Magna Carta clause 39: No man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. This clause in Magna Carta was in response to the appalling imprisonment and starvation of […]
Historia interview: Alis Hawkins
Alis Hawkins writes fiction based in two centuries and two places: England in the 14th century and West Wales in the 19th. But, as she tells Historia, shuttling between the two is easier than you might think. Congratulations on The Black and the White being published! Tell us a bit about your latest novel. My […]
Historia extract: Lionheart by Ben Kane
We’re very pleased to publish a specially-chosen extract for Historia from Ben Kane’s newest book, Lionheart, ahead of its publication on 28 May, 2020. And if you enjoy reading this preview, there’s more Lionheart news to come. 1179. Henry II is King of England, Wales, Ireland, Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine. While they reign supreme, there […]
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 […]
The Black and the White by Alis Hawkins
England, 1349 The Black Death is tearing through the country and those not yet afflicted are living in fear. Martin Collyer wakes up in his family’s charcoaling hut in the Forest of Dean to find his father dead on the bed beside him, half-sewn into his shroud. As Martin’s most recent memory is of being […]
To have and to hold: pawns in the medieval marriage game
Anne O’Brien’s novels imagine the lives of medieval women, almost silent in the records of their times, but important pieces in the games of diplomacy, dynasty and war. She tells Historia about the royal women who married for duty – and those who defied their families to enter a risky love match. Women from royal […]
A Tapestry of Treason by Anne O’Brien
1399: Constance of York, Lady Despenser, proves herself more than a mere observer in the devious intrigues of her magnificently dysfunctional family, the House of York. Surrounded by power-hungry men, including her aggressively self-centred husband Thomas and ruthless siblings Edward and Richard, Constance places herself at the heart of two treasonous plots against King Henry […]
Review: The Bone Fire by SD Sykes
It’s a nerve-wracking thing, a series, warns Catherine Hokin. The author commits to a character, the reader buys in; everyone steels themselves against the nightmare moment when a shark will appear and be thoroughly jumped. Well, fear not, Oswald de Lacy fans, this is a shark-free zone: SD Sykes’s latest outing for her medieval crime-solver […]