Women played a significant role in the Crusades, whether as pilgrims, or supporting the army or, on occasion, as Queens Regnant of Jerusalem, Carol McGrath writes. And, although Richard I’s role in the conflict is well known, few people are aware of the roles of his sister Joanna, or his wife, Berengaria. The Crusades were […]
The Empress Matilda and the stolen crown
Carol McGrath’s novel The Stolen Crown retells the extraordinary story of the Empress Matilda and her fight to gain the throne of England during the 12th-century civil war known as the Anarchy. It’s a period, as she says, of “thrills, jeopardy and unforgettable characters”. When I began to write Empress Matilda’s story I wondered if […]
Review: Battle Song by Ian Ross
Carol McGrath finds Ian Ross’s latest book, Battle Song, “a thrilling ride plunging headlong into a fabulous recreated historical world of chivalry and adventure.” Read her review to see what impressed her so greatly. Battle Song by Ian Ross is set during the mid-13th century. Henry III has been king for many years but has […]
Henry VIII, impotence and the thorny question of male heirs
Henry VIII died 475 years ago, on 28 January, 1547. To mark the occasion, we asked the author Carol McGrath to draw upon her new book, Sex and Sexuality in Tudor England, to examine the king’s notoriously turbulent sex life. She focusses on the driving force behind his many marriages: his obsession with fathering a […]
Opus Anglicanum: the beauty of medieval English embroidery
Some of the most prestigious fabrics of the 13th and 14th centuries were produced by women, in secular workshops as well as in religious orders throughout England. Carol McGrath writes about the luxurious garments that gave her the background for one of the characters in her latest novel, The Silken Rose. English embroidery was once […]
Top ten books about the Russian Revolution
At Queens University Belfast, I read Russian Studies and English for my first degree. My enjoyment of novels set in Russia has never left me. The centenary of The Russian Revolution is an opportunity for me to revisit books that are set just before, during and in the immediate aftermath of the revolution. These selected […]