OCCASIONAL SERIES THE NOVEL STORY – How each of my novels came into being. My First Published Novel: THE WILD HUNT THE WILD HUNT is my 8th novel. Before I began writing it I had already tackled 7 previous works, all rejected by publishers. I wrote my first book when I was 15 years old, […]
Find out moreNote from Elizabeth: My good friend Sharon Bennett Connolly’s fabulous new book on Medieval wonder woman and hero of the Siege of Lincoln Castle, Nicholaa de la Haye, has now been published. While Sharon was researching Nicholaa’s amazing story, she came across a rather interesting artefact and I am delighted to welcome her to my […]
Find out moreA fictional strand in THE KING’S JEWEL, but very much grounded in fact, is the part played by the warhorses belonging to both the Normans and the Welsh. In the story I have given Nesta’s family a stud of fabulous horses that have a -golden tawny base coat covered in darker dappled rings. I describe […]
Find out moreWhat do we know about Gerald of Windsor, first husband of Nesta Ferch Rhys, Welsh princess and lady of Carew? Not a great deal on first glance, but a dig around allows us to discover details hiding beneath the surface – and I always enjoy a good dig around. Although we have no date for […]
Find out moreFINDING NESTA THE KING’S JEWEL tells the story of Nesta ferch Rhys (meaning daughter of Rhys) ap Tewdwr of Dyfed, an area roughly equating to modern Pembrokeshire. Her tale is fascinating, but has to be assembled from numerous sources, and it’s still a jigsaw puzzle with gaps, and alternative scenarios, depending on the interpretation of […]
Find out moreTHE KING’S JEWEL: Gathering the threads. THE KING’S JEWEL is set at the close of the 11th century and into the early twelfth and is the story of Welsh princess Nesta ferch Rhys who is seized by the Normans who murder her father, and becomes a concubine to the king of England’s brother, and then […]
Find out moreIt’s that time of year to round up the books I’ve read and corral them for grading! I read 66 books in 2022 Of these, 51 were fiction and 15 non fiction. I rated them Amazon style with 5 stars, and then gave an extra star to stand out 5 stars which have then gone […]
Find out moreOn the 24th of November 2022 we lost our beloved red Patterdale terrier Reggie to a hit and run accident on the lane at the side of our house.just one year old, with all his beautiful life before him, but it wasn’t to be. Yet however much my husband and I – and our other dogs […]
Find out moreThis is a short story that was originally published in an Anthology of writings by members of the Romantic Novelists Association titled ‘Loves Me, Loves me Not.’ The brief at the time was no more than 5,000 words and this comes in just under that. It’s a story set in 1149 at the unspecified domicile […]
Find out moreThis year I’ve noted the books I have read in my leisure time – 64 in total, so that’s just over one a week. This doesn’t include my research books for work, so I’m pleased with that kind of level. I’ve read quite a bit of non-fiction this year too. I’ve discovered I read quite […]
Find out moreAs mentioned in the post before this one, I wrote my first novel in my mid-teens. Originally it was titled ‘Tiger’s Eye’ after the stones in my hero’s sword hilt – I was being fanciful. Currently I’ve titled it ‘The Knight’s Road.’ Several decades and well over 20 published novels later, I had a couple […]
Find out moreIn the summer of 1972, I sat down to watch a children’s TV program on the BBC titled “Desert Crusader” never knowing it would change my life forever. I fell desperately in love. His name was Thibaud (pronounced Tee-bow), the ‘Chevalier Blanche’, the ‘White Knight.’ In the story he was half-French, half-Arabic, and his life […]
Find out moreTHE WITCH OF BERKELEY I thought in the spirit of the season, I’d post a witchy story told in The Deeds of the Kings of England (De Gestis Regum Anglorum) by William of Malmsbury circa 1125. (The monk responsible for the Historia Novela, dedicated to Robert of Gloucester and a chronicle pro the Angevin cause […]
Find out moreFollowing on from my blog on first names mentioned in the Curia Regis Rolls for the reign of King John between the years 1211-1214, here now are a list of ‘surnames’ of the people imentioned. The surname as we know it today had yet to evolve, but people were identified beyond their William, or John, […]
Find out moreAmong my research books, I have a copy of the Curia Regis rolls for the reign of King John such as they exist for the 11th to 14th years of his reign. 1210-1212. Basically, it’s a list of pleas and cases heard in the King’s court. I thought it would be interesting and useful for […]
Find out moreI had long wanted to write the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine as I felt that despite numerous biographies and novels about her, there was still plenty to be said that had been overlooked. As I began researching in depth, for The Summer Queen, The Winter Crown and The Autumn Throne, I came across the […]
Find out moreWhen King John died in 1216, he left a wife and 5 children, his heir nine-year-old Henry, his brother Richard, and three girls, Eleanor, Isabelle and Joan. The country was in turmoil and the youngsters grew up in a difficult political situation. Their mother, Isabelle of Angouleme, left the country and married Hugh de Lusignan, […]
Find out moreWhile I do a great deal of background reading when writing my novels, I am a very visual writer in my imagination, and I love to study the art and artefacts of the period I’m writing about and to have a connections with things that involved my characters. Indeed, I find these visual connections a […]
Find out moreWriting a novel for any genre involves research, but is especially rewarding for historical fiction where it becomes a light to illuminate the world the writer and reader are going to occupy for several hundred pages. I love doing the research to create my medieval world. That doesn’t mean it should all be dumped in […]
Find out moreA place featured in several scenes in A MARRIAGE OF LIONS is a chamber in the Palace of Westminster that no longer exists; it was destroyed by fire in the first half of the 19th century, eventually being demolished in 1851. I have set several pivotal scenes in this room, which was King Henry III’s […]
Find out moreI have a couple of scenes in A MARRIAGE OF LIONS that feature animals from King Henry III’s menagerie at the Tower of London – the polar bear and the elephant. The original royal menagerie was kept at the Palace of Woodstock in Oxfordshire, where King Henry I had a lion, a camel and a […]
Find out moreI have to confess that A MARRIAGE OF LIONS did not have a title for a long time, and the first title it acquired is not the one you see on the jacket cover. The novel’s working title for most of its first draft life in private was ‘Joanna de Valence’ because that was the […]
Find out moreBefore I began to write A MARRIAGE OF LIONS I had no idea that this was going to be the title – although it suits the subject matter perfectly. I also had no idea that Joanna de Munchensey and William de Valence were going to be the subjects of the novel but I am so […]
Find out moreScarlet cloth has been on my radar for a while. I learned several years ago that it was a fabric name rather than a colour, but that since it was often dyed red, the two became associated. I think I was writing The Marsh King’s Daughter at the time. When writing my Eleanor of […]
Find out moreMy agent and publisher shocked me recently by informing me that it’s thirty years since my first novel THE WILD HUNT was published. I’m not quite sure how that can have happened, but here we are. These are the novels that kickstarted my writing career, especially THE WILD HUNT because it was the one that […]
Find out moreFor around two years my readers have been following the progress of my novel set in the 13th century on Joanna and William de Valence. The daily updates have been headed “Joanna de Valence” and before the butterfly of the final title emerged from its chrysalis, it had two working titles in its caterpillar life […]
Find out moreToday, on the UK publication of THE COMING OF THE WOLF I thought I would post a history of how the novel came to be. It’s a short article but a long story, and it wouldn’t be here if not for all my lovely readers – thank you! I began writing The Coming of the […]
Find out moreI’m thrilled today to be sharing with you, the cover for The Coming of the Wolf, due for publication on the 6th of August. The Coming of the Wolf is the prequel to my first award winning published novel The Wild Hunt. The latter was the work that began my […]
Find out moreI am delighted to announce that THE IRISH PRINCESS is now out in paperback – the story of Aoife Machmurchada, Richard de Clare and a political marriage with far-reaching consequences for Ireland that are still being felt a thousand years later. But politics is also about people; their emotions and drives. Who were Aoife […]
Find out moreWhen I decided I was going to write the story of Richard de Clare and Aoife MachMurchada, I had no idea of the digging I would have to do to find out anything about the historical Aoife (pronounced Ee-fa) and what a mystery she was, not to mention the false trails that exist in the […]
Find out moreWhile I was writing THE IRISH PRINCESS, I visited Ireland as a guest of Tee McNeil’s William Marshal Tours. Tee (who is wonderful) runs a small bespoke travel company that offers curated travel experiences ( https://www.facebook.com/mcneillluxurytravel/ ) This particular one was to look at the career and influence of the 12th century adventurer, knight, magnate […]
Find out moreWhen I decided to write the story of Aoife MachMurchada and Richard de Clare, it was because I was aware of the bare bones of their tale and I was intrigued to find out more. From researching earlier novels and from my own general knowledge I knew that Aoife was the daughter of Diarmait MacMurchada, […]
Find out moreON THE ANNIVERSARY OF WILLIAM MARSHAL. Died 14th of May 1219. Author’s photograph. My novel TEMPLAR SILKS, covers the story of William Marshal’s experiences in the Holy Land when he went on pilgrimage, setting out in the late summer of 1183, and returning to Normandy in early 1186. The title is a reference to the […]
Find out moreI have a new three novel book deal that I can at last announce – hooray! I have been sitting on this news for a little while during the time that all the contractual work has been going forward, but I am now officially thrilled to announce that I have agreed a new three book […]
Find out moreRecently I recorded a couple of podcasts on two of my favourite medieval people. I was interviewed by David Crowther of The History of England podcast series https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/and we have a fabulous afternoon discussing first William Marshal and then Eleanor of Aquitaine. Just click on the links below to hear our discussion. William Marshal […]
Find out moreThe first in a series of blogs about the forthcoming novel which can now be pre-ordered from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Irish-Princess-Elizabeth-Chadwick-ebook/dp/B07JN2RW2X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540675148&sr=8-2&keywords=the+irish+princess What the novel is about The Irish Princess is set in the middle of the 12th century and tells the story of Aoife, pronounced Eefa, daughter of Diarmait MacMurchada, king of Leinster in Southern Ireland […]
Find out moreEvery Easter in Jerusalem, there is a ceremony at the church of the Holy Sepulchre. Wikipedia is a fairly superficial source, but it serves here to give the basics. “Orthodox tradition holds that the Holy Fire happens annually on the day preceding Orthodox Pascha (Orthodox Easter) in which a blue light emanates within Jesus Christ’s […]
Find out moreNothing is ever simple when it comes to researching Eleanor of Aquitaine. her family and her affiliations. One of the secondary characters in my novel THE SUMMER QUEEN, is Eleanor’s sister Petronella (who just may have also been called Aelith) who has proven fascinating but frustrating to research. If Eleanor’s birth date of […]
Find out moreA while ago, I I attended the Romantic Novelists Association Conference at Harper Adams University Telford where I gave a powerpoint talk on how I write historical fiction and I said I would share it on this blog – so without more ado, here it is. I write historical fiction for a living and […]
Find out moreWHAT HAPPENS IN THE HOLY LAND STAYS IN THE HOLY LAND? Speculation on what William Marshal did during his time in Outremer. My publishers at Sphere commissioned me to write a novel about the great William Marshal and what he did during his time pilgrimage to the Holy Land between 1183 and 1186. It is […]
Find out moreBeer and ale (both words known to the Anglo Saxons) were regular table beverages in Northern Europe in the high Middle Ages. Physicians viewed the drinks as better than consuming plain water, even spring water, but not as good as wine (see footnote). The Regimen sanitatis Salernitanum says that beer must be drunk in moderation […]
Find out moreThere is a myth sadly still doing the rounds (for example you will find Alison Weir stating in her biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine on the section about medieval life. ‘Stuffings, marinades and rich sauces often flavoured with garlic were used to disguise the taste and smell of rancid meat which had in many cases […]
Find out moreThe lovely people at my publishers asked me what I would give William Marshal for Christmas dinner should he suddenly find himself capable of time travel and turn up on my doorstep on Christmas Day. In His own time William Marshal was known as ‘Gaste Viande’ which basically means ‘Greedy Guts’. This nickname, however, was […]
Find out moreThat’s a question that frequently gets asked on various forums and everyone has their own ideas and then long discussions ensue! I am often asked about my personal thought regarding his appearance. William’s biography, the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal, written in rhyming verse and completed about 6 years after his death, gives us a […]
Find out moreI was eating breakfast on Wednesday morning (26th October 2016) when the phone rang. Glancing at the number at first I thought it was my oldest son – it began with the same digits. But when I answered, it was Isobel Dixon, agent at Blake Friedmann and a friend of long standing. She gave me […]
Find out moreAt the Historical Novel Society Conference 1216, I was asked to take part in a panel on Medieval women and their relevance in today’s society. My third novel in my trilogy about Eleanor of Aquitaine, THE AUTUMN THRONE has just been published, and so my given 10 minutes was on Eleanor of Aquitaine. Here are […]
Find out moreAt this year’s Historical Novel Society Conference in Oxford over the weekend of 2nd-4th September, I was asked to be a panelist on a discussion titled ‘Heroes V Heroines – Mine’s Better than Yours!’ Which I guess was just a fun controversial title to sell it to the audience! :-) I was on the […]
Find out moreMahelt (Matilda) Marshal, William Marshal’s eldest daughter does not have the fame or resonance in history that falls to her illustrious father but that does not make her any less fascinating and I made her the subject of my novel TO DEFY A KING, the story of two families, the Marshals and the Bigods, and […]
Find out moreWe’re living in interesting times just now as we try to come to terms with the results of the Brexit vote – a decision taken by referendum as to whether the United Kingdom should leave the European Union. This blog is not a political post and it’s not full of in depth analysis or […]
Find out moreGeoffrey le Bel Count of Anjou 24th August 1113 – September 7th 1151 Geoffrey Le Bel, Count of Anjou and briefly Duke of Normandy, has featured in several of my novels as a secondary character. He has a strong supporting role in LADY OF THE ENGLISH, and has his part to play in THE SUMMER […]
Find out moreIn the recent wake of the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215, it’s inevitable that the movers and shakers of that particular period will step into the spotlight, and perhaps none more so than the great William Marshal. Largely unknown outside the circles of medievalists and re-eanactors […]
Find out moreMy UK publishers LittleBrown are repackaging and republishing my first three published novels – THE WILD HUNT, THE RUNNING VIXEN and THE LEOPARD UNLEASHED. The story of a Welsh Marcher family during the reigns of William Rufus, Henry I and King Stephen. I’ll be blogging about the novels in more detail on another occasion soon, […]
Find out moreThe 14th of May marks the anniversary of the death of William Marshal, who departed this world at noon in the year 1219 at his manor of Caversham near Reading, surrounded by friends in the clergy and his grieving family. It was a sad occasion as all such are, but for William, it was also […]
Find out moreI have in my possession the Feet of Fines for Norfolk 1201-1215 and for Suffolk 1199-1214. It’s a list of cases brought before judges on the travelling circuit at this time and much of it is concerned with property law and small business that gives us the names of the local populace. East Anglia was […]
Find out moreHaving watched a Timewatch programme some time ago on 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. (here’s the youtube url for anyone interested. Click on this […]
Find out moreIt has been 26 years since David Crouch brought out the first edition of his biography of the great William Marshal. I have that book, and the second edition too, published in 2002. Even before I took up writing my series of novels about the Marshals, David Crouch’s biography was essential reading for an […]
Find out moreNow and again I correspond with Professor David Crouch, senior lecturer in history at the University of Hull and expert bar none on the life and times of William Marshal, practitioner of chivalry, knight, baron, magnate and regent par excellence of the 12th and early 13th century. Back in the 2004 when I was […]
Find out moreI am thrilled to reveal to you, fresh from the designer’s desk, the UK hardcover for THE AUTUMN THRONE, the concluding part of my trilogy about Alienor of Aquitaine. I absolutely LOVE the sumptuous autumnal colours and the rich feel they give to the jacket. I think the subtle background design is fabulous too. […]
Find out moreThis is being added to my ongoing research concerning John Marshal. It’s a rather dry piece of legal speak concerned with a land grant, but it’s interesting that John advised the young woman concerned in the dispute. It’s also interesting to note the involvement on the sidelines of William Martel who was one of Stephen’s […]
Find out moreI confess that before I read Thomas Asbridge’s “THE GREATEST KNIGHT”, I was already curious about this new biography of William Marshal. The lives of John FitzGilbert the Marshal and his son William are a lifelong study subject for me and I’ve read everything about them I can get my hands on. Since this […]
Find out moreActually this is Sunday but I ran out of time yesterday! This is from an itinerary of Henry I gathered together from calenders of documents, pipe rolls etc and published in 1919 by William Farrer. In 1130 King Henry I visited Woodstock and the sheriff of Oxford, possibly Robert D’Oilli added entered these […]
Find out morePRIMARY SOURCE SATURDAY Where I post a primary source in translation. Today this is from my current research reading. William of Tyre’s ‘A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea’ Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum. It’s a history of the Middle East in the period of the crusades. William of Tyre was a tutor […]
Find out moreOne of the notorious players in Eleanor of Aquitaine’s life story is her paternal uncle Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch. His notoriety is caused not least by the rumours of an affair between him and his niece when she visited him in his city during the second crusade. We don’t have a solid […]
Find out moreODO OF DEUIL, chaplain of Louis VII, writing of Constantinople during the second crusade – mid 12th century. “Constantinople, the glory of the Greeks, rich in renown and richer still in possessions, is laid out in a triangle shaped like a ship’s sail. In its inner angle stands Santa Sophia and Constantine’s palace in […]
Find out moreThe review for this was published in History Today Magazine in March 2015. Inventing Eleanor: the mediaeval and post-mediaeval image Eleanor of Aquitaine by Michael R. Evans. Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978 1 4411 6900 6 228 pp Eleanor of Aquitaine (1124- 1204) has stood in the spotlight for eight centuries, but […]
Find out moreHamelin FitzCount is one of those supporting role players in English history who is vaguely known to people well versed in the life of the Angevin kings, but otherwise off most people’s radar. However, he has a big part to play in my Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy, especially in books 2 and 3, THE WINTER […]
Find out moreThis article is a post from the talk I gave on William Marshal at Cartmel Priory on May 15th 2011 for their annual Founder’s Day Lecture. A quote from the Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal, edited by A.J. Holden and translated by S. Gregory. Published by the Anglo Norman Text Society. “The son the countess, […]
Find out moreIn my novel LADY OF THE ENGLISH, Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I, shares the credits with her stepmother, Adeliza of Louvain. While many readers probably know at least something about the Empress, Adeliza has appeared less in the public eye and is not well documented by history. So what was she like, this […]
Find out moreEleanor of Aquitaine has a reputation dwelt on by her biographers for coming from a family laden with dysfunctional characters whose lives were rife with shocking scandals. People will sometimes say ‘It’s no wonder she turned out as she did with ancestors like that.’ Actually I think […]
Find out moreWhen I began writing my trilogy on Eleanor of Aquitaine – THE SUMMER QUEEN, THE WINTER CROWN and THE AUTUMN THRONE, I wanted to find out a bit more about Eleanor’s appearance. I had featured her before in cameo portraits in my novels my influence being Jane Lapotaire’s utterly superb portrayal of Eleanor in The Devil’s […]
Find out moreThe whereabouts of Newbury Castle, Berkshire has long been a conundrum. Did it exist, and if so, where is it? No one knows for sure; there are only theories. As far as my own theory goes, I would say it’s staring everyone in the face, but let’s explore the subject. William Marshal’s biography the […]
Find out moreANVILS AND HAMMERS: Why John FitzGilbert Marshal’s speech at Newbury should not be taken at face value By Elizabeth Chadwick Some time around 1152 there was a bitter siege fought over a castle on the Wiltshire/Berkshire border. William Marshal, about five years old, was a hostage to the men besieging his father’s castle andthe surety […]
Find out more