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

Weddings in History: Royal Weddings in Fourteenth Century England

Today, in the 21^st century, the world loves English royal weddings.  Rare, precious, full of pomp and tradition and ceremony (and fashion), the ceremony marking the union of Prince William and Kate Middleton drew millions, some say billions, of viewers from around the world.

The most recent English Royal Wedding.

Seven centuries ago, the 14^th century English court also recognized the value of such a ceremony.  Edward III was famous for founding the Order of the Garter, with its references to the legendary court of King Arthur.  This was a ruler who understood the power of myth and spectacle.  So, when I embarked on my books centered on 14^th century English royal weddings, I imagined, they would be similarly grand affairs, celebrated in the public eye and documented in detail for the ages.  After all, what could be more important than the union of royalty?  Usually, such unions united countries, not just humans.  So there should be a public and well observed commitment, witnessed far and wide.

The truth was somewhat different.

Technically, Edward III and his queen, Philippa, were married by proxy, before she even arrived in England from her native Hainault (now Belgium) late in 1327.  The ceremonial procession into London was a well-established ritual in these days, and the soon-to-be queen was welcomed with much “public celebration.”  The city of London even gave her a very expensive set of “plate,” which might have had as much to do with gratitude for their ongoing trading opportunities with her homeland as for their joy at welcoming her as queen. 

The formal wedding was held in York, nearly 200 miles to the north, an unusual place for such a

York, site of Edward III's wedding

ceremony.  But it seemed the archbishop of Canterbury, in the south, had recently died, so they decided to have the archbishop of York perform the service.  Perhaps it also presented the advantage of a royal journey to and from there, which might have helped to establish the position of the newly crowned king and his bride.

There are conflicting reports, however, of how ostentatious the actual ceremony was.  The English crown was cash strapped at that time and Edward’s mother had confiscated Philippa’s dowry and, by some reports, already spent it.  Others suggest that the wedding celebration was nearly as lavish as Edward’s coronation, the year before.  Silk cloth of gold draped the dais and the throne.  Jewels, silver, and gold were imported from France.  In addition to the ceremony and the feasting, the exchange of gifts between the bride and the groom was an important part of the pageant.  Philippa presented her husband with an illuminated manuscript.  More than a book, it reportedly contained copies of two pieces of music performed at their wedding.

Much of the information we have on these occasions comes not from the chroniclers or from eye-witness reports, but from royal records and account books, listing clothing and gifts ordered and received.  Indeed, in many cases, we have more detail on the gifts royal brides and grooms exchanged than we do on the exact festivities.

Edward and Philippa had twelve children, eight of whom lived to marry (some of those more than once).  While we cannot describe in detail the ceremony for every child, we do know enough to know that they were not all the same.

One, the unfortunate Joan, died on the way to her wedding to the son of the king of Castile.  But the wedding that had been planned was of the scale appropriate to the uniting of the children of kings.  Joan’s trousseau alone was rumored to have needed an entire ship to transport. 

We do have a record of the wedding dress that had been prepared for her, made of rakematiz, a thick silk shot with threads of gold.  Two other magnificent gowns, one green, one brown, both heavily embroidered, may have also been intended for wear on the wedding day, when a bride might be expected to change for various parts of the celebration.  (And you thought that was new?)

Edward, the Black Prince

In contrast, the wedding of her younger sister, Mary was not as extravagant, perhaps because of the rank of her husband.  She married John de Montfort, who claimed the title Duke of Brittany, but was actually raised in the household of the king of England, as he was unable to secure his position.  Wikipedia claims “no record of the wedding survives,” but, of course, the royal inventory does list the wedding dress, made of cloth of gold, lined and trimmed with ermine, and, based on the amount of material used, with a very long mantle.  While it sounds extravagant, the rest of the list indicates that her wedding was much more modest than her sister’s.  And, indeed, she and her husband simply continued to live in the English court after the ceremony and she died before her husband returned to Brittany.

You would expect the wedding of the oldest son and heir to one of the most lavish.  In reality, it was a much different affair.  Edward (the son), whom we know as the Black Prince, married Joan of Kent in a clandestine ceremony, not sanctioned by the church.  (See my post here:  http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2014/06/hea-or-not-edward-black-prince-and-joan.html)  Because their children had to be sanctioned as legitimate heirs to the throne, such an “unofficial” marriage could not stand and the Pope had to be called in for special dispensations to sort out the mess before they could be legally wed.  As a result, we have no information on the first ceremony and the second, official, one was also subdued.  The usual round of tournaments that marked such an affair was dispensed with.

The second wife of the third son, John of Gaunt, Duck of Lancaster, was Constance, who claimed the throne of Castile.  Because of her stature, and because John claimed to be king of Castile by marrying her, I

Constance of Castile

expected a lavish, public display.  Instead, the wedding took place “off-stage” in France, before he brought her across the Channel.  We have only a date and a place.  However, when they returned to England, an elaborate welcome procession into London was prepared and “Queen” and her delegation were escorted to John’s magnificent palace on the Thames.

So it seems that in Fourteenth Century England, a public procession served as a suitable substitute for an ostentatious ceremony.  After all, more people could witness the display, including many who would never be invited to the wedding itself. 

Think of it as a medieval substitute for CNN or the BBC coverage.

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.  WHISPERS AT COURT, a Royal Wedding story, was a June 2015 release from the Harlequin Historical line.  For more information, visit www.blythegifford.com

Author photo Jennifer Girard

Photo credits:  York Minster: "YorkMinsterWest" by Andy Barrett (User:Big Smooth) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:YorkMinsterWest.jpg#/media/File:YorkMinsterWest.jpg

"Constança de Castela, Duquesa de Lencastre - The Portuguese Genealogy (Genealogia dos Reis de Portugal)" by Creator:Antonio de Hollanda - Image taken from The Portuguese Genealogy / Genealogia dos Reis de Portugal.Originally published/produced in Portugal (Lisbon), 1530-1534.This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections. Catalogue entry: Add MS 12531 - Online viewer (Info)Deutsch | English | Español | Français | Македонски | +/−. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Constan%C3%A7a_de_Castela,_Duquesa_de_Lencastre_-_The_Portuguese_Genealogy_(Genealogia_dos_Reis_de_Portugal).png#/media/File:Constan%C3%A7a_de_Castela,_Duquesa_de_Lencastre_-_The_Portuguese_Genealogy_(Genealogia_dos_Reis_de_Portugal).png

Royal Carriage By Robbie Dale (Flickr: Royal Carriage) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Excerpt Thursday: WHISPERS AT COURT by Blythe Gifford

Today, we have a peek at the newest release from long-time Unusual Historicals contributor BLYTHE GIFFORD, Whispers at Court, out now from the Harlequin Historical line.  And Blythe will be back on Sunday for an interview about the book.   

One lucky visitor today or on Sunday will get a free copy of Whispers at Court. Be sure to leave your email address in the comments for a chance to win. Winner(s) are contacted privately by email.

The second Royal Wedding story, set again in the 14^th century English court, it shows a little-known slice of medieval history:  the treatment of noble hostages during the Hundred Year’s War between England and France.  Blythe posted more about that here: http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-battlefield-and-beyond-noble.html

King Edward’s daughter Isabella ultimately married Enguerrand de Coucy, a French hostage and WHISPERS AT COURT centers on the romance between their two fictional friends.  Here’s a glimpse of the story:

Lady Cecily scorns the French hostages held at court. Treated as honoured guests, the men play at love games – and Cecily fears that her mistress, the Princess, might be disgraced. War-weary chevalier Marc de Marcel wants only to return home. Uncertain whether his ransom will ever be paid, he makes an unlikely alliance with enticing fire and ice Cecily. He’ll help her keep the Princess safe from ruin if she’ll help him escape. A pact which could lead them into a scandal all their own...

RT Book Lovers gave it 4-stars, saying “Gifford creates memorable characters and stories with such passion and authenticity that they capture the hearts of fans worldwide."

**An Excerpt from Chapter One of WHISPERS AT COURT**

 

The Court of Edward III, King of England, at Westminster

November 1363

     The minstrels’ horns signaled the beginning of a new dance.  Cecily searched the room, hoping for rescue.  She should join the dance with a partner who might become a husband, not with a hostage.

     And the hostage had not offered his hand.

     Well, then, if she were trapped, she would attempt to be gracious.  She pursed her lips.  “You are from the Oise Valley?”

     A frown, as if the reminder of home had angered him.  “Yes.”

     “And do they dance there?”

     “On occasion.  When les goddams give us a pause from battle.”

     She blinked.  “The what?”

     He smiled.  “It is what we call the Anglais.”

     “Why?”  Did they wish to curse the English with every name?

     “Because every sentence they utter contains the phrase.”

     She stifled a smile.  Her father, indeed, had been known to swear on occasion.  She could imagine that he would have had many more occasions in the midst of battle. 

     But she held out her hand, imperious as the princess could be.  “If you can dance, then show me.”

     “Is this part of a hostage’s punishment?”

     “No,” she snapped.  “It is one of his privileges.”

     “Then, pray, demoiselle, tell me your name, so I may know my partner.”

     He shamed her with the reminder.  Anger had stolen all her senses.  She was acting like a common serving girl.  “Lady Cecily, Countess of Losford.”

      The surprise on his face was gratifying.  He looked at her uncovered hair and then glanced behind her, as if expecting an earl to be hovering close behind.

     “I hold the title.”  At once a matter of pride and sadness.  She held it because the rest of her family was gone.  Held it in trust for a husband she did not yet know.

     His nod was curt, yet he held out a hand, without hesitation now, as if that had been his intention from the first.

     Surprise, or something deeper, unfamiliar, stirred when she put her fingers in his.  She had expected his hands to be soft, as so many of the knights’ had become now that war was over.  Instead, his palm was calloused; his knuckles scraped.  Wounds from today’s joust, she thought at first, but in the passing torchlight, she saw he carried scars of longstanding.

     They joined the carol circle.  On the other side, Lord de Coucy and the king’s daughter Isabella smiled and whispered to each other as if the evening had been prepared for their amusement.  That man showed not a whit of resentment at his captivity, while beside her, de Marcel glowered, stubbornly silent as the music began.

     They could not have been more unlike, these two.

     Carol dancing, with its ever-moving ring of dancers holding hands, did not lend itself to talk.  And he moved as he spoke, with precision, without excess, doing only what was necessary.

     She wondered whether this man enjoyed anything at all.

Certainly he did not enjoy her.  When the dance was done, he dropped her hand quickly and she let go a breath, suddenly realizing how tense she had been at his touch.

     He stood, silent, looking around the Hall as if searching for an escape.  And yet this hostage, this enemy could, if he wanted, lift a goblet of the king’s good wine, fill his belly with the king’s meat and his ears with sweet music played by the king’s minstrels, all the while alive and comfortable while her father lay dead in his grave.

     “What did you do,” she asked, “to earn the honor of substituting for the other hostage?”

     “Honor?”

     “You were defeated in battle, you killed my…countrymen, yet the King welcomes you to his court where you have food and wine aplenty and nothing to do.  It seems a generous punishment for defeat.”

     “A prison with tapestries is no less a prison.”

     “But you are safe.  You may do as you please.”

     “And if it please me to go home?”

     And yet her father would come home no more.  “You must pay some penalty.  We conquered you!”

     As the words escaped, she saw his expression change.

     “No!  Not conquered.  Never conquered.  We were betrayed by cowards.  Lord de Coucy and I were not among them.  We would have fought until the last goddam was dead.” 

This time, it was a curse he hurled.

“So you hate the English,” she said.  Blunt words, but he was a blunt man.

     “As much as you the French,” he answered.

     “I doubt that,” she said, sheer will keeping her voice steady.  “But since you detest us and disdain the king’s hospitality, I hope your time here will be short.”

     He bowed then, the gesture a mockery.  “In that, my lady, we are in accord.”

© Blythe Gifford, all rights reserved

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 www.blythegifford.com

Author photo Jennifer Girard

Lovers: The Princess and The Hostage

By Blythe Gifford

King Edward III of England had a total of nine children who lived to adulthood, and he worked hard to make sure they made marriages that would serve his medieval kingdom well.  For the most part.  But he had a soft spot for his eldest daughter, Isabella and although many matches were proposed for her, at age 28, she was still unwed.  Most historians suggest this was by her own choice and that she was content to remain at home with her parents, their favorite daughter, living in comfort, luxury, and with all the royal status of her rank.

Her parents provided her with enough lands and holdings to give her an independent means of support.  And when that did not suffice (often, it did not, for Isabella was known as a profligate spender), the king covered her debts.  She settled into a comfortable, if unorthodox life for the time. “The Exception Who Proves the Rule,” as historian Jessica Lutkin called her. 

Then, in 1359, England captured the king of France in a major battle, which entitled England to demand an enormous ransom for his return.  As part of the resulting complex treaty, a number of French noblemen were sent to England, to be held hostage until the money was paid.

Chateau de Coucy, France

One of these was Enguerrand, Lord de Coucy.  A powerful French lord, he had inherited his title at a young age and began his career on the battlefield at 15.  By the time he was 18, he was commanding men to suppress an uprising of French peasants.  When he arrived in England as a hostage, he was only 21, seven years younger than Isabella.

According to the rules of chivalry, these French hostages were treated more like guests than prisoners and treated to a succession of feasts and celebrations throughout their captivity.  (For my post on this see:  )  De Coucy, in addition to his prowess in war, excelled at the courtly arts.  According to Jean Froissart, recorder of all events of King Edward’s reign, "...the young lord de Coucy shined in dancing and caroling whenever it was his turn. He was in great favor with both the French and English..."

What woman could help but notice such a man?

History does not record when or how Enguerrand and Isabella met.  Did she admire him in the dance and call him over?  Did he present himself with a flourish?  Did their eyes meet and then…

Sadly, Froissart recorded none of this.  And so, when I wrote WHISPERS AT COURT, I was forced to create my own explanation.

But the spinster princess was obviously taken with the young Frenchman.  It is difficult to believe that the relationship could have developed without her active encouragement.  Was she suddenly thinking, as she reached 30, that she wanted a family of her own? 

Isabella had nearly wed at 19, a man of her own choosing, who was also a Frenchman, but one allied with the English.  Her parents had agreed and settled on the details, providing her with a huge and extravagant trousseau.  Five ships were loaded and waiting to whisk her away to Gascony, where the ceremony was to take place.  Then, at the last minute, Isabella refused to go. 

 

Why?  No one seems to know.  While they describe her trousseau in great detail (the silk mantle, lined with ermine, stitched in silver and gold embroidery, the robes of cloth of gold and crimson velvet), they do not record why a young woman who had chosen her own husband would turn back at the docks at the last minute.

So the aging princess who met the charming French hostage had a history of getting what she wanted, no matter what the cost.  Did she pursue him?  Some have said she married for love alone.  Others have suggested her father nudged her along.  Though England and France were, for that moment, at peace, having a key nobleman as part of the family could help balance the French king’s supporters.

And what of de Coucy?  Perhaps he the hunter.  And if so, what drew to this woman?

De Coucy's English arms as Earl of Bedford

Upon their marriage, he did have restored to him some English lands his family had once held.  He received an English title and had his ransom forgiven.  Those things were not trivial, but they hardly seemed to equal his life in France, where he had one of the grandest chateaux, dominion over vast lands, and was widely respected position as a leader of men.

 

But married they were, in July, 1365, at Windsor Castle in a lavish ceremony.  The amount spent on their wedding far exceeded that for Edward’s other daughters, yet more evidence that Isabella was, by far, his favorite.  Once again, history tells us more about the couple’s possessions than their emotions.  Apparently, the groom, as well as the bride, was given a crown. 

 

She was 33.  He was 25.

A few months later (was it reluctantly on her part?), Isabella and Enguerrand left for France, with official word from the king that “that all children, male or female, who at any time may be born to them abroad, shall be considered capable of inheriting lands in England, and shall be as fully naturalized as though they were born in the realm, all ordinances, establishments, customs, or usages .of the kingdom, notwithstanding.”

There were children.  Two daughters were born to them in France, but for Enguerrand and Isabella, there was no lifelong happy ending.  When Edward III died in 1377, de Coucy gave up his English title and lands and returned his loyalty to the French king.  Isabella, who had traveled back to England frequently, returned home for good with their two daughters, and the couple lived apart for the rest of her life.  She died in 1382.  After her death, Enguerrand remarried, another Isabelle, this one the daughter of a French duke.  They also had a daughter, who did not live to adulthood.

De Coucy spent the rest of his life in wars and fighting, finally dying of the plague in 1396, after being taken prisoner while on crusade in Turkey.

And their children?  Marie de Coucy, born nine months after their wedding, married a French nobleman.  Philippa de Coucy married an English lord.  Somehow, seeming to prove that England and France had not, perhaps could not, be fully reconciled.  Even by love.

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.  WHISPERS AT COURT, which revolves around the romance between Isabella and Enguerrand, will be released in June, 2015. For more information, visit www.blythegifford.com

Author photo Jennifer Girard

Illustration credits: "Sir Enguerrand de Coucy, 1st Earl of Bedford, KG" by Rs-nourse - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Enguerrand_de_Coucy,_1st_Earl_of_Bedford,_KG.png#mediaviewer/File:Sir_Enguerrand_de_Coucy,_1st_Earl_of_Bedford,_KG.png

"Dessin Château-de-Coucy Rempart 011" by Collectionneur: Destailleur, Hippolyte (1822-1893) - Bibliothèque nationale de FranceCote : BNF Richelieu Estampes et photographie Rés. Ve-26j-Fol. DestailleurProvince, t. 5 , n. 1281 . microfilm A031428Identifiant: 07741283(Originally uploaded at fr.wikipedia; description page is/was here.). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dessin_Ch%C3%A2teau-de-Coucy_Rempart_011.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Dessin_Ch%C3%A2teau-de-Coucy_Rempart_011.jpg