|
July 6th, 2007
The British hardcover editions
of several Frevisse novels
have included Author's Notes which were not included in the
original American editions (by virtue of the fact that they were
not yet written). We'll be posting these on the site over the
next couple of weeks so that everyone can enjoy in them equally,
starting with this note from The
Novice's Tale:
THE
NOVICE'S TALE
Author's
Note
There is often interest in what is true in an
historically set story. St. Frideswide's nunnery is fiction. The
life the nuns live there is not. Or rather, it is as close to
life in a medieval Benedictine nunnery as can be judged from
reading about it. Besides the nuns' own surviving documents,
many now in print, a rich source of information has been Eileen
Power's Medieval
English Nunneries. Also invaluable is The
Rule of St. Benedict, a humane and generous directive
for the cloistered life, available
in
many
translations.
Some doubt may be expressed concerning the
accuracy of portraying a woman as independent and strong-minded
as Frevisse. Given the popular notion that medieval women were
universally oppressed, it may be assumed I have imposed a modern
woman into a medieval setting, but judging by extensive reading
of documents and studies of late medieval England, there seem to
have been a great many strong-minded, independent, capable women
who took every advantage their world offered and made the most
of it. Along with that, it should be remembered that the vaunted
Renaissance and Age of Reason saw a steady stripping away of
women's rights and independence. In late medieval England women
had more rights -- both legal and social -- than they would have
again until the 20th century.
With the idea of oppressed medieval women goes
the generally accepted "truth" that nunneries were
mostly a way of disposing of unwanted women. Whatever the
situation elsewhere, in England such statistics as we possess
for nunneries suggest there were either relatively few unwanted
women or this was not true. Aside from some large foundations,
nunneries tended to be small: eight women, or even less, was
usual. Nor do women seem, generally, to have been "shut
up" against their will. There were certainly women with a
genuine spiritual calling, for whom a nun's life was a free and
fulfilling choice. For other women, the nunnery offered a viable
alternative to marriage -- a chance to live independent of
societal strictures binding on those who chose the usual course
in life, as well as in a context rich in the highly valued
spirituality of the time. Of course there were women who went
into nunneries because they had been told to go and couldn't
think of anything else to do with themselves. There have always
been -- and are -- women who did what they were told, rather
than thinking their lives out for themselves, including marrying
when they might rather not.
From an author's point of view, all of that
makes for a rich mix of personalities and possibilities. Add the
fact that nunneries are corporate entities, ranging from the
equivalent of small businesses with only local interests to, as
it were, large conglomerates owning diverse properties, and that
nuns -- both then or now -- have always taken very active
responsibility in the management of their nunneries, and the
possibilities for stories burgeon.
As for actual historical facts in The Novice's
Tale, Thomas Chaucer is real, with his links by blood to the
royal family and his refusal to be drawn into the political
tangles of the time. The talk about the French witch Joan of Arc
and the siege of Orleans are of course topical, and Lord Moleyns
did die in France and his daughter become Chaucer's ward.
Regarding the relationship between Queen Katherine and her
Welshman, who knew what and when they knew it is unknown, but by
late 1431 she had surely borne him at least one child, if not
more; and to judge by the official response when her secret did
finally come out, it was a secret well worth keeping for as long
as possible.
Last, if not least, there is Frevisse's name and
how it is pronounced. It is the French version of St. Frideswide,
a saint barely known outside the English Midlands, but in France
there is a single church dedicated to her and there she is
called St. Frevisse. It was from that that Frevisse's wandering
parents, a little homesick for their old home, named their
daughter. As to pronunciation, Fray-vees' would seem
likely, except that she is in England and therefore is more
likely called Fray'-viss. I leave it to the reader's
preference.
- Margaret
|
|
July 23rd, 2007
As with the other recent Author's Notes, this one comes from
the British hardcover edition
of The
Outlaw's Tale.
THE
OUTLAW'S TALE
Author's
Note
Given the strict cloistering to which nuns were
supposed to submit, Frevisse and Dame Emma's venturing out to a
family christening may seem surprising. Indeed, nuns in medieval
England were officially cloistered, supposed to stay shut from
the world behind nunnery walls, but in fact leave could be
granted for them to visit outside the cloister for any 'manifest
necessity' -- and as Eileen Power observes in Medieval
English Nunneries, "they could with a little skill,
stretch the 'manifest necessity' clause to cover almost all
their wanderings," whether on pilgrimage, for pleasure, or
on family matters. To judge by the centuries-long efforts of
bishops and other churchmen to regulate and curb these jaunts,
nuns seem rarely to have faltered in treating cloistering as far
more open to choice than their bishops liked.
For those accustomed to view medieval society as
a straightforward matter of Nobles vs. Peasants, Master Payne's
household may seen fanciful, but in truth there was a rapidly
growing free middle class in England through all the later
Middle Ages -- prospering merchants in cities and towns; the
gentry in the countryside -- who owned their own property, ran
their own lives, and served lords only insofar as they chose,
even, as in Master Payne's case, making a business of doing so.
As may be readily expected, Robin Hood was a
popular figure in medieval England, though not always in the
guise more modern tellings give him. Robin
Hood and Other Outlaw Tales, edited by Stephen Knight
and Thomas Ohlgren, provides both a study and a number of
stories of Robin Hood and other medieval outlaws that Nicholas
and his men could readily have known.
- Margaret
|
|
July 31st, 2007
We are now just one week away from the official August 7th
release date for A
Play of Lords. I have heard reports from a few quarters
that some people have, in fact, already received their copies.
(Which is more than can be said for the Author, it should be
noted.) Apparently I didn't merit the same £10
million security program used to enforce the embargo on J.K.
Rowling's Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Although that wasn't
terribly successful, either, I suppose. (The last Harry Potter
is quite excellent, by the way. My son loaned me his copy a few
days ago and I finished it completely in less than 24
hours.)
If, like me, you are not one of those
lucky few who already have a copy of A
Play of Lords, do not despair! A few weeks ago we posted
the opening
chapter of the book right here on the website. And, as of
today, I am happy to present the second
chapter in its entirety.
- Margaret
|
