The Pillar of Eliseg

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The Pillar of Eliseg is a 9th century tribute to Eliseg, a king of Powys.  “The first mentioning is an indirect one: the Brut y Tywysogion mentions that the Abbey of Valle Crucis was founded in A.D. 1200 ‘near the old cross in Yale‘. This so-called fragmentary free-standing pillar-cross stands in a field overlooking the ruined Valle Crucis Abbey (SJ 2142), a few miles from Llangollen in Clywd (former Denbighshire), en route to Horse-Shoe Pass. … The Pillar inspired the name Valle Crucis (Valley of the Cross). It was once erected by Cyngen, Prince of Powys for his great-grandfather Elise or Eliseg. The cross was defaced, thrown down and broken by Cromwell’s troops in the 17th century, hence the ‘pillar-shape’ now. This pillar stands on a large artificial mound where it was re-erected in 1779. At that time the mound Read more…


Denbigh Castle

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The present Denbigh Castle was built by Edward I after 1282 as a way to control the Welsh populace he’d just defeated. The castle was built on the site of a Llys (or seat) of the Welsh Princes dating back several hundred years. Building the new Norman Castle on this site was a deliberate attempt to project the power of the King of England. “Along with over half a mile of town walls, Denbigh Castle is a classic fortress of Edwardian proportions. Edward I’s successful 13th-century campaign in the region was cemented by the creation of an English borough in Denbigh from 1282 onwards. He simply built on top of what was a traditional Welsh stronghold. In so doing, he made sure all traces of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, the previous unlucky incumbent, were removed for ever. Henry de Lacy, one Read more…


The History of Chester

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The City of Chester is the first stop of our Wales Odyssey!  We began with a tour of the walls, which were begun when the city was called ‘Deva’, and fortified by the Romans.   “The Roman military presence at Chester probably began with a fort or marching camp at the mouth of the Deva Fluvius (River Dee) very likely established during the early campaigns of governor Publius Ostorius Scapula against the Deceangi in north-east Wales sometime around AD47/48. There is some evidence of pre-Flavian occupation, possibly even a timber-built fort, but proof positive of a Scapulan foundation has yet to emerge. After the first tentative forays of Scapula, the next military activity in the area was conducted during the early administration of governor Sextus Julius Frontinus sometime around AD74 when an auxiliary fort was constructed at Chester. The placement of this fort was a strategic move by Frontinus Read more…


The Trip to Wales Is Upon Us!

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Tomorrow!  We leave tomorrow!  We don’t arrive in the UK until the 25th because of the nature of the flights and time zones, but … can’t wait! From May 24th to June 6th, my husband and I will be traveling through Wales, feasting our eyes on what I haven’t been able to see in far too many years.  We will be spending time mostly in the north, where my books are predominantly set.  Our itinerary is so extensive, we haven’t a hope of seeing everything on it, if we are to sleep at all, but we’re going to try.  If anyone has any suggestions as to what we have to see if we can, please leave a comment! Here’s our map for what we are going to see in North Wales: View 2012 Tour of Wales in a larger map.  If Read more…


Guest Post from Athanasios, cover artist and author

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You are both a cover artist and an author.  Does one art inform the other?  Only with my own covers.  My own knowledge of the subject matter makes my own covers for Mad Gods, Commitment, I Am Eternal or any of the Predatory Ethics series richer with symbolism and content. I’ve been working as a graphic artist for half my life so the visual comes much easier than the literary.  Graphics, from broadcast for video or television, web for online viewing or print, is my bread and butter.  I’m very comfortable in it.  Writing is getting easier but still doesn’t come as easily as graphics does. How did you get started designing covers? A friend from IWU got me started after I gave my opinion once too many times to indie writers who wanted their covers critiqued.  My points were Read more…


Wooly Mittens

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My mother and I quilt, and we were working on some charity quilts, which prompted me to think about what fabric-work was like in the Middle Ages.  When I was writing The Last Pendragon, I wondered about winter hats, since it is cold and snowy in Wales in February.  Knitting,  however, was developed in the Middle East and not brought to Britain until the late thirteenth century.  Even though wool was spun and turned into thread, clothing was woven on looms.   Crochet work was developed later, not until the 1800s. “The history of knitting is mostly a big mystery, guessed at from fragments kept in museums around the world. Knitting is made of wool, silk, and other fibers that decay rapidly, even under perfect conditions; knitting needles are essentially sharpened sticks, and hard to identify as knitting needles beyond a Read more…


Inheritance and Welsh Law

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The Laws of Hywel Dda, codifed formally before 950 AD.  The historical consensus is that the laws had been effect for  hundreds of years, but Hywel Dda ruled much of Wales and that allowed a more cohesive approach to the law. “Most of the surviving manuscripts of Welsh law start with a preamble explaining how the laws were codified by Hywel. The introduction to the Book of Blegywryd is a typical example: “ Hywel the Good, son of Cadell, by the grace of God, king of all Wales… summoned to him from every commote of his kingdom six men who were practised in authority and jurisprudence… to the place called the White House on the Taf in Dyfed. … And at the end of Lent the king selected from that assembly the twelve most skilled laymen of his men and the one Read more…


Exploring the Lives of Real Historical Figures

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Welcome to my friend and fellow historical fiction writer, N. Gemini Sasson, talking about her history and writing …  Great to have you here, Gemini! ___________________ Exploring the Lives of Real Historical Figures by N. Gemini Sasson   Ten years ago, when I sat down to write about the early 14th century Scottish War of Independence, my intention was to tell a story in one book—just one, about Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. What did I end up with? Five. Three of those make up The Bruce Trilogy and the other two are about Queen Isabella of England. So how did that project expand so exponentially? It has everything to do with scope and complexity. As I discovered, real people are/were complex and the times in which historical figures lived were fraught with socio-political entanglements, perhaps even more so Read more…


Reading Fiction is Good for You!

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As a writer, this should go without saying, but several new studies show that fiction does more than spark the imagination and take us to other worlds. And article in the Boston Globe (http://articles.boston.com/2012-04-29/ideas/31417849_1_fiction-morality-happy-endings) follows a series of studies by researcher (and anthropologists) about what fiction does to us–how it shapes us, makes us think, and changes our sensitivities. “… Perhaps the most impressive finding is just how fiction shapes us: mainly for the better, not for the worse. Fiction enhances our ability to understand other people; it promotes a deep morality that cuts across religious and political creeds. More peculiarly, fiction’s happy endings seem to warp our sense of reality. They make us believe in a lie: that the world is more just than it actually is. But believing that lie has important effects for society?—?and it may even Read more…


How did medieval people keep warm?

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How did medieval people keep warm?  The short answer might be they didn’t, but that’s only half an answer.  Certainly, in medieval Wales like in modern Wales, people didn’t have to deal with extreme temperatures of say–Minnesota–but they did have to deal with snow and cold in the winter, and occasional heat waves in the summer. How did they protect themselves against the cold?  Houses, certainly, weren’t kept very warm.  Cloaks, scarves, boots, and gloves were worn indoors.  Especially with the inefficient and smoky heating system (see my post on chimneys), the cold inside could approximate the cold inside. Medieval people had gloves, for example:  http://medievalgloves.blogspot.com/2007/11/three-pairs-of-gloves.html “For the peasant, the garb was basic and simple. The outer clothing was commonly made of wool with undergarments of linen. As one would expect, the wool garments were hot, heavy and itchy, but Read more…


Welsh Heraldry

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Knights in the Middle Ages wore a coat of arms to distinguish themselves from one another in battle.  Within a given family individuals would have their own coats of arms, separate from each other and sometimes blending with another family, depending on the circumstances of marriage.  A family would also have crests and seals, which might or might not be the same as the coats of arms.  All are referred to as heraldic devices. “Generally the language of heraldry suggests its warlike origin. The term Coat of arms is derived from the surcoat worn over the armor to keep off the rays of the sun. It was a waistcoat-like garment, on which the heraldic design was depicted. The knight wore the arms shown on the surcoat on his shield, the trappings of his horse, and his lance pennon. In addition, Read more…