The 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 […]
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