An announcement post
In this newsletter
Hello
Book news
History news
Latest blog post
Poll update
Hello
A short and sweet hello this week, partially because I am melting from the heat and partially because you are probably eager to hear about my exciting book news. Allons-Y!
Book news
Part of the joy of creating this newsletter was to be able to connect more personally with you all, and so it is great that already on my third one I can share some exciting news with you. I have signed on to write two more books!
The first will be my third book with the History Press, and an idea I have been sitting on for a long time now. It is going to be a large volume (my largest so far!) about Richard II and his court. Richard II is a fascinating king, but one who sometimes goes under the radar. Key events in his reign include the Peasants’ Revolt and his deposition, both of which get talked about a lot, but all the bits in between often get left out of the picture. Despite him being such a popular literary king, when searching for books about him I was surprised to see how comparatively few biographies there are of him, particularly compared to other medieval monarchs. It was easier to buy a copy of Shakespeare’s play than a real non-fiction book!
However, I didn’t want this to be a straight biography of just Richard. As you all probably know, I have a passion for women’s history, and research into a different topic during lockdown revealed a glimpse of the importance of women during Richard’s reign. And not just his mother and wife, but many other women too who played key roles at his court. There are also, of course, the fascinating presences of John of Gaunt and his son, the future Henry IV, to contend with, alongside Richard’s various favourites. This intoxicating mix of people, politics, and culture captured my imagination. In many ways it will be a very different book to what I have written before, and it will be a challenge, but I hope you will all be pleased with the outcome. It is going to take a lot of research, though, so is not planned for release until 2026! Time that I’m sure, for me, will fly.
The second book I have signed on to write is with American publishers Abbeville Press. A very different kettle of fish altogether, this book comes back to my area of expertise and will be a history of women in the Middle Ages. But, great fun, this is going to be an illustrated book. Shorter than anything I have written before, it is going to be a broad oversight of many women from all strands of society across various European countries (how am I going to fit everything in?) and is going to be positively littered with beautiful pictures from medieval manuscripts, art, and beyond. I’m really excited to write this book and feel like I can have a lot of fun with it.
Also, I’d love your help with the second book! Is there a particular medieval woman you’d like to see featured? Or is there a topic area you’d like to know more about, or feel isn’t written about enough - perhaps something about working class women during this time who often get overlooked for the glittering royalty? I’ve opened a comment box below, so please give me your thoughts!
History News
Two fun bits of history news for you this time round. One you may well have already seen (as it’s been my entire Twitter feed for the past week) which is the result of deep research by the curators of Hever Castle and their collaborators across several institutions. They have managed to identify Thomas Cromwell’s Book of Hours as shown in the famous portrait of him. Not only is it exciting to trace an item owned by such an infamous man, but it is one of the only items to exist today that was once depicted in a Tudor portrait. There have been plenty of news articles about this you can look up, or if you want a quick read then you can find Kate McCaffrey’s Twitter thread about their work here: https://twitter.com/kateemccaffrey/status/1666748294477799425
The second bit of history news takes us much further back in time to Roman England. Excavations in Southwark - which historically has revealed a wealth of archaeological gems - have come across a Roman mausoleum, thought to be the most intact ever found in Britain, with two beautiful mosaic floors. I’m sure more fascinating information will come out of this dig in time: Read on the BBC
Latest Blog Post
In case you missed it, my most recent blog post was the start of a series I have wanted to start for years busting commonly-held myths about the medieval period. There is a wealth of material to tuck into, but I decided to start with the idea that people in the medieval period believed the world was flat. If you want to know why that wasn’t true, then you better have a read!
Poll Update
Finally, if you read my last newsletter then you may have voted in my first poll, asking you what content you would like to see next on the blog. Semi-success for this first poll - it ended in a tie! You were most interested in seeing a post about a historical person or a historical place, so let me try and create a tie-breaker by giving you specific topics. Voting round two commences!
As always, thank you for reading, and until next time.
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