Author Interview: Blythe Gifford on RUMORS AT COURT

Today, we welcome Blythe Gifford, a long time contributor to the Unusual Historicals blog.  Her twelfth novel, RUMORS AT COURT from the Harlequin Historical line, has just been published and an excerpt was published here https://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2017/05/excerpt-thursday-rumors-at-court-by.html  on Thursday.  She’s offering a free print copy to one randomly chosen commenter, so leave a comment at the end of the interview with your email address before next Sunday, May 21, for a chance to win.

First, here’s a bit about the book.  It is the third book in the Royal Wedding Series, and is set in England, late in the Fourteenth Century. At this time, England’s earlier success against France in the Hundred Years War has slipped away and the once extensive English holdings on the continent are in danger. There is unease in the country and rumors abound about the royal family and the intentions of the enemy.

The story includes a number of real historical figures, as has been the case with the other two Royal Wedding Stories and today’s interview revolves around the joys and challenges of putting real people into historical fiction.

You have had real historical figures in nearly every book.  Why?

I’m drawn to stories about real historical events and often, a story is sparked from wondering how a specific event would affect someone caught up in it.  To answer that question, my characters need to interact with the real people who were part of it.  After all, this collection of events we call “history,” is not dates and facts and battles.  It is what people caused to happen and/or how they reacted to what happened to them.

What do you like about having real people in the book?

To me, my characters are just as “real” as the historically documented ones.  And I think

Portrait of John of Gaunt, painted more than 100 years after his death

they, or people like them, might have actually existed, if we could just peek behind the curtain that hides the past from us.  So to make the situation real, it has to be as close to real people and events as I can imagine.  And I have discovered that when I am forced to understand a character in order to make that person  live on the page, it helps bring the period to life.  This can be particularly true of recognized historical figures, who, too often, have been turned into stick figures by the history books.

What are the drawbacks and challenges of including historical figures?

When a character, a king, for example, is well known, there is a certain perspective of the kind of person he was and it is difficult to violate that.  Since I write primarily in the medieval time period, details of temperament are scarce.  Even contemporaneous portraits for this period are nearly impossible to find.  This is particularly true of women, for whom, often, it is hard to pinpoint such basic information as dates of birth and death.  I’ve included many well-known (at least, to medievalists) women in my books:  Alice Perrers and Joan of Kent, for example.  For most of these women, not a single full-length, scholarly biography has ever been written. 

Ostensible portrait of Constanza (Constance) of Castile

That is certainly true of Constanza of Castile, who appears in RUMORS AT COURT.  Most of what we know of her must be inferred from meagre references in other sources, particularly biographies of her husband, John of Gaunt.  Katherine Swynford, Gaunt’s mistress and also a character in the book, has been slightly better covered, primarily because of Anya Seton’s novel KATHERINE.  For me, for this story, that was a particular challenge because I have known, and loved, Katherine’s story for most of my life.  From that point of view, which was Katherine’s as a heroine, Constanza was little more than Gaunt’s means to the throne and  a vessel for his child.  Constanza was portrayed as an unpleasant, overly religious woman who kept to herself and hated England.  Suddenly, in my book, I had to understand and portray both women, in a way that made sense for the story.  It made me much more sympathetic.

And do you ever fudge the facts?

In order to tell a story, you inevitably have to streamline, leave things out, tell the essentials that affect this story, but may not tell the whole story.  For example, Geoffrey Chaucer,

Possible portrait of Katherine Swynford

English poet and author of “The Canterbury Tales,” was part of Gaunt’s household and married to Katherine’s sister.  It’s a wonderful historical tidbit, but I could not find a way to drop it into the story without making it feel gratuitous.  I did include a reference to love such as “the poet” wrote of.  And my editor, who knows the period well, recognized the poet as Chaucer and the allusion to his “Book of The Duchess.”  But you do not have to know that background to understand the story.

My books are historical romance, not non-fiction, but I try not to violate the reader’s trust.  If a reader goes on to explore more books about the period, and I always hope she does, my goal is that she will never feel betrayed by my choices.  All my books except for the first contain an author’s afterward, in which I can explain where I took liberties with the facts and a little of what came after the book ends.

You always use real historical figures as secondary characters.  Have you ever thought of writing a fictionalized biography?

No! That would create too many constraints.  I like having my own characters, and drawing on my own imagination to see their stories develop.  I don’t think I could rationalize even the minor historical license I do take if I were telling the story of a real person. 

So now a question for commenters:  How do you feel about real historical figures in fiction?  Any examples of books in which it has worked particularly well?  Or, have you ever learned something about history from a work of fiction?  Leave a comment before May 21 for a chance to win a copy of RUMORS AT COURT.

About the author:

After many years in public relations, advertising and marketing, Blythe Gifford started writing seriously after a corporate layoff. Ten years and one layoff later, she became an overnight success when she sold her first book to the Harlequin Historical line.  Since then, she has published ten books, primarily set in England and on the Scottish Borders, most revolving around real historical figures and events.  For more information, visit her webpage: www.blythegifford.com, find her on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlytheGifford

Instagram: www.instagram.com/blythegifford

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/blythegifford

Twitter www.twitter.com/BlytheGifford

Or Goodreads:  www.goodreads.com/author/show/672889.Blythe_Gifford

Author photo Jennifer Girard - Other illustrations in Public Domain

 Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  All rights reserved. ®and T are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under license. Copyright 2017

Excerpt Thursday: RUMORS AT COURT by Blythe Gifford

Today, we have a peek at the newest release from long-time Unusual Historicals contributor Blythe Gifford, RUMORS AT COURT, out now from the Harlequin Historical line.  Blythe will be back on Sunday for an interview about the book.  She’ll be focusing on the joys and challenges of using real historical figures in fiction, so this excerpt includes a scene featuring several of the real people who are part of the story.

 

RUMORS AT COURT is the third Royal Wedding story.  All three are set in the 14^th century English court of Edward III.  This time, while the royal wedding in the book is that of Edward’s son Edmund to Isabella of Castile, the royal marriage at the center of the book is that of Constanza of Castile, Isabella’s older sister, to John of Gaunt, Edward’s third son.  Through marriage to Constanza, Gaunt assumed the title of King of Castile. Also a character in the book is Katherine Swynford, who became Gaunt’s mistress.  (Blythe wrote about her here.)

 

But the center of the story is the romance between two fictional characters, who serve John and Constanza.  Here’s a recap:

 

Wed by royal command! 

Widow Valerie of Florham wants nothing more than to forget her abusive marriage and live peacefully at the mercy of no man. She'd never have dreamed of a liaison with handsome Sir Gil Wolford, but then comes a royal decree—they must wed! 

Gil craves military conquest in Castile, far from his haunted past. Marriage to Lady Valerie is the last thing he should want, yet both have truths to hide from the rumormongers at court. They have no choice…and, once wed, the marriage bed changes everything!

RTBookreviews gave it a 4-Star review, writing “delights on every level, from the sumptuous settings to the whispered…rumors spinning through the royal court.  …Gifford’s characters are always well developed and…deeply resistant to a new passion…until, of course, love gets its way…”

 

From Chapter One of RUMORS AT COURT:

The Savoy Palace, London—February 9^th, 1372

 

The English and Castilian ladies were shepherded into the palace and then to the Hall side by side, close enough for Valerie to hear the foreign chatter. She could not follow all the words, but the lilt of the language, the faint scent of Castilian soap, seemed familiar.

Perhaps her blood remembered these things. Blood that had come from another Castilian woman exiled to England, generations ago. Like Constanza, Queen of Castile, she, too, had been taken from her home and sent to a distant place.

Valerie touched the brooch of copper and enamel on her gown, a reminder of her long-dead relative. She must hold her head high amidst the unfamiliar trappings of court. Soon enough, she would be allowed to return to the earth of her home and her garden, slumbering now in winter.

The Queen reached the front of the Hall and turned to face the room. Valerie squinted, trying to see her clearly. She was fair, even sallow. Were her eyes blue? Too far to see, but her nose looked longish for the fashion, her figure tall and sturdy.

Her looks, in truth, were unimportant. Her gift to her husband was her country, not her beauty. And a woman, even a royal one, had no more choices than any other woman. She must marry for reasons of state, no matter what her heart. And if she wanted to be Queen in fact instead of just in name, this woman needed a man both willing and wealthy enough to fight for her kingdom.

Suddenly, the Queen touched a hand to her belly and the curtain of women around her closed tightly.

Were the rumours true? The Queen had arrived in England months ago, but had stayed in the country, some said because of the early ills of being with child.

The Duke—Valerie could still not think of him as a king—would have wasted no time getting an heir on her. They both needed to prove they could produce another generation to sit on Castile’s throne, so that might be the reason the woman did not look her best. All would be forgiven if she bore a son.

Something Valerie had failed to do.

‘She looks so young,’ Lady Katherine, next to her, whispered.

Valerie murmured something that might be mistaken for assent. The Queen was nearly Valerie’s own age and only a few years younger than Lady Katherine. Katherine, too, was newly widowed and had three children of her own. She might be feeling the length of her life.

Though she mourns her husband no more than I do mine.

She could not say how she knew. They had met only recently and never spoken of it, but Valerie felt certain that they both recited the requisite prayers for the loss of a husband while secretly revelling in their new freedom.

The line of ladies shielding the Queen parted. The Queen had settled into a chair at the front of the hall beside the Duke. Her sister came to stand beside her and the procession of lords and ladies shuffled into line to be presented.

Valerie, following Katherine, was surprised and honoured that she had been invited to this ceremony. Her husband had been a knight, but a lowly one. Lady Katherine’s husband had been the same, but she was here because she took care of the Duke’s children by his first wife. Now, she would move into his second wife’s household, a strong link to what the Queen needed to know about England and, perhaps, even about her husband.

As Valerie was presented to at least a dozen of the Queen’s ladies, she was called upon to do little beyond nod politely. The Queen’s people smiled, silent, not attempting the unfamiliar tongue.

Even the Queen remained impassive in the face of all the introductions. Surely the poor woman had absorbed nothing about the strangers paraded before her.

Then, Valerie heard her name called and knelt before the Queen. A flurry of conversation, the Duke, speaking to the interpreter, who then spoke to the Queen.

Descended from one who came to England with Eleanor of Castile, wife of the first Edward.

Ah, it was her ancestor who had brought her here, the woman who had served that other foreign Queen nearly a hundred years ago.

Finally, the Queen understood and nodded. ‘Habla la lengua de sus antepasados?’

Now she was the one who struggled to understand. Speak? Did she speak…?

She was a widow now. She could speak aloud, even to a queen, without looking over her shoulder for her husband’s permission. And yet, the language of Castile was as foreign to her as hers was to the Queen.

She shook her head. ‘Only enough to say Bienvenida.' That meant welcome. At least, she thought it did.

It was enough to make the Queen smile. ‘Gracias.’ She stretched out a hand, touching the brooch with reverent fingers, then spoke to her interpreter.

‘La Reina wishes to know, is the brooch you wear hers?’

Valerie smiled. ‘Yes, Your Grace. It, too, came from Castile.’ The Queen, the story went, had been generous to her ladies.

Nodding, this Queen cleared her throat and spoke, each word careful and distinct. ‘We to meet again.’

The words touched her like a benediction. ‘I hope so, Your Grace.’

Valerie paused to kneel before the Duke—no, the King—barely looking at him as she hugged the Queen’s words close to her heart.

When she rose, still smiling, and turned away, it was to come face to face with the knight she had seen earlier at the Duke’s right hand. Dark, ragged brows shielded pale blue eyes. His nose and cheeks were sharply carved. He looked to be a man, like her husband, more at home in battle than in the Hall.

She nodded, courteous. Waiting.

‘Lady Valerie, I am Sir Gilbert Wolford.’

Her momentary glow faded. ‘The man they call The Wolf.’

The one who had commanded her husband to his death.

  

About the author:

After many years in public relations, advertising and marketing, Blythe Gifford started writing seriously after a corporate layoff. Ten years and one layoff later, she became an overnight success when she sold her first book to the Harlequin Historical line.  Since then, she has published ten books, primarily set in England and on the Scottish Borders, most revolving around real historical figures and events.  For more information, visit her webpage: www.blythegifford.com, find her on

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlytheGifford

Instagram: www.instagram.com/blythegifford

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/blythegifford

Twitter www.twitter.com/BlytheGifford

Or Goodreads:  www.goodreads.com/author/show/672889.Blythe_Gifford

Author photo Jennifer Girard  Excerpt © 2017 Wendy B. Gifford, all rights reserved

Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  All rights reserved. ®and T are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under license. Copyright 2017

Mistresses: María de Padilla, Practical Queen of Castile

María de Padilla and Pedro of Castile with María's coat of arms 

By J. K. Knauss 

María de Padilla met King Pedro of Castile during the summer of 1352, when she was eighteen years old, “intelligent, beautiful, and small in size,” according to contemporary chronicles. The king, who was also eighteen at the time, recognized in her a kindred spirit, and she quickly became the love of his life. Although Pedro’s monarch status obliged him to marry more politically advantageous women, María’s willingness to accept his love outside the bonds of matrimony earned her an important place in European history and the royal gene pool. Indeed, it’s difficult to take two steps in Sevilla and in some parts of Castilla y León today without coming across a monument dedicated to her, a room she lived in, or a monastery she founded.

A salon in the King Pedro area of the Royal Palace in Sevilla
Photo by J. K. Knauss 

King Pedro (r. 1350–1369) has not one but two sobriquets recorded in the history books: the Cruel, or the Just. This reflects the complex panorama of the time. He was loved or hated, but no one was indifferent to his policies in a war with Aragón, or his stance regarding what would become the Hundred Years War. These were the early days of sociopolitical turmoil following the Black Death, which had already devastated the Iberian Peninsula and would strike again during Pedro’s reign.

María came of noble lineage, and many of her family members were appointed to high offices at court. It was probably inevitable that she and the king would meet at some time, but it happened to occur during a trip the king made to Asturias to deal with Enrique, his half-brother who would eventually kill him and take the crown, beginning the Trastámara dynasty.

The Salon of María de Padilla as it was furnished in 1892.
Courtesy of pastpictures.org 

Many stories have circulated about the king marrying María in secret soon after he met her, and later glossing over the legally valid ceremony because of political pressures to marry Blanche of Bourbon, first cousin of the King of France. The marriage failed spectacularly, and a later one was also short-lived and lacking issue. María, on the other hand, gave Pedro four children: Beatriz, who became a nun at Tordesillas; Constanza, who married John of Gaunt because King Pedro’s loyalties really lay with the English; Isabel, who married Edmund of Langley; and a son who didn’t survive childhood.

Her unsanctioned relationship with Pedro caused the historians of her time to overlook her accomplishments. While it’s possible she stayed out of the political arena, it seems unlikely she never told the king what she thought of any of the volatile issues of his reign. She is on record as buying expensive properties and founding the convent of Santa Clara de Astudillo. All of the buildings associated with her feature elegant mudéjar and Gothic architecture.

The author pretends to be María de Padilla on a hot September day. 

María died at about 27 years of age in 1361, possibly as a result of plague. Her body was buried in the convent she had founded. But her remains were soon transferred to join other members of the royal family in the royal chapel in the cathedral of Sevilla, where they still rest today. This move could have been motivated by Pedro’s continued devotion, but it was also strategic in gaining recognition of María’s son, Alfonso, as Pedro’s heir. In any case, María de Padilla is remembered as Pedro’s queen, in the practical sense if not by law.

The "Baths of María de Padilla" below the Gothic area
of the Royal Palace in Sevilla are actually
the rain catchment system. Photo by J. K. Knauss 

Although mostly unappreciated in her time, María’s story has captivated novelists and artists ever since. A nineteenth-century opera offers two emotional interpretations of her historical status. In the first version, which was rejected by censors, María seizes the crown from Blanche of Bourbon’s head and then commits suicide. In the final version, Pedro proclaims María as his queen instead of Blanche, and María perishes from the overwhelming joy of attaining what later critics believe must have been her most fervent wish.

A driven fiction writer, J. K. Knauss has edited many fine historical novels and is a bilingual freelance editor. Her historical epic, Seven Noble Knights, will be released by Encircle Publications December 11, 2020. J. K. Knauss earned a PhD in medieval Spanish with a dissertation on the portrayal of Alfonso X’s laws in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which has been published as the five-star-rated Law and Order in Medieval Spain. Look for her book based on the Cantigas, coming in 2021. On the contemporary side, her YA/NA paranormal Awash in Talent was published by Kindle Press. Find out more about her writing and bookish activities here. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter, too!

Meet My Protagonists...Forced to Wed in RUMORS AT COURT

In RUMORS AT COURT, scheduled for release in May, 2017, I did something I had never done before:  I had a heroine who had been previously married.

While in a romance novel, this created an additional character challenge, (one has to then explain her previous husband and their relationship) it did something more important.  It allowed Valerie of Florham to hope for a life other than that of a wife.  Widows had the potential for a kind of freedom available to no other medieval woman - on her own, without a husband constraining her every move.  (See http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2016/05/my-characters-lived-in-14th-century.html for my post on this subject.) 

Of course, that was not to be.

My main characters are fictional, but the story includes a number of real historical figures.  The book, the third Royal Wedding Story, is set in England, late in the Fourteenth Century.  The English king’s son has assumed the title of King of Castile, by virtue of his marriage to the previous king’s daughter.  Soon, he plans to seize Castile from the current ruler and establish his own court there.

My hero, Sir Gil Wolford, plans to go with him.  But before they sail, Castile’s “king” insists Gil marry the widow.

A medieval garden, similar to that of my heroine.

Gil is no more eager to wed than Valerie, but for very different reasons.  He has spent his life trying to prove himself worthy, despite his scandalous family background.  Before he marries and sires a son, he wants to sit at the right hand of the King of Castile, in the palace of Alhambra, as far away from his past as possible.

Valerie longs only to be left in peace in the garden she has created on land that her family has held in England for generations.

At this time, England’s earlier success against France in the Hundred Years War has slipped away and the once extensive English holdings on the continent are in danger.  There is unease in the country and rumors abound about the royal family, the intentions of the enemy, and about Valerie and Gil.  Neither is certain who can be trusted, including one another.

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter One, when the two first meet.  Gil, whose company included Lady Valerie’s late husband, has a final commander’s duty to perform.  One he wants completed quickly.

***

When Lady Valerie turned to meet his eyes, for a moment he could not speak.

Now he could see her plain.  Fair skin.  Dark eyes that changed expression when she knew him for who he was.  Was it his family history or his reputation in battle that erased both smile and sadness?  No matter.  Now, he faced a strong, impenetrable shield, through which he could glimpse no emotion at all.  Until then, he would have judged her a woman who needed protection.  Now, he thought she would have been an asset on the battlefield.  “Some have called me that,” he answered, finally.

A silence.  Awkward.  “What do you want of me?” she said, finally.

The time had come.  “Your husband served in my company.” 

She glanced down at the floor.  “I know.”  Had her sadness returned?  Would there be tears?

He hurried to speak.  “Then you know that the siege was broken by that attack.  That his death was not in vain.”

“That is a comfort, surely.”

Her tone suggested otherwise.  “He was a worthy fighter.  His death was a blow.”

Now her gaze met his again.  Her shield had not slipped.  “More so to me.”

Ah, then she blamed him for the man’s death.  She had the right.  “Men die in war, no matter what we do.”  War was not what those at home imagined.  It was not…glorious.

He pulled the stained, crumpled silk from his tunic.  “Your husband was carrying this when he died.  I thought to return it to you so you would know he treasured the thought of his wife.”  He waved it in her direction.  A poor, limp thing, even more wrinkled and dirty now than it had been when he took it from the man’s body.

She did not reach for it.  Instead, she recoiled, as if it were a live thing with teeth. 

He shook his outstretched hand, wishing to free himself of it.  “Do you not want it back?”

“Back?”  The word, barely a whisper.  Then, she lifted that hard, impenetrable gaze and met his eyes again.  “It was never mine.”

***

After many years in public relations, advertising and marketing, Blythe Gifford started writing seriously after a corporate layoff. Ten years and one layoff later, she became an overnight success when she sold her first book to the Harlequin Historical line.  Since then, she has published eleven romances set in England and on the Scottish Borders.  RUMORS AT COURT, a Royal Wedding story, is a May, 2017 release from the Harlequin Historical line.  For more information, visit www.blythegifford.com

Author photo Jennifer Girard. Excerpt © 2017 by Blythe Gifford. Cover Art used by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises Limited.  All rights reserved. ®and T are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and/or its affiliated companies, used under license. Copyright 2017

The Intellectuals: Alfonso X’s Contribution to World Science and Culture

By J. K. Knauss 

Juan Diego portrays
Alfonso X on the
series Toledo

He has a portrait hanging in the US House of Representatives in the Great Lawgivers series. A moon crater bears his name. His name is on the largest unified collection of annotated medieval music. Why do so many fields of inquiry praise the intellectual efforts of Alfonso X, el Sabio? What mark did he leave on the world to make us think he was so learned?

The short answer: his books.

In the General Estoria, we read: “The King makes a book, not because he writes it with his hands, but because he outlines the facts in it, and edits it and makes it right, and shows the way in which it is to be made… Just as we say that the King makes a palace, we don’t say it because he constructs it with his hands, but because he ordered it to be made…” The Book of the Sphere discusses at length the way King Alfonso worked as general editor. He came up with the idea for the book and what it should contain, and then went through it to take out extraneous parts and correct infelicities.

Alfonso X oversaw these projects to give himself access to the best knowledge in order to learn how rule his country more wisely, and a great additional benefit was that the books were created in Castilian and in Latin. They could then be consumed by Alfonso’s Castilian-reading subjects and Europeans farther afield. A wise populace is the beginning of a wise kingdom, and wise foreign friends make for smooth dealings and further the cause of that wise kingdom.

The collaborators made use of the finest sources available. They accurately cite Aristotle, the early Christian saints including Augustine, and eleventh-century philosophers such as Pedro Alfonso and Aelred of Rievaulx, to give the most basic examples. The scope of the intellectual activity has led to many scholarly volumes. Here’s a list of highlights.

The Alphonsus Crater on the Moon. Wikimedia Commons

Astronomy

• Alfonsine Tables

• Picatrix

• Book of Knowledge of Astronomy

• Book of the Forms and Images

• Book of the Fixed Stars

• Book of the Sphere, etc.

(More about Alfonso X’s astronomy on Unusual Historicals inJuly.)

Other Science

Lapidario—A book of erudition about types of stones.

Alfonso X in the US House of Representatives

Law

• The Fuero Real—A pragmatic town charter that was granted to new towns in order to begin regularizing the rule of law throughout Alfonso’s kingdoms.

• Espéculo—Elegant and comprehensive legal theory with practical applications as an afterthought.

• Siete Partidas—A great book of medieval thought that also served as the basis of Spanish law for centuries.

• Specialized books of law—The Book of Gambling Houses, the Book of Frontier Commanders, various ordinances, etc.

History/Wisdom

• Book of Calila and Digna—This charming book is the first work of Castilian prose narrative. Based on ancient Indian texts via Arabic sources, two jackals (or lynxes) tell each other fables to illustrate complex and sometimes conflicting points of wisdom.

• Setenario—Often classed with the legal works, this book obsessed with the number seven is an unfinished compendium of the most secret kinds of knowledge and how to apply them.

• History of Spain—Tells the story of the Iberian Peninsula from the end of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the thirteenth century.

• General History—An astoundingly wide-reaching world history from Biblical times.

Music/Religion

• The Cantigas de Santa Maria—The largest collection of written medieval music in the world. More than 400 praise and miracle songs in Galician Portuguese for the Blessed Virgin with fun melodies and gorgeous illustrations. I attempted to describe how wonderful this collection is in this post. I investigate one exciting cantiga in this post.

Alfonso's sculpture at the National Library in
Madrid emphasizes intellect with books and a scroll.

Pastimes because leisure is important for refreshing the intellect.

• Various cantigas de escarnio e mal dizer—Profane, sometimes grotesque, mostly humorous, and at least one moving account of the weariness of a king in failing health (“Non me posso pagar tanto”).

• Libro de ajedrez, dados e tablas—A comprehensive illustrated compendium of chess strategy for the troubled intellectual. Ways to play dice, backgammon, and other games of chance are not as highly regarded.

Much of this body of work had far-reaching impacts in medieval Europe and modern world. The astronomy inspired and informed Copernicus, and the law works influence decisions even today in the American Southwest.

In order to begin my studies of Alfonso X, I had to vastly broaden my fields of expertise in addition to the strictly literary training I’d had up to that time. Perhaps Alfonso X’s greatest wisdom lay in the voracity with which he pursued all intellectual subjects. It seems there was nothing the Wise King wouldn’t want to investigate and read about further.

Simon R. Doubledays’ biography (The Wise King, New York: Basic Books, 2015) seamlessly weaves the trials and tribulations of Alfonso X’s life and times into the writing of the body of work he left behind. He makes a good case that Alfonso X based his intellectuality on the model of polymath Muslim princes. Indeed, the translators and compilers frequently relied on rescued ancient documents in Arabic. Doubleday’s book is an excellent overview of a fascinating king—I learned a few things I didn’t know before. 

My tribute to Alfonso's contribution to world culture, Our Lady's Troubadour, lets you experience the Cantigas de Santa Maria in a fun new way! 

Jessica Knauss earned her PhD in Medieval Spanish with a dissertation on the portrayal of Alfonso X’s laws in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, which has been published as the five-star-rated Law and Order in Medieval Spain. A driven fiction writer, Jessica Knauss has edited many fine historical novels and is a bilingual freelance editor. Her historical novel, Seven Noble Knights, is available from Encircle Publications in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. Find out more her writing and bookish activities here or here. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter, too!