THE TROTULA RIDES AGAIN!

In my previous post I'd been busy reading The Trotula and giving examples of the cosmetic recipes available within its pages. However, there is more to the The Trotula than cosmetic recipes: The Trotula is composed of three independent works by three different authors, although all probably writing in the area of Salerno in the twelfth century. On the Conditions of Women and On Women's Cosmetics are penned by anonymous authors. Treatments for Women, however, can be ascribed to one Salernitan woman healer called Trota about whom nothing is known. The modern translator, Monica H. Green has written a thoroughly erudite and informative introduction concerning the medical traditions on which the treatments are based, with recourse to Galen, Soranus and Hippocratic teachings. I'm not going to go into all that here, but the book's out there if you want to read up for yourself! I am certainly going to find it useful in further understanding the mindsets of the Middle Ages. Beyond cosmetics and beautification treatments, The Trotula provides a handy reference work for the 12thC healer and physician on how to cope with various medical situations mostly applicable to women. I say mostly, as there are one or two pieces of advice that do refer to men.
Since the previous post details contraceptive advice, here's one for those who have done away with the weasel's testicles and desire to conceive. Again, testicles are required but they should be those of an uncastrated male pig or a wild boar (a bit difficult getting them from a castrated one I should imagine!) 'and dry them and let a powder be made, and let her drink this with wine after the purgation of the menses. Then let her cohabit with her husband and she will conceive.' Assuming the above ploy is successful and the woman conceives, there are certain signs to be watched for. In order to know whether a woman is carrying a male or female, take water from a spring and let the woman extract two or three drops of blood or milk from her right side and let those be dropped in water. And if they fall to the bottom, she is carrying a male; if they float on top, a female. There are comments on the development of the embryo. In the first month there is purgation of the blood, in the second there is expression of the blood and the body. In the third month, the fetus produces nails and hair. In the fourth month it begin to move and for that reason women are nauseated. In the fifth month the fetus takes on the likeness of its father or its mother. In the sixth month the nerves are constituted. In the seventh month the fetus solidifies its bones and nerves. in the eighth month, Nature moves and the infant is made complete in the blessing of all its parts. In the ninth month it proceeds from the darkness into the light.' However, proceeding into that light can be a tricky business and if everything doesn't go to plan remedies suggested include having the expectant mother hold a magnet in her right hand. She should try drinking ivory shavings. 'Likewise the white stuff which is found in the excrement of the hawk, given in a potion is good.' I am not convinced!
The Trotula understands the seriousness of a retained afterbirth and says 'haste must be made to eject it. Therefore let sneezing be provoked, and let this be done with the mouth and nose closed.' Alternatively the woman should be made to vomit, as again, this would aid in bearing down. An emetic was to be made from the cinders of an ash tree mixed with one dram of powder of the seed of marsh mallow.
The Trotula has some interesting things to say about the care of the newborn. It says its ears should be pressed immediately over and over again, so that milk does not enter them, or its nose when the child is nursing. The umbilical cord should be tied 'three fingers from the belly, because according to the retention of the umbilical cord the male member will be greater or smaller.' To aid the child to talk more quickly, its palate should be anointed with honey and its gums with warm water. The baby should be kept clean and all mucus secretions wiped away. It should be massaged all over and then bound in swaddling. If its belly and loins become too humid and oily, they should be left free to dry out. After breastfeeding, a baby should be massaged. The next passage might almost come from a modern childcare manual. 'There should be different kinds of pictures, cloths of diverse colours, and pearls placed in front of the child, and one should use nursery songs and simple words, neither rough nor harsh words (such as those of the Lombards) should be used in singing in front of the child.' One wonders if Lombard songs were the equivalent of today's rugby chants!
Other headings in The Trotula's medical section deal with a cure for 'Sterility on the Part of the Man', a cure for 'Worms of the Ears', what to do about 'pain of the intestine' and 'itching and excoration of the pudenda.'
While many of the remedies make one thank heaven to be living in the 21st century, this book is a fascinating window on the world of medieval medicine and definitely one of my desert Island keepers.

I'M WORTH IT (WITH APOLOGIES TO L'OREAL)

One of my book buys on a recent binge was a translation of The Trotula by Monica H. Green/University of Pennysylvania Press ISBN 978 0 8122 1808 4. Basically it's an ensemble of three works on women's medicine from 12th Century Italy and reflects some of the new theories, practices and medicines coming out of the Arabic world at that time.
As well as dealing with ailments specific to women, The Trotula also gives advice on child care and various interesting recipes for cosmetic beautification - one of which has found its way into a scene in The Time of Singing.
'But when she combs her hair, let her have this powder. Take some dried roses, clove, nutmeg, watercress and galangal. Let all these, powdered, be mixed with rose water. With this water let her sprinkle her hair and comb it with a comb dipped in this same water so that her hair will smell better. And let her make furrows in her hair and sprinkle on the above mentioned powder, and it will smell marvelously.'

I also mention this one in passing: If the woman wishes to have long and black hair, take a green lizard and, having removed its head and tail, cook it in common oil. Anoint the head with this oil. It makes the hair long and black.' I am quite tempted to try out the first one at a re-enactment event, but I'll leave the second one for more adventurous souls. This next one too is on my 'give it a miss for now' list. 'For whitening the hair. Catch as many bees as possible in a new pot and set it to burn, and grind with oil, and then anoint the head.'
Want white teeth? The teeth are whitened thus. Take burnt white marble and burnt date pits and white natron, a red tile, salt, and pumice. From all of these make a powder in which damp wool has been wrapped in a fine linen cloth. Rub the teeth inside and out. Hmm, must show this my dentist!
As a complexion aid: 'For whitening the face and clarifying it. Take the juice of pignut and mix steer or cow marrow with it, and let them be ground, and in these ground things add powder of aloe, cuttlefish bone, white natron, and dove dung. Let all these be ground, and let there be made an ointment. With this ointment the woman should anoint her face.'
One might think Yeeeukkk, until one starts to ponder on the ingredients for modern cosmetics.
I've just looked up the ingredients on my anti-frizz serum (see decent hair day photo!). I've chosen this because it has the least list of ingredients to type out I could find. I have no intention of copying the mile-long list from a body lotion bottle! the frizz-ease contains Cyclopentasiloxane, dimethiconol, ethylhexyl, methoxycinnamate, liquid paraffin (I've anglicised it!) hydrolized silk and algae extract. Who knows, the chemical compounds involved in lizard extremities could well be hidden in there! I guess that sometimes nothing really changes that much.

Much of The Trotula is concerned with discussions of women's ailments in relation to conception and childbirth. The treatments are often very different to today being based on different medical beliefs - although basic common sense is often spoken too. I'll save them for another post. However, to say that for any woman reading this who is thinking of taking a break from the Pill, it is probably not a good idea as an alternative to 'take a male weasel and let its testicles be removed and let it be released alive. Let the woman carry these testicles with her in her bosom and let her tie them in goose skin or in another skin, and she will not conceive.'

Quick drop in and the cover story.

Sorry for the month of silence. I've been busy finishing off and handing in THE TIME OF SINGING. Responses so far have been extremely positive, although I'm not resting on my laurels.
I've thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Roger Bigod II, builder of Framlingham Castle and Ida de Tosney, his wife and former mistress of Henry II. They've taught me a lot.
I am now sorting out the chaos around me before I get going on the next project. I know there's a house somewhere under all the detritus! I've been housekeeping on my PC too and doing jobs that that have been on the 'One day' pile for far too long. To that end, I've now created a blog for all of my book covers. http://coveringthestory.blogspot.com/
It's so interesting to see publishing trends and what sells in other countries that wouldn't necessarily sell here!
I have also arranged all of the Akashic Record sessions into chronological order. A word count shows around 220,000 words, the equivalent of a 700 page book - who knows they may be one day.
I hope normal service will be resumed in the next couple of days. I have a pile of new research books for starters, one of them containing some rather alarming recipes for hair care!
In the meantime, here's a picture of one of my household - Dottie (by name and nature!).

William Marshal's horses

Having watched the Timewatch programme on William Marshal on January 19th, or rather a sketchy account of William Marshal's career as a tourney knight, I was surprised that not more was said about his horses. Without a horse (or three) a nobleman making his way in the tourneys was somewhat stumped after all.
I thought I'd fill in a few gaps left by the programme and post a little bit about William's horses as described in the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal, with a few introductory comments and observations.

William's family were royal Marshal's, hence the name. It derives from Marescallus, roughly translating as Horsemaster and way, way back they were head stable boys. By the beginning of the twelfth century, The Marshal was the Constable's deputy and his job was still fairly hands on and more wide ranging by this time than stable duties. He had such tasks as keeping order around the King's person and checking via his subordinate ushers, those who were admitted into the royal presence - you might say his department supplied the doormen and bouncers of the Middle Ages! He was responsible for getting the show on the road when the court moved from one place to the other. The Marshal had to hire the carts and arrange for accommodation at the arrival end of matters. He was responsible for the kennels, the mews - and the stables of course, where his career originally started. Each lord's son who was knighted by the king, was expected to pay the Marshal some sort of horsey due, depending on purse and status. The fee might be anything from a saddle to a palfrey (a high status riding horse). In times of war, the Marshal was also due any pied (black and white) horses that were captured from the enemy. The reason for this has been lost in obscurity, but perhaps it had to do with the fanciest horses making a show.
As horse masters and soldiers who had to be constantly on the move, the Marshals were horsemen both by aptitude and training. They would know a good animal when they saw it, and how to obtain the best from it.

William Marshal's first association with warhorses begins early in the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal - and rather unfortunately for him. During the battle for Drincourt, he was involved in some heavy street fighting and surrounded by a gang of Flemish soldiers who tried to tear him down off his mount. One of them had lodged a hooked pole in the hauberk at William's shoulder.
'More than thirteen of them formed a band to knock him off his horse, but he held on by the breast piece of its harness. His spurred his horse on and they tugged and by using force tore through thirteen links on his hauberk....' William managed to fight his way out of the situation but 'as he departed from them, it was on a horse which had the worst of it, for it was wounded in many places and from the wounds the blood streamed from its body; such a loss of blood so impaired it that its death was inevitable.'
Thus the Marshal's war horse was a victim of the street fighting and its loss a source of financial embarrassment to the Marshal. As a green youngster he was not canny enough to realise that he should have held for ransom the men he had downed in the battle.
Once peace had been restored, the Marshal could have gone tourneying to win money and renown, but he didn't have a destrier on which to do so. 'The Marshal was much displeased and greatly dismayed, for all he had was his palfrey now that his fine horse had died from the wounds it had received as he rode it. William was reduced to selling one of the cloaks he had at his knighting for twenty two shillings in Angevin currency. This was apparently sufficient to buy a rouncy - 'un rocin' - a common all purpose riding mount, which he turned into a pack horse (somer, or sumpter) for carrying his arms. Rounceys were of less quality and value. You never see a rouncey being offered as a gift, bribe, or payment in the pipe rolls of the period but palfreys are a frequent item.
News then came to the Tancarville household about a great tourney to be held between Sainte-Jamme and Valennes. William was despondent because he had no warhorse. His lord promised him one, but when it came to sharing out the horses available to the Tancarville knights, William was last in line and had to have the destrier that no one wanted. It was 'strong, fine and well-proportioned, very lively, swift and powerful, fine and valuable. However it had a flaw that was a terrible drawback. The horse was 'so wild that it could not be tamed. The Marshal mounted it. Not once did he use his elbows; instead he pricked it with his spurs, and the horse, flying faster than a hawk, bounded forwards. At the point where it should have been reined in, it turned out that it pulled incredibly hard. Never had it had a master able to make it pull less, even if he had fifteen reins to restrain it. The Marshal gave the matter some thought and came up with a brilliant scheme: He left out the bridle at least three fingers' lengths from the bit and so released the lock of the bit that it went down into its mouth and so it had far less to bite on than was usual. For no amount of gold or riches could he have reined it in any other way.... The horse was so improved by this new bridle that he could have been ridden round in half an acre of land as if he were the tamest on earth.' We know from the description of the tourney in which they then fought, that the horse's name was Blancart. I'm not up on Old French, but this suggests to me that the horse was perhaps a grey. Horses seem generally to be named for their colour, their markings, or their owner or place of origin. It's also interesting to see that a landless knight's lord would provide that knight with arms and equipment as a matter of largesse and honour should the circumstances require. Obviously in quiet times, said knight was expected to fend for himself, even if that involved selling his best cloak to buy a horse.
William duly took Blancart onto the tourney circuit and was soon making a name for himself.
It would seem that horses from Lombardy, an area of Northern Italy, were particularly prized and are one of the types mentioned by name. Obviously they were immediately recogniseable on the tourney field. 'He swiftly stretched out his hand towards a horse from Lombardy, and its rider was not sufficiently bold as to dare to defend it.' William took the horse off him and gave it into the custody of his squire.
A short while after this incident, William joined the entourage of his uncle Patrick, Earl of Salisbury, who was acting as a governor of Poitou. While escorting Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine between one castle and another, the company was set upon by their enemies, the de Lusignans. Patrick called for his warhorse because at the time of the attack he was 'quite unarmed and riding his palfrey.' (showing that warhorses were not used by lords and knights as general riding beasts). Unfortunately, while trying to mount his destrier, he was struck from behind and killed. William himself, although fully armed and riding his warhorse, was little more fortunate and lost yet another horse in battle as the Lusignans killed it under him. (I so hope it wasn't Blancart!).
Having been ransomed from his predicament by Eleanor of Aquitaine, William joined the royal household as tutor in chivalry to Henry and Eleanor's eldest son, The Young King and from that position in society, set out to tourney with a joyous vengeance. 'Then you would have seen many kinds of banner and flag fall and slide into the mud, and many a horse, both piebald and bay, fleeing riderless over the field. Those most able to take full advantage made gains and captured horses.' What happened to these horses? The Histoire doesn't say, but I would make an educated guess that they were either kept, sold on, or ransomed back to their owners. One of the main methods of capturing a knight in the tourney appears to have been by seizing his bridle and dragging him by main force out of the tourney, then forcing him to yield.
There's an amusing tale about a tournament at Eu. The knight Matthew de Walincourt approached on a fast galloping horse and William rode to engage him. De Walincourt was knocked from his mount and William 'quickly took his horse's bridle and rode off towards the men on his side.' De Walincourt was somewhat upset at this turn of events and protested to the Young King, who told William to return the horse as a mark of courtesy. William did so. However, later in the day, he encountered de Walincourt again. The latter had upped the ante and put on better equipment but that still didn't prevent William from knocking him off his mount and taking the horse a second time. 'So now the Marshal had a very good deal, for he had won the horse twice in a single day.' De Walincourt again protested to the Young King, who at first thought that William had ignored his order to restore the horse. 'He thought it very wrong of him to have waited so long to do so.' William explained that he'd taken the horse off de Walincourt not once, but twice. He also said he wasn't going to return the horse because de Walincourt had once taken a horse off William at at tourney when he was a raw youngster and had refused to give it back even when asked to do so by men of higher rank than William. De Walincourt replied that William had been of little esteem at the time and that was why he'd not cared to give him back his horse. At which remark, William effectively said tit for tat, and who was esteemed now? His retort evinced great mirth from those listening in.
From mention of other incidents in the Histoire, it becomes evident that a good destrier in the late twelfth century would cost around forty pounds and that a beast of less worthy calibre put up for quick sale would cost around fourteen. As seen above, a common hack could be bought for 22 shillings Angevin.
Horse thieving was a hazard of the day - both for the owner and the thief! An incident is reported where William had gone to the lodging of Count Theobald of Champagne one night during a tourney gathering. He was riding on 'a tall and valuable horse' which was stolen by a thief from outside the lodging. The hue and cry was raised and William went in pursuit of his mount and the thief. Having caught up with them, he recovered his horse and gave the thief a beating for the deed - and a bad enough one at that to cause the man to lose the sight of an eye. However, when others wanted to hang the man, William said that he had had enough of a lesson.
The attrition rate for warhorses would be interesting to know. As above mentioned, we know of two that William lost in battle. Further on in the Histoire, William killed Richard the Lion-Heart's destrier under him with a single lance thrust. On another occasion, William was engaged in an assault on Montmirail. 'those standing on the bridge gave him a rough reception: they pointed their lances in his direction and all together, stuck them in his horse's chest, but thanks to the power of and providence of God, the hoofs of the horse switched position, with those at the back now at the front, and it came down the slope of the bridge, so that no harm befell the Marshal.' His squire, John of Earley, who had charge of William's horse, 'on removing its coat, he could see the incisions and wounds made by the lances. He said to his lord the Marshal: 'Your horse is wounded.' The Marshal came to look and together they found seven wounds on the horse's body, made by the steel-tipped lances. There were wounds to the shoulders, neck and chest, but the Marshal was in no way concerned by this for he saw the horse would make a good recovery.' One wonders how many warhorses an active tourney knight and warrior went through in a lifetime! William Marshal certainly seems to have had his share. When he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he left his two most valuable warhorses with King Henry as a surety against his return. Whether they were waiting for him on his return, the Histoire doesn't say.
Of William's later career and relationship with his horses, the Histoire says little, but from the first part at least, the reader can glean some useful insights into the importance and standing of the destrier in a knight's life. Clearly there were top class mounts that fetched a premium price, just as there were less exalted beasts. Without a destrier, a tourney knight was stymied and in case of disaster it was better to have at least two or three - and preferably a Lombard!

For those interested in knowing more about the warhorse in William Marshal's period, the most useful book for a starter is The Medieval Warhorse from Byzantium to the Crusades by Ann Hyland, published by Alan Sutton ISBN 0 86299 983 9

My own research for this piece was mostly carried out using the Anglo Norman Text Society's translation of the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal. isbn 0 905474 42 2
For the details on the Marshalsea I referenced The Bigod Earls of Norfolk in the thirteenth Century by Marc Morris, published by Boydell ISBN 1843831643
Also re the Marshalsea I referenced the Constitutio Domus Regis in Oxford Medieval Texts OUP ISBN 0 19 822268 8

A few more photos: Apologies for strange formatting!

Here are a few more photos from my Norfolk research visit. For some reason the formatting won't let me publish more than a handful at a time. The first is a photograph of the interior of Framlingham Castle. The wall on the right in the shade with the two narrow Norman chimneys and window holes is where Roger and Ida's first home was - the old hall, with the chapel adjoining where the figures are. If you check back in my archieves, you can see an artist's impression of this hall. url here. http://tinyurl.com/yuoakm


The second picture shows the other side of the ward and the site of Roger and Ida's new hall, completed circa 1200 (he started building 1189/1190) The remnant of that hall is the building at the end of the row looking to the right with a white left side and blue door.








The third picture shows the mere, looking from the wall walk near Roger's new hall. In his day, it would have been a much larger spread out marsh.










The Bigod family had important sea-faring connections. They owned among other coastal villages Cromer, Hunstanton, Yarmouth and Ipswich. This photograph was taken on the way to Cromer for afternoon tea. I've used sea imagery in the novel for some of Roger's traits, and I get the impression he enjoyed his coastal territories and was a good sailor (unlike William Marshal!)

Family Crisis: Timewatch: Norfolk

I'm covering several bases in this blog.
First to say I might be a bit sporadic posting for a while but will try to keep posting on a regular basis. My mother in law is severely disabled i.e. she cannot cope on her own. Her main carer, my father in law was taken to hospital last night after a fall. My schedule is going to have to be rearranged as we work round this, so online time will be one of the casualties. For readers awaiting the new novel - don't worry. It's on track and will be delivered on time!

Timewatch. I've said quite a lot about it on the BBC2 Timewatch forum, although you'll need to scroll around a bit as the new posts are about their latest episode. http://tinyurl.com/37kkan
I feel the programme was reasonable entertainment for those who knew nothing or were generally interested, but very frustrating for viewers in the know or with an interest in The Marshal. It was mostly about the tournament and William Marshal was obviously a convenient peg on which to hang the subject rather than being a subject in his own right - so a massively missed opportunity. Professor Crouch and Juliet Barker knew their stuff and mostly I enjoyed the 'talking heads' section, although Saul David goes to knightschool was not as edifying. I was surprised to see one of the producers telling the forum that Geoffrey, son of King Henry II, had been killed at a siege by a crossbow bolt. (thus confusing him with his brother Richard the Lionheart) and the same again when the Grand Master of the Temple Church thought he might have 3 sons of William Marshal among the effigies. Actually there are 2. You'd think the custodian would know. Then again see an earlier blog of mine:
http://tinyurl.com/yook4a
Verdict - Interesting in a general sort of way but but rather uneven on its subject matter and could have been better presented and scripted.

My next main blog piece, inspired by thoughts while watching the programme, will be about the warhorses of William Marshal and co. (they barely got a mention)

Finally I said I'd post some photos of my research photos and inspirations to my blog, so here they are to entertain during what I hope won't be too long an absence.

Anon
Elizabeth
p.s. The formatting on the blog post has decided to play up, and will only let me post 4 photographs at the moment.... one of those days I suspect! Apologies
The pictures are of Framlingham Castle, Castle Acre, some blind arcading at Wymondham Abbey and the Prior's house at Castle Acre Priory.

William Marshal. The Greatest Knight: Timewatch Reminder

A reminder that the Timewatch programme about William Marshal - The Greatest Knight - is on BBC2 on Saturday at 8.10pm if you're in the UK!

The write up sounds as if it might be a bit 'boy's own' adventure without the budget, but it will be interesting to see how much of the essence of the great man - the Winston Churchill of his day - they actually manage to capture. I've just listened to the audio clip. Hmmm.... a lot about tournaments and warfare etc but very, very little about the Marshal himself. I really, really hope the programme focuses on the all round achievements of this remarkable, charismatic personality and doesn't just concentrate on the prowess of his lance. There was so much more to William Marshal than that. You can listen to the audio clip here: http://tinyurl.com/27cayj
There was a comment made that knights didn't have particular well developed leg muscles.. I don't know how true this is in an archaelogical context, but it seems to me that your legs would have to do a lot of work on the tourney field keeping you in the saddle. They wouldn't just be extraneous appendages. I'd be interested to know from a more informed viewpoint than that of the audio commentators.