Young Louise de Savoie was important as part of Savoy Connection when she arrived in France in 1483. Still she was neither the first nor the last, simply the most famous. Why? Because through her talents, family, chance and timing she rose to the most powerful role a woman could achieve in France—Regent for the …
From the 12th to the 19th centuries, the people of France and England really believed their king’s touch could heal them of scrofula. Why did they believe it? Were they ignorant superstitious simpletons who knew no better? I do not think so. Before you toss up your hands and write me off as a crank, …
A Sequel with a Difference A. J. Bishop’s Darcy’s Education of Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a tour de force in its genre. The author gives us an entertaining, thought-provoking, and beautifully written novel in this popular Regency with-a-twist genre. Her ability to capture the characters we love and develop them in unforeseen, yet believable, directions …
Darcy’s Education of Miss Elizabeth Bennet— A Review Read More »
Roberta Rich’s Midwife’s Trilogy proves that powerful Renaissance women don’t have to be real; they can also be fictional. Hannah Levi, the heroine of Roberta Rich’s exciting Midwife’s trilogy is an example. The three historical novels are fast-paced, the characters believable and sympathetic, the plots well structured, and the settings brilliantly portrayed. Rich is a …
Renaissance Fiction: Roberta Rich’s Midwife’s Trilogy Read More »
What clothing did French Renaissance Noblewomen wear? As a writer, I ask myself this question each time I need to describe a woman. I focus on noblewomen because courts set the fashion. People of every class copied the one above it as closely as their finances allowed. Styles varied from one country to another and from …
As I was researching my new novel I reflected on the importance of male heirs for Brittany and France. I had been reading an article that electrified me in the book Noblesse de Bretagne du Moyen Age à Nos Jours. Failures in the male line One article in particular challenges several standard interpretations of Breton …
Paris in Ruins is a war story by M.K. Tod. It will keep you reading until the very last page. Raised for a life of parties and servants, Camille and Mariele have much in common, but it takes the horrors of war to bring them together to fight for the city they love. War has …
Murder most foul was as much a medieval as it is a modern problem. With a nod to Bob Dylan’s recent song title, murder most foul was not uncommon in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. This will come as no surprise to any fan of Game of Thrones. Nor to any historian of the …
The codpiece and the pox were two common sights in 16th Century Europe. Was there a relationship between them? King Henry VIII was famed for the size of his codpiece. He probably boasted about the size of his cod as well. [Can you guess from the context the word for which cod is a Renaissance …
The Dukes and Duchesses of Brittany between 1485 to 1559 were also kings and queens of France from the time France conquered Brittany to the death of King François II of France. Anne of Brittany, the last truly independent Duchess of Brittany, fought her whole life to keep her duchy separate from France. She had …
Who kept medieval pets among the various classes of people in medieval society? Noblewomen definitely had pet dogs though not as many people kept pets as today. Look at carefully paintings and you will see small dogs curled up on the skirts of their mistresses and cats sitting beside the fireplace. My heroine Anne of …
In France’s past, feasting was a culinary social obligation of the nobility. It was always a splendid occasion with many ‘removes.’ Removes did not represent courses as we think of them today. Most medieval banquets had 3 or 4 removes with a musical interlude or entertainment in between. Great banquets fit for kings and royalty …
