On this date, September 8th, in medieval history: 701 – Death of Pope Sergius I 1157 – Birth of Richard I (the “Lionheart”), King of England 1380 – At the Battle of Kulikovo, the Russians defeat the Tartars. 1425 – Death of King Charles III (“The Noble”), King of Navarre… Read More »Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History
I’m about a month late on this news, but this was the first time I read about it. I was on vacation about the time this story came out. Apparently, Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to make a film adaptation of Robert Jordan’s fantasy Wheel of Time series. The… Read More »Universal Pictures and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time
On this date, September 5th, in medieval history: 1187 – Birth of Louis VIII (“The Lion”), King of France 1316 – Pope John XXII enthroned
The historical fiction novel Heretic by Bernard Cornwell is the third and final novel in the Grail Quest Series. For years, Thomas of Hookton has sought the truth of his family and the secrets behind the Holy Grail. It is the time of the Hundred Years War between England and… Read More »Review of Heretic by Bernard Cornwell
On this date, September 4th, in medieval history: 476 – Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, last Roman Emperor of the Western Empire. 1241 – Alexander III, King of Scotland, is born. 1346 – King Edward of England and the Black Prince lay siege to Calais; Bernard Cornwell describes this battle in his historical… Read More »Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History
On this date, September 3rd, in medieval history: 1189 – Richard I (the “Lion-Heart”) crowned King of England 1260 – The Egyptian Mamluks defeat the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut, marking the first time the Mongols had ever been decisively defeated, according to some historians 1346 – Edward… Read More »Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History
It seems that writing dialogue would come naturally to everyone — as naturally as speaking — but writing and speaking are two very different things. The difficulty in writing good dialogue comes with making your dialogue sound like natural speech, but avoiding all of those “uhs” and “you knows” that… Read More »Writing Dialogue (excerpt from my novel included)
In my recent short story The Sea-Ghost, I make mention of William de Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. The following is a brief biographical sketch about him. William de Longespée (also known as “Longsword”) was an English noble born in 1176, and he was the illegitimate son of Henry II,… Read More »William de Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury
On this date, August 29th, in medieval history: 1179 – Castle Chastelet falls to Saladin 1189 – Ban Kulin wrote The Charter of Kulin, which became a symbolic “birth certificate” of Bosnian statehood. 1261 – Election of Pope Urban IV 1350 – Battle of Winchelsea (or Les Espagnols sur Mer):… Read More »Medieval Timeline: Today in Medieval History