Medieval Word of the Day

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

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

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.

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Medieval Word of the Day

Lawn: a very fine fabric made of linen

No, not that kind of lawn!

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Medieval Word of the Day

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

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Medieval Word of the Day

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

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

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

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"

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!

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"

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!

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!

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

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!