[quote=""Brenna""]Still making my way through The Queen Mother by William Shawcross. Just got to the abdication so I still have a way to go...[/quote]
I have that on my TBR pile. Any good?
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What are you reading? November 2013
- Vanessa
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 4237
- Joined: August 2008
- Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
- Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
- Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
- Preferred HF: Any
- Location: North Yorkshire, UK
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind
- Nefret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2977
- Joined: February 2009
- Favourite HF book: Welsh Princes trilogy
- Preferred HF: The Middle Ages (England), New Kingdom Egypt, Medieval France
- Location: Temple of Isis
Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman
Two questions- was William Marshall really offered by his father to be hanged as part of some broken oath? And... did the big party for knights named William happen?
Two questions- was William Marshall really offered by his father to be hanged as part of some broken oath? And... did the big party for knights named William happen?
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}
I scored a copy of June Rachuy Brindel's Ariadne, but I don't dare read it until I finish writing Knossos. I thumbed through it, though, and it seems to be written along the lines of Jacquetta Hawkins's anthropological NF Dawn of the Gods, which pits mother-goddess vs. father-god. I'm not sure that Minoan religion/society was ever that black and white.
- Berengaria
- Avid Reader
- Posts: 307
- Joined: July 2010
- Location: northern Vancouver Island, BC Canada
Am reading SKP's Falls the Shadow Finished the first in this series Here Be Dragons and was so thoroughly enthralled, I am going to read all of them!

No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting. She will not want new fashions nor regret the loss of expensive diversions or variety of company if she can be amused with an author in her closet. ~Lady Montagu
The Boleyn Deceit by Laura Andersen
Number two in the alternative history series with the premise that Anne Boleyn gave birth to a healthy boy who would grow up to rule England.
Number two in the alternative history series with the premise that Anne Boleyn gave birth to a healthy boy who would grow up to rule England.
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
~Unofficial Royalty~
Royal news updated daily, information and discussion about royalty past and present
http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/
[quote=""Susan""]The Boleyn Deceit by Laura Andersen
Number two in the alternative history series with the premise that Anne Boleyn gave birth to a healthy boy who would grow up to rule England.[/quote]
Still waiting for library copy to land. I hear there's some wild twists at the end.
Number two in the alternative history series with the premise that Anne Boleyn gave birth to a healthy boy who would grow up to rule England.[/quote]
Still waiting for library copy to land. I hear there's some wild twists at the end.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be
...is the only place I want to be
- Nefret
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2977
- Joined: February 2009
- Favourite HF book: Welsh Princes trilogy
- Preferred HF: The Middle Ages (England), New Kingdom Egypt, Medieval France
- Location: Temple of Isis
I'm still reading Devil's Brood. Got through some of it today during the commercials of one of my favourite movies.
Into battle we ride with Gods by our side
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}
We are strong and not afraid to die
We have an urge to kill and our lust for blood has to be fulfilled
WE´LL FIGHT TILL THE END! And send our enemies straight to Hell!
- "Into Battle"
{Ensiferum}
[quote=""Nefret""]Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman
Two questions- was William Marshall really offered by his father to be hanged as part of some broken oath? And... did the big party for knights named William happen?[/quote]
Answer 1: Yes, but there are a lot of caveats that aren't gone into. John Marshal was between a rock and a hard place. Hostages were demanded of him while he was given time to apply to his overlords for permission to hand over Newbury Castle. Except his overlords were in Normandy - effectively the future Henry II.
If John had yielded Newbury to Stephen, it would have left the road to Wallingford open, and Brian FitzCount was out of the picture at this time. The result of giving up Newbury would have been that Stephen would have piled through to Wallingford much earlier than he did and the entire Angevin house of cards would have tumbled. No Henry II on the throne for starters. What John's move did in reneging on his oath, was buy Henry the time he needed to get to England, just as holding hard at Wherwell and losing an eye, bought the Empress time to get clear of Winchester. But there were sacrifices. John nearly died at Wherwell, and lost an eye in the firefight. And could potentially have lost a son at Newbury. What is interesting when you read the primary sources is that despite being a hostage and that famous anvils and hammers speech, William was a valued child, and also King Stephen wasn't entirely the nice guy playing 'knights' with the little boy. There were many incidents where Stephen allowed little William to be threatened with death in front of Newbury's walls.
Bottom line: Yes it happened, but it's deeply nuanced and not all it seems on the surface, but you wouldn't know unless you dug down hard.
2. Yes, this really happened.
William was a very popular name.
Two questions- was William Marshall really offered by his father to be hanged as part of some broken oath? And... did the big party for knights named William happen?[/quote]
Answer 1: Yes, but there are a lot of caveats that aren't gone into. John Marshal was between a rock and a hard place. Hostages were demanded of him while he was given time to apply to his overlords for permission to hand over Newbury Castle. Except his overlords were in Normandy - effectively the future Henry II.
If John had yielded Newbury to Stephen, it would have left the road to Wallingford open, and Brian FitzCount was out of the picture at this time. The result of giving up Newbury would have been that Stephen would have piled through to Wallingford much earlier than he did and the entire Angevin house of cards would have tumbled. No Henry II on the throne for starters. What John's move did in reneging on his oath, was buy Henry the time he needed to get to England, just as holding hard at Wherwell and losing an eye, bought the Empress time to get clear of Winchester. But there were sacrifices. John nearly died at Wherwell, and lost an eye in the firefight. And could potentially have lost a son at Newbury. What is interesting when you read the primary sources is that despite being a hostage and that famous anvils and hammers speech, William was a valued child, and also King Stephen wasn't entirely the nice guy playing 'knights' with the little boy. There were many incidents where Stephen allowed little William to be threatened with death in front of Newbury's walls.
Bottom line: Yes it happened, but it's deeply nuanced and not all it seems on the surface, but you wouldn't know unless you dug down hard.
2. Yes, this really happened.

Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard nI chasront
'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'
Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal
www.elizabethchadwick.com