medieval research with joyce

Dangerous Favor: cover unveiled

2012-01-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

I just received the cover art for my new medieval romance,

Dangerous Favor.

Hope you don't mind if I share it!

Coming January 2012

Loyalty's Web Book Trailer

2012-01-09T16:50:00.001-07:00

The lovely and talented Rachel Rossano has made me a book trailer for Loyalty's Web. Learn more about Rachel and her books on her website, The World of Rachel Rossano, and blog, Rachel Rossano's Words.

Giveaway: "The Legend of Camelot" calendar

2011-12-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

I've just finished the final edits on the first half of my new medieval romance, Dangerous Favor, and to celebrate, I'm giving away a beautiful 2012 wall calendar called The Legend of Camelot.

Calendar description: "The sumptuous, elegant, romantic paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite artists illuminate the pages of this 2012 calendar, which evokes the court and castles of Camelot, a time--however fleeting and mythical--when innocence and purity, honor and valor mattered above all."

To enter, visit my blog post Mathilde is holding ANOTHER giveaway on my JDP NEWS blog and leave a comment with your email address. Deadline is December 23, midnight PST. Hope to see you over there!

Winner: "Magic in the Middle Ages"

2011-10-18T12:58:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Meljprincess! Mel is the winner of my extra copy of Magic in the Middle Ages. Happy Halloween reading, Mel!

Thank you to everyone who entered. I've got a few more "extra books" up my sleeve, so stay tuned for future giveaways.

Norman Conquest Day 2011 - let's eat cake!

2011-10-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's my annual "purely representative of the actual event" cake reenactment of the Battle of Hastings. Some day I'm going to track down some actual Norman and Saxon toy soldiers, but in the mean time, just use your imagination.

Aside from the knights on horseback (Normans), this year's battle was so chaotic, even I couldn't tell who was on who's side!

Crash!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Smash! Wham!

Thud!

(That's Harold, going down. You can't see him, he fell off the cake.)

Click here to see a nifty Norman Conquest Day video I posted earlier today.

Click here to read/see all my Norman Conquest day posts

Happy Norman Conquest Day 2011!!!

Norman Conquest Day 2011

2011-10-14T10:14:00.001-07:00

Happy Norman Conquest Day, everyone! I hope you enjoy this little animated reenactment of the Norman Conquest through the Bayeux Tapestry. Now I'm off to buy my annual Norman Conquest Day cake! :-)

To read some fun facts about the Bayeux Tapestry, click here.

Giveaway: "Magic in the Middle Ages"

2011-10-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

I spent the weekend giving Medieval Research with Joyce a facelift. It literally took me hours, mostly because I'm so techie-illiterate. After all that hard work, my blog wants to celebrate, and it's no fun celebrating alone, so let's do it together!

Once again, my ill-luck is your good fortune. Yes, I've found yet another medieval research book that I already had a copy of in my collection. This one is Magic in the Middle Ages, by Richard Kieckhefer. Here's the back cover blurb. (Actually, it's the inside the front cover blurb. Sorry the book cover is so blurry. I promise it won't be blurry on your copy should you win!)

This text book deals with magic, both natural and demonic within the broad context of medieval culture. Covering the years c. 500 to 1500 with a chapter on antiquity, it investigates the way magic relates to the many other cultural forms of the time, such as religion and science, literature and art.

How can you win a copy of this book? Leave me a comment telling me why you want to win Magic in the Middle Ages, and INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS so I can contact you if you win.

For additional entries, you may do any or all of the following:

+1 Become a follower of Medieval Research with Joyce (Google Friend Connect), then leave me a comment letting me know. (If you are already a follower, leave me a comment letting me know.)

+1 Subscribe to Medieval Research with Joyce via the Feedburner subscription box in the right hand sidebar. You must confirm the subscription. Then leave me a comment letting me know.

+1 Become a NetworkedBlogs follower in the right hand sidebar, then leave me a comment letting me know.

+1 Vote in my Who Is Your Favorite Medieval King poll, then leave me a comment letting me know you voted. (You don't have to tell me who you voted for unless you want to.) I've repositioned the poll right below the NetworkedBlogs box in the right hand sidebar so you can find it more easily.

AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH EACH OR ALL OF THE ABOVE. (THANK YOU!)

Deadline for entries is October 17, midnight PST. I'll open this one up to International, as well as USA, entries.

(If for any reason you are unable to leave a comment on this post, you may email it to me at jdipastena@yahoo.com. Please type "Magic in the Middle Ages" in the subject line.)

Medieval music - Troubadour love song by Arany Zoltán

2011-07-31T23:27:00.000-07:00

Since the hero of my current WIP is a troubadour, I thought you might enjoy this little sampling of medieval troubadour music. (No, that's not my hero singing. Acelet is a tenor, not a baritone.) Aren't the pictures beautiful, too?

Perdonatz, se parla occitan?

2011-07-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

Sadly, neither do I. Speak Occitan, that is. What is Occitan? It is a Romance language that was spoken during the Middle Ages in a region of southern Europe known as Occitania: southern France, Monaco, and parts of Spain and Italy. For the purposes of my current WIP, it was spoken in the duchy of Aquitaine during the 12^th Century.

(Here's a map of Aquitaine and Poitou, where Occitan was spoken, when they were ruled by the kings of England, during the time period of my novels.)

Dante recorded the first known reference to lingua d’oc, the origin of the word “Occitan”. His statement in Latin, “nam alii oc, alii si, alii vero dicunt oil" ("some say òc, others say sì, others say oïl") referred to the word “yes” in three different languages: òc in Occitan, sì in Italian, and oïl in French.

Occitan was the language of the medieval troubadours, and since my hero is a troubadour, I found myself on a search this week to find a few Occitan words. I found two English-Occitan glossaries at http://www.occitania.online.fr/aqui.comenca.occitania/en-oc.html and http://tourisme.cevennes.lasalle.pagesperso-orange.fr/text/english/glossaire.htm.

These lists were helpful, but more limited than I had hoped. Then I stumbled across an incredibly nifty little device called the Occitan’s automatic translator: http://traductor.gencat.cat/text.do Unfortunately, to use this translator, I needed to know Catalan, a language to which Occitan was apparently closely related. Happily, however, there are websites that will translate English into Catalan, such as Google Translate: http://translate.google.com, and from there, I can go to the Occitan’s automatic translator and translate from Catalan to Occitan.

For example, in Google Translate, I typed in: “Excuse me, do you speak Occitan?” in English and asked it to translate into Catalan, which gave me: “Perdoni, es parla occità?” Then I hopped over to the Occitan’s automatic translator, copied and pasted “Perdoni, es parla occità?” and asked it to translate from Catalan to Occitan, which gave me: “Perdonatz, se parla occitan?”

See? Didn’t I tell you that device was nifty?

And here’s another cool tool. (Yes, I know that rhymes.) Forvo: All the words in the world pronounced. Here’s the link for Occitan: http://www.forvo.com/languages/oc/ Unfortunately, you can’t type in a phrase and hear it pronounced. But you can type in a word from one of the above glossaries, such as “bruch”, which means “noisy” in Occitan. (I may have a noisy character in my WIP, so “bruch” may come in useful.) Forvo only has 3386 Occitan words you can listen to so far, so you’re a bit limited, but it’s still cool.

To read more about the Occitan language, you can visit Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occitan_language.

If you’re really ambitious and want to try to learn to speak Occitan, this site can direct you to some sources, though I in no way vouch for any of the links or resources: http://www.language-learning-advisor.com/learn-occitan.html.

Here's a link to a map of Occitania: http://www.fchatzigianis.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/23/occitaniamap.jpg (I wasn't sure of copyright issues, so I couldn't use it on this post.) You'll see Aquitaine/Aquitania over on the left, and see how the area that covered Occitania fit between Franca/France, Espanha/Spain and Italia/Italy.

How’s the Weather Out There? Or Another Lesson in Serendipity

2011-06-29T15:52:00.000-07:00

So, what was the weather like during the Middle Ages? If you think the weather in England in 1066 was an exact reflection of the weather in 2011, you would be mistaken. And since we are all seeking authenticity for our historical novels, we don’t want our characters shivering through an extraordinarily warm winter, or reaping a rich harvest during a summer of drought, now do we?

The problem is, of course, that it’s very difficult to know exactly what the weather was like on any given day during the Middle Ages. And some sources contradict each other.

All the information I’ve come across for medieval weather has happened by serendipity. You know, by accident while I was researching completely different topics. But every time I find a clue, I underline or highlight it and make a note so I can find it again.

For example, I stumbled across this sentence while researching the Norman Conquest (referring to the year 1066):

“For a long time, England had been colder and wetter than it normally is, but it was entering a phase which lasted two centuries when the summers were unusually warm and sunny and the winters mild.” (From 1066: The Year of the Conquest, by David Howarth, p 11)

Aha! thought I to myself. I’ve got a WIP set in England during 1213. Two centuries from 1066 easily covers my time period. Therefore, the summer was “warm and sunny” and the winter was “mild”.

Wasn’t it?

Then, while reading a biography of Henry II, I came across this:

“In Henry’s days, the winters were harsher, the summers drier.” (From Henry Plantagenet: 1133-1189, by Richard Barber, p 1)

Okay, so drier summers might well be compatible with the “unusually warm” summers cited by Howarth. Whereas Howarth offered no source information for his weather pattern, Barber refers to medieval “annals’” frequent reference to droughts, although his claim for the harsh winters relied on the fact that in 1142, the Thames froze in early December and no one remarked upon it as being unusual.

If I were setting my story in England during the reign of Henry II, I’d feel safe inflicting exceptionally hot summers upon my characters. However, unless that story was set in 1142, it might be a bit of a coin toss whether you want to go with the “mild” or “harsher” winter.

However, if you decide to set your story in the winter of 1204-1205, here’s a bit of reliable weather-related information you can use, discovered (and notated) during my recent reading of a biography of King John. “The rivers froze after Christmas and the Thames could be crossed on foot.” The ground was so hard frozen that it was March before ploughs were able to break the surface. Vegetables shriveled from the extreme cold of that winter. When spring finally arrived, corn sold “at famine prices. Oats fetched ten times the normal price, and men were paying half a mark for a few pence worth of peas or beans.” (King John, W.L. Warren, p 105)

Warren discovered this information in something called the Roll Series, which if you Google, you will discover is a major collection of British and Irish historical materials based on medieval English chronicles, which is as authoritative a source as you can find.

Oh, and the source for the claim that for the two centuries following 1066 “summers were unusually warm and sunny and the winters mild”? I did some Googling about that, too, and the answer? Tree rings. J

My reading (and therefore, my serendipitous discoveries) have not extended much beyond the reigns of King Henry II to King John because that’s the time period that my novels are set in. But if you have come across any other authoritative evidence for other medieval years, I would love you to share your information in a comment. Please include your source: Title, author, and page number, along with your information. (In case you haven’t noticed, this blog isn’t just about medieval facts. It’s about how we know those facts. So always cite your sources. Thank you!)

Winner! Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

2011-06-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Shelly, who won the copy of Gilded Spurs, by Grace Ingram, in the Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop!

Thank you to everyone who entered. If you didn't win and would like another chance at a prize, my sister-blog, JDP NEWS, will be giving away a copy of my sweet medieval romance, Loyalty's Web, in the Freedom Giveaway Hop that begins on July 1st. Remember, that will be taking place over at JDP NEWS. :-)

Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop

2011-06-20T20:59:00.003-07:00

Welcome to my first Medieval Research with Joyce blog hop! My JDP NEWS blog has participated in several previous blog hops, but this is new for Medieval Research with Joyce.

Under the brave leadership of Inspired Kathy of I Am a Reader, Not a Writer, over 200 blogs have banded together to offer book or book-related prizes to celebrate the longest day of the year...Midsummer Eve! (Also known as the 1st day of summer.)

In medieval England, large bonfires were lit on Midsummer's Eve to ward off evil spirits. Sometimes people jumped through these fires for good luck! (I suppose they considered it good luck if they didn't get burned!) Midsummer's Eve was the second favorite night of medieval fairies in England. Their favorite night? Halloween, of course! You can read more interesting medieval Midsummer's Eve trivia at English Medieval Calendar.

Now back to the blog hop. What am I giving away here at Medieval Research with Joyce? A copy of one of my favorite medieval novels, which sadly like many of my favorite novels, has gone out of print. I managed to find a good used copy to give away here, though. The book is Gilded Spurs by Grace Ingram. If you'd like to read a description of the book, click here.

Don't pay any attention to the rather juvenile cover art on the dust jacket. This is NOT a children's book. It's a novel geared to adults (though perfectly clean) and has a lovely cover on my old paperback version. I'm quite at a loss to account for the art work for this hard cover version. But I promise, you'll be well rewarded to look past the cover to the story that lies within!

Now, how how can you enter to win? First off, you MUST be a follower of Medieval Research with Joyce and you must leave me a comment telling me that you are a follower. AND don't forget to include your email address so I can contact you if you win!

To earn extra entries, you may do any or all of the following:

+1 Leave a comment telling me your favorite summer treat (yes, this should be a food or drink item).

+1 Become a NetworkedBlog follower (below the Feedburner subscription box in the right hand sidebar), then leave me a comment letting me know.
+1 Include the word "Huzzah!" in any of the comments you leave. (You only need to "Huzzah!" once. Extra "Huzzahs" won't earn you extra points.)

AND INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WITH EACH OR ALL OF THE ABOVE. (Thanks!)

Deadline for entries is 11:59 PM EST/7:59 PM PST on June 24.

(If for any reason you are unable to leave a comment on my blog, send it to jdipastena@yahoo.com with "Medieval Research: Midsummer's Eve Giveaway Hop" in the subject line and I'll count it.)

All entered? Great! Now hop along to the next link posted below.

My trip to the Utah Renaissance Festival

2011-05-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

I just posted some pictures of my first trip to the Utah Renaissance Festival on my JDP NEWS blog. I'm too lazy to repost them all here, but if you'd like to see them, click HERE.

(Okay, okay, I'll post one picture. But if you want to see the rest, you've got to hop over to JDP NEWS. Here's a picture of Queen Elizabeth and some of her court.)

Huzzah!

Win a copy of "Loyalty's Web"!

2011-04-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

The lovely EnglishRose has posted a review of my sweet medieval romance Loyalty's Web on her Clean Romance Reviews blog AND is sponsoring a giveaway for a copy of the same title.

Enter by midnight CST May 6.

Click here for her review.

Click here for the giveaway.

Winner! : Hug a Medievalist Day Giveaway

2011-04-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

The winner of our Hug a Medievalist Day Giveaway is petite, who would like to hug William Wallace. Petite has won up to $100-worth of products from Renaissance Costumes Clothing. Congratulations, petite! I'll be in touch with you soon with more information on your prize.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I had so much fun reading all your comments and finding out who you'd like to hug for Hug a Medievalist Day. (For the record, I would give Henry II a hug. :-) )

Hug A Medievalist Day Giveaway! (Belated)

2011-04-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

It’s a shame I didn’t know about Hug a Medievalist Day (March 31) until the day was already over. Because I’ve got a giveaway today that would have made an incredible party prize! Are you ready for this?

The online store Renaissance Costumes Clothing is offering one lucky follower of Medieval Research with Joyce up to $100-worth of the winner’s choice of products from their website!

Renaissance Costumes Clothing has a wide variety of Renaissance style clothing for men, women and children. You can put your own costume together with (for women) a variety of peasant skirts, corset bodices, or Renaissance dresses over a chemise, or choose a pre-themed costume such as Maid Marian, Lady Gwenhyfar, Elizabethan, and many more! Men, too, can assemble their own ensembles with Renaissance shirts, Renaissance pants, Renaissance vests, along with boots, hats and belts. Or they, too, can choose pre-themed costumes such as Robin Hood, a Crusader Knight, a Musketeer, or even a royal knight in armor! And don’t forget, they have children’s costumes, too!

So how can you win this belated Hug a Medievalist Day prize? Leave a comment with the name of the medievalist you’d most like to hug. It can be an actual figure from medieval history, a fictional character (like Robin Hood), a character from a medieval novel…don’t get mixed up and give me a Regency character now!...a favorite history teacher who taught or loved the Middle Ages, your favorite character at your local *Renaissance Festival, or even your favorite *RenFest day companion (husband, sister, brother, child, friend). Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Want extra chances to win? Do any or all of the following:

+1 Bonus: Begin or end your comment with the word “Huzzah!”

+1 Bonus: Become a follower of this blog, then leave a comment letting me know. If you're already a follower, leave me a comment letting me know!

+1 Bonus: Subscribe to Medieval Research with Joyce via the Feedburner box in the sidebar, then leave me a comment letting me know.

Facebook (+1 Bonus), Twitter (+1 Bonus) and/or Blog (+1 Bonus) about this giveaway (and leave a comment letting me know)

Deadline: April 17, midnight PST. Winner will be drawn by Random.org

USA ENTRIES ONLY

(*Yes, I do know that the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were two different historical periods, but for the purposes of this contest, I’m stretching it a bit. The prize, after all, is sponsored by a Renaissance store.)

About the giveaway sponsor: RenaissanceCostumesClothing.com has quickly become a trusted source for Medieval and Renaissance costumes. With worldwide shipping, unique clothing, and a firm commitment to customer service, RenaissanceCostumesClothing.com is a great source for Renaissance costumes for women and mens Renaissance costumes that will make you fit in at faires and other historical costumed events.

NOTE: My hosting of this giveaway does not constitute an endorsement of Renaissance Costumes Clothing or their products.

International Hug a Medievalist Day!

2011-04-01T12:56:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! We completely missed International Hug a Medievalist Day! I missed it, anyway. How about you?

The New Yorker ran an article about it. You can read it by clicking here.

We're going to do better next year. I've marked the date (March 31) on my calendar so I won't forget. I'll try to plan a party or something. Mark your calendars so you'll remember, too!

Fans of Thomas Malory, I have two words for you: Chrétien & Marie!

2011-03-28T09:00:00.002-07:00

So, as fellow medievalists, you may well scratch your heads at this post and wonder, “Why is she telling us this? We already know!” But I’ve had not one, but two, fellow writers make the same comment within a matter of days regarding an unpublished novel of mine I’ve asked them to critique. “The King Arthur legend started with Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur. I don’t think your heroine would know anything about King Arthur.”

Well, I’ve been obliged to gently point out to them that they are wrong. The true originator of the Arthurian tradition that we have become familiar with was a medieval poet named Chrétien de Troyes who lived in 12^th Century France. Although Chrétien undoubtedly drew on even earlier sources, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth, it was Chrétien who fashioned these tales into the courtly romances that we know today and to whom we first owe such now classic Arthurian themes as Lancelot’s love affair with Guinevere, and the quest for the Holy Grail. In the romances of Chrétien we also meet Kay, Gawain, Perceval, Sagremor the Unruly (couldn’t resist sharing that one!), and of course, King Arthur himself. He even refers to an apparently lost work based on King Mark and Isolde the Blonde in his introduction to his poem, Cligés.

If you aren’t familiar with Chrétien de Troyes, you are missing a treat. You can read a simple biography of his life and works on Wikipedia. You can find seemingly endless versions of his romances on Amazon, including a free Kindle version. For the purposes of my own research, I have greatly relied on the Penguin Classics edition, Chrétien de Troyes: Arthurian Romances. It includes an extensive introduction detailing what we know about Chrétien’s life and career, descriptions of his works, and his influence on romantic literature in general. Also a glossary of medieval terms, helpful notes on each romance, and a very nice select bibliography. (Oh, yes, it also contains five of Chrétien’s romances, so don’t fall into the trap of buying each tale individually unless you absolutely want to.)

Just for the record, Chrétien de Troyes wasn’t the only 12^th Century French poet telling tales of King Arthur. The poetess, Marie de France, draws a rather unflattering portrait of Queen Guinevere in her lai, Lanval. Several of Marie’s poems make an appearance in my medieval romance, Loyalty’s Web. Her works are also easily found on Amazon (again, including a free Kindle version). The version I relied on was The Lais of Marie de France, translated and introduced by Robert Hanning & Joan Ferrante. This volume has an excellent introduction (important if you’re a writer researching Marie and/or her works for a novel) and I quite like the little commentary that follows each of the individual poems.

So the next time someone looks down their nose at you and tells you your medieval character couldn’t possibly know anything about King Arthur, you arch your eyebrows in surprise and reply, “Are you honestly telling me you’ve never heard of Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France?”

Winner: "Who's Who in the Middle Ages"

2010-12-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas to Brandlwyne aka Brandy B, who won my gently-used-but-looks-so-shiny-brand-new-that-I'm-tempted-to-keep-it copy of Who's Who in the Middle Ages, by Dr. John Fines! But since a bargain's a bargain, plus it's Christmas after all, Brandy will indeed receive this copy while I keep my old, tattered, but much beloved paperback edition.

Thank you to everyone who entered the drawing. I loved reading all of your comments! Merry Christmas to you all!

Medieval Christmas at the Tower of London

2010-12-23T13:10:00.001-07:00

A Merry Medieval Christmas to you all!

Giveaway: "Who's Who in the Middle Ages"

2010-12-03T20:00:00.001-07:00

So I’ve been hosting several blog hop giveaways over on my JDP NEWS blog lately (next one is coming up on December 21-22, “Midwinter’s Eve Giveaway Hop”), and I feel kind of bad that I haven’t done any giveaways on this blog for awhile. I have a book I’ve been wanting to share with you for an awfully long time, but I’ve held back because it’s another one of those “out of print” titles, and I haven’t actually based a lot of my actual writing on the research in this book. It is, however, my ultimate “go to” browsing book on nights when I’m restless and have trouble sleeping. I literally keep it on my bedside table next to my bed and to date, I have never, never grown tired of reading the entries over and over again. I love this book and want to share it so much, that tonight, I went to Amazon and found an inexpensive used copy and ordered it, just so I can hold a drawing to give a copy to one of you!

The book is Who’s Who in the Middle Ages, by Dr. John Fines. Here’s the back cover blurb for it:

In trying to understand the complex and alien societies of the distant past the reader of history is often left without a key—without that intimate knowledge of personalities which can demonstrate this was a real situation, impinging on real people, who responded to pressures and reacted to other people in very much the same ways we do. The study of biography provides that key when our humanity is touched by that sudden mirror-glimpse of another human being in the toils and joys of life

The scope of this work is wide—the whole of Christendom is covered—saints and scholars, rulers and rebels, as well as the “infidels” whose influence on medieval affairs was significant. Among the personages this book helps to restore to full-size, fully fleshed human beings, are: Abelard, St. Thomas Aquinas, Attila, Roger Bacon, St. Thomas Becket, Charlemagne, Geoffrey Chaucer, Dante, Joan of Arc, Macbeth, Muhammed, St. Patrick, Marco Polo, Saladin, and nearly eighty more.

As noted above, Who’s Who in the Middle Ages is made up of 100 short biographies of people from the Middle Ages, many famous (such as those listed above) but also some lesser known names (such as Aefric, Abbot of Eynsham; Richard de Bury; and Nicholas of Cusa). Dr. Fines has a knack for including fascinating little tidbits in his biographies that leave you with a sense of a fully rounded, living, breathing person. And while he treats each of his subjects with respect, he often inserts a line or two of wry humor that leaves me grinning, if not laughing out loud. Just two examples:

After recounting a summary of the priest John Ball’s involvement in the Peasants Revolt of 1381, Dr. Fines devotes a paragraph to John Ball’s downfall and execution, ending with the line: “It had been, for him, an exciting month.” (Leaving the reader wondering whether John Ball thought the excitement was worth it!)

Under the entry for John Scotus Erigena, head of the palace school under Charles the Bald (9^th Century France), Dr. Fines includes this famed exchange: “One night at dinner Charles, finding John’s table manners hard to bear, said, ‘How far is a Scot from a sot?’ John quickly replied, ‘The length of a table,’ a joke even a court jester would have feared to make.” And Dr. Fines ends this entry with: “In 877 Charles died, and John took advantage of an invitation from King Alfred to go to England to teach at Malmesbury. Some years later, or so the chronicler William of Malmesbury would have us believe, his pupils stabbed him to death with their iron pens, ‘because he tried to make them think.’” (And let that be a warning to school teachers everywhere!)

Although the entry for each personage is necessarily short, most entries include a bibliographical note or two that will lead you to deeper study, if you are so inclined. (I bought the biographical reference book he suggested for Christina of Markyate, a biography written by one of her contemporaries, and thoroughly enjoyed it.)

Remember, this will be a used copy, but the seller promises it's in good-to-excellent condition, and what's more, it's a hardback copy! Mine is only paperback. I thought about keeping the hardback version and giving you my old copy, but I find I'm highly attached to my slightly rumpled paperback copy, so you'll get the nice hardback version. :-)

How can you enter to win a copy of Who’s Who in the Middle Ages? Simply leave a comment telling me why you'd like to win this book! Be sure to include your email address. I can't let you know if you won if I don't have your email address, so don't forget that part!

Want extra chances to win? Do any or all of the following:

+1 Bonus: Become a follower of this blog, then leave a comment letting me know. If you're already a follower, leave me a comment letting me know!

+1 Bonus: Subscribe to Medieval Research with Joyce via the Feedburner box in the sidebar, then leave me a comment letting me know.

Facebook (+1 Bonus), Twitter (+1 Bonus) and/or Blog (+1 Bonus) about this giveaway

We'll run this contest until midnight PST December 24. I'll draw the winner's name (via Random.org) on December 25. How's that for a Christmas present?

USA entries only

Norman Conquest Day 2010

2010-10-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Before the battle

The Norman cavalry attacks the Saxon foot soldiers across the field of battle

(You understand this cake is representative only?)

After the battle

Happy Norman Conquest Day 2010!

Visit my past Norman Conquest Day celebrations for 2008 and 2009.

Google Isn’t the Answer to Everything!

2010-09-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

So last night I was doing some research for my latest work-in-progress. (Yes, believe it or not from my lengthy absence from this blog, I actually am still working on my work-in-progress!) I have this book called The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, by George Frederick Kunz. In it, I found the following statement:

“There is established a very pretty custom of assigning to the various masculine and female Christian names a particular gem, and such name-gems are often set together with natal and talismanic gems and with gems of one’s patron saint.” (pp 46-47)

Kunz includes sample lists of name-gems (example: Mary = Moonstone, James = Jade, Thomas = Topaz, etc). He also includes lists from various cultures and time periods of natal, or birthstones. But nowhere in the book could I find a list of gemstones for patron saints.

What to do, what to do? What else but hop on the internet! I thought I would track down such a list very quickly, print it out, and stick a copy in The Curious Lore of Precious Stones for future research reference. Instead, I spent nearly two hours typing in every combination of words I could think of in a vain effort to find any such list. The closest I could come was a list of gemstones assigned to the original twelve apostles from a website called Fifteen Promises Heritage Rosaries, which gave me a list of stones for the original twelve apostles in the New Testament and stones for twelve guardian angels. The source of this list was not cited.

I continued my fruitless search, until at last, I decided that perhaps Kunz’s reference to “patron saints” had not referred to Catholic saints in general, but had been intended to be limited to the original twelve apostles. (Though I would have appreciated it if he had simply said as much to begin with!) So, I stopped typing in “saints” and “Catholic saints” in front of words such as “gems”, “gemstones”, “precious stones”, “stones”, etc, and began adding the word, “apostles”. Not only did information finally start popping up, but nearly every site, after explaining the arguments for and against assigning gems to the apostles, referred me back to their prime source for their information: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, by George Frederick Kunz! One site called it “the definitive book on fascinating, traditional gem lore.” (Jewelry Mall)

So back I went to where I had started in the first place: The Curious Lore of Precious Stones, sitting right beside my laptop with my WIP. The drawback to this book is that, while it does have an index, it’s not a terribly exhaustive one, so it took some hunting to see if I could find any information about the “apostle stones”. Eventually I did, although it was not in list form, as the name-stones and natal-stones had been. (Which is why it was more difficult to find.) Instead, the information was embedded in a long treatise by Andreas, Bishop of Caesarea, who lived in the tenth century. The information matched exactly with the internet list from Fifteen Promises Heritage Rosaries, though I had to “pull it out” of Andreas’ text. (The origins of this information are important for me, since once again, my WIP is medieval and my characters need access to information that would actually have been available during their lifetimes.)

So now, at last, after having gone in a very wide circle, I end up where I began with the information I was looking for in same book I started out with in the first place.

So, if you are looking for “definitive” information “on fascinating, traditional gem lore”, I’d suggest you skip right over Google and go straight for George Frederick Kunz’s book, The Curious Lore of Precious Stones. Just be prepared to read carefully, because the index can sometimes be less than helpful in quickly locating specific information.

(By the way, if anyone out there knows a list assigning gemstones to Catholic saints beyond the twelve apostles, I would love to know about it!)

Living the History

2010-05-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

Although this blog focuses mostly on book learnin' for conducting medieval research, there are, of course, other ways to "experience" the Middle Ages, after a sort. If you're a cook, then try making and sampling a medieval dish. Some books that contain medieval recipes include Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony, by Madeleine Pelner Cosman; Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks, by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler; and The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy, by Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi.

Alas, I hate to cook, but don't let that discourage you from doing so! Until I overcome my personal reluctance (I suppose "laziness" is closer to the truth!), I'll have to continue to rely on my overly active imagination and trust in my characters' palates. (Don't worry. As one of my favorite plaques says: "I live in my own little world, but it's okay. They know Me here!")

Music is another way to sample what life might have been like in the Middle Ages. Now music is something I can do! Or at least, I can happily listen to it. (I suppose I could happily eat medieval food that someone else cooked for me, too, if I could find someone else to do the cooking.) You have only to visit Amazon.com and type in the words "medieval music" into the Music category to come up with a plethora (I love that word...plethora!) of CDs that feature music from the Middle Ages. One of my favorite albums from clear back when it was an old fashioned LP (thankfully converted to CD and MP3 versions) is Music of the Crusades. And my very favorite musical selection on that album...actually, my all time favorite medieval selection of all!...is called Ja nus hons pris. This song is credited to Richard the Lionheart, supposedly composed by King Richard while imprisoned on his way home from the 3rd Crusade and held for ransom. You can listen to a snippet of Ja nus hons pris on Amazon (though I downloaded my copy from iTunes) and read an English translation of the words at These Vintage Years!

If you follow my JDP NEWS blog, you'll know that one of the highlights of my year is attending the Arizona Renaissance Festival. Renaissance and Medieval Festivals are, admittedly, fantasy versions of those time periods, but still, they're great places to "pretend" and soak in at least a little bit of historical atmosphere. And there are other "living history" experiences you can take part in, such as the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Whether researching in the comfort of your own home or at a public historical re-enactment, let's not underestimate the power of wearing an authentic medieval outfit to really get one in the spirit of the times! Here are a few Medieval/Renaissance clothing websites that I've come across. They all carry Medieval, as well as Renaissance (and occasionally Tudor) costumes:

The Renaissance Store
RenaissanceModel.com
Pearson's Renaissance Shoppe

You can also find these links in the right hand sidebar of this blog under (appropriately enough) "Medieval, Renaissance, and Tudor Clothing"

To be totally upfront, The Renaissance Store is the only "store" I have personal experience with, and that was only to buy medieval jewelry, not clothes. But they're all very enjoyable websites to browse, and Pearson's Renaissance Shoppe has the added benefit of maintaining a companion blog.

Do you have any favorite medieval recipes, medieval songs, medieval re-enactments, or medieval shopping places? If so, I'd love to have you share it in the comment section!

Women Riders: Jot That Down!

2010-04-11T13:49:00.003-07:00

Recently while asking for feedback from some other authors on a scene I had written for my current work-in-progress (a new medieval novel), one author who sets her stories in a later historical time period, questioned the fact that my heroine was riding her horse astride rather than sidesaddle. To be truthful, I found myself startled that I had written the scene that way. I had done no immediate research to put my heroine astride in her saddle, yet somewhere in the back of my mind, I had known that for the Middle Ages, this was the correct way for a lady to ride a horse. Somewhere, very long ago, I knew I had read that kernel of information in a research book. But where?

Fortunately for me, I have my research books loosely filed according to subject matter on my bookshelves. To date, I own only one book specifically on medieval horses, and that one deals with the medieval war horse, not exactly the subject I was looking for. So I went to my section on “medieval women” to see whether I had written my riding scene correctly or not. Sadly, every one of my indexes let me down in finding a quick answer. So I browsed the tables of content until I found a chapter labeled: “Lifestyle and Travel” in English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages, by Jennifer C. Ward. Flipping to, then through this chapter, I found the following sentences: “There were several ways in which the noblewoman could travel. One way to travel was to ride, usually astride…” This last phrase was followed by a footnote. Following the footnote to the bottom of the page, I found the reference: J.J. Jusserand, English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages, London, 1891, 100-105.

“I know that book!” I said. Even more excited, I exclaimed, “In fact, I own that book!”

English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages was one of the first additions to my medieval research library, owing to the fact that I had a particular interest in medieval “travelers” while writing my very first medieval novel. And thanks to my loose filing system, I knew immediately where to find it.

The bad news was, the page numbers listed in the footnote citation in English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages did not match up with the pages in my edition of English Wayfaring Life. Instead of women riders, I found myself reading about English minstrels. (They were walkers, not riders.) Once again, the index failed me, too. However, curiously enough, for 7 pages out of 315 page book, something had inspired me to jot notes in the margins of Chapter II, “The Ordinary Traveller and the Casual Passer-By.” And one of these jottings turned out to be “women and riding.” Bingo! Here I found the affirmation that I was looking for that women did, indeed, ride astride during most of the Middle Ages, that the side saddle was not invented until late in the 14^th Century, and even then rarely used, and even a description of the saddles that were used at the time.

Here, once more, is evidence that, however irksome and time consuming it may feel at the time, you will never, ever (EVER) regret jotting notes in the margins of your research books to help you quickly reference specific topics discussed in each chapter. (Now I just need to re-read the whole book and fill in the rest of my “jottings”.)

English Noblewomen in the Later Middle Ages (The Medieval World)

Change in Comment Settings

2009-12-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

Due of a stream of "anonymous" comments to my last post having nothing whatsoever to do with this blog, I have (hopefully temporarily) reset my comment settings to "registered users". I know from experience that this setting makes it harder for many people to leave comments on blog postings, but I don't know any other way, short of screening every comment, to put a stop to Mr. Anonymous. I'm hoping that he/she will grow tired and take his/her annoying behavior elsewhere and that I will be able to reinstate the "general" comment setting soon. In the meantime, thank you for your patience!

Winner of "A Medieval Herbal"

2009-12-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jaimey Grant! Jaimey has won my duplicate copy of A Medieval Herbal. Merry Christmas and Happy Writing, Jaimey!

And a very Merry Christmas to everyone who entered my drawing!

One More Gift Book Title

2009-12-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

It's amazing what one stumbles across while cleaning house for the holidays. No, alas, it's not another duplicate book, so no contest involved here. (Though my contest for a copy of A Medieval Herbal is still on going through Christmas Eve!) It is, however, a copy of Through the Glass Window Shines the Sun: An Anthology of Medieval Poetry and Prose, edited by Pamela Norris. This is a little larger than the gift books I referred to previously. Okay, so maybe it's quite a bit bigger at 7.5" X 7.5". But it's still very much in the style of the gift books I described in my previous post on that subject, designed with the text on one page and a beautiful period painting reproduction on the facing page.

Through the Glass Window... begins with an introduction by Pamela Norris. In her own words, this book: "...brings together writing and painting from across the spectrum of medieval life, spanning a period of around 350 years, from the late twelfth century to the reign of Henry VIII."

Ms Norris divides her book into four sections:

"The Queen of Heaven", focusing on medieval religious prose and poetry
"My True Love and Lady", focusing on secular love between men and women
"In Peace and War", focusing on "the diversity of medieval life"
"Marvelous Tales", with excerpts from the sort of fantastical stories that men and women of that age enjoyed wiling the hours away listening to on a cold winter's night. (Many of which might equally well wile away many a winter's evening of our own...or spring's, or summer's, or fall's, for that matter!)

As I warned you to be the case with most of these beautiful gift books, this one, too, is currently out of print, but used copies are available on Amazon, and it never hurts to Google the title for additional options.

Christmas Contest for Yet Another Duplicate Book!

2009-12-09T20:51:00.001-07:00

I just finished holding a contest over on my sister blog, JDP NEWS, and it hardly seems fair that I should neglect you, my faithful Medieval Research with Joyce followers, from a Christmas contest of your own. Fortunately for you, I have rounded up...yes!...another duplicate book from my medieval library!

This one is called A Medieval Herbal. It is a small gift book size (5" X 6.5"), hard bound, and to quote from the back cover blurb: "With lavish period illustrations and engaging lore from authentic botanical texts, A Medieval Herbal offers a fascinating glimpse into the traditional art of herbal healing." (See my prior post on Gift Books for more information.)

From what I can tell on Amazon, this book is out of print, so this isn't something you'd have the good fortune of stumbling across in a bookstore, like I did several years ago!

How can you enter to win a copy of this book? It's Christmas time, we're all busy, so I'm going to keep this one simple! Simply leave a comment on this blog telling me why you'd like to win this book. AND either include your email address with your comment so I can contact you if you win, or if you'd rather keep that personal, email me your email address (mailing address are good, too!) to jdipastena@yahoo.com, with "Medieval Research with Joyce Contest" in the subject line. Deadline for entering will be midnight PST, December 24th, with the winner announced on December 25--Christmas Day!

Don't Overlook the Value of Gift Books

2009-12-09T20:45:00.004-07:00

I'm talking small (5" X 6.5"-ish), hardbound, beautifully illustrated little books you'll find, not in the history section of your bookstores, but in the "gift section"-- if you're lucky enough to stumble across such a book and if your favorite bookstore has such a section. These are mostly books I've discovered "accidentally", for you never know when they will appear and often it does feel like pure "luck" to be in the right place at the right time just as one of these little jewels is available. For that is how I view these books, as "jewels" in my research collection.

Many of these "jewels" come in the form of A Book of Days. Two such examples in my collection are:

Medieval Lovers: A Book of Days and Medieval Gardens: A Book of Days. Both of these books are filled with reproductions of contemporary medieval paintings, tapestries, etc. These reproductions "show", rather than "tell", what life was like during this period. But there is "telling", too! "Telling" in the form of contemporary quotes, whether medieval verses about love (in Medieval Lovers) or medieval advice about gardening (in Medieval Gardens). The lovely thing in both cases is that the text accompanying the pictures is "contemporary". We hear the medieval voice itself on these subjects!

A Medieval Herbal also contains contemporary medieval pictures and text, but this one is not a Book of Days. This gift book contains a modern introduction, followed by short medieval treatises on a variety of herbs, such as betony, fennel, marigold, wormwood, and many, many more. There are also sections on "In the Wood", "The Seven Herbes That Have Great Vertue", "In the Monastery Garden", "Gathering Herbs", "Drying and Storing", and "In a Pleasure Garden".

Last, but very much not least in my gift book collection, is Love and Longing in the Age of Chivalry. This is my smallest jewel of all, at only 4.5" X 5.5". It varies from the books mentioned above in that the artwork is a combination of contemporary medieval art and Pre-Raphaelite paintings. (If you're unfamiliar with the Pre-Raphaelite painters, then you are in for a treat. Click here to read about the Pre-Raphaelite painters and here to see examples of their paintings.) The text is also a mixture of medieval poets (Chrétien de Troyes, Bernard de Ventadour, Chaucer, etc), and more modern poets, such as Sir Thomas Mallory and John Donne. The former far outnumber the latter, however, once again giving you plenty of opportunities to sample the medieval "voice" in matters of love!

Now for the bad news. Many of these "jewels" in my collection now seem to be out of print. Most have used copies available on Amazon, however, so there is hope for some of you to track down copies of your own. (And Google searches can usually help you find other buying options, too.) The lesson? If you are fortunate enough to happen across one of these little gift books, run, don't walk, with it to the cash register! If you delay, thinking you can come back and buy it just any old time, it not only might be gone when you come back, it might be out of print!

And the good news? Once again, I just happen to have a duplicate copy of one of these books in my research library. To find out how you can win a copy of A Medieval Herbal, click here.

Excerpt from "An Epiphany Gift for Robin" in Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season

2009-12-03T11:28:00.001-07:00

Here's just a short excerpt from my medieval short story, "An Epiphany Gift for Robin", included in the new Christmas anthology, Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season. I have to keep it short, since it's from a short story. Too many words and I'd give the whole story away! :-)

Excerpt:

The food was long gone now, along with the merry games played by the villagers to keep warm in the winter snows. The ivy and holly so gleefully gathered and hung by the children to brighten their tiny thatched cottage had grown dry and crisp, crackling off their garlands and crushed by shoes to form a fine, fragrant dust on the earth-beaten floor. Today, Epiphany, the day the Magi had presented their gifts to the Christ child, was the last day of respite her family would have from the backbreaking work in the baron’s fields.

“What foolish thing have you done?” Marriot demanded of her husband. Gifts were only given to small children on Epiphany, especially among the poor.

Her husband’s dark eyes danced with that mischievous gleam that had won her heart ten years ago. “Sometimes a bit of foolishness is just what a man needs to bestow on the woman he loves.”

She heard a trio of high-pitched giggles from the children.

“Open it, Ma, open it!” little four-year-old Lottie trilled.

“Aye, Ma. Da’s been ready to bust for days, waiting for you to see it,” said Robin.

Marriot cast a suspicious gaze at her middle child. He bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet, the exact image of his father at the same age with his black hair and bright dark eyes.

“Do you know what this is, Robin?”

Robin smiled slyly, but neither shook nor nodded his head.

Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season is available at the following sites in the following formats:

Hard copies from CreateSpace and Amazon.com

E-copy formats from Smashwords

They'll make great Christmas gifts!

My First Week at Costco

2009-10-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

I blogged about my first week of Costco book signings on my JDP NEWS blog today, if any of you would like to read about it.

Also, my future dates and locations are a bit up in the air, so I'm revising a number of previously posted dates to TBA's in my post below. I'll update my schedule as I receive it. Just click on the hand with the pen in my right hand sidebar to check out my dates as I receive and post them.

Winner of "Medieval Women"

2009-10-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Rachelle Christensen, winner of my book giveaway for Medieval Women, by Eileen Power. I hope you enjoy the book, Rachelle!

Thanks to everyone who entered. And for those of you who didn't win...I've stumbled across a couple more "duplicate" research books in my house, so there will be at least two more giveaways coming up...I just can't promise you when!

Illuminations of the Heart at Costco!

2009-10-16T09:15:00.013-07:00

Remember that "new venture" I mentioned yesterday that will leave me limited time for blogging in the immediate future? Well, that's due to the fact that Illuminations of the Heart is hitting the big time...sort of! For the next two and a half months, I will be signing copies of my sweet medieval romance, Illuminations of the Heart, at various Costco's in Arizona. I'll be signing three days of the week, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons for four hours a day, rotating between four Costco stores in the Phoenix metropolitan area. However, though my book signings are only four hours each, my driving time back and forth to each of these signings will add another four hours to each of my days. So I'll be forced to cut back on some things such as email and...yes...daily blogging! If I have the energy, I'll try to share some of my Costco adventures with you along the way when I can. (If I have any adventures, that is.)

I'm posting my signing schedule below. If you live in southern Arizona, I would love to have you drop by and say "hi!", whether you buy a book or not. If you have friends or relatives who live in southern Arizona, I'd love to have them drop by and say "hi!" too! And if you drop by on Oct 22, 23, or 24, you'll also be able to meet my editor, who is flying all the way down from Utah to give me moral support my first week!

And remember, even if you already have a copy of Illuminations of the Heart...they make great Christmas gifts! :-)

Click on the city for each date for a link to the address and a map:

Thursday, Oct 22^nd

1-5 PM MESA

Friday, Oct 23rd

^{1-5 PM GILBERT}

Saturday, Oct 24^th

1-5 PM CHANDLER

Thursday, Oct 29^th

1-5 PM TBA

Friday, Oct 30^th

1-5 PM TBA

Saturday, Oct 31^st

1-5 PM GILBERT

Thursday, Nov 5^th

1-5 PM TBA

Friday, Nov 6^th

1-5 PM TBA

Saturday, Nov 7^th

1-5 PM TBA

Thursday, Nov 12^th

1-5 PM GILBERT

Friday, Nov 13^th

1-5 PM TBA

Saturday, Nov 14^th

1-5 PM TBA

Thursday, Nov 19^th

1-5 PM TBA

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26^TH – THANKSGIVING DAY

Friday, Nov 27^th

1-5 PM GILBERT

Saturday, Nov 28^th –

1-5 PM TBA

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-15T10:15:00.001-07:00

Mural chamber: chambers built inside the thickness of a castle's wall

Though I didn't use this term directly in my story, my character Acelet got thrown into a mural chamber in Illuminations of the Heart. But you'll have to read the book to find out who threw him in there and why!

And now Medieval Word of the Day is going on hiatus, because I've used up all the words from my glossary in Illuminations of the Heart, and I will soon be starting a new venture that will leave me with limited time for blogging. More about that tomorrow!

Thank you to all those who have faithfully followed along with my Medieval Word of the Day. I've enjoyed sharing these words with you! Medieval Word of the Day will return when I bring out a new book with a new glossary full of terms.

Happy Norman Conquest Day!

2009-10-14T17:35:00.001-07:00

Happy Norman Conquest Day! This year, Duke Wiliam (the standing knight, soon to be King William) is holding a council of war atop my cake, planning his invasion of England. (And yes, I know the armor and hair styles are all wrong for 1066. These knights are "representative", okay? Someday I'll track down some more authentic looking Norman and Saxon knights to put on my yearly cake!)

(And yes, someday I'm going to learn to take better pictures, too!)

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-14T09:15:00.001-07:00

Mural tower: towers built into the castle walls

See all those towers along the wall? Each of those is a mural tower

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-13T09:15:00.001-07:00

Gatehouse: the heavily fortified entrance to the castle complex

See those two towers with the "opening" at the end of the bridge? You'd have to fight your way through that gatehouse to gain access to the castle bailey and keep

(This is a picture of Bodiam Castle in Sussex, England)

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-12T09:15:00.004-07:00

Mead: a medieval garden designed to imitate a small meadow

The low-lying flowers this woman is sitting in is an example of a medieval "flowery mead"

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

Parchment: material made from animal skin used for the pages of books or other writing

Vellum: a very thin, fine form of parchment made from calf-skin ("veal-parchment", i.e., vellum)

Parchment was made from the skin of various animals, but vellum only came from calf-skin

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-07T09:15:00.002-07:00

Crespin: a decorative hair net worn by women

And while we're talking about medieval women, don't forget that my drawing for a copy of Medieval Women, by Eileen Power is still underway! Click here to see how you can enter to win a copy of this book.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-06T09:15:00.001-07:00

Tunic: a sleeved, loose fitting outer garment worn by both men and women; could be worn alone or under a surcote; for the man, could be knee or ankle length

Surcote: also known as the surcoat or super-tunic; a secondary tunic worn over an under tunic, usually more elaborately decorated.

Here is a woman wearing a green tunic, with a sleeveless reddish surcote layered over it.

Here is a man wearing a long tunic, with a shorter, decorated surcote over it.

Norman Conquest Day is Coming!

2009-10-05T12:47:00.003-07:00

October 14 is Norman Conquest Day! So I'm re-reading The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer to begin my celebration.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-05T10:15:00.009-07:00

Smock: A loose, blouselike undergarment

The woman in this picture is wearing a smock

Medieval Bestiaries

2009-10-03T19:03:00.008-07:00

On September 10, 2009, my Medieval Word of the Day was Bestiary: a collection of drawings or paintings of animals, real or imagined, accompanied by their physical and allegorical descriptions.

Medieval bestiaries play a small role in my medieval romance, Illuminations of the Heart. My heroine’s brother “illuminates” a bestiary to prove to his illuminator father that he’s ready to be advanced from apprenticeship in their shop. My heroine, Siri, practices her own drawing skills in the gardens of her new guardian, Triston de Brielle, while sitting with Triston’s young son Perrin and cousin Acelet. While conversing with them both about her new home, she draws a bee with a crown hovering above it in the air, and explains to Perrin that swarms of bees are led by a king bee. Yes, it’s the very opposite of what we know about bees today, and a friend who read my book challenged my writing of this scene. But because I had read Medieval Beasts, by Ann Payne, I was able to explain to my friend that in the Middle Ages, people not only believed that bees were lead by a king rather than a queen, but that bees, like most of the animal kingdom, represented some kind of allegory, or moral story, to the people of the Middle Ages. The allegory of the bee, as my heroine explained to her companions, went like this:

“Bees are led by a king, as are we," she said, ignoring the resentful glance Acelet sent at the boy. "He is a most benevolent ruler, leading by example and never turning his sting upon malefactors. He has only to demonstrate to them the error of their ways, and in shame they will turn their own sting upon themselves.” (Illuminations of the Heart, p 76)

In the medieval world, each animal, like the bee, represented some sort of moral example or symbolism that humans were encouraged to follow if the symbolism was good (like the bee), or avoid if the symbolism was bad (like the crocodile, which represented hypocrisy with the “false tears” it shed after eating any unfortunate human who stumbled across its path).

In her book, Medieval Beasts, Ann Payne recreates a medieval bestiary complete with over seventy full-color illustrations borrowed from actual medieval bestiaries found in The British Library. She covers animals (lion, tiger, elephant, camel, hedgehog, ants, the mythical leucrota—bred from a hyena and a lioness!—and more); birds (eagle, vulture, ostrich, phoenix, siren, bats and bees—yes, the latter two were considered to fall into the “bird family”—and more); reptiles (viper, asp, boa, salamander, dragon, basilisk, and more); and fish (fish, sera, dolphin, and whale).

If you are interested in sampling a modern reproduction of a medieval bestiary, Medieval Beasts by Ann Payne is a delightful place to start!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-02T09:15:00.001-07:00

When we think of a romance today, this is what we usually think of:

But in the Middle Ages, a Romance was: a long, narrative tale recounting marvelous adventures and deeds of chivalry. While some romances had heroes and heroines falling in love, not all of them did. "Love" was not what made a romance a romance in the Middle Ages!

Win a copy of Medieval Women, by Eileen Power! Click here!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-10-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Now that you can picture in your mind the high table on the dais in the castle hall, what are you going to put on that high table? What else but a...

Trencher: large slices of stale bread, cut either round or square, and used for "plates" for medieval dining

Click here to see a trencher.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-30T09:15:00.002-07:00

High table: the table on the dais in the castle hall where the most important people sit

Win a copy of Medieval Women, by Eileen Power! Click here!

Book Drawing for "Medieval Women" by Eileen Power

2009-09-29T15:24:00.006-07:00

I've just been cleaning out my closet, where I found a box loaded with medieval research books I apparently didn't have bookshelf space for and had "temporarily" stuffed into my closet....a "temporary" stuffing that lasted long enough for me to completely forget I owned this lovely stack of books.

The good news is, I am now (at this very moment, except for the time that it's taking me to type this post) making room to finally display these books on a well-earned shelf where they might actually be able to help me with my research now!

The bad news is, once again, I discovered that I bought a duplicate copy of a research book I already own. This one is called Medieval Women, written by Eileen Power, edited by M.M. Postan. But once again, my bad luck is your good luck because rather than give my extra copy away to the library, I've decided to hold a contest and give my extra copy away to one of the followers of Medieval Research with Joyce instead!

Here is a description of Medieval Women:

"Throughout her career as a medieval historian, Eileen Power was engaged on a book about women in the Middle Ages. She did not live to write the book but some of the material she collected found its way into her popular lectures on medieval women. These lectures are now brought together, edited by M.M. Postan, and reveal the world in which women lived, were educated, worked, and worshipped. Power gives a vivid account of the worlds of the lady, the peasant, the townswoman, and the nun. The result is a historical yet intimate picture of a period gone by yet with resonances for today. It offers an intimate portrait of the writer and social historian."

How can you win a copy of this lovely research book? By doing one of the following. If you do all three, you'll receive three entries in the drawing!

(1) Leave a comment on this blog telling me why you would like to win this book.

(2) Become a follower of Medieval Research with Joyce, then email me at jdipastena@yahoo.com to let me know you've become a follower. (If you're already a follower, email me to let me know that and you'll be automatically entered in the drawing.)

(3) Subscribe to Medieval Research with Joyce (this is different than becoming a "follower") via the Subscribe/posts feature just beneath the "About Me" box in the right hand sidebar of this blog. Then email me at jdipastena@yahoo.com to let me know you've subscribed, otherwise I won't know that you have! (Again, if you're already a subscriber, email me to let me know that, too, and you'll be automatically entered in the drawing.)

And remember, if you do all three, you'll have three chances to win, instead of just one!

The deadline to enter this drawing is midnight PST, October 18th. I will draw the winner's name on October 19, and once I announce the winner he/she will have one week to send me their email address so I can arrange to send them their prize. If you do not contact me within one week (7 days!), I will choose a new winner. So if you enter this contest, be sure to check back here on October 19 to see if I post your name as the winner!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Dais: a raised platform in the castle hall

"Illuminations of the Heart" Book Blog Tour Winners!

2009-09-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Sorry to be posting this so late. Although the names were drawn, it took a little longer than expected to track down some of the winners to let them know about their prizes. My publisher is actually still trying to track down the winner of the BarnesandNoble.com gift certificate, but in the meantime, I'll list the winners names so far.

The winner of a copy of Illuminations of the Heart is: Jennifer B for leaving a comment on Heather Justesen's blog.

The winner of a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate towards the purchase of a copy of Illuminations of the Heart is: Park Avenue Princess for leaving a comment on Cami's Books.

The winner of a $10 DeseretBook.com gift certificate towards the purchase of a copy ofIlluminations of the Heart is: Elizabeth Morgan for leaving a comment on Taffy's Candy.

Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to all of you who took time to read the reviews and interviews and leave comments on my blog tour!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-28T09:15:00.001-07:00

The hall or great hall: the central living space of the castle inside the keep; the ceremonial and legal center

Review of "Illuminations of the Heart" at Bella Online!

2009-09-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just found this wonderful new review of Illuminations of the Heart by C.S. Bezas on Bella Online! (And this one had nothing to do with my recently ended blog tour.) My favorite line: "I...was surprised how much this one pulled me into a medieval world and remained with me long after!"

Read the entire review at http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63578.asp

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-25T09:15:00.001-07:00

Drawbridge: a bridge that can be raised or lowered to permit access across a ditch or moat into the castle's bailey.

(Can you find the little drawbridge? You've all seen this in the movies, right?)

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

Girdle: a belt worn around the waist

See the belt with its dangling tassels around this woman's waist? This was called a "girdle". Men also wore them with long robes like this.

(This picture is courtesy of:

http://www.claytonemery.com/CalthropCostume.html

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

Keep: the central tower and main residence area of the castle

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-22T09:15:00.000-07:00

Bailey: the courtyard of a castle

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, Medieval Word of the Day continues...at least until I run out of words from my glossary to Illuminations of the Heart. Speaking of which, check back later today to find out who the winners of my book blog tour are!

Medieval Word of the Day

Liege lord: the king or lord to whom a man of lower rank owed fealty.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-18T09:15:00.001-07:00

Fealty: the loyalty sworn by oath by a knight to his lord

This is the last day of Illuminations of the Heart's blog tour. Read the final round-up, and once last interview with me, on my publisher's blog, Walnut Springs Press. And it's not too late to leave comments on any or all of the stops on my tour to be entered to win a gift certificate or autographed copy of Illuminations of the Heart!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-17T09:15:00.001-07:00

Solar: a small, well-lit room, usually the domain of the lady of the castle

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Blog the Day Away. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-16T09:15:00.002-07:00

Okay, now that you know what mail is, take a look at this knight. See the armor that covers the upper part of his body? That's called the hauberk: a long tunic made of chain mail.

Underneath that hauberk he would wear a gambeson: a quilted jacket worn beneath a knight's armor to cushion the blows of battle. I couldn't find a free clip art picture of a gambeson to show you, but you can see what one looks like by clicking here. (Scroll down to the picture beneath the "jack".)

That chain mail covering the knight's legs is called chausses: that portion of the chain mail that covered the feet, legs, and body below the waist.

Now toss on a helmet, strap on a sword, grab your shield, and you're all ready for battle!

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Romance, Old School. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-15T09:15:00.003-07:00

Okay, so it's not so easy to truly show you what mail looks like via an illustration, but let's give it a try. See the knight to our left? See the armor covering his arms and legs, neck and head? Now picture those little lines and squiggles and boxes as "a flexible armor made of small, overlapping metal rings". He's got mail! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

The knight on the right is wearing plate armor.

See the difference?

(Plate armor began evolving towards the end of the 13th Century. Mail armor was used in the 12th Century, the time setting of my novels.)

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Karlene Reviews Everything! Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations

Book Blog Tour for "Illuminations of the Heart": Final Reminder!

2009-09-14T19:59:00.002-07:00

Here's a final reminder that we're coming up fast on the end of my book blog tour for Illuminations of the Heart. The blog tour dates, with corresponding links, are posted in my right sidebar. For EACH comment you leave on the reviews posted, you will be entered for a chance to win one of four prizes: 3 $10 gift certificates (one each for Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and DeseretBook.com) to be applied towards purchasing a copy of Illuminations of the Heart, or an autographed copy of Illuminations of the Heart itself. The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

The deadline for final entries is SEPTEMBER 20, MIDNIGHT MST, so get busy reading and commenting! The winners will be announced on Monday, September 21 on my publisher's blog, Walnut Springs Press.

Good luck to all!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-14T10:15:00.003-07:00

Wall-walk: the walking space behind the fortifications (crenels and merlons) on the battlements; also known as the allure

Can you find the tiny soldiers standing on the wall-walk in this picture?

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Why Not? Because I Said So! and LDS Women's Book Review. In addition to the contest being offered by my book blog tour...leave a comment on each book review on the tour and be entered to win one of three gift certificates for Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and DeseretBook.com, OR an autographed copy of Illuminations of the Heart itself at the tour's end...both of the above blogs are holding their own giveaway contest for a copy of Illuminations of the Heart. Visit the links above for details!

Marguerite Makes a Book

2009-09-12T21:10:00.006-07:00

Did I say I was through discussing research books on illuminated manuscripts? Then I lied…but only because I forgot about this JEWEL of a book that my sister gave me several Christmases ago!

The books I cited previously that I used in drawing together information for my medieval novel, Illuminations of the Heart, told me much about the art of medieval illumination. But this beautiful little children’s picture book shows, as well as tells. That’s the wonderful thing about using children’s picture books, as we’ve discussed before. They’re all about showing, as well as telling, which for the visually minded writer, can be a priceless gift.

Marguerite Makes a Book is just such a gift. Written by Bruce Robertson, with illustrations by Kathryn Hewitt, this book was published by the J. Paul Getty Museum to give museum goers, children and adults alike, a greater appreciation of some of the treasures contained in that museum.

Marguerite Makes a Book is a story of a young girl, the daughter of a medieval illuminator named Jacques, who is commissioned to create an illuminated prayer book for a beautiful noblewoman. But Papa Jacques is growing old, his hands now shake, his eyes are growing dim, and furthermore, he is injured in an unexpected accident. His family needs the money this book will bring, but how will the prayer book ever be finished in time?

Enter his daughter, Marguerite, who has grown up learning much of her father’s craft. Determined to save both the family income and her father’s reputation, Marguerite sets out to gather the materials necessary to finish “illuminating” the prayer book. We follow her, in both word and picture, as she travels into town to buy some necessary parchment; gathers feathers from which to make pens; purchases herbs and minerals to make paints, and even some sheets of gold leaf. Armed with all these ingredients, she returns to her father’s workshop and finishes the paintings her father is unable to complete. And we get to watch her along every step, thanks to Ms Hewitt’s beautiful illustrations! There is even a page pull-out section where Marguerite demonstrates how she makes each of the four paint colors she needs for her task: red, yellow, green, and blue (the latter made from that precious lapis lazuli mentioned in my earlier posts and included as one of my Medieval Words of the Day).

The visuals in Marguerite Makes a Book are absolutely gorgeous. Many of the pages are bordered with designs similar to what one might find in an actual illuminated manuscript, with scrolling flowers, nesting birds, and little touches of shimmering gold paint (or an excellent imitation thereof) that gave the “illumination” to the “illuminated manuscript”.

This book should delight any child. But it should also delight any adult who would like to “see” as well as “read” about how books were illuminated in the Middle Ages.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-11T09:15:00.003-07:00

Postern: a hidden door in a castle's curtain wall.

Read an interview with Siri, the heroine of Illuminations of the Heart, by on The Writers Block. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-10T09:15:00.002-07:00

Bestiary: a collection of drawings or paintings of animals, real or imagined, accompanied by their physical and allegorical descriptions.

Above are two examples of scenes you might find in a medieval illuminated bestiary.

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Taffy's Candy. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations! You can read an interview with me there, too.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-09T09:15:00.002-07:00

Profession: the act of taking special vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, signifying a man or woman's commitment to give up a secular life for one dedicated to God.

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Lu Ann's Book Review. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-08T09:15:00.002-07:00

Here are some geographical territorial terms for you from Illuminations of the Heart. Click on the link below to see a map of where in France these areas are located.

Angevin: one who hales from the Anjou region of France; the birthplace of King Henry II of England

Aquitaine: A region of southwest France that was ruled by Henry II of England in the Middle Ages

Poitou: a region of west-central France, ruled by Henry II of England in the Middle Ages

Poitevin: a resident of Poitou

Poitiers: the capitol city of Poitou

Can you find Anjou, Aquitaine and Poitou on this map? Click here.

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Vicissitudes. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Lapis lazuli: a stone mined in Persia and Afghanistan, from which a blue pigment was extracted and used in painting medieval illuminated manuscripts

Click here to see what lapis lazuli looks like

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-03T09:15:00.002-07:00

Chemise: a woman's loose undergarment

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart , along with an interview by the author (that would be me :-) ) at TWO locations today: Random-Ish by Nichole and LDS Writers Blogck. Leave a comment on EACH blog and be entered TWICE for a chance to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-02T09:15:00.002-07:00

Vassal: a man who owes military service to one of higher rank, in return for land and protection.

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Tangled Words and Dreams. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-09-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

Portcullis: a grated gate usually ending in spikes that dropped vertically to seal off the entrance to a castle.

Can you find the portcullis?

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-31T09:15:00.002-07:00

Curtain Wall: the outer wall that "hangs between" or connects the towers of a castle

See those walls "connecting" the castle towers above? Those are the "curtain walls".

(Castle art courtesy of http://karenswhimsy.com)

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Tristi's Takes. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-28T09:15:00.002-07:00

Here's one I bet you don't hear every day...

Oblate: a child "donated" to a monastery by his parents to be brought up in the religious life.

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Dreams of Quill and Ink. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-27T09:15:00.003-07:00

Lawn: a very fine fabric made of linen

No, not that kind of lawn!

Check out today's review of Illuminations of the Heart at Write Bravely. Leave a comment for a chance to win one of four prizes! Deadline: September 18.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-26T09:15:00.001-07:00

Primogeniture: the custom or law by which the eldest son inherits all his parents' property

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart by Queen of the Clan. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-25T12:17:00.001-07:00

Here's a Tuesday Twofer:

Psalter/Psaltery: a book containing the book of Psalms from the Bible

Gradual Psalms: Psalms 119-133, recited by medieval pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem.

Siri illuminated a psaltery of the Gradual Psalms in Illuminations of the Heart. Now go find your Bibles and read the verses she illuminated!

Check out today's review of Illuminations of the Heart at Musings from an LDS Writing Mom. Leave a comment for a chance to win one of four prizes! Deadline: September 18.

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-24T07:45:00.002-07:00

Here's a threefer for Monday, since all of these kind of go together.

Crenels: the gap or notch between two merlons on the castle wall

Crenellation: a wall with gaps for firing arrows, etc.

Battlements: the crenellated top of a castle wall

See illustration under merlon to find the crenels, crenallation, and battlements.

Two More Books on Medieval Books

2009-08-22T18:27:00.010-07:00

Let me share with you two more resource books I used for the subject of illuminated manuscripts for my medieval romance, Illuminations of the Heart, and then we’ll move on to another subject.

First was a very handy little book called The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting, by Daniel V. Thompson. This book covers a tremendous amount of highly useful and fascinating material on the subject of medieval illumination and other kinds of medieval painting.

If you’re not an artist, the chapter headings can be a little confusing. Chapter 1, for instance, is entitled, “Carriers and Grounds”. However, I merely jumped straight to the subheadings in the chapter of particular interest to myself and my story: “The importance of book making”; “Parchment making”; “Vellum”; “Qualities of parchment”; and “Preparations”. These sections (which I heavily highlighted) taught me in detail how parchment was made, the difference between common parchment and vellum (“‘vellum’ means calf skin and nothing else, while parchment is a general term applicable to any kind of animal skin, including vellum”); and how parchment was prepared for the painting of illuminations. These sub-sections are followed by others not pertinent to my story, though they may be pertinent to yours, such as painting on wood, the use of gesso, creating a polyptych (multiple panels set in wood frames), and painting on canvas or plaster.

The second two sections that provide an absolute treasure trove for a researcher of medieval illuminations, are chapters 3 and 4, which cover the wide variety of pigments available to the illuminator and how these pigments were derived, breaking them down into their individual color groups: black, brown, white, red, blue, purple, green, and yellow (Chapter 3), followed by a lengthy section of colors derived from metals, with an emphasis on creating the gold gilding (Chapter 4) that truly gave manuscripts the brilliant, reflective “light” that “illuminated” their pages.

If only for this extensive and detailed section on pigments alone, The Materials and Techniques of Medieval Painting is well worth having in your library of resource books!

Finally we come to The Medieval Book, by Barbara A. Shailor. While similar in format to the research books I cited in an earlier post about illuminated manuscripts (i.e., lacking a useful index, but filled with helpful marginal headings to help you quickly navigate to the particular information essential to the story you are writing, as well as being liberally sprinkled with reproductions and photographs), The Medieval Book differs from those earlier sources by focusing on what it’s title suggests: books in general, rather than illuminated manuscripts in particular.

Not that illuminated manuscripts are neglected in this volume. They are indeed discussed, as any comprehensive resource on medieval books would require. But Shailor spends much more of her time describing how medieval books were made. Subjects covered include: pricking and ruling in preparation for the text to be added; ruling with sylus and crayon (the latter an innovation of 12^th Century Europe outside of Itay); pattern books (mentioned in a previous post, and an important plot device in Illuminations of the Heart); the various styles of medieval scripts used by the scribes who created the text of the books; borders and miniatures (again, a nice section on illuminations); followed by how medieval books were actually put together (sewn, board attachments, pasteboards, headbands and edges, decorative stamping of the covers, and much, much more!).

These are by no means the only resource books available for information on medieval illumination, painting or book making. They are simply the titles I used in researching these subjects for Illuminations of the Heart. If you see comments listed on any of my posts, you’ll want to take time to check them out, as readers often share additional titles they’ve found useful on these subjects, thus widening all of our research knowledge on this wonderful and fascinating subject!

Medieval Word of the Day

2009-08-21T11:53:00.006-07:00

Merlon

No, it's not a wizard and it's not a bird. That would be a merlin.

This is a merlon: the part of a fortified castle that juts up between two crenels (gaps or open areas).

Can you find the merlons on this castle?

(Thanks to Melissa Snell at http://historymedren.about.com/od/medievalclipart/tp/castleclipart.htm

for this image)

Check out today's review of Illuminations of the Heart and an interview with moi by Rachel Rager, author of By Land or By Sea, at Rachel Rager. Leave a comment for a chance to win one of four prizes! Deadline: September 18.

Introducing "Medieval Word of the Day"

2009-08-20T12:58:00.003-07:00

My publisher thought you, my loyal readers, might be interested in me sharing a "medieval word of the day" with, of course, it's definition, for the remainder of my book blog tour. And since my publisher is incredibly brilliant, warm and lovable, what could I do but agree?

So beginning today, I'll be sharing a daily medieval word with you. Those who have already read Illuminations of the Heart may recognize some of them from the glossary included at the end of that volume. Those who have yet to read it, will now know much of the necessary terminology in advance of your reading, and will be so smart, you won't even need to glance at that handy glossary!

What word should I begin with? What else but the key word in my book's title: "illumination".

Illumination: The medieval art of decorating books with miniatures or ornamental designs painted in brilliant colors or silver or gold leaf to "illuminate" or bring light to the pages.

Of course, "illumination" also means to bring light to the darkness. My heroine does both in the course of my novel. It's always fun when one can work a double meaning into one's title. ;-)

Check in tomorrow for an all-new Medieval Word of the Day!

My Book Blog Tour Starts Today!

2009-08-10T05:00:00.001-07:00

The Book Blog Tour for Illuminations of the Heart kicks off today! See the "tour guide" listed on my right sidebar for a list of dates and blog sites where reviews and an occasional interview will be posted. Leave a comment on the reviews and you will be entered to win one of four prizes: three $10 gift certificates (one each to Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and DeseretBook.com) to be applied towards the purchase of a copy of Illuminations of the Heart (if sale prices continue to hold at Amazon, that means you could win a $17.95 book for only $4.00 with a gift certificate!), along with an autographed copy of Illuminations of the Heart to one lucky winner. Just leave a comment on each review you read. Multiple comments mean multiple entries!

Book Blog Tour for "Illuminations of the Heart"

2009-08-09T20:20:00.004-07:00

Beginning Monday you’ll be able to read a month’s worth of reviews of Illuminations of the Heart between August 10th – September 18th (excepting weekends and Labor Day). I’ve listed the dates and links in the sidebar on the right side of this page, so you can follow along each day or click along randomly to see what people are saying about my new book. And there will be prizes involved if you leave a comment at any or all of the reviews: 3 $10 online gift certificates will be awarded towards the purchase of a copy of Illuminations of the Heart (one each to Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, and DeseretBook.com), plus an autographed copy of Illuminations of the Heart--4 prizes in all! You'll receive one entry for every comment you leave on any of the reviews during the blog tour.

Coming soon: More on research sources for medieval books!

Online Book Release Party for “Illuminations of the Heart”: Friday, over at JDP NEWS!

2009-08-04T16:08:00.005-07:00

Next Monday, August 10th, kicks off a month long Book Blog Tour for my new medieval romance, Illuminations of the Heart! From Monday, August 10th through Friday, September 18th (excepting the weekends and Labor Day), you’ll be able to read daily reviews of Illuminations of the Heart by various bloggers, intermingled with an occasional online interview with me. And although copies of Illuminations of the Heart have been available online for a few weeks now, it’s finally beginning to appear in the bookstores, so I’ve decided to have a party to celebrate both events.

Where will this party be held? Over on my companion blog, at JDP NEWS! The fun will kick off at 9:30 AM PST with an Introduction. Then beginning at 10 AM PST, I’ll be giving away a prize an hour for a full eight hours, the final, grand prize being an autographed copy of Illuminations of the Heart! To find out what the other prizes are…well, you’ll just have to show up on Friday and see. :-) (I'll drop just a hint for you guys, however...some of my early prizes may be more appealing to true medieval history buffs than the general reader, so you might want to check in early. ;-) )

So don’t miss the fun. Circle August 7th on your calendars. Pop in throughout the day to enter my contests and “chat” with me through the comments feature on my blog. Invite your friends to join us!

Hope to see you there!

Introducing my Medieval Research with Joyce Store!

2009-07-13T17:54:00.006-07:00

Would you like to view all the books I discuss on this blog in one click of a mouse? Simply scroll down the right side of this page until you come to my Medieval Research with Joyce Store! Click on the red bar along the store's top (where it says "Medieval Research with Joyce") to find all the research books I discuss here in one easy location.

More About Illuminated Manuscripts

2009-07-13T17:16:00.012-07:00

I promised in my last post that I would finish telling you about my experiences with two of the books I mentioned there but ran out of room to discuss: The Illuminated Manuscript, by Janet Backhouse and Illuminated Manuscripts, by D.M. Gill.

Unlike Harthan’s The Book of Hours, which had separate sections for historical information (in the front matter), followed by pages of manuscript reproductions, both The Illuminated Manuscript and Illuminated Manuscripts intermingle the historical research information with manuscript samples.

The historical research information in The Illuminated Manuscript, by Janet Backhouse, lacks the helpful subject headings of The Book of Hours and Illuminated Manuscripts, with all the information running in one long narrative form between the pictures. One is therefore required to pretty much study the entire text, at least up through whatever century you have chosen to place your story in. It’s all easy, non-intimidating reading, though.

My novel, Illuminations of the Heart is set in the year 1180, so for the purposes of my particular story, I was able to stop highlighting information (which I did with a nifty pink marker) once the narrative reached the 1200s and later. Most of the information was very basic, but again, it proved a starting point in my research, raising subjects in my mind to pursue in greater depth elsewhere. For example, a very brief discussion of inks and paints used in illuminated manuscripts made mention of “the most exotic” of paints made from a mineral called lapis lazuli. This mineral, the text said, was mined in far-off Afghanistan. Little more was said about this paint, but I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate its use into my story, and made a mental note to research this paint further.

Some other facts I learned that played parts in my story:

Not all scribes and illuminators belonged to religious communities. Although the setting up of craftsmen’s guilds for secular scribes and illuminators began mostly in the 13^th Century, evidence that secular illuminators existed can be traced as early as the 12^th Century setting of my story. Hence, having my heroine’s father operate a secular illuminating “shop”, though perhaps rare, was not historically implausible.

The illuminated Psalter became a popular book for private devotions during the middle of the 12^th Century. So my heroine is commissioned to illuminate a Psaltery in the course of my story.

In the 12^th Century Kingdom of Jerusalem there existed an artist who signed his work with the Greek name, “Basilius”. This artist created Psalteries for Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, so he must have been an artist of some stature and fame. Therefore, it made perfect sense that my heroine’s father might have been sent to Jerusalem to study Eastern methods of illumination with this great man.

There were other fascinating bits of information I picked up from The Illuminated Manuscript, but since they did not appear in my novel, I will reserve my discussion of them until they work their way into a future story of mine. :-)

D.M. Gill’s Illuminated Manuscripts similarly interweaves text with picture replicas. However, t his book is broken down into helpful subsections: A Short Chronology; Early Middle Ages, divided between Sixth to Ninth Centuries, Ninth to Eleventh Centuries, and Twelfth Century; Late Middle Ages, which covers the Thirteenth through Sixteenth Centuries; Materials and Manufacture; Other Cultures, focusing on Jewish and Spanish illumination; and a Conclusion bringing us up to the printing press.

I found the section on Materials and Manufacture to have the most practical application for my story. This section discusses (in greater detail than Backhouse’s book) how parchment was made; how pages were “ruled’ in preparation for adding the text; what kinds of pens and inks were used; how paints of various colors were prepared for the illuminated miniatures (including another reference to lapis lazuli); the application of gold or silver leaf; how the final, completed book was assembled; and even how much some “professional illuminators” charged for their work. I was not able to use a fraction of this information in my novel, Illuminations of the Heart, but I certainly now have a treasure trove of interesting facts for future projects!

I have a few more titles related to illuminated manuscripts to share with you in my next blog. Until then, you might check out the comment left by writemedieval on my last post to check out two books on illumination by Christopher de Hamel. I’ve already put both of these books in my Amazon shopping cart!

Shedding Some Illumination on Medieval Illumination

2009-06-25T21:38:00.016-07:00

Okay, so I admit it. It’s been, like, forever since I’ve blogged here. My apologies. I kind of got lost in “life” for awhile. There’s good news, though. Remember that detour I told you about, putting my next medieval novel, Illuminations of the Heart, on hold while Leatherwood Press re-published Loyalty’s Web? Well, not only has Leatherwood decided to publish Illuminations of the Heart as well (under a new imprint of theirs called Walnut Springs Press), things have proceeded along so swimmingly that the book has been typeset, the cover art has been finalized (see right), and ARCs are being sent to reviewers, even as I type this! You can read the back cover blurb on my companion blog, JDP NEWS, and the first chapter there as well, if you like. If you do so, you’ll discover that the heroine of my new medieval romance is a medieval illuminator. So it only seems appropriate that I resume my posts to medieval research with joyce by sharing with you a few sources I used for my novel regarding medieval illumination.

The chief problem I discovered with researching books about medieval illumination was the indexes…or to be more precise, the lack in most instances thereof. Three of the initial source books I used for my research were: Illuminated Manuscripts, by D.M. Gill; The Illuminated Manuscript, by Janet Backhouse; and The Book of Hours, with a historical survey and commentary by John Harthan. Now indexes are my favorite method of “short cutting” research. Instead of reading an entire book on a subject that might contain only a fraction of needed information for one’s project, one can look in a good index and zero in on a subject, such as, let’s say in the case of medieval illumination, “inks”, “paints”, or “writing implements”. However, I discovered that many books about illuminated manuscripts are treated as art books, rather than research books, and whoever the powers-that-be are who are in charge of assembling such books tend to place the emphasis on the undeniably beautiful examples of illuminated manuscripts through the ages, rather than the process by which such manuscripts were made. Hence, the bulk of the three books listed above are made up of page after page after page of examples of beautiful artwork from medieval manuscripts. But an index? Only one of these three books had one, and the exception—in The Book of Hours—was made up almost entirely of the names of artists, names of manuscript collections, and names of historical personages. Hence…no short cut to the research process in the back matter.

Fortunately, however, each of these books had plenty of front matter preceding the replica portions to provide me with lots of information on how the replicas to follow were originally created. And in this front matter, two out of three of these books broke this information down into subject headings which did assist in speeding along my research.

For example, my heroine in Illuminations of the Heart had no intention of creating a Book of Hours, at least for the duration of this part of her story. (What she might have created after I typed “the end” is another matter entirely!) But the front matter of The Book of Hours is broken down into these categories: “Historical Evolution”; “Contents”; “Decoration”; and “Social Aspects”. The historical evolution of the Book of Hours was not pertinent to the story I was telling, so I could simply skip over this part. Under the heading, “Contents”, I did find some useful information regarding the Gradual Psalms, and since my heroine did, in fact, illuminate a psaltery in my book, this portion of the front matter was very helpful. Most of the information under “Social Aspects” did not prove pertinent to the current needs of my book. Hence, I zeroed in on the part about “Decorations”. This, for the purposes of my novel, proved the most helpful portion of The Book of Hours. This section taught me about pattern books (books designed to show a patron examples of the illuminator’s range of artwork); how books were first ruled by the scribe, prior to either calligraphy or miniatures being added; how spaces were deliberately planned out ahead of time and left in the text for illuminated letters or images to be added later; and the method by which such decorations were ultimately added. All of this was discussed in very brief detail, requiring me to seek out further sources that would provide me with greater depth of information, but this section did prove an excellent starting point for suggesting to me what kinds of information I needed to delve into more deeply. And its description of decorative letters inspired a scene in my book where my heroine paints an image of the Biblical shepherd-king, David, inside the loops of a large, illuminated “B” in the word “Blessed” at the beginning of the first verse of the Gradual Psalms. (Granted, I used the English, rather than the Latin, form of this Biblical text, but that was to impart a greater emotional impact of the verse on the reader.)

I was going to share with you information on illuminations gleaned from the other two source books I mentioned above, but I think this post is long enough as it is. So here I will stop, but this time I promise to return, sooner rather than later (certainly sooner than eight months later!), and share with you my experiences with Janet Backhouse’s The Illuminated Manuscript and D.M. Gill’s Illuminated Manuscripts.

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Argh!!! Once again, I discover that one of my treasured research books is apparently out of print. But once again, there appear to be multiple used copies of The Book of Hours by John Harthan available on Amazon, so my guilt at referring you to another out-of-print book is slightly salved. It hasn't been the first time, and unfortunately, it more than likely won't be the last!

Happy Norman Conquest Day!

2008-10-14T12:59:00.017-07:00

On this day, October 14, 1066, Duke William of Normandy defeated the Saxon King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, becoming known to history as William the Conqueror (as well as King William I of England).

Although it has become politically correct in recent years to celebrate the “noble Saxons” and condemn the “greedy, avaricious Normans”, the simple fact is, those of us with English heritage undoubtedly have both Saxon and Norman blood running through our veins. So why not honor both sides of our ancestry? After all, if it weren’t for the Normans, we would be eating cow and swine (Saxon) at our tables, rather than beef and pork (Norman). Our police would be fighting “firen” (Saxon) instead of “crime” (Norman), and we would all have “eams” (Saxon) instead of “uncles” (Norman). Furthermore, we would be spelling words such as “question” (Norman) as “kwestion” (Saxon…although generations of English speaking school children might have thanked the Saxons for that one!)

Every year I celebrate Norman Conquest Day by buying cake and decorating it with knights from my pewter collection. This year, the blue rose symbolizes the hill near the town of Hastings where the native English Saxons took up their defensive position against the Norman invaders. The Normans utilized a relatively new military tactic—armed knights fighting on horseback, while the Saxons clung to their traditional “fighting on foot” strategy. You might think this would give the Normans an overwhelming advantage, but the Saxons held off the invaders for most of the day. In the end, it was not a charging knight, but a lowly Norman archer who successfully shot an arrow over the shields of the Saxons and killed the Saxon King Harold, more or less by sheer “good luck”. (Or “bad luck”, if you happened to be King Harold!) Hence, the “knights” standing on foot on my cake represent the Saxons, while the knights on horseback represent the Normans. Unfortunately, I don’t have an archer in my pewter collection. And if the knights on my cake look a little blurry, just remember—it’s hard to snap a clear photo when knights are in motion, riding into battle!

So tonight, I’ll be sitting down to a nice piece of Norman Conquest Day Cake. And since cake simply cries out for a goblet of milk, I’ll also be using my Norman Soldier coasters to set my goblet on.

You can read more about the Norman Conquest if you’d like on EyeWitnesss to History.com.

For Saxon vs Norman words, see: A Very Brief History of the English Language (scroll down to The Norman Conquest and Middle English) and Everything2: Anglo-Saxon Words for Animals, Norman Words for Meat.

Apologies, a New/Old Book, and Another Research Tip

2008-08-15T16:53:00.009-07:00

First off, I need to offer my apologies to all for not keeping this blog properly up-to-date. (Although I do hope you enjoyed my interview with G.G. Vandagriff.) My excuses (and that’s exactly what they are…excuses) boil down to this:

Originally, I was hoping to publish the next novel in my series, Illuminations of the Heart, and subsequently was looking forward to sharing all kinds of new research sources with you that I used for that novel. But then Leatherwood Press picked up Loyalty’s Web and asked me to put Illuminations of the Heart on the shelf for awhile, while they publish Loyalty’s Web and see how it does in the marketplace. If well, then they will likely want to publish Illuminations of the Heart as well. (So keep your fingers crossed for me!)

I did proceed with some revisions of—oh, let’s just call it Illuminations, it’s shorter that way!—this summer and hopefully have it in good submittable form now, but it remains on hold for the foreseeable future—and so, for now, do my coordinating research posts.

But I do owe you, my faithful readers, something in the meantime. So here’s a book and a tip that I haven’t mentioned before. I haven’t mentioned the book because I assumed it was such a basic resource that everyone would already know about it. But I should know better than to make assumptions like that—maybe you don’t know about it at all! So here it is:

Life in a Medieval Castle, by Joseph & Frances Gies. This is one of the first research books I ever found on the Middle Ages, way back in the late 1970s. And the good news is, this book is STILL IN PRINT. (I was going to tell you about another favorite medieval book of mine, but when I discovered it is out of print, I decided I’ve tortured you enough for awhile with wonderful but difficult to obtain titles. I’ll share it another time.)

Life in a Medieval Castle includes the following chapters:

1. The Castle Comes to England
2. The Lord of the Castle
3. The Castle as a House
4. The Lady
5. The Household
6. A Day in the Castle
7. Hunting as a Way of Life
8. The Villagers
9. The Making of a Knight
10. The Castle at War
11. The Castle Year
12. The Decline of the Castle

The chapters are followed by a Glossary of Castle Terms and a Glossary of Feudal Terms.

This really is an excellent, basic starting point for anyone researching the Middle Ages. (Of course, each chapter should be just that, a starting point for your research, and not the beginning and end of your research journey.)

Now, here is the tip that I wish I had followed more consistently in my research books. It’s basically the same tip that I offered much earlier in my post on Medieval Gardens, Part II—don’t be afraid to write in the margins of your books!

For example, in Life in a Medieval Castle’s chapter on “Hunting as a Way of Life”, I made the following margin notes:

Paragraph 1: morning hunting
Paragraph 2: huntsman-sizing a dear
Paragraph 3: hunting dogs
Paragraph 4: hunting equipment
Paragraph 5: boar hunting
Paragraph 6: the huntsman/the hunting company—members
Paragraph 7: hawks
Paragraph 8: kinds of falcons
Paragraph 9: the mews
Paragraphs 10-14: training of a falcon
Paragraph 15: training of a falcon—to stand on human wrist
Paragraph 16: guarding the falcon
Paragraphs 17-18: falcon training to return to master
Paragraph 19: training the falcon—the lure
Paragraph 21: training the falcon
Paragraph 22: dogs and falcons
Paragraph 23: falcons and ducks
Paragraph 24: description of a falconer/care of falcons
Paragraph 25: forest supplements
Paragraph 26: poaching penalties
Paragraph 27: royal forest, the warren, forest dogs

Okay, I’m going to stop counting now, but other paragraphs in this chapter include the margin notes: forest courts; forest courts & enforcement; forest courts—the forest eyre—penalties; forest administration & officers; private forests or chases; ecclesiastical preserves; exceptions to forest law; foresters—abuse of powers; “hue and cry” against forest offenders; forest officers a hated class.

These were all notes I took the time to make in the margins as I read this chapter. Can you see how now, when you want to know about falconry, you don’t have to plow through the entire chapter every single time to find only the particular information on falconry that you want? Or if you want to know what happened to poachers, you can quickly skip over the falconry paragraphs to quickly grab the information you need?

Sadly for me, I have followed my own advice quite erratically in my research books, including Life in a Medieval Castle. Some chapters I took the time to mark with margin notes, others I didn’t, always making the search for information harder than it would have been if I had consistently followed the advice I just gave you. Learn from my mistakes, if you can. And thankfully, it’s not too late for me to learn myself and go back and make the notes I should have made in the first place.

Other books by Joseph & Frances Gies include (all still in print, with one exception):

Life in a Medieval Village
Life in a Medieval City
Women in the Middle Ages (apparently out of print, I don’t know why—good thing I bought my copy when I did!)
The Knight in History
Marriage and the Family in the Middle Ages
Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages

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NOTE: If you scroll down the right side of this page, you’ll see that I’ve added two new widgets: Castles of the World and History Trivia. Both should be changing daily. (Or, from the looks of it, possibly more often than that!) I hope you enjoy the new additions!

My New Cover—finally!

2008-08-06T19:13:00.009-07:00

My new cover art for Loyalty's Web has finally been approved. What do you think?

NEW:

OLD: