Political Intrigue during the Medieval Age
By Terry Spear
The medieval period was from about 500 AD to 1500 AD, soquite a bit of time and change.
When we talk about one period of time, it can be verydifferent from another in terms of lifestyle, clothes, and what was availableto the populace. Also, the change in the political arena made for a lot ofdifference in medieval times.
So when we say we’re writing about a medieval romance in aparticular time, it can be way different from one much later. And it dependedon the location. Some areas were still more in the Dark Ages, when others hadmoved ahead.
I chose to write about King Henry I’s time period, 1100 AD,because I found him a fascinating king and the emerging scenario with histaking a wife who was the daughter of the Scottish king and the Saxon princess,who had been the niece of the Saxon king killed and replaced by Henry’s father,William the Conqueror of Normandy. She was an interesting person as well, againeducated, and her mother had placed her in her aunt’s convent, to ensureunscrupulous men would not have their way with her.
Now, Henry was the first of the kings who was reallyeducated as he was meant to be a bishop, not king, since he was the third sonof William. But the older brother, William Rufus, who was serving as king aftertheir father died, met his own death in a hunting accident under rathersuspicious circumstances while Henry was in attendance. The next oldest brotherwas away fighting the Crusades, so what could Henry do? But take over thetreasury and become king.
It’s important to learn as much about the clothing, foodthat was served during this period of time, as well as the accommodations.Although because I write romance, I don’t get into some of the smellierdetails.
But what I found the most fun while creating the story wasincluding some of the political intrigue.
When William conquered Saxon England, the ruling king diedand the Saxon princess and prince fled to Scotland where they were givenprotection. But the Scottish king fell in love with the Saxon princess. Nowdoesn’t that sound like a fairy-tale romance? It was. When he died years later,she did also, of grief.
The thing of it is, the Saxon princess’s father had beenking, but his brother murdered him and took over the kingdom, and then he tookin his brother’s son and daughter, since he had no children of his own. Like Isaid, lots and lots of intrigue.
The Saxon prince united with Henry’s older brother, who vowsto take over England and rule as he should have. I did include some of that inthe story as well. One of the knights who they meet on the road is actually aknight that Henry used to lead his men to fight his brother.
In one case, Lady Anice and Malcolm MacNeill stay at a realcastle that was still owned by a Saxon. He had pledged his loyalty to Williamthe Conqueror, figuring probably that he would be the winner and didn’t want tolose his lands.
William had offered his relation to him, after he had herhusband (a Norman baron) executed because he had plotted against William. Sothen he offers her as the wife to the Saxon lord in payment for his loyalty.She refuses and he sends her to one of the islands to live in poverty. But herdaughter doesn’t want this kind of life and offers herself to marry the Saxonlord.
So that was included in the story as well. Don’t you justlove all this real life intrigue?
It’s so much fun to use real history that is just asfascinating as making it up!
One of the things I found also interesting was that althoughwomen wore wimples and covered their hair (because it was too enticing for mennot to be covered), but during the time that Henry’s wife ruled by his side,women didn’t have to wear the covering. And they often braided their hair withextensions to make it even longer!
While she was at the convent, she’d been beaten by her auntfor throwing down her hair cover and when she left there to marry Henry, shevowed not to wear it again. It became fashionable then for many of the ladiesto wear their hair uncovered.
Another thing I found fascinating was that the food wasn’tbland or dreary to eat, not in a royal household, but was decorated to a fairlywell. And fruits and vegetables were considered bad for you if it wasn’t cookedfirst.
Castles were defenses, foremost. They didn’t have hugewindows, but merely arrow slots where they could shoot an approaching enemy. Ivisited several castles in Scotland and in one of the tower rooms, they had notonly the arrow slot windows, but they’d created round ones for updated weapons--guns.Men who would be holed up in the tower for a long time, watching the grounds,would use another hole nearer the base of the floor to relieve themselves.
Yep, no toilet! Where would it go? Down the wall of thetower to the ground below. :)
Also while I visited the Scottish castles, the stairs werenarrow, to prevent more than one attacker access and they always curved to theright so that the defender would have the advantage where he could swing his sword and unless theattacker was left-handed, he could not as well.
You’ve heard that knights were supposed to be chivalrous,right? At first, they weren’t. Some would steal from those who couldn’t fightback just because the knights were so well armored. Then the rule of chivalrycame into effect, and though it didn’t mean everyone would abide by the rules,things got better. But one of the funny happenings I uncovered with regard toknights—was that their armored feet—the sabaton--were armored plates riveted onthe boots. For a period, the fashion was to make them longer and longer, kindof like women’s pointy dress shoes. The knights would wiggle their long shinyarmor plated toes at the ladies in a sexual way, making them blush and giggle.
The church, wet blanket that it could be, declared that theshoes were indecent and could not be that long. Not sure what they said aboutthe cod pieces as the men’s tunics rose ever higher and the men’s cod piecesgrew ever bigger.
So that’s a glimpse of medieval history undressed—a littlebit of political intrigue can go a long way!
Would you have been offended if a knight had wiggled the toeof his armored boot at you?
Terry Spear
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy ISreality.”
Author bio: Award-winning author Terry Spear is theauthor of urban fantasy romances and medieval Highland romances. She receivedPublishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year in 2008 for Heart of the Wolf. Aretired officer of the U.S. Army Reserves, Terry is a librarian by day. Shelives in Crawford, Texas.
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Escaping from King Henry’s advances, the Scottish Lady Anice falls into the hands of Highlander Laird Malcolm MacNeill, and murder and mayhem follow when she discovers some of her key staff are missing and she's targeted next.
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Lady Eilis Dunbarton’s life undergoes a drastic change with the death of her cousin, Agnes. Now she’s faced with the disagreeable prospect of marrying the man who was to be her cousin’s husband. Not by a change of contract, though. Instead, by deceit—pretending to be her cousin. But if her husband-to-be discovers she’s not really Agnes, her life is forfeit. So what choice does Eilis have but to flee? When Laird James MacNeill’s clan rescues a half-drowned lass from the sea, there is speculation she is of the enemy clan, especially since she doesn’t remember her own name. James is immediately enticed with the lady, but his focus must remain on finding the proper bride. For if he does not wed soon, he must give up his holdings to one of his younger brothers. Focus slips away with each day Eilis is close, and James finds himself contemplating the thought of taking her to wife without knowing her true identity. But how dangerous would the end result be? And what will happen if Eilis’s husband-to-be comes looking for her only to find her in the arms of another man?
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