Getting Medieval

Domain Name

It's funny how these words have an entirely different meaning today. In the Middle Ages one might think of one's "domain name" as one's lands. The king's domain name would be "England." No "dot" anything. Today, we can all find a little corner of the internet to call our domain. And so, too, did I with this blog. Oh, sure, as soon as I got the contract I finally bought the domain name of my own name for my website (www.JeriWesterson.com) Actually, I recommend you do that before you get that contract, just in case someone already had it. "Jeri Westerson" is unique enough that I didn't worry about that. And yes, it's my real name. And then I hurried out and got the domain name of my character Crispin Guest for his own blog www.CrispinGuest.com.

But I dragged my feet on this blog. Why? I don't know. I've had it as long as the website. One of my crit partners bullyied me into getting it (she was right, of course. She has an absolutely fabulous blog that got her so much recognition she got two book contracts out of it. See her at http://laurajames.typepad.com/clews/) So this is my roundabout way of saying that I finally got off the stick and bought the domain name for this blog. You can change it in your favorites or on your blog rolls to read www.Getting-Medieval.com which will put your right here. The old one will still work, too, but this is cooler.

Digitized Manuscripts Now Available

It's happened at last. One of the really splendid uses of the internet. Sure it's great for socializing but it is a great tool for researching, or at least had the potential. Google Books is one aspect, where books out of copyright are scanned and put up on the net, a virtual library. But they are running into copyright issues because they want to scan ALL books. What is the difference between that and checking a book out of a brick and mortar library? Hmm. Lots of issues there. 

But here we are talking about scanning and posting old manuscripts. Medieval manuscripts, where before you would have to travel to Europe and the British Isles to do your primary source gathering. These manuscripts have already been scanned and are available for viewing but no one knew it! Now UCLA is gathering these materials in one spot for easy access. Woo Hoo! Scholars are rejoicing everywhere.

So what's in it?

"The largest surviving collection of the works of Christine de Pizan, one of the first women in Europe to earn a living as a writer. The manuscript was commissioned by Queen Isabeau of France in 1414 and is now held by the British Library.

"An Irish copy of the Gospel of John, bound in ivory and presented to Charlemagne sometime around 800, now in the library of the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland.

"The Junius manuscript, one of only four major manuscripts preserving poetry in Old English. Dated to around 1000, the book is now among the holdings of Oxford's Bodleian Library."
 
And More! See the full article here.

If you want to jump into your research, here is the url.  

Love Letters

A wonderful 12th century letter-writing manual was discovered in Italy. In it, not only does it explain how to write letters and salutations, but also on how to write love letters.

“The advice ranges from how to write the salutation of the love-letter to how to conclude it. But also as a wife must write to her husband, a lover to his beloved. It recommends always to praise the beauty and qualities of the recipient using comparisons to famous couples (Paris and Helen, Pyramus and Thisbe), similarities to precious stones or by sending “as many greetings as there are fish in the sea,” or “the flowers brought by the summer.” You must use phrases indicating the inability to describe such a large feeling (“How deeply I love you I cannot express with words, even if all the members of my body could talk”). When the sender has to tell the recipient something, he can use apostrophic expressions such as “your beauty knows,” “your sweetness knows,” “it is known to your nobility.” The distance from the subject of one’s love or the memory of the happy moments spent together is already assumed in the characteristics of lovesickness: “the mind is less,” “the soul cannot stand much joy.” Then there are passages which refer explicitly to physical love: it speaks of hugs, kisses, desire, of sweet things to do together.”

To our modern ears, it seems a bit over the top, but you must remember, this is the beginning of such prose. A cliché doesn’t start out being a cliché. It first stems from something wholly original and is used and copied over many times. Besides, love letters are never meant to be read by others. And it wouldn’t bother me a smidge if my love, my husband, wrote to me that he could not express in words how deeply he loved me. *sigh*

 

Here is the complete article.

Will the Real Saint Valentine Please Stand Up

We are approaching Valentine’s Day, and though it has become a secular holiday in the most banal of ways, let us not forget that its roots are in the Catholic calendar of the communion of saints. It is the feast day of Saint Valentine, though which saint Valentine exactly are we talking about is the big question. As in many cases with saints, they often became cults and got put on the rolls before their true existence could be verified (a few child saints allegedly martyred by Jews comes to mind). But the feast of St. Valentine—whoever he or they were—was first established in 496 by Pope Gelasius I, who included Valentine among those "... whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose acts are known only to God."  In other words, “We don’t know who this is either.” In fact, “Saint Valentine” was taken off the Roman calendar of saints because of this discrepancy, as were other saints of questionable existence, like Saint Christopher (but according to Catholic sources, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still venerate them, it’s just that their official feast day is off the calendar. Venerate away, if you will).

There is one Saint Valentine mentioned in the official Roman Martyrology whose feast day falls on February 14, and this was the one who, in Chaucer’s day, became associated with romantic love. The Golden Legend, a medieval bestseller on the lives of the saints written by Jacobus de Voragine around 1260, offers his version of a Saint Valentine who was martyred by Emperor Claudius in 280 for refusing to deny Christ. St Valentine is credited with restoring the sight and hearing of his jailer’s daughter before he was beheaded. Later versions have him writing notes to her and signing it, “love, Valentine,” where, presumably, we get our Valentine’s cards. This myth might have been started by Sir Hallmark, but it is considered a great deal older.

In Chaucer’s time, we see the flowering of Courtly Love that began in earlier centuries. February 14th is supposed to be the day that the birds begin mating and in the medieval mind, they joined mating to a saint’s feast day and rather invented many of the legends that have come down to us.

February 14th should also be remembered for the day that poor King Richard II died. He had reigned for 22 years before he was deposed and replaced by Lancaster’s son, Henry Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV. He died on February 14, 1400, having been starved to death. His body was returned from Pontefract Castle to London and displayed at various locations along the way to convince the populace that he was really most sincerely dead, but despite the evidence of their eyes, Richard sightings, much like Elvis, continued for some time. A Thomas Ward of Trumpington (no, I didn’t make this up) even impersonated him as living in exile in Scotland. Not Elvis. King Richard. Such is the case when a leader is deposed. Anxious citizens wish to bring him back to power, which was ultimately why Henry allowed Richard to die, though the manner of it is actually unknown (did he starve himself to death out of despondency or was he maliciously starved? Chroniclers of the time tend to think the latter or something in-between. It was originally reported that he died at the end of February but contemporary sources seemed to think it was a fortnight earlier. Here is one account: Richard “grieved ever more sorely and mourned even to death, which came to him most miserably on the last day of February, as he lay in chains in Pontefract castle, tormented by Sir [Thomas] Swynford with starving fare.”)

So on that happy note, we leave you to suss out your own Valentine’s Day celebration. Mourning Kind Richard or smooching with your honey? I’ll do a little of both.    

Book Club Guide

So I've included a Book Discussion Guide on my website for Veil of Lies. I came to the necessity of this when I attended my first book club, talking about VOL. The ladies of Long Beach were all very gracious with interesting questions and helped me put this guide together with their pertinent questions and helpful suggestions. Thanks Barbara and Co!

I learned that honest-to-goodness book clubs really appreciate having these guides as it helps them decide which book to choose next for their reading and discussion pleasure. They also read author's websites, the publisher's websites, blogs, and anything they can get their hands on. So here it is. Discuss away! And I'd be happy to answer any questions as well. Email me!

Medieval Horses

Horses then as now were an expensive enterprise. Not everyone owned a horse, but if you were a knight you were certainly expected to have one. Chevalier, the French word for knight, means horseman, from cheval, the French word for horse. It’s where we get the term chivalry, and in fact, its original meaning is a collection of these mounted men, the “chivalry of England,” for instance.

Horses have been around a good long time, but not necessarily in the places we think of them as roaming now. They were eaten in prehistoric times, like any other herd animal, but around 4500 BCE, someone thought it might be a good idea to climb onto one of these fellows and have a ride and they’ve been domesticated by one civilization or another ever since, though there is still one remaining breed of wild horse, the Prezwwalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) or the Mongolian horse. Other horses such as Mustangs are feral versions of domesticated horses and aren’t true wild horses.

There is a fine article on medieval horses—the styles of horses, colors, etc,--by author Elizabeth Chadwick for which there is very little for me to add, so I’m directing you there.

A Crispin Guest Short Story

There is a never-before-seen Crispin Guest short story to be found on Crispin's blog (yeah, everyone seems to have one). Go here to read it.

Canterbury Tales Rap

Oh yes. You heard me. If Geoffrey Chaucer lived today--and since he is my homeboy--he would surely be rapping his tales instead of putting them on parchment. Yo yo verily! Check it out! It is soooo great!

Smithing Swords

Also from 2007, the companion piece to the interveiw below.

Recently we talked with a bloke who makes swords. Didn’t think there would be much call for that these days, did ya? But there is, in fact, from interested collectors all over the world. But what about making these swords? Our smith held that info close to the breast and wouldn’t reveal his secrets, but we have many other sources to tell us how the medieval swordsmith went about his work.

First, you have to start with a forge. Wood burnt down to charcoal and then kept very hot with the subtle manipulation of air through the fire is essential. A Master in his field would employ apprentices and journeymen, learning the trade from the Master, living with him and exploring all aspects of metal work. They’d help with fanning the forge, keeping it fed, helping to manipulate the metals, and, of course, cleaning up after their master. This wasn’t an ordinary smith. He wouldn’t likely be shoeing your horse. And although many might consider smithing an art and craft, the swordsmith was a cut above this.

 

Carbon steel was the metal of choice. There was iron a’plenty to be had in Europe and England and with the addition of carbon from the forge, the metal alloy was created by the constant striking and melding of carbon and iron, the turning and folding on itself, precisely as one would make a pastry with layers of dough and layers of butter folded over one another and rolled out time and again. This is called pattern welding.

 

The raw steel is beaten into a rough shape. Then the blade is tapered for the tang (the part that will become the hilt) as well as the tip. This is done by drawing out these portions by careful hammering when the metal is hot.

When the tang is complete, a smith will use a tap and die set to poke holes in the tang in order to fasten the wood blocks that will become the grip. The smith will then work the blade, working only small sections at a time, heating it up to a red-hot temperature and hammering it to shape and length, constantly flipping it over to even out the shape and thickness. Heating the blade and allowing it to cool is known as normalizing the steel, which allows the crystalline structure of the steel to smooth out. When the steel is repeatedly heated, it allows the iron and carbon molecules to combine, creating a steel alloy.

Before the next phase of grinding and polishing, the steel is annealed. This means it is heated again and allowed to cool very slowly, as long as a day, before it can be soft enough to cut or engrave. Also the edges are filed to a thin width in order to allow for sharpening.

Then the blade is again heated and then stuck into a bath of oil (not water) called the quench tank. The oil in the quench tank causes the blade to cool rapidly and evenly. This is a dangerous point in the making of a sword and where the master differs from the apprentice or journeyman. It can’t be taken out too soon or left in too long. If the blade is not evenly cooled at this point it can warp and then the process must begin anew. This makes a very hard blade and may then be tempered. It is heated again—though not as hot as before—and quenched again. This is repeated several times, making the steel even harder.

 

After the swordsmith is satisfied, the making of the hilt can begin. The guard is either welded in place or held there by the hilt. Blocks of wood are fastened to the tang. A pommel is last and keeps all snug. The topmost part of the tang is bent over and hammered, holding the pommel in place. The wood for the hilt is shaped and smoothed and then covered in leather. Then the blade itself is polished and sharpened.

 

The sword is then ready to be presented to its owner. A sword was not merely a weapon to be used in war. Any Freudian can tell you that such a symbol was also of masculinity and power.  It represents the owner’s skills, his mastery over others. A sword is used to make a knight, of kingship (as in Excalibur in the stone), of mission (the shape of a sword held hilt up is in the shape of a cross), and of death.

So of course I use the lack of this weapon for my character Crispin to show his powerlessness, his emasculation amongst his peers. And how he rises above that lack.

 

I like swords for their physical beauty as well as those features cited above. A decent sword cannot be made on an assembly line. A man with a forge must still be employed to make this weapon. I like that tie to the past. I like that there are still some things that must be made this way, as they have always been made for thousands of years.

 

Some sources: Uden, G. A Dictionary of Chivalry, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1968., Norman, A. V. B., The Medieval Soldier. New York, 1971., Oakeshott, Ewart, Records of the Medieval Sword, Woodbridge, 1991., Oman, C. W. C., The Art of War in the Middle Ages, Ithaca, NY, 1953., Beeler, John, Warfare in England, 1066-1189, Ithaca, NY, 1966., Hrisoulas, Jim, Pattern-Welded Blade: Artistry In Iron, Boulder, CO. 1994.,Bezdek, Richard H., German Swords and Sword Makers: Edged Weapon Makers from the 14th to the 20th Centuries, Boulder, CO., 2000