Tag: 12th century

Book Review: “Lady of Lincoln” by Rachel Elwiss Joyce

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Medieval England, under the reign of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, was a turbulent time. The focus tends to be on the rebellion of Henry’s sons against their father and how Eleanor sided with her sons. This story has been told, but there is a story of another woman who was caught directly in the middle of the entire ordeal. Her story is most known for her role during the reign of King John and the Magna Carta, but that was when she was an older woman. The story of Nicola de la Haye and Lincoln Castle has been told in biographies and nonfiction books, but not really in historical fiction novels. Rachel Elwiss Joyce hopes to change that with her novel, “Lady of Lincoln.”

I would like to thank Books Go Social, Hedgehog Books, and Net Galley for sending me a copy of this novel. I first became aware of Nicola de la Haye from Sharon Bennett Connolly’s book on the women of the Magna Carta, followed up by her fantastic biography about Nicholaa de la Haye. I am familiar with her story, but I was curious to see how her life would translate to a novel. When I saw the description of this novel, it definitely caught my attention.

We are introduced to Nicola de la Haye as a young woman who is helping a young soldier, Suardinc, train, when her mother goes into labor and loses her son. That means that Nicola and her sisters are the heiresses of the de la Haye estates. Their father gives her sister, Julia Normandy, and Nicola receives Lincolnshire and Lincoln Castle. Nicola loves Lincoln Castle and the people who inhabit Lincolnshire, including the Jews that the constable of the castle must protect. Nicola wants to be a constable, but her father reminds her that she must marry and her husband will become the constable of Lincoln Castle. Three men want to marry Nicola: Gerard de Camville, the man whom Nicola’s father wants her to marry; Sir Alured of Pointon, the outside schemer who wants Nicola’s lands; and Sir William FitzErneis, the man Nicola falls hard for.

We get to see Nicola fall in love with her first husband, Sir William FitzErneis, even if they face extreme monetary hardships. FitzErneis decides to side with the Young King Henry when he rebelled against his father, King Henry II. This placed Nicola, her family, and the castle in a precarious situation as Alured became the sheriff and tried every which way to make Nicola his, even when she was married. Luckily, Gerard de Camville keeps a close eye on Nicola, even though he himself has fallen for Nicola.

We get to see Nicola transform from a naive young woman to a fiercely determined mother and wife who would do anything to protect her family, her friends, and her family home. I enjoyed that we not only got to see Nicola interacting with the typical nobility, but also the common people, including the Jewish population of Lincolnshire. If you want a well-written novel about one of the most important women in 12th century England, I recommend you read “Lady of Lincoln” by Rachel Elwiss Joyce.

Book Review: “Templar Silks” by Elizabeth Chadwick

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One of the greatest knights in English history is lying on his deathbed. As his loved ones stay near his bedside, William Marshal remembers his time in the Outremer, where he is to perform a final duty to his lord. William and his companions soon realize that the Holy Land is more treacherous than they could ever imagine, and the most dangerous person for William is the concubine Paschia de Riveri. Elizabeth Chadwick concludes her William Marshal series with novel six in the series, “Templar Silks.”

I have enjoyed the previous novels that I have read by Elizabeth Chadwick, and I wanted to read more from her. I saw this book at a used book store, and I wanted to read it, even though I had not read the previous five books in the series.

We begin this final adventure with William Marshal in the year 1219. William is on death’s door and has asked his squire, Jean D’ Earley, to retrieve his burial silks from Wales. These were not just any burial silks, but the ones that he was given by the Templars when he was in Jerusalem. To understand why William went to Jerusalem, Chadwick goes back to 1183, when William was in the service of the Young King Harry, the son of Henry II and Alienor of Aquitaine. Harry decides that they would raid Rocamadour to pay for their endeavours, but this would be one of the last decisions he would ever make. On his deathbed, Harry asked William and his men to take his cloak to Jerusalem so that he could be forgiven for his sins of robbing the church.

William agrees, and so he, his brother Ancel, and a handful of others make their way to Jerusalem. Once they make it into the Outremer, they soon realize that they are in the midst of a fight for the throne. King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem is dying, and there is a fight within his court for the throne, primarily from Baldwin’s sister Sybilla and her husband Guy de Lusignan, William’s mortal enemy. To top it all off, William falls in love with the concubine of Heraclius, Paschia de Riveri. William and his men must survive the politics of the Outremer to return home to his beloved England.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, despite not having read the previous books in the series. Now, I want to read the rest of the series to see William Marhsal’s life through Chadwick’s eyes. If you have read the previous books in the William Marshal series, I would recommend that you read the final book in the series, “Templar Silks” by Elizabeth Chadwick.

Book Review: “Lady of the English” by Elizabeth Chadwick

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15931913The year 1120 was a horrible year for King Henry I. His only legitimate son William died when his ship, The White Ship, sank in the middle of the night. This tragedy left Henry with one option, his legitimate daughter Matilda, the former Holy Roman Empress, would become Queen of England, and her sons would continue the royal line. Unfortunately, Matilda’s throne was taken by Stephen of Blois, and now Matilda must join forces with her stepmother Her stepmother Adeliza has always stood by Matilda’s side. Still, when she remarries after Henry’s death, Adeliza struggles to support the rightful queen but stays loyal to her new husband, who supports Stephen. Matilda and Adeliza are caught in the middle of the Anarchy in Elizabeth Chadwick’s novel, “Lady of the English.”

We are introduced to Matilda at one of her lowest moments when her first husband, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, dies, and she must go back to England. Her father, Henry I, has decided that Matilda will be his heiress, and she must marry again to secure his legacy if his current wife, Adeliza, cannot give him another heir. Matilda’s second husband is Geoffrey V Duke of Anjou, a braggart and is abusive towards his wife, even though she outranks him. It is a contentious relationship, but Matilda holds her head up high to try and make this arrangement work for her sons, Geffory, William, and the future Henry II.

Unfortunately for Adeliza, she cannot give her husband the heir he desires, which means that the greatest men in the land must swear oaths to honor Matilda as the next Queen of England. The plan is set, but when Henry I dies, Matilda is in France, so her cousin Stephen of Blois takes the opportunity to become the next King of England. Matilda is furious and decides to fight for her right to the English throne while Geoffrey is in Anjou, but then shifts her position that her eldest son, Henry II, will be the next King of England.

After Henry I’s death, Adeliza decides what is best for her is to live the rest of her life in a nunnery, but that is not her fate. A handsome young man named William D’Albini sweeps her off her feet and gives Adeliza the one thing she long desired, a family. Unfortunately, when Stephen becomes King of England, William D’Albini joins forces with the new king, while Adeliza stays loyal to her step-daughter and friend, Matilda.

This is my first time reading a novel by Elizabeth Chadwick, and I loved it so much. The way Chadwick blended elements of fiction with historical facts was nothing short of astounding. From battles to religious moments, politics to intimate moments, Chadwick brought the story of The Anarchy to life for a modern audience. Reading this novel felt like I was transported to 12th century England and showed where Henry II got his strength and determination to rule England. If you want a vivid and compelling novel about two dynamic women in the 12th century, I highly recommend reading “Lady of the English” by Elizabeth Chadwick.

Book Review: “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett

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91wIRMJzYSLWhen one thinks about epic tales stories of adventures and romance tend to come to mind. One hardly thinks about the construction of a magnificent building as an “epic tale” with monks and builders as the main characters. We see cathedrals as these massive buildings from the past used as churches, but we rarely think about how they were constructed and why. Who were the people who decided to make these spectacular buildings and what might have their lives have been like? These are just some of the questions that Ken Follett wanted to try and answer in his monumental historical fiction masterpiece, “The Pillars of the Earth”.

Ken Follett is known worldwide as an author of spy thrillers, but for decades the story of a 12th-century cathedral in a town called Kingsbridge and the people who helped build it was always in the back of his mind. In 1989, he decided to take a risk and publish his first ever historical fiction novel. To say the book was a sensation would be an understatement. In the 25th anniversary edition of this wonderful novel, Follett explores why he thinks this particular story made such a splash:

Many times in the last twenty-five years, I have been asked why “Pillars” has had such a big impact. There’s no simple answer, because a novel is so complex. But I come back again and again to the people who built the cathedrals. Those men and women were, by modern standards, poor and ignorant. They lived in wooden huts and slept on the floor. Yet they created the most beautiful and awesome buildings the world has ever known. Human beings have the capacity to rise above mundane circumstances and touch the eternal. This is what “Pillars” is about, and, in the end, I think that may be why it has so profoundly touched the hearts of so many readers for so many years. (Follett, xxii).

Follett introduces his readers to the world of 12th-century Kingsbridge, England with the execution of a thief. Compared to the rest of the story this prologue seems a bit odd since it happened over a decade before the actual story begins, but Follett was able to use the details of the prologue throughout the entire novel. Twelve years after the execution, we are introduced to Tom Builder and his family as they struggle to survive after he was fired from a building job for William Hamleigh, who was dumped by Lady Aliena. Tom’s life is turned upside down when his wife Agnes dies giving birth to a son and he falls in love with a woman named Ellen, who is the mother of Jack Jackson. Meanwhile, we are introduced to Prior Philip, a man who wants to reform Kingsbridge Priory. Tom and Philip both have a dream of making a wonderful cathedral in Kingsbridge.

This is the story of the building of Kingsbridge Cathedral, but it is also a story of those who lived in Kingsbridge. It is about their triumphs and tragedies. It is about family and love, revenge and heartache. There were some very dramatic scenes that shocked me, however, I believe Follett used these scenes to grow his characters to be strong; physically, mentally and emotionally. Follett may not be a spiritual man, but he was able to capture the spirituality of the age through Prior Philip and the struggle between the church and the state through the building of the cathedral. The cast of characters, both good and bad, are very well-rounded and complex and you really want to know what will happen to them by the end of the story.

I usually read books about the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor dynasty, but I decided to take a chance and read the Kingsbridge series because I heard amazing things about this series. I did have to remind myself about Queen Maud, King Stephen, King  Henry II, and Thomas Becket since I don’t study this time period often. Follett was able to make the 12th-century to come alive. I did not want to stop reading this book. I absolutely loved the story, the scenery, the amount of details and the colorful cast of characters. This was a huge risk for Follett to jump into the world of historical fiction, but it paid off extremely well. “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follett is a stunning masterpiece and I highly recommend it to anyone who really enjoys a thrilling historical fiction novel.