I am so pleased to have Margaret Brazear visiting today to
share her inspiration and research for THE LOVES OF THE LIONHEART. Be sure to
also check out her newest book, THE CAVALIER’S PACT about the restoration of
Charles II to the throne. Please comment below to welcome her here.
As an author
and historian, I am drawn to historical fiction, but I have a peeve about
inaccuracies and always try to be sure my history is authentic. I have, in the
past, shied away from fictionalising real historical characters, as none of us
know what they were really like nor ever will. Even contemporary chronicles
tend to be biased in favour of their own opinions.
For a long time
I have been fascinated by Queen Berengaria, the wife of Richard I. I wanted to
write a novel about her, and I entitled it ‘The Love of the Lionheart’. But as
I began to research Berengaria and her relationship with Richard, I found that
his former betrothed, Princess Alys, deserved more than a mention.
Princess Alys was
the daughter of the King of France and was betrothed to Richard at the age of
only 8. She was sent to England to be raised with his family, as was the
custom, but the tangle of relationships during the period is quite fascinating
in itself.
Whenever Alys
is mentioned in fiction, she seems always to be portrayed as a scarlet woman
type of character, but the more I read about her, and not much is written, the
more I came to believe that she was badly used by both her own family and
Richard’s.
When she should
have married Richard, he chose instead to follow his real love, that of being a
soldier. He was a military genius, given the nickname of The Lionheart during
his lifetime for his bravery and skill. But he left Alys alone with his father,
a known lecher, and he seduced her, giving Richard the ideal excuse to reject
her.
Chronicles of
the time state that he was in love with Berengaria, the daughter of King Sancho
of Navarre, and it seems she was certainly in love with him. She mourned him
for thirty years after his death and even gifted a lucrative vineyard to a
monastery in return for prayers for Richard’s soul. This, at a time when she
was still trying to get her rightful pension from King John and having to
borrow money from her sister.
The couple were
married in Cyprus, and Richard took time out of his journey to the Holy Land to
host a three-day celebration for the marriage. He took her, along with his
sister Joanna, to Palestine with him, but it seems his wife saw little of him
while there and when the crusade ended in a truce, instead of accompanying him
to England, she seems to have made her way, with Joanna, to Rome to visit the
Pope. Why, we can only speculate.
What we do know
is that Richard disguised himself as a pilgrim for his journey to England, probably
fearing some danger from his enemies, and that his fears were justified. He was
captured and held to ransom by the Emperor of Austria and was imprisoned for
two years, before his wife and his mother raised the enormous ransom of 150,000
marks for his release.
Thereafter, he
returned to England, again without his Queen, got himself crowned again, then
returned to Europe to regain some of the territories his hapless brother, John,
had lost during his absence.
His exploits
and his debauchery reached the ears of Berengaria, but they also reached the
ears of the Pope, who sent the Bishop of Lincoln to tell him to return to his
marriage.
I hope my
readers will enjoy my own interpretation of these princesses who lived more
than 800 years ago, but should not be forgotten.
Facebook author
page: https://www.facebook.com/margaret.brazear.authorspage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargaretBrazear
Website: http://www.historical-romance.com
Please share this post so others can enjoy it, too. Thank you!
Facebook: Margaret
Brazear appears on Caroline Adams’ blog to talk about the inspiration for her
book, THE LOVES OF THE LIONHEART. http://bit.ly/2yJXgN1
Twitter: #HistoricalFiction #writer @MargaretBrazear shares
the inspiration for THE LOVES OF THE LIONHEART at http://bit.ly/2yJXgN1
I was born in
London, England in 1948, and have studied English history since I was able to
read. My last employment before retiring was as a driving instructor, and I
have some funny stories about that, but I love writing, so historical fiction
is the way to go. I have had some success and gathered some regular readers.
I love animals
of all shapes and sizes, but my special love is for dogs. I have had the
privilege of owning dogs all my life, including three Newfoundlands, the gentle
giant of the canine world.
Should anyone
wish to read some of my books for free, all they need do is to visit http://www.historical-romance-readers.com
where they can subscribe to my mailing list and receive links to download three
of my most popular books.
No comments:
Post a Comment