300+ years of Plantagenet England with Sharon Kay Penman

The Plantagenets were the longest reigning dynasty in English history, beginning with Henry II in 1154 and ending with Richard III in 1485. Just about anyone who has a passing familiarity with English history and culture is familiar with several of their names i.e. Richard the Lionheart, King John (although most people are more familiar with him as "Evil Prince John"), Edward I "Longshanks" (thank you Braveheart), and the often maligned "Crookback Dick" a.k.a. Richard III (a victim of Tudor propaganda, 'cause history is written by the victors, right?). And oh so many more in between.

Ok, so they weren't all called Plantagenets by their contemporaries... the first three Plantagenet kings were called the Angevins (as in from the house of Anjou -they were the Dukes of Anjou, Normandy and Aquitaine in France, and they were really more French than English), and towards the end it was a dispute (the "War of the Roses" or "Cousins' War") between the rival Plantagenet houses of Lancaster (red rose) and York (white rose), but they were all (Henri II, Richard I, John I, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III) direct descendants of Geoffroi le Bel, Duc d'Anjou, who -according to legend- used to wear a broom flower on his hat thus earning the soubriquet Plantagenet (from the Latin Planta genista). Oh, and according to legend his family was either descended from Lucifer or from a river goddess Mélusine (or both!), which was supposed to explain their nasty explosive tempers... :p

Sharon Kay Penman first delved into the lives of this epically dysfunctional family with the last of its kings, Richard III, in her first novel The Sunne in Splendour way back in 1982 (yes I'm just discovering her now, well last summer technically, better late than never!). As the story goes, the only copy of her original manuscript was stolen from her car and she had to start all over again! 

Literary Guest Post on "The Devil's Brood"!

I have a couple of posts in the works for here and the other blogs... but my photo editing and writing have gotten a bit sidetracked lately by my need to get to bed early and READ! :p I've been sucked into the world of Sharon Kay Penman and her fantastic novels about medieval England and Wales (and parts of France when they were ruled by Norman lords). 

I've been taking notes for a more complete post on her books once I've finished with them, but I just wanted to share this with you: I was invited to write a review of one of them, The Devil's Brood, as a guest post on a blog centred on Henry the Young King (son of Henry II and Aliénor of Aquitaine, crowned King during his father's lifetime but he died before his father so he never reigned). Yay me! :o)

The Devil's Brood covers the period when Henry and Aliénor's sons are all grown up and causing serious problems for their father and each other (rebellion!), and it's the final book in Penman's Angevin trilogy (When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance, The Devil's Brood).

So here's the link to my review. I hope you enjoy it! And I definitely recommend Sharon's books! Just be wary of reading them when you go to bed... the result is many sleepless nights! :p

Snapshots from a Somerset weekend

Just wanted to share a few moments with you from my fabulous weekend visiting with US cousins in Somerset... My life is so hectic at the moment who knows when I'll be able to do a proper post!

So these are all taken with my iPhone (I'm writing this while on the train, will post it next time I get wifi access). Photos are (I can't write in between them when posting from phone):

• In Montacute House with my cousins Mary and Kristy waiting for the wedding.
• The church in Montacute where the religious service took place.
• Visiting the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey.
• Goofing off (unavoidable!).
• Saying goodbye to our National Trust owned Stembridge Cottage and Windmill (our lodgings for the weekend).
• Hanging out with Queen Bess in St Mary Redcliff church in Bristol. Plus views of the church in and out. One of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen!
• And me and Pol saying goodbye to Bristol as I write this on the airport shuttle... which has WiFi!!!

Camulodunum / Colchester (or London Day 2)

Nice thing about visiting a sister who's boyfriend's parents loaned her their car for the weekend? Getting to visit something outside of London! ;o) (that and getting picked up at the airport, lol!)

After considering a few options for our Sunday escapade (factoring in the probable lateness of breakfast after drinks etc. in London the night before), we finally settled on Colchester (about an hour away) basically because it had a castle (I'm a sucker for those) and this one was a Norman Keep which is something I've never seen! :o) (that and the entrance fees were cheap compared to some others we considered). Unfortunately Colchester's website isn't that informative, I just thought the only other thing there would be the Natural History Museum (we didn't get in, apparently places close early on Sundays) and the Zoo (my sister went 2 years ago). So I was pleasantly surprised when driving into to town and seeing bits and pieces of a magnificent stone wall and an arch (Romans?! YAY!!!). No stopping since we were running a bit late so went straight to the Keep:


Massive stone walls! Definitely looked like it was built for surviving a war!


Apparently Colchester Castle is the largest castle keep built by the Normans in England (brief history reminder: the Normans -French from Normandy- invaded England in the 11th century when William the Conqueror laid claim to the English throne stating that it had been promised to him by Edward the Confessor who died childless. Victory over the English army -Saxons- at the Battle of Hastings. Permanent French presence in England until a fusion of the two peoples and cultures a couple of centuries later). The keep was built between 1076 and 1125 with extensive re-use of brick and tiles from the ruined Roman town and built on the foundations of the great Roman Temple of Claudius. Apparently it was a full story higher than what's left now as the upper part was demolished in the 1690s.

The Keep is now the town's history museum which is what you can visit with your basic entrance fee. But a mere 2 extra pounds gets you into an hour-long, highly entertaining and informative guided tour! Care to join me as I revisit the tour and the Museum while browsing through some of my pictures?

Our guided started by leading us down


into the foundations of the original Roman temple (which had originally been filled up with sand for structural support, was emptied out in the 18th-19th centuries).


We wandered in and out and she gave us a general history lesson of the region (see below with museum pictures) and talked about the construction (and destruction) of the original Roman Temple and then the keep. In some of the walls you can see where the stones change from the foundations of the Roman Temple to those added on for the Norman Keep. And by the way... the Romans had better workmanship! ;o)

As we headed back up (I love spiralling castle staircases, don't you?)


she stopped to point out some Mideval graffiti:


As we headed up into the light (so currently on the roof top as that level was blown away)


I was amazed to find a tree had been planted there!


Walking through a narrow corridor


into what remains of the original Chapel (the floor is original, the wooden beams, windows etc put in place to give an idea of what the chapel would have been like)


Check the view from the top! Looking out over Colchester:


As we headed back down the tight spiral


we'd come across a few of the original windows (no way an arrow's going to be coming through that narrow slit!):


Anyone need to use the privy?


After that we were left on our own to visit the Museum which has been set up inside the man hall of the Keep. It was a highly interactive experience, with lots of "toys" to play with and plenty of maquettes and illustrations of the various periods of history we had been told about while in the foundations.


Some fun facts and stories I learnt from the guide and while goofing around in the Museum:

• Apparently this was the oldest recorded town in Britain under the name Camulodunum, as tribal capital for the Trinovantes in 25BC. The Romans considered its king Cunobelin (know to readers of Shakespeare as Cymbline) more than a mere tribal leader, to them he was Rex Britannorum or King of the Britons.

• After the Roman invasion under the Emperor Claudius (bringing elephants with him!) the first legionary fortress was built there later to be chosen as the site for a retirement settlement for Roman soldiers (I got a real kick out of that! Roman soldiers retiring in England? And now the Mediterranean coastline is packed with retired Brits! lol!). A monumental temple was built there dedicated to Claudius. Here's a model of it:
  

Mosaic found in the ruins of a neighbouring house:


As I mentioned before, the museum is highly interactive, all my sister is missing is a pilum or glaive to be the perfect Roman Legionnaire!


That is unless her boyfriend


decides to sell her as a slave...

• When Queen Boudica led the Iceni and Trinovantes tribes in revolt against the Romans in 60AD, her troops destroyed the town (and then moved on to do the same to London!) including -after a 2 day siege- the temple where many of the citizens had taken refuge (stone walls = impregnable, wooden roof? fire = ouch!). The wall surrounding the town was built after this event.
  

• The Castle was built on the orders of William the Conqueror, and apparently the Tower of London has the exact same design, just built on a smaller scale! Here's a model of the town at the time of the Castle's completion:
  

• Do I look fierce enough to be a Norman warrior?
  

• Apparently the Keep has never needed to serve its primary purpose as a centre for defense. Among its many uses it has been a county prison (in the 17th century it was the location for "questioning" suspected witches)
  

• It was a final bastion of Royalists at the end of the Civil War (Cromwell vs King Charles I)

• In the late 17th century it was bought for a pittance by a Mr Wheeler who dynamited the upper structures to get building materials he could re-sell (he didn't finish taking the place apart due to bankruptcy).

• And in the early 18th century it was acquired by the local MP Charles Grey who restored it to its current condition (adding in some historical inaccuracies) and created the park that surrounds it.

• The foundations were used as bomb shelters in WW2.

We decided to walk around the park for a bit and following our ears (we heard music) led us to this:

a very large and lovely park!

As we walked down and around we came across the Roman Wall:


Time to head home. Here's a glimpse of the Castle from the other side, you can clearly make out the location of the Chapel in the left-hand corner there!


CrazyCris "castle-hugger" ;o)