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A young woman asked me during a reading, “Why did you write Eleanor of Aquitaine’s history as a memoir, rather than as a straight historical biography?” The short answer is that there are already plenty of historical biographies. The honest answer is more elaborate, taking work to explain. A “straight” historical biography is as good as its … Read more
Blake Morrison reported in Britain’s “Guardian” newspaper that reading may bring lasting relief (“The reading cure,” The Guardian, January 5, 2008). Reporting an “incredible response” to Morrison’s story, the Reader Organisation “decided to run several one-day ‘bibliotherapy’ workshops.” Similar responses came from all over Britain. Morrison studied a reading group near Liverpool that included an … Read more
Eleanor digresses from time to time to instruct her young secretary on how a woman can win in a man’s world: “There have been times since ancient days when Woman is deified,” Eleanor tells Aline. “She attains a stature worthy of worship. Why our sex should be represented in this fashion used to mystify me. … Read more
If you are a constitutional lawyer or historian in an English-speaking country you may have heard of “Clarendon Palace” or “Clarendon Lodge.” From 1164 to 1166 this medieval palace, three miles east of Salisbury, in Wiltshire, echoed with heated argument in Norman French. That debate marked the birthing pains of what is sometimes called England’s … Read more
Our age condemns inquiry Our age condemnsInquiry beyond faith’s paleAs sin. Memes, In Memoriam Eleanor of AquitaineThe Paris years, 1137-’47 On King Arthur’s myth How myth sustains ghosts!Bury the Sibyl’s adage.Let Arthur be dead. Haiku, In Memory of Eleanor of Aquitaine,On the reach of the Sibyl’s adage Ah, Time… Ah, Time,You thief in the storehouse … Read more
Did you ever serve on a jury? You took your seat among a panel of twelve jurors, then solemnly retired from the courtroom to your jury-room sequestered behind a soundproof door. Then came a shock. Seven jurors reached the verdict. The others counted the hands in the air and voted with the majority. That was … Read more
Old stories I recall his face:But his stories? As mist gone,They are heard no more. Haiku, In Memoriam Eleanor of AquitaineRemembering Bleheris, Bordeaux 1130s Preferring love to marriage Héloïse declares,Preferring “Love to marriage,Liberty to chains.” Haiku, In Memoriam Eleanor of AquitaineThe Paris years
“Men have written much, muttered more and understand nothing of our Court of Ladies and my Code of Poitiers,” says Eleanor of Aquitaine, dictating her memoirs to her young scribe, Aline. After troubled marriages to two kings, Eleanor staged a dramatic protest against her husband King Henry II’s lust for his mistress. She packed her household … Read more
Storm wracks the Channel Storm wracks the Channel.To go aboard one babe in arms and one enwombed,Or lose a kingdom? Eleanor takes ship at Barfleur 1154 Gothic time. Then as now as shall be Dwell in the Present.Let life preserve the wholenessIn eternity. Haiku, In Memoriam Eleanor of AquitaineFontevrault 1203 Of light and nature Hold … Read more
This blog reflects me playing with a pet toy, trying to integrate strands from dissimilar themes: Eleanor (Chapter 1): “The many bends along the highroad of my life conceal the vistas between this fleeting moment of pure being and ancient recollections coursing like deerhounds through my brains. In a life of fourscore years and more, … Read more