copies of The Scarlet Lion, Daughters of the Grail, The Greatest Knight, and my other novels at W. H. Smiths Meadowhall in Sheffield on Wednesday 6th December at 1pm. If you're in the area, do come and say hi if you've got a moment!