New Audible review - The Queen of Last Hopes

"Excellent story and audiobook"

Most of what I've read about the War of the Roses has been from the point of view of the Yorkists. The Queen of Last Hopes narrates the story from the Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou and it's quite different from the she-wolf that is portrayed in the Yorkist accounts. Higginbotham manages to make the reader care and sympathize with Margaret even tho she makes more than one mistake. Margaret's son, Edward who is also often portrayed as nothing but pure evil, is also given a less one dimensional personality. The story is told from Margaret, Henry VI, Edmund Beaufort, and Prince Edward's perspective. A less skilled writer would turn these many POVs into a mess, but in Higginbotham's book, it helps to tell the story, and give insight to the reader into the characters' minds and more importantly it does not feel as if they are all the same character. I plan to pick up more books from Higginbotham after having such a great experience with this story.

There are many characters to voice in this book and Quinn does a superb job at voicing each one of them and making them different. However, I did find Margaret's voice and French accent sounded a bit to forced and it seemed too slow for my taste. There are a couple of humorous moments in the book, and Quinn performance brings them to life providing a couple of chuckles in an otherwise quite serious reading. Overall, I enjoyed the performance, but I found the pacing a bit off.

Happy Coronation Stabbed-in-the-Eye Day from Margaret of Anjou and Kit Marlowe!

Posted May 30, 2013

http://www.planestrainsandplantagenets.com/2013/05/happy-coronation-stabbed-in-the-eye-day-from-margaret-of-anjou-and-kit-marlowe/

May 30 is my favourite day in the entire historical calendar. Today in 1445 Margaret of Anjou, my very favourite historical figure ever, was crowned at Westminster Abbey. And today in 1593 Christopher Marlowe – playwright, atheist, spy, Queen’s man, man’s man, man about town  –  was stabbed in the eye in a pub fight in Deptford.

Of course we mostly see both of them through the lens of Shakespeare. Margaret is the biggest character Shakespeare ever wrote – she spans four plays, the three Henry VIs and Richard III, from age 14 to age ghost. She flirts, schemes, stabs people, suffers, triumphs and mourns. And Marlowe is Shakespeare’s sexy ne’er-do-well older brother. Marlowe picks theological fights, mocks Jesus, spies for the Queen and has bumsex with male students. Shakespeare sits around speculating in grain, dreaming of the upper middle class and a nice coat of arms. (It’s so tempting to want Shakespeare to have a cracking sexy backstory like Marlowe’s. I’m convinced this is the entire reason behind the ‘Marlowe wrote Shakespeare’ authorship hypothesis – it involves the Gay Atheist Spy faking his own death to write the works of Shakespeare and wouldn’t that be just so cool?!?!)

They were both very young when their May 30 event happened – Margaret had just turned 15, and Marlowe was 29.

Margaret was on the ascendant. She had married Henry VI of England by proxy in France and travelled to England in the style of a Queen of England, where she married Henry in person in April 1445. In May she travelled to London for her coronation, and at every stop, she was entertained with pageants and shows on the theme of peace. Margaret’s marriage and queenship represented peace between England and France, and she took her rights and responsibilities extremely seriously. (Her focus on the Lancastrian right would be something of a theme of the Wars of the Roses.)

Marlowe was coming down. He had been an excellent student at Cambridge (he would), was a popular playwright, had intriguing connections with the secret service and had travelled in both the glittering and the seedy parts of northern Europe. But Marlowe was also a bit of a smart mouth about religion, which was bad news as England was becoming increasingly tense about both Protestant refugees from Europe and potential Catholic plots against Queen Elizabeth. He was arrested for heresy on May 20 (and released). He spent May 30 in an inn with three other intelligence agent types, who probably murdered him.

What’s attractive about both of them to me is something very modern. Margaret of Anjou and Christopher Marlowe basically go ‘fuck you, I’m right’ to the world. They’re both half legendary, and that legend is incredibly appealing: confident, self-assured, sexually assertive and satisfied, lively and active. And on May 30 their legends are at the height – Margaret celebrating the absolute right of Lancastrian queenship, and Marlowe in a scruffy dramatic bar brawl with spies.

There are other iconoclasts in medieval and early modern English history, but I don’t think there are any with such powerful myths as these two. So happy Coronation Stabbed-in-the-Eye Day! They’re both pretty great, but maybe try to celebrate it Margaret-style rather than Marlowe-style.

 1400s-1500s, Christopher Marlowe, Margaret of Anjou

The enigma of the symbol stones

http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/picts/symbolstones.htm

The Symbol Stone on the Brough o' Birsay.

If there is one item that has come to typify the Picts in Scotland, it must surely be the numerous ornately carved symbol stones they left behind.

No-one really knows, with any degree of certainty, why these enigmatic stones were erected or the significance of the symbols carved on them. But, as with all things Pictish, there are theories aplenty.

Some scholars exclaim they were territorial markers, others that the stones commemorated great people or events.

It has also been suggested that symbols may denote the rank of an individual within the community, perhaps recorded marriage treaties, or were a means of representing personal Pictish names.

The significance of the symbols

Pictish symbols usually occur in pairs and around 50 are known.

The symbol stone from the Knowe o' Burrian in Harray, now on display at the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall.

These include animals, such as the salmon, deer and bull, birds such as the eagle and goose, “monsters” such as the infamous Pictish Beast and more enigmatic designs such as the crescent and V rod, comb and mirror and double disk.

These symbols, it has been suggested, predate the symbol stones and were perhaps based on the tattoos the Pictish tribes used to decorate their bodies.

From body adornments, which may have had symbolic or magical properties, the symbols may have been transferred onto objects such as jewellery, shields and doorposts before finally ending up on the symbol stones.

Pictish symbol stones are generally found in the north-east of Scotland, with clusters found along the eastern coasts and into the Highlands.

A handful of symbol stones, mostly fragments, have been found in Orkney, the most spectacular and well-known being the stone found at theBrough o' Birsay. But compared to the numbers found in the heart of Pictland, actual symbol stones in Orkney are comparatively rare – only 11 examples of Pictish symbols have been found so far.

Historians and archaeologists have classified the symbol stones into two distinct groups, depending on the form of the stone and the symbols found thereon.

Class I	The Class I stones are believed to be the earliest, having symbols carved into larger boulders or stone slabs. These are thought to have been carved in the sixth/seventh centuries AD, but continued to be created well into the period of the Class II stones.
Class II	The Class II stones feature symbols carved in relief on rectangular, shaped slabs. These stones often feature Christian elements or scenes alongside the Pictish symbols and are found around the Moray Firth and Tayside in Scotland. Class II stones are thought to date from the eighth and ninth centuries AD – a time when the Picts were converting to Christianity.

Orkney's symbol stones

As mentioned above, 12 examples of Pictish symbols have been recorded in Orkney.

These are:

Brough of Birsay	Symbol stone fragments excavated in 1935. Replica now stands on site. The original fragments in the National Museum, Edinburgh.	Crescent and V-Rod Mirror Case Pictish Beast Eagle Triple Warriors
Redland,Firth	Fragment discovered in 1860s - built into the wall of a cottage. Now in the National Museum, Edinburgh.	Decorated rectangular symbol (shield?) Crescent and V-Rod
Pool,Sanday	An undressed stone slab marked with a rough double disc symbol. Currently in Orkney Museum.	Double disc Circular motif
	Decorated bone pin	Double disc Z-rod
Orphir	Recorded in 1939 - two decorate stones. Probably still built into the walls of the Earl's Bu.	Crescent and V-rod (both stones) Rectangular symbol.
Oxtro Broch	Stone slab covering a burial cist. Current location unknown.	Eagle
Knowe of Burrian,Harray	Rectangular flagstone found in 1936. Thought to have been part of the broch. Current in Orkney Museum.	Eagle Crescent and V-rod Mirror
Greens	Found at the farm of Greens in 1926. Now in National Museum, Edinburgh.
Broch of Gurness,Evie	Stone found in 1935, on a wall between broch outbuildings. Now in Gurness visitor centre.	Rectangular symbols Mirror case.
St Peter's Kirk, South Ronaldsay	This stone, decorated on two sides, formed the kirk's window sill until the 1850s. Now in National Museum, Edinburgh.	Crescent and V-rod and Mirror case Crescent and V-rod and rectangular symbol.
Tankerness	Found in 1986. Now in Orkney museum.	Seahorse.
Sands of Evie, Evie	Fragment found in 1967. Now in Orkney Museum.	Mirror
Sanday	First Class II stone found in Orkney. Uncovered in 2011, during renovations to a house on the island.	Christian cross and a Pictish “sea creature” symbol.

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England

http://war_of_roses.enacademic.com/213/Margaret_of_Anjou,_Queen_of_England

Called Queen Margaret of Anjou

after Unknown artist
coloured line and stipple engraving, probably late 18th century

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England

(1430–1482)

   Queen Margaret of Anjou, wife of HENRY VI, was the effective leader of the house of LANCASTER from the mid-1450s to 1471. The daughter of René, duke of Anjou, a French nobleman with unrealized claims to various European Crowns, Margaret was betrothed to Henry VI in 1444. Her marriage sealed an Anglo-French truce negotiated with her uncle, CHARLESVII, by Henry’s ambassador, William de la POLE, earl of Suffolk. Married to the king on 23 April 1445, Margaret was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 30 May. Intelligent and energetic, the young queen at first took little part in politics, although she soon associated herself with Suffolk and the COURT faction, which held paramount influence with Henry in the late 1440s. She also became a strong advocate for the peace policy that had made her queen, and she helped ensure the implementation of Henry’s promise to surrender the county of Maine to the French in 1448.

   In 1450, the loss of Normandy swept Suffolk from power. Embarrassed by financial weakness and shackled by a king who was unfit to rule, Suffolk’s unpopular government collapsed amid charges of treason leveled by such opponents as Richard PLANTAGENET, duke of York, the childless king’s probable heir. As an increasingly bitter rivalry developed between York and Edmund BEAUFORT, duke of Somerset, Suffolk’s successor as chief minister, the queen, who viewed York as a threat to the throne, identified herself closely with Somerset. In August 1453, Henry VI fell into an uncommunicative state that rendered him incapable of ruling (see Henry VI, Illness of); in October, Margaret gave birth to a son, Prince EDWARD OF LANCASTER, who displaced York as heir. To safeguard the rights of her child, Margaret sought the regency, but her claim was rejected in favor of York, who was named protector by PARLIAMENT in March 1454.

   Henry’s recovery ended the FIRST PROTECTORATE in 1455, but the continuing efforts of Margaret and Somerset to destroy York led the duke and his new allies, Richard NEVILLE, earl of Salisbury, and his son, Richard NEVILLE, earl of Warwick, to take up arms. At the Battle of ST. ALBANS in May 1455, the Yorkists killed Somerset and seized the still ailing king, thereby instituting the SECOND PROTECTORATE. In 1456, Henry recovered sufficiently to dismiss York as protector but remained too weak-minded to govern effectively.Over the next three years, Margaret assumed leadership of the anti-York faction. Although she participated in Henry’s LOVEDAY reconciliation of 1458, the queen largely withdrew her husband from LONDON and kept him under her influence in the Midlands. With the outbreak of war in 1459, Margaret outmaneuvered her enemies at the Battle of LUDFORD BRIDGE in October, and York and the Nevilles fled the country. In November, the queen used the COVENTRY PARLIAMENT to strip her opponents of their lands and offices through the passage of bills of ATTAINDER. However, in the summer of 1460, Warwick captured the king at the Battle of NORTHAMPTON, allowing York to return from IRELAND to lay formal claim to the Crown. When Parliament passed the compromise Act of ACCORD, which left Henry king but made York his heir, Margaret, who was in WALES with her son, rejected the disinheritance of the prince and gathered forces to oppose the Yorkist regime. These armies slew York and Salisbury at the Battle of WAKEFIELD in December 1460 and then defeated Warwick and recovered the king at the Battle of ST.ALBANS in February 1461. Because her unruly northern army had caused much destruction on its march south (see March on London), London was wary of admitting the queen’s men, and Margaret eventually retreated, allowing Edward, earl of March,York’s son, to enter the capital and be proclaimed king as EDWARD IV. On 29 March, Edward defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of TOWTON, forcing Margaret to flee into SCOTLAND with her son, husband, and chief supporters.

   The regency government of JAMES III gave the Lancastrians refuge in return for the surrender of BERWICK. In 1462, Margaret traveled to FRANCE and convinced LOUIS XI to give her a small force, with which she invaded Northumberland and captured the castles of BAMBURGH, DUNSTANBURGH, and ALNWICK. In the next year, the three fortresses were lost, recaptured, and lost again; Margaret and her son were reduced to poverty and several times forced to wander lost and alone along the northern coasts. In August 1463, Margaret and the prince crossed to France, where they remained until 1471. Although the queen engaged in continuous plotting against the Yorkist regime, the Lancastrian cause was dead until revived in 1470 by Warwick, who, having lost influence with Edward IV, sought to reclaim his political dominance by restoring Henry VI. Having formerly accused the queen of many vile things, and having questioned the legitimacy of the prince, Warwick was cordially hated by Margaret, who only consented to talk with him after he made humble submission on his knees. Encouraged by Louis XI, Margaret finally accepted Warwick as an ally and agreed to marry her son to his daughter, Anne NEVILLE (see Angers Agreement). In October 1470,Warwick restored Henry VI, who had been a prisoner in the TOWER OF LONDON since 1465. Margaret and her son landed in England on 14 April 1471, the day of Warwick’s death at the Battle of BARNET. Persuaded by supporters to continue the fight, Margaret was defeated and her son was killed at the Battle of TEWKESBURY in May. Captured three days later, she was carried to London, where her husband was murdered on 21 May, ending the house of LANCASTER. Margaret remained in captivity until 1475, when Louis XI ransomed her as part of the Treaty of Picquigny. Forced by the treaty to renounce all claims to the English throne, she was required by Louis to surrender all rights to her French possessions in return for a pension. Margaret died in poverty in August 1482.

   Further Reading: Dunn, Diana,“Margaret of Anjou, Queen Consort of Henry VI:A Reassessment of Her Role, 1445–53,” in Rowena E. Archer, ed., Crown, Government and People in the Fifteenth Century (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995), pp. 107–144; Erlanger, Philippe, Margaret of Anjou: Queen of England (London: Elek Books, 1970); Griffiths, Ralph A., The Reign of King Henry VI (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981).

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE CHÂTEAU DE MALMAISON

Practical Information The château de Malmaison, purchased by Josephine in 1799 was, together with the Tuileries, the French government's headquarters from 1800 to 1802. When Napoleon moved to Saint-Cloud, Josephine stayed in Malmaison and commissioned a wide range of improvements to the house. She settled in permanently after her divorce in 1809 and died there on May 29, 1814. On returning from Elba, Napoleon visited Malmaison as a place of pilgrimage and stayed there a few days before being exiled to the island of Saint-Helena. In 1861, Napoleon III set up the first museum of the Consulate in Malmaison. It closed in 1870. After many trials and tribulations and breaking up of the estate in many smaller pieces, the château was donated to the State in 1904 by the philanthropist Daniel Osiris and the museum re-opened in 1906. Entirely redecorated in an antique style by Percier and Fontaine in 1800, the château contains a remarkable panorama of art of the Consular period. Visitors enter the building through a porch in the shape of a military tent which opens into the main hall. Passing through the billiard-room, visitors enter the "Salon Doré" where hang two paintings by Gérard and Girodet illustrating the myth of Ossian. The music room, which is currently being restored, contains a few paintings belonging to the now dismantled collection of Josephine, as well as her harp and Queen Hortense's piano. The dining room with its harmony of subtle colours, is a perfect illustration of Pompeian style. The counsel chamber is made to look like a military tent and the library - whose magnificent original decoration has been preserved - contains furniture which was mainly brought from the Tuileries. A secret staircase led Napoleon directly to his rooms on the first floor. As for Napoleon's rooms, the drawing room contains many portraits of members of the imperial family. Hisbedroom is furnished with items brought from several imperial residences. The next rooms in the visit contain some exceptional items, such as David's dramatic painting of "Napoleon crossing the Great Saint-Bernard pass", the First Consul's ceremonial sword and the table-top from the table at Austerlitz, on which the Emperor and his marshals are represented. Amongst the Empresses rooms, there is her extraordinary red and gilt room in the shape of a tent with the bed (designed by Jacob Desmalter) in which she died. The visit ends on the second floor with the room devoted to the Josephine's court trains. Visitors can enjoy a walk in the park which was transformed by Berthault. Inside the park is a rose garden created by Josephine and a summer pavilion restored to its 1814 condition. K.H. trans. P.H. To explore the Malmaison connection further, visit theRueil-Malmaison Itinerary

The Orkney clan

There is one corpus of myth surrounding Orkney that most inhabitants of the county are generally ignorant of.

But this lore, although having Orkney at its centre, is not found in any shape or form within the culture or traditions of the islands.

It surprises many to learn of the major role played by Orkney in the legends and literature of King Arthur, the legendary British king who is supposed to have held back the Saxon advances in the 6th century AD.

At the core of the Arthurian mythos is a group of characters known as the Orkney Clan - King Lot of Orkney and his sons,Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravaine. Arthur's sister Morgause was married to King Lot.

Before we look at the origin of this material, we should recap the tale of King Arthur - a story of magic, chivalry and betrayal.

The main Arthurian tale is well known - how the boy Arthur draws the sword from the stone to become king; how he sets up the fabled Round Table in Camelot and receives the magical sword, Excalibur. Arthur's downfall is ultimately brought about by his son, Mordred, a child he fathered on his own sister, Morgause of Orkney.

Around this central theme are woven a number of sub-plots and stories involving the other members of the Orkney clan, in particular Gawain, one of the best-known knights of the Round Table, and Agravaine.

http://www.orkneyjar.com/tradition/kingarthur.htm

But although the Orkney clan feature heavily in the best-known legends of King Arthur, these stories were actually written around 1470.

Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur is a piece of medieval fiction, although it could be argued that the story does contain heavily-veiled historical and cultural references.

Writing in the 15th century, Malory was the latest in a long list of author's who had adapted and expanded the Arthurian Legends to fit their own ideas. It is within Malory that the Orkney clan first appear and the islands have any sort of prominence within the Matter of Britain.

The development of the Arthurian Legends, from the first pseudo-historical sources to the tales of high chivalry of the Middle Ages is beyond the scope of this short article, but the reader can select from the links on the right for further information.

Suffice to say Le Morte Darthur was just one in a long line of retellings and adaptation of the Arthurian mythology. Prior to Malory, there was no Orkney clan and the Arthurian literature had only a few vague mentions of Orkney, which had no major part in the story.

It would be quite safe to say Malory's Orkney connection was a literary creations from the Middle Ages.

The Orkney connections

So is there any real historical link between the Arthurian legends and Orkney?

In short, no - although we should remember that any traditions surrounding a Dark Ages king, or warrior, in Orkney could have been obliterated after the Norse takeover.

Over the years a number of hypothesis have been proposed as to the historical figure behind the Arthur of legend. A number of these theories have tantalising links to the islands, but these are generally refer to vague historical accounts of conquests or battles.

So, if there was any fabled connection between Orkney and a historical prototype on which the later Arthurian legends are based, it is now lost.

Sir Gawain

THE MARRIAGE OF SIR GAWAIN

Sir Gawain Gawain is generally said to be the nephew of Arthur. His parents were Lot of Orkney and Morgause (though his mother is said to be Anna in Geoffrey of Monmouth). Upon the death of Lot, he became the head of the Orkney clan, which includes in many sources his brothers Agravain, Gaheris, and Gareth, and his half-brother Mordred. Gawain figures prominently in many romances. In France he is generally presented as one who has adventures paralleling in diptych fashion but not overshadowing the hero's, whether that hero be Lancelot or Percivale. In the English tradition, however, it is much more common for Gawain to be the principal hero and the exemplar of courtesy and chivalry, as he is in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the other Arthurian romances of the Alliterative Revival. In Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, however, he has a role similar to that in the French romances, in that Lancelot is the principal hero. The accidental death of Gawain's brothers at Sir Lancelot's hands caused Gawain, one of the mightiest warriors at court, to become the bitter enemy of his once greatest friend. He was mortally wounded in a fight with Lancelot who, it is said, lay for two nights weeping at Gawain's tomb. Before his death, Gawain repented of his bitterness towards Lancelot and forgave him.