Women in history

Marching through time – Mother Shipton and her prophesies

I met Deborah Swift well over a decade ago at a Historical Novel Society Conference. She had recently published The Gilded Lily, and we sort of bonded over tea and the 17th century – as one does. Since then Deborah has cast her net wide when it comes to periods – I recently read her […]

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Marching on – in which Amy Maroney introduces medieval physician Trotula

Today, we are visited by Amy Maroney who writes wonderfully vivid books set in the past, in locations spanning everything from the Pyrenees to Cyprus. One of my personal favourites is The Queen’s Scribe, mainly because I love how elegantly Amy weaves the story of her fictional characters into the warp and weft of known

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Marching through history – doing her duty. Of the woes of a medieval queen

Well, dear peeps, today it is my turn to introduce you to a lady from the past, and after some back-and-forth I locked down on Eleanor of Castile. And yes, I have written about her before as she is a central Real Life character in my Castilian saga, but I am a bit of a

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Marching Matilda – the Empress who should have been queen

Last week, Cathie visited with a post about Poppa, forgotten matriarch to the dukes of Normandy. Today, she is back with a post about yet another matriarch, but despite never having been recognised as queen of England, Matilda, daughter of Henry I, is anything but forgotten! From her spring the Plantagenet dynasty that would rule

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Marching through history – Char Newcomb introduces us to Joanna of Sicily

Several years ago, I read Men of the Cross by Char Newcomb and just loved it. Not only did she bring the times of the crusades to vivid life – I love her depiction of Richard Lionheart – but she created characters that remained with me long after I finished the book. Obviously, tons of

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Marching through history – in which Paula sheds some light on 11th century Anglo-Saxon women

Today, I am joined by Paula Lofting. As long as I have known Paula, she has been a major, major fan of Anglo-Saxon England, more specifically the period just preceding the Conquest. Yes, she has a crush on Harold–so no wonder she has just published a book about him (on my TBR – I am

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Marching through history – say hello to Gruoch, a.k.a., Lady Macbeth

Today’s guest is Sharon Bennett Connolly who has just released Medieval Scottish Queens: From St Margaret to Margaret of Denmark. For those unfamiliar with Sharon’s books, she’s written several non-fiction books, books in which she attempts to breathe life into the women of the past. Extremely well-researched, Sharon’s books offer tantalising insight into a distant

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Marching through history – meet Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians

A few days ago, Annie Whitehead visited with a post about a Northumbrian queen. Today, she introduces us to Æthelflæd, a lady very, very close to her heart as is evidenced by her beautiful novel, To be a Queen. A must-read for any Anglo-Saxon afficionado, IMO. So, with no more ado, let’s hear it from

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Marching through history – Cathie introduces the forgotten Poppa

Some years ago, I read Cathie Dunne’s book, Ascent and was quite fascinated by how she’d described the, to me, unknown Poppa and her marriage to Hrolf. In Sweden, we call him Gångar-Rolf “Walking Rolf” because he went to so many places, but that is neither here nor there. Given how fascinated I was by

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Marching through history – today with Annie Whitehead and Eanflæd, queen of Northumbria

As most of you know, various Anglo-Saxon tribes settled in Britain after the departure of the Romans. Not always a peaceful process, by the 7th century several Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had been established at the expense of the Celtic-Roman inhabitants. One such kingdom was Northumbria, home to various kings with names beginning with Osw… Today, Annie

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