Copyright © 2013 by Debra Brown
Copyright of articles held by the respective authors.
Cover and interior design by Masha Shubin
Cover Photos (bigstockphoto.com): Alnwick Castle © Gary Humfrey; Damask Seamless Floral Pattern © Iuliia Goncharova; Portrait of the Elegant Woman © Kiselev Andrey Valerevich; Ripped Paper © Silvae
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher and/or author.
Publisher: Madison Street Publishing
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Contributing Authors
List of Novels by Contributing Authors
Falling in Love with England and Its History
Roman Britain and Early Medieval Period (55 B.C.—A.D. 1000)
Boadicea: Warrior Queen of the Iceni Britons
Ancient Roman London as Destroyed by Boadicea, Britain’s Warrior Queen
The First Word in English
Degsastan: A Lost Battlefield
Anno Domini and the Venerable Bede
Monarchy: The Early Middle Ages—House of Wessex
Athelstan: The Secrets of a Dark Ages King
Late Medieval Period (1001-1485)
William Before He Was the Conqueror
Monarchy: William the Conqueror
Christmas 1065
Two Men, One Crown: Harold Godwinson and William of Normandy
The Tower of London
Monarchy: The Normans—William Rufus and Henry I
The Mysterious Death of King William the Second
Monarchy: The Normans—Stephen and Matilda
Why I Love Eleanor of Aquitaine
Henry II and Thomas Becket
Alais of France: Forgotten Princess
Knights Templar: The Beginning
A Bad Rap for Henry and Eléonore
Simon de Montfort and Simon de Montfort
An Alchemist, an Earl, and the Stupor Mundi: The Cannon and Gunpowder in 13th Century Europe, with a Nod to Tess of the D’Urbervilles
William Wallace, the Hero?
What if Edward Bruce Had Succeeded in Ireland?
Two Legends, Two Outlaws: Robin Hood and William Bradshaigh
A Brief but Very Satisfactory Wooing: Edward III and Philippa of Hainault
A (Possible) Page from the London Gazette: September 1331
The Elusive History of the Order of the Garter
The Plague
Scourge of Europe: The Religious Hysteria Created by the Black Plague
How Joan of Kent Became Princess of Wales
Alice Perrers: A Notorious Woman
Edward, 2nd Duke of York
A Royal Love Story: Richard II and Anne of Bohemia
Richard II and His Doubles
An All-Consuming Passion: The Love Affair that Changed the Course of English History
Bloody Deeds at Tewkesbury
A Short—but Heartfelt—Valentine from the Fifteenth Century
Richard III vs. Henry VII: Naughty or Nice?
Mysteries, Miracles, and Tableaux: Early Theater in England
Of Cameleopards and Lions: The Medieval Bestiary
Food for Thought: Medieval Feasts
Dinner as It Might Have Been at Kenilworth 760 Years Ago
Life in a Medieval Village
Medieval Bathing for Cleanliness, Health, and Sex
Boundaries: Medieval Women in Medieval Gardens
A Seer, a Prophet, or a Witch?
Money Lending in the Middle Ages, or You Think Your Visa Card’s Rates Are Bad?
King Lear’s Town: A Little History of the City of Leicester
Miniature Cathedrals: England’s Market Crosses
Relic in the Valley: St. Martin’s at Cwmiou
Welsh Idylls: St. Gwenog’s Church
Tretower Court and Castle
Buried Treasure: St. Mary’s in Burford
Tudor Period (1485-1603)
An Inconvenient Princess
The Worst Marriage of the 16th Century
For Sale: Rich Orphans—The Tudor Court of Wards
The Execution of Sir Thomas More
English Crime and Punishment: Death by Pyre—A More Seemly Death for Women?
Little Ease: Torture and the Tudors
“The Rack Seldom Stood Idle...”
The Will of the Prioress
The Last Nun
Our Tudor Sisters
The Art of Courtly Love: Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
The King, the Archbishop, and the Bear
The Death of Henry VIII: Demolishing the Myths
The Birth of “Bloody Mary”
Elizabeth Tudor’s First Crisis: Enter Mary Queen of Scots
Elizabeth & Mary, Rival Queens: Leadership Lost and Won
Border Reivers: Kinmont Willie Armstrong
“Carrying Away the Booty”: Drake’s Attack on the Spanish Silver Train
“El Camino Real”: A Path Worn through Time
English Ladies-in-Waiting
Childbirth in Early Modern England
Mother Mourning: Childbed Fever in Tudor Times
The Truth about Halloween and Tudor England
Tudor Christmas Gifts
The Elizabethan Gardening Craze
Stuart Period (1603-1714)
The Three Weddings of James VI and I (but Only One Wife)
A Witch’s Lair Found Buried under a Mound
Pirate Extraordinaire and Friend to the Crown
General George Monck and the Siege of Dundee
So You Say You Want an Execution...
Religious Upheaval during 17th Century England
Prophecy and Polemic: The Earliest Quaker Women
The First Actresses: Nell Gwyn to Sarah Siddons
Secret Service, Spies, and Underhanded Dealings during the 17th Century
Desperate Measures in 17th Century Medicine
Superstitions and Bodily Health
The Death of King Charles II
Sarah and the Queen
Lloyd’s: Lifeblood of British Commerce and Starbucks of Its Day
The History of Gingerbread
17th Century Recipes
The Scent of Lavender
Marriage in 17th Century England
Fabulous Fabrics of the 17th Century
Party Clothes in the 17th Century
17th Century Garden Design for Women
Gossip in Early Modern England
What Was Old in the Olden Days?
Early Georgian Era (1715-1800)
Mary Delany, Artist and Personality
The Rise and Rise of the English Landscape Garden
Doggett’s Coat and Badge: The World’s Oldest Rowing Race
The Original Jack the Lad: Jack Sheppard, 1702-1724
In the Wake of James Cook
Right-Royal Comings and Goings at Weymouth, 1794
The Blue Stocking Circle
Robin Hood, Agincourt, and Gender Equality?: Archery
in Late Georgian England
Elizabeth Linley Sheridan: Lady of Fantasy and Tragedy
Grace Dalrymple Elliott: A Very High Flyer Indeed!
Sir John Soane: At Home with an Eccentric Genius...or “Padre Giovanni Has Come to Visit.”
Child’s Play...or Is It?: Georgian Era Nursery Rhymes
Celebrating Burns’ Night
Pronunciation: Eighteenth Century Style
Steal a Book, Seven Years’ Hard Labor Overseas: Transportation as Punishment in the 17th-19th Centuries
A Shocking Catalogue of Human Depravity: Patrick Colquhoun and the Cataloging of 18th Century London Crime
Britain’s Cross-dressing Women
The Wig Business Was Big Business in 18th Century France
Gorgeous Georgian Metrosexuals, or How to Strut Your Metrosexual Stuff in Georgian England
Flip, Shrub, and Other Drinks Favored of Georgian Londoners
A Midnight Masquerade in 18th Century London
Feeling a Little Flushed, Dear? (The Invention of the Flush Toilet)
A Time to Reflect—on Mirrors
Currency in the Second Half of the 18th Century
Travel in the Second Half of the 18th Century, or What Would Jane Austen’s Earliest Heroes Have Packed for the Weekend?
Stand And Deliver...Your Tolls?: The Rise and Fall of the Turnpikes
Top Ten Tourist Attractions in London, 1780
Sir Sidney Smith and the Siege of Acre, 1799
Madness in Their Method: Water Therapy in Georgian and Regency Times
Stourhead: Painting with Nature
The Pursuit of the Picturesque
The Must-have Garden Accessories for the Rich and Richer? A Glasshouse and Pineapples!
Late Georgian and Regency Era (1800-1837)
The Extraordinary Clandestine Activities of a Nineteenth Century Diplomat
11 May 1812: The Death of a Statesman
London in the Early 19th Century
The Hole in the Wall: Regency Dancing
Almack’s: It’s Not Quite What You Think...
Dorothea Christorovna Benckendorff Lieven: Princess Lieven
Lady Hester Stanhope: Regency England’s Eccentric Expatriate
Regency Era Classified Ads
Libraries in Georgian and Regency England
Ashes, Tallow, and Turpentine: Coming Clean in the Regency Era
A Regency Era Lady’s Prodigious Layers of Clothing
The Changes in Ladies’ Fashion from 1780s to 1814: Too Much or Too Little
Ladies’ Slippers and Half-Boots in the Regency
Mr. Darcy Strips Off...
Unrequited Love: Jane Austen and America
Class Distinctions in Regency England
Vicars and Curates and Livings…Oh My!
A Glimpse of York during the Regency Era
Nom nom nom: Regency Style
Phantasmagoria: Getting Your Fright On in Late Georgian England
The Great Frost Fair of 1814
Entertainment Tonight: Regency Style
Victorian Era (1837-1901)
The Victorian Technological Revolution: Transportation
Sir Goldsworthy Gurney and His Steam Carriage
The Rebecca Riots
Fourteen Years’ Hard Labour
Scotland Yard and a New British Mystery
The Great Stink of London 1858
The Harlot Who Was Dickens’ Muse, or Even Greater Expectations
Cameos, Silhouettes, and Cartes de Visite
The Humble Envelope
Popular Pigeons and Slanderous Psittacines
The Poor Always Among Us
The Higher Education of Women in the Victorian Era
Flirting With Fans: A Victorian Tradition
Strange Victorian Remedies
Gertrude Jekyll
Battle of Isandlwana, 22 January 1879
Twentieth Century
Downton Abbey and the Fight for Irish Freedom
The Lost Houses of England
Ellis Island and British Immigrants to the USA
A Prince, a Prophet, and a Peer: Sir Samuel Hoare
The Men Are Away at War
Historical Tidbits Across the Ages
The Royal Coat of Arms
An Englishman and His Dog...
The Isle of Anglesey
Mottisfont: The Evolution of an English House
The Lost Palace of Richmond
Faversham, Kent
The Grosvenors
Time: A Timeline of Clocks
September in British History
Twelfth Night
Be My Valentine!
The Origins of April Fools’ Day
MayDay, MayDay, Mayday!
800 Years of Christmas in England
Introduction
by Debra Brown
Castles, mansions, banquets and balls. Dungeons, armies and kings. Does British history sound boring to you? Suppose there was a way to encounter history without the frustration of cramming for a test, a way to learn about the past that filled you with interest instead of indifference?
Have you ever heard the phrase “stranger than fiction”? Do strange-but-true stories fascinate you? The goal of this book is to provide a wide range of absorbing historical information about the lands and peoples of the Isles of Britain.
The greatest tourist attraction of Northern England is Hadrian’s Wall, now a length of ruins from Roman times. We can stand looking at it, trying to comprehend the time that has passed since workmen put those stones together nearly two thousand years ago. We can imagine the travelers that passed near them over the centuries, the children that climbed over them—all of them grown up, grown old, grown silent.
Almost all of those people have been forgotten. Yet each of them had a life, achievements, and a story. Some of those stories have been retrieved from sources long hidden away and shared in this book.
Through the millennia, eras came and went. Each had its rulers, its heroes, and its unfortunate poor. Its left-behind structures stand—or fall. Its art, music, and dances have passed down to us, and with those, sometimes we imitate the lives of those before us.
The authors of this book are, for the most part, historical fiction writers. To craft good historical fiction, we have studied the times about which we write and the events that came before. We would like to share some of the fascinating things we have learned.
The true tales found in this book originated with the English Historical Fiction Authors Blog (http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/) which was founded on September 23, 2011. Every day, one of our member authors posts a historical article on a subject he or she has studied. Reading the daily post is a way to keep ablaze your ancient English, Scottish, Welsh, or Irish fancies. You may want to bring along a cup of your favorite tea.
The articles in this book have been collected from the first year of the blog’s existence, and are presented here in a new format for easier enjoyment.
This book will also introduce you to our authors and their work. There is a section following this introduction with a short biography of each of the authors and links to their websites, blogs, and books. There is also a list of novels arranged by era so that you can find historical fiction from whatever time most strikes your fancy. Some authors are blog members, posting on a regular basis, and others are guests who post occasionally.
We hope you will be captivated by each and every historical tale we offer in this book and that you will join us on the blog for our daily post. Perhaps you will find a new favorite author who can whisk you away to times past or a new stack of books to fill up your rainy days with tales of yesteryear.
Contributing Authors
Andersen,
Maggi
An Australian author with a BA in English and an MA in Creative Writing, Maggi Andersen lives with her lawyer husband in a pretty, historical town in the Southern Highlands with their spoiled Persian cat, plus the assorted wildlife they love to feed: the chickens wandering in from next door, the ducks swimming in their pool, and the parrots and possums lining up for bananas and seed. Maggi writes historical romance, contemporary romantic suspense, and young adult novels.
Amazon US Amazon UK Website Blog Facebook Twitter
Arnopp, Judith
Judith Arnopp’s historical novels are written from a female perspective. The Song of Heledd is set in 7th century Powys, Peaceweaver and The Forest Dwellers in the years encompassing the Norman Conquest, and Dear Henry and The Winchester Goose in the Tudor period. She is currently working on The Kiss of the Concubine, a novel of Anne Boleyn.
Amazon US Amazon UK Website Blog Facebook Twitter
Ashe, Katherine
Katherine Ashe is the author of Montfort, a four volume novelized biography of Simon de Montfort, who founded England’s Parliament in 1258 and died on the battlefield of Evesham in 1265. He was believed to be the Angel of the Apocalypse. The speaking of his name was made a hanging crime.
Amazon US Amazon UK Montfort Website Blog Facebook Twitter
Ashworth, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Ashworth is a UK author who writes historical fiction and local interest books about Lancashire. A published writer since her early teens, she has also written articles and short stories for a wide range of publications. Her first published novel was The de Lacy Inheritance. This was followed by An Honourable Estate. 2013 will see publication of By Loyalty Bound from Pen and Sword Fiction. It tells the story of the mistress of King Richard III.
Amazon US Amazon UK Website Facebook Twitter YouTube
Bagwell, Gillian
Gillian Bagwell’s richly detailed historical novels bring to vivid life England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Venus in Winter chronicles the life of the formidable Bess of Hardwick at the court of Henry VIII. The Darling Strumpet charts Nell Gwynn’s meteoric rise from the grimy slums to triumph as a beloved comic actress in the arms of the king. The September Queen (U.K. title The King’s Mistress) gives the first fictional accounting of Jane Lane, who risked all to help the young Charles II, saving his life and the future of the English monarchy. Gillian uses her years of experience in theatre as an actress, director, and producer to help authors give effective public readings, through workshops and private coaching.
Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors Page 1
