DRESSING A REGENCY GENTLEMAN 1790-1830 By Maggi Andersen

Influences: In the 19^th Century, gentlemen cast aside the brightly colored silks and satins of the 18^th Century. Regency men’s clothing adopted a monochromatic color scheme, the war having isolated Britain from the extravagances of French fashion. Influenced by George Brummell, who based his dress on the finest of British tailoring and the military, a more masculine aesthetic developed, inspired by English horsemanship and a classical standard of masculinity as seen in the ancient Greek and Roman statuary.

Men were encouraged to improve their bodies and sought active pursuits such as riding, steeplechases, boxing in saloons such as Gentleman Jackson's, or Fencing schools in London.

We begin with said gentleman stripped:

 

Unlike the 18th Century, where perfume was used to cover body odor, a Regency gentleman would begin his day bathing in hot water. He would forgo any use of perfume, preferring the smell of fresh linen. 

Gentlemen seldom wore drawers. Some just tucked their shirttails into their pantaloons, others, for decorum, employed a lining within their unmentionables.

These were laced closed in the back, the front fastened with two buttons and a fly front. There was plenty of material in the seat for ease of movement, the legs tight and tied at the knees.

The shirt was of lightly starched white linen , with a generous cut in both the body and sleeves. It had to be pulled on over the head, for the neck opening reached from the collar to about mid-chest with a button at the throat. The wide, long cuffs (longer than the coat) featured a tiny button.  

 The stockings were of wool or cotton, even under silk for eveningwear, to obtain a smooth appearance. 

 The waistcoat buttoned up the front. They could be single or double-breasted (like coats) tied at the back with buckles and straps.  Often white or skin-toned to give the impression of a toned chest, in keeping with the neo-classical ideal of a Greek statue.

Detail was all in the front panels, which might be embroidered silk or linen.

Coats were made from dark matte fabrics such as wool, Bath cloth or superfine, purchased from specialist tailors like John Weston’s at No. 34 Old Bond Street or Schweitzer & Davidson on Cork Street, (Brummell’s favorite). They were designed to embrace the back and shoulders, with a high collar to enhance the crisp cravat. They could be broadened in the shoulders – for those who needed it. Pockets were inside. Dress coats or tailcoats had cutaway fronts with tails in the back. They were single or double-breasted with self-fabric buttons. Brass/gold buttons featured on blue coats.
 

Unmentionables. Breeches or pantaloons were worn during the day, made of either doeskin or chamois leather, or a soft stocking-like fabric. In summer, they were made of white linen, stout pale, or nankeen. All had corset lacing at the back, with a fall front, the waistband buttoned to the side with 2 or 3 buttons. Belts were never used. Suspenders or crossed braces produced the necessary fitted line over the thigh. Regency men dressed to one side, the pants cut wider on one side at the top of the thigh, and higher on the other. Button fastenings beneath the knee, assured a smooth look to the leg.
Evening Wear. Breeches or pantaloons were made of black silk jersey, knitted cashmere, or silk-stockinette imported from India. The seam on the outside of the leg might be embroidered or clocked to frame the muscles of the thigh.

Cravats were often a complex arrangement made from long rectangles of mostly white material – Brummel’s were of fine Irish muslin. A triangle cut on the diagonal from a square yard of fabric, was folded twice, and wrapped about the neck, with the ends tied in one of several styles. It was then pressed or rubbed into place by a day-old shirt or a hot iron. Starched cravats were padded with horsehair. Brummell often went through piles of material when attempting perfection while dressing!

The working classes adopted colored cravats, as did the sporting set. Such as the “Belcher” neckcloth, (named after the famous pugilist Jem Belcher, which were also called peacock eyed.)

Next, the boots (of varying length) worn not only for riding and hunting, etc, but also adopted for informal morning wear.  There was the top boot, or English, John Bull, Jockey, or Tall Boot. Hessians, or Hess boot, sometimes called the Austrian. Highly polished of course, with spurs by day. Thinly-soled black pumps were worn for evening.

Lastly the coat: A gentleman would have several caped greatcoats or driving coats made of heavier wool for inclement weather. This gentleman wears Hessian boots. 

To complete the picture:

A cane, which came in a variety of styles, some, like the Venus were quite lavish and suggestive.

Gloves were yellow/buff or brown leather.

Hats were made from beaver – which almost made the animal extinct.

A tall hat, similar to a top hat. 

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A BARON IN HER BED - THE SPIES OF MAYFAIR SERIES BOOK ONE: BUY LINK

Corsets as a status symbol

‘A Corset is of sterling worth in aiding and beautifying the figure.’ 

Have you ever considered a corset as a status symbol; a means of class distinction? Surprising as it may seem the corset once ranked high among the status symbols of our forefathers, or mothers, as the case may be. The woman who could not stoop to retrieve her fallen fan, could exert herself sufficiently to tinkle a handbell for her maidservant who, uncorseted, or at least should be if she wanted to keep her position, could retrieve it for her.

The corset has of course other functions. Its main one being to support and mould the figure into the shape dictated by the fashion of the day. It has always had its erotic associations, making the wearer feel attractive and feminine and no doubt decidedly uncomfortable.

We first hear of the corset in early Mediaeval England, when the Monks wrote of the evils of tight lacing and bustling, saying that it caused deformity. They failed to stamp out this pernicious habit for by the sixteenth century the corset was an accepted part of a lady’s wardrobe. It was made of stiff leather, wood or even iron supports, with large semi-circular side pieces laced on. The stomacher, a flat placard, was fastened to the front and pulled tightly in at the waist, leaving the hips free. Elizabeth I pioneered the use of whalebones in corsets, but as ever, this wily Queen was motivated mainly by economic reasons.

By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, corsets were even worn in the nursery. A lady of quality along with her young daughters, wore a ‘pair of bodies’ stiffened with busks of wood or whalebone with back lacing, the lower part open to ride over the hips.

During the Regency period when clinging, neo-Grecian lines were the mode, the corset fell from favour. Undeterred, the corset makers turned their attention to the male of the species who was at that time preening himself unashamedly. The ‘dandies’ took to the ‘Cumberland Corset’ or the ‘Brummell Bodice’. Even the Prince Regent laced himself into stays and the less kind among his contemporaries considered him to be in need of such support.

It was the Victorian era, however, which saw the corset fashion at its height. The waist reverted to its normal position and tight lacing was once more evident. There is no doubt that much of the ill health and fainting fits of the time were attributed to this. Young girls considered it desirable to marry with age and waist measurements the same - preferably less than twenty-one. A lady of fashion might even have ribs removed to achieve the desired effect and on no account would she be seen without her corset, even in bed.

Metal eye-holes and india-rubber came to be used during the Industrial Revolution and in 1860, elastic panels were introduced. As skirts tightened in the 1870’s so the corset lengthened and here we see the birth of the suspender. The naughty 1990’s saw a devastating array of frills, laces, bows and paint box colours, the most popular being cardinal red and canary yellow, hidden beneath a starched Victorian facade. There were dual purpose corsets with chemise tops which could be used for day and evening wear, in black, white or cardinal silk coutille.

At the turn of the century came the so-called health corset which flattened the stomach, thrusting the bosom forward and the hips back thus creating the mature, solid S-shape. Advertisements emphasised the beneficial effects of these corsets in relieving the hips of the weight of the skirt and preventing stooping. Shoulder braces were also available for wearing over the corset. Well encased, the Victorian mama and her daughter would be quite incapable of stooping.

There were corsets for every occasion. Cycling was becoming fashionable and a special cyclist’s corset with elastic sides was produced. A writer commenting in a shopping guide of a woman’s magazine of 1894 shows the attitude of the day on the wearing of corsets when she says ‘I wish fat people could be persuaded to wear them for tennis.’

In 1902 came the unbreakable corsets with triple steel busks, and in 1903 the featherbone which was composed of quill fibre and claimed to replace old-fashioned whalebone. The ‘solo’ corset of 1905 introduced invisible lacing which could be adjusted by the wearer at the pull of a string. At this time too appeared the reducing corset with an elastic abdominal belt.

After the great war things were never the same again. The boy look of the 1920s brought in the use of ‘flatteneds’, a sheath-like garment which fitted from armpits to thighs and dispelled any shape whatsoever.

In the 1930s came the ‘two-way stretch’ reminding women once more of the comfort and grace of being natural. In the summer of 1939 the corset almost made a comeback, for waists were nipped in and advertisers promised laced up corsets made from the newest materials. The second world war ended this fashion abruptly; women had to work and working women have no time for the restrictions of tight lacing.

Since the war the move has been towards an even greater freedom. The use of nylon and Lycra and the fashion for young, natural lines have released women from a bondage most of us have no wish to see return.

Where is it set?

One of my books, The Gentle Wind's Caress, is set in an area of Yorkshire known as Calderdale. The villages that feature in the book are Hebden Bridge and Heptonstall.

Hebden Bridge is the little bustling village that the heroine of the book, Isabelle, visits to shop and sell her wares on a market stall, but it is the farming countryside around Heptonstall, high up on the moors above Hebden Bride, where Isabelle lives on a run down farm which she tries to keep from going under despite the odds being against her.

Hebden Bridge

The area is naturally beautiful and running through the valley is the Calder River. This part of Yorkshire, like most areas, is steeped in history, and you can enjoy many local attractions, whether that be sipping coffee in Hebden Bridge, hiking along the many walking trails throughout the valley, learning the villages' history at places like Gibson's Mill (this is also Isabelle's surname, as I've made her a fictional distant relative of the mill owners), or visiting natural beauty spots like Hardcastle Crags.

For more information on Hebden Bridge: http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/tourist-info/index.html
For more information on Heptonstall: http://heptonstall.org/

A snippet from The Gentle Wind's Caress:

The cartwheel fell into a hole, jerking her back to the present. She forced herself to relax. Yes, she had married a stranger, but what had been the alternative? Living on the streets would have been much worse and she had to think of Hughie’s future too.

Isabelle raised her chin and concentrated on her surroundings. They’d left Halifax immediately after the wedding tea and driven straight to Hebden Bridge, where Len stopped to purchase goods, which for some reason, he grumbled about. Now, they drove up the steep, winding Heptonstall Road and her new husband had barely spoken to them. She couldn’t blame him really. Obviously, the situation wasn’t easy for him either. She expected that men become equally nervous as women when they married.

Craning to look past Hughie, Isabelle marvelled at the magnificent scenery of the valley below. The grey stone terrace houses of Hebden Bridge hugged the slopes as though they had been hewn from the valley sides. The silver ribbon of the River Calder coiled through the town like a lazy snake. Beside it, caught in glimpses between trees and buildings, lay the Rochdale Canal.

Familiar names in a new and unfamiliar life.  

The muted noise of the small village of Heptonstall greeted them like a soft caress on the wind. The narrow, quiet streets reflected the lateness of the day; many would be inside enjoying their tea. Isabelle took eager interest in the Old Church and Weaver’s Square, and counted seven public houses, but all too soon they left the stone thoroughfare of Towngate and headed northwest on Smithwell Lane and out of the village. She would have to investigate the village properly at a later date.

Isabelle stifled a yawn, she had been awake since before dawn. The day’s toll flagged her strength. She still couldn’t believe she was now married. Opening her eyes wide to keep alert, she surveyed the countryside as it opened up on both sides of the road. The higher they rose, the cooler the weather became and the bleaker their environment. This was moor country. The crisp autumn air awoke her senses. Her gaze lingered on the hues of the heather covered moor. How beautiful it is. Maybe being married and living in the country would be an enjoyable experience. Surely, nothing could be worse than living by Matron’s rules and spending her time hiding from Neville?

To learn more about The Gentle Wind's Caress, which is available in paperback and ebook, visit online sellers such as Amazon, and my Facebook author page.

WARTIME RATIONING by Mary Nichols

I remember World War 2 very vividly although I was only a child at the time and writing about it in The Girl on the Beach, meant doing some research, particularly about food rationing and that set my memory off. The conversations in the queues were often about the progress of the war, the blitz and the damage caused, the casualties, whose son had been posted missing or who had been found safe as a prisoner of war, and the miseries of travel, but more often than not it was about food and how to make the rations go round.

Much of Britain’s food before the war was imported, but what with the ships being needed for conveying troops and armaments and the menace of u-boats, this had to be severely curtailed. We had to rely more on food produced at home. Farmers were dogged by regulations about what they grew and how they grew it, and everyone was encouraged to grow vegetables. ‘Dig for Victory’ was the slogan. Flower beds were dug up, even in municipal parks, in order to grow vegetables.  And pig clubs sprang up everywhere and swill buckets were left in schools and restaurants to feed them

 

The war was less than a month old when ration  books were issued to everyone, each with the name of its owner on the front and the books had to be registered with a grocer, whose stocks were governed by the number of people registered with him. . Rationing began in January 1940, with sugar at 12ozs per week, butter 4ozs and bacon and ham 4ozs. (16ozs to the pound, a pound is not quite 500 grams, so 4ozs is roughly 125 grams) Two months later meat was rationed by price at one shilling and tenpence worth a week. (A shilling converted to 5p in 1972 but that is meaningless now)  Because it was rationed by price, the cheaper cuts gave you more for your money and there were many recipes published and broadcast on the BBC to make the best use of them. Meat was followed by cheese and then preserves, margarine (2ozs a week) and cooking fat (also 2ozs). Eggs and milk were allocated rather than rationed and their supply varied. Bread was never rationed during the war, (although it was afterwards) but we ate the National Loaf  which was a grey colour and was supposed to be more nutritious. As the war progressed the amounts were changed according to available supplies. Food that was not rationed was often in short supply and long queues formed the minute word went round that stocks had arrived in the shops and once the supplies of tinned fruit and vegetables were used up there were no more. Onions, most of which had previously been imported from the Channel Islands, were like gold dust and exchanged hands for exorbitant sums. Oranges, lemons and bananas were unheard of.

I remember the mother of one of my friends gave us some bread and butter (‘Scrape it on and scrape it off again.’ my mother used to say) on which she had spread something she called mock banana. It was mashed potato flavoured with banana essence and it was pretty awful. Children of five who were given bananas at the end of the war didn’t know what to do with them and often tried to eat them skin and all!

I was staying in the country with my aunt who had befriended some American airmen from the nearby base. They told her they had loads of oranges, many of them over-ripe. My aunt suggested they would make good wine if only they had the sugar. To her surprise two sacks of oranges and a sack of sugar was delivered by jeep for her to make the wine. She didn’t have a vessel large enough and so used the copper which stood in the corner of the kitchen. For weeks we had to endure the smell as it fermented. The resulting wine was bottled and the Americans came and picked them up, leaving a few for my aunt’s own use. We were going to my grandmother’s for Christmas and took a couple of bottles on the train with us, putting them with our luggage on the rack above our heads. A little while into the journey there was a loud explosion and everyone dived for cover, thinking they were being bombed. It was only when the sticky orange mess dripped down from the rack did we realise the wine had blown its cork and fear changed to merriment. It took ages to clean ourselves up when we arrived at our destination.

On another occasion while staying with my grandmother in the country, her cat brought in a rabbit she had caught. Grandma shut all the doors and endeavoured to relieve the cat of her catch. Puss was understandably loath to let it go and there resulted a chase round furniture, under the table, round chairs, behind cupboards worthy of a comedy film. The poor cat, hampered by her burden which was almost as big as she was, eventually had to drop it and we had rabbit stew for dinner. I think the cat had her share.

Rabbits were also caught at harvest time. Everyone stood round shoulder to shoulder with clubs in their hands as the reaper felled the last few rows of standing corn and the rabbit ran out. I was too squeamish and let a rabbit run out between my legs, much to my grandfather’s fury. My brother bagged one, but it was taken off him by one of the grown-ups. Again we had rabbit for dinner. We had pigeon pie in those days too, anything to stretch the meat ration. My mother, like many another housewife, became adept at making a few ounces of mince go round the family with lots of vegetables and good gravy.

I remember on one occasion my mother and her sister went to a dance at the American base and came back with a huge joint of beef. My grandfather was furious and called them Jezebels, a favourite word of his. He would have made them take it back, but Grandma was more of a realist and we had a feast the following day. I remember on one occasion when Mother was putting me to bed, I complained of being hungry. Her answer was ‘Go to sleep and forget about it.’ We were never really hungry, never starving as other people in the world were, and my complaint was really only that I felt a bit peckish.  

It seems unbelievable now, when we think nothing of spreading what would have been half a week’s butter ration on a single slice of toast, or cracking two eggs into a pan for our breakfast, when in those far-off days we were lucky if we had one a week.  Everything was bulked out with vegetables and we ate more than the five-a-day we are exhorted to eat nowadays. But according to the statistics we, as a nation, were far healthier. Obesity was not a problem. But I don’t think I’d want to go back to those times for all that.

 

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Details of The Girl on the Beach and all my other books can be found on: AUTHOR WEBSITE

Romance of the everyday

When it comes to writing romance, I am in love with the everyday. Again and again, I actively seek out fiction and romance that deals with so-called ‘ordinary’ people.

Why?

Because to me a hero or heroine is more striving and heroic if they win through after many trials and adventures with their own skills, wit and effort, not because they happen to be born into a class or position.

Because a hero is more beautiful to me if he is not massively handsome but that feeling, true emotion for the heroine, makes him ‘pretty’. (I also like this theme the other way round – I love the part in Jane Eyre where the heroine goes down to breakfast after accepting Mr Rochester’s proposal and she looks, even to herself, glowing and pretty, ‘truly pretty’ as Mr R tells her.)

Because if the hero or heroine has tons of money or special powers that they can use at the snap of their languid fingers, where is the tension?

Skill impresses me and has a poetry of its own. Watch anyone who is really good at something – a potter with a wheel, a farrier, a shepherd, a dustman dealing with wheelie bins – and there is an elegance, a romance. I love to celebrate skill in the romances I write and I always have my warrior have a gentler skill as well as their fighting. (I don’t admire a fighter who can do nothing but battle, because how can such a person create a life and a relationship if they only destroy?) A warrior as strong protector, yes, a warrior fighting for kudos, OK, but a warrior who is a glory-junkie and no more? No thanks.

We live in a complex world and I like to write romances that reflect this and celebrate whose who heal, who create, who build, who make.

So I write about knights but mainly younger sons, who have to make their own way and who don’t have everything handed to them – I do this in A Knight's Enchantment and A Knight's Captive - and knights who are scarred or grieving and must find another path to live their lives  - I do this in  To Touch the Knight, A Knight's Vow and The Snow Bride.

I write about foresters and dairy maids (Midsummer Maid), slave girls and scribes (Flavia's Secret), serfs and peasants (To Touch the Knight, The Lord and Eleanor) bull-leapers and kings of small, rural kingdoms where the king helps with the harvest and is also a healer (Bronze Lightning).

In all these, I try to weave the everyday into the stories, those special everyday moments – the first kiss, the ‘I love you’ time, the recognition that this person is ‘the one’, the moment when my hero and heroine meet again, feeling a happy glow, even if they’ve only been apart for a moment. 

We all have times when the world shimmers about us and we feel apart from the hurly-burly, when we step into our own magic world with those we care about.

Everyday but special. That’s what I love to write about and read about.

Lindsay
http://www.lindsaytownsend.net
http://www.twitter.com/lindsayromantic

Bought as a bed slave from the slave market

Blurb: Bought as a bed slave from the slave market in Dublin, Emer hasn't a clue what to expect from her new master. She doesn't know if she will survive the night, but she isn't about to give in with a struggle....

Excerpt:

Emer looked round. All he said was true. Thick, square pillars of golden wood rose up to meet the rafters, and the roof sloped down to meet the walls at the height of a tall man. Unbleached linen hid the lower portion of walls free of sleeping platforms, and someone’s clever needle had sketched mythical animals around it in coloured wool.

“It is a fair hall,” she agreed. “But it is not home.”

Flane sat on the bed, grasped her shoulders and pulled her back to lie on the mattress beside him. He laughed into her wide, shocked eyes. His lips dived to the skin beneath her jaw and nuzzled towards the neckline split in her chemise while his fingers untied the knot that held the strings closed. He parted the fabric and his mouth slid down towards the newly revealed curve of her breast. His bristles rasped against her skin and Emer fended him off with both hands.

“Don’t! Don’t!”

He braced one hand to either side of her shoulders and loomed over her. “What’s wrong?”

Emer gulped. “It isn’t right,” she muttered, unable to meet his steady gaze. She looked across the hall, where children ran about, getting in the way of their elders, and a dog barked as it leapt crazily about his newly returned master. The rest of the world seemed to be going on as normal, and here she was fighting for her virtue. No one cared.

No one had even noticed.

Flane chuckled, and she faced him suspiciously. “I can’t think of anything better,” he said. “What’s not right?”

At his tone, some of her anxiety dispersed. She focussed on his leather jerkin and a part of her brain registered that someone had dressed the leather very well indeed, and threaded small tassels through the shoulder seam. She admired the pale shade, which so nearly matched his hair.

“Be brave,” he said. “Tell me.”

He taunted her now. Emer saw the mischief in his eyes, and caution vanished. “I cannot be happy in a place where we are on public view.” She opened her eyes wide and words, unheeded, shot out of her mouth. “And we should be married before you bed me!” Her breath came and went as if she’d been running and warm blood rushed beneath the skin of her throat and face.

“Really?” His voice betrayed nothing, but his silver brows drew down in a frown. “And how would marriage change anything?”

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008COC94Q will take you to the Review/Buy page.

Jen Black.

http://jenblackauthor.blogspot.com, @speckledbirds

New Release: A Baron in Her Bed

Available in print and Kindle. Amazon UK Buy Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baron-Her-Bed-Spies-Mayfair/dp/1908483342/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343609367&sr=1-1
Blurb: London, 1816. A handsome baron. A faux betrothal. And Horatia's plan to join the London literary set takes a dangerous turn. Now that the war with France has ended, Baron Guy Fortescue arrives in England to claim his inheritance, abandoned over thirty years ago when his father fled to France after killing a man in a duel. When Guy is set upon by footpads in London, a stranger, Lord Strathairn, rescues and befriends him. But while travelling to his country estate, Guy is again attacked. He escapes only to knock himself out on a tree branch.

Aspiring poet Horatia Cavendish has taken to riding her father's stallion, "The General", around the countryside of Digswell dressed as a groom. She has become bored of her country life and longs to escape to London to pursue her desire to become part of the London literary set. When she discovers Guy lying unconscious on the road, the two are forced to take shelter for the night in a hunting lodge. After Guy discovers her ruse, a friendship develops between them. Guy suspects his relative, Eustace Fennimore is behind the attacks on his life. He has been ensconced in Rosecroft Hall during the family's exile and will become the heir should Guy die. Horatia refuses to believe her godfather, Eustace, is responsible. But when Guy proposes a faux betrothal to give him more time to discover the truth, she agrees. Secure in the knowledge that his daughter will finally wed, Horatia's father allows her to visit her blue-stocking aunt in London. But Horatia's time spent in London proves to be anything but a literary feast, for a dangerous foe plots Guy's demise. She is determined to keep alive her handsome fiance, who has proven more than willing to play the part of her lover even as he resists her attempts to save him.

Excerpt: The stables were empty and satisfactorily gloomy. The General whinnied a greeting. Simon had gone off to the village apothecary to fetch her father’s medicine. That was the only excuse she could think of, but as he would soon be in need of it, the order caused no comment. She patted The General’s nose and fed him an apple. By the time the last of it had disappeared, she heard the clip of a horse’s hooves on the gravel drive. She peeped out of the barn door and saw the baron, tall in the saddle, riding towards the house.
 
Horatia stepped out and beckoned him.

He caught sight of her and rode towards the stables then dismounted and led the horse inside. “Sorry, my lord,” Horatia said, adopting Simon’s gruff voice. “We have no footman here. No under-groom neither. I’ll stable your horse.”

A Hidden City - Medieval Bath. Lindsay Townsend

The city of Bath in Somerset, south west England is a world heritage site, famous for its Roman baths and its Regency architecture. I drew on the Roman city of Aquae Sulis and its baths for my historical romance Flavia’s Secret. There is also a hidden city at Bath, the medieval city, parts of which remain even after much has been built over, adapted, added to or superseded by the Regency makeover the city underwent in the eighteenth century.

            We can see the medieval city in John Speed’s 1610 map of Bath. It’s small and walled, with towers and gates. The thermal baths are there, and there are orchards, churches and hospitals. The Abbey is also shown, smaller than in the early Middle Ages when it was extensively added to by Bishop John, who wished to make Bath the seat of his bishopric. This Abbey church was wrecked by fire in 1137 and the whole monastery complex declined, especially after the Black Death in 1439. Later, the rebuilt church occupied only the nave-space of the former Norman cathedral.

            Other medieval buildings of Bath, such as St Catherine’s hospital on Bilbury Lane, the church of St Mary of Stalls and Alsi’s bath have long disappeared, their foundations hidden beneath the later expansion of the city. However aspects of medieval Bath do survive. A section of city walls still stands in Upper Borough and is now protected. Part of one of the ancient gates, the East Gate, remains, close to Robert Adam’s Pulteney Bridge. Many of the Georgian-fronted buildings turn out to have hidden medieval timber frames and structures behind the palladian facades, such as was discovered behind the front of 21-22 High Street. There are medieval cellars, too, such as one in Abbey Church House. The ancient healing place of the Hospital of St John the Baptist, ‘the hospital of the baths’ still partly fulfils its original medieval function.

            I have recreated the medieval city and its baths in my forthcoming historical mystery, An Older Evil, the first of a series featuring Alyson, a widow of Bath.

Lindsay Townsend  http://www.lindsaytownsend.net 

Review of Ruby Red by Kirstin Geir

I don’t normally read YA Literature but this book was a gift – so I read it with the proviso that if it didn’t grab me, I wouldn’t persevere.  The opening chapter was pretty odd, all telling and dialogue which didn’t make much sense. However, the next chapter was better, and I was surprised at how Gwyneth grabbed my attention as the concept of the story started to be explained.  Seeing everything through Gwyneth’s unique perspective was funny and charming in places – however, I pictured her in my head at about eleven, when in fact it turns out she’s sixteen!

Gwyneth Shepherd's sophisticated, beautiful cousin Charlotte, not only gets A+ grades in all her school assignments, but she is also being groomed by her family to travel through time. Charlotte has apparently inherited the Montrose family gene which, once mature, can be harnessed and directed to complete the great mission of the time travellers.

Gwyneth and Charlotte live in a house of women, her Grandmother Lady Arista Aunt Glenda, Great Aunt Maddy and her visions, Gwyneth’s younger sister Caroline – and brother Nick. Poor boy, with all these batty women going on about waiting for Charlotte’s dizzy spells to throw her through time, no wonder he’s so flummoxed and gets chewing gum stuck in his hair.

The problem is, it’s not Charlotte who does the travelling – but Gwyneth, and she doesn’t have the benefit of ten years training that Charlotte has. To complicate things further, and frustrate Gwyneth, who certainly never asked for this, no one but Grace, Gwyneth’s Mum, and her friend Lesley, believes her.

Her veracity in question, Gwyneth is checked by ‘The Temple’ to confirm that what she says is happening to her actually is – they have ways.  Gwyneth is then presented with a few problems to solve – other than making sure she doesn’t get run over by a horse-drawn carriage when she appears in the middle of the road in 1850 that is – or being chased through her own house when the servants think she’s an intruder a hundred years before.

Why would Grace lie about Gwyneth’s birth date, and what happened to her cousin Lucy after she allegedly stole the first chronograph?  Then there is Gideon, a time traveller from another gifted family, the de Villiers, who thought he was to travel through time with Charlotte, but now has to make do with Gwyneth instead. 

You cannot help empathising with Gwyneth, who is part of a fatherless family with her two siblings and her mother consigned to the servants’ quarters of their rambling, three story mansion located just behind Selfridges in Oxford Street – which would put its value at around the £5 million mark.  Not a three bed semi then, and yet Gwyneth seems at first to be not welcome but tolerated.

Gwyneth grows into her role as the family great white hope and starts to make demands on the matriarchs who bully her secretive mother. Even in time-travelling families there are conflicts, feuds and secrets.

The philosophy of the historical tradition of time travel was beautifully written, and I became fascinated with the poems and writings of St Germain as if they were real.  It’s well thought out and quite logical – and the precincts of ‘The Temple’ conjured all the mysteries and magic of Hogwarts.

This story would make a great film – and also makes me want to investigate the next two books in the trilogy – Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green. My only criticism is for the English translation from original German they have changed this beautiful cover!

Renaissance Weddings

Marriage was rarely about love, but generally about money, land, estates, politics or power. Henry IV knew that France was in a parlous state, and much as he might wish to marry Henriette d’Entragues, his mistress, he must do his duty and marry an Italian Princess, Marie de Medici. Henriette dubbed her ‘The fat banker.’

Marie de Medici arriving at Marseilles

To any marriage, the bride was expected to bring a dowry and a bridal trousseau. ‘The marriage arrangements have been successfully concluded.’ Ferdinando I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, beamed exultantly upon his niece. ‘In return I have agreed to release France from its indebtedness, the balance to be given in cash to a total sum of 600,000 crowns, which will represent your dowry. Poor Marie. She was but a pawn in a game of politics.

A daughter of the bourgeoisie might have brought linen, household goods, pewter plates, candlesticks, or even livestock. Marie brought jewels in addition to the vast sum paid by her uncle. But then she was a royal princess.

This property was not hers to keep. On marriage it passed into the possession of her husband, as did she herself. If the marriage was annulled, as in the case of Marguerite de Valois, Henry’s first wife, then the bridal dowry would be returned, and sometimes too her dower estates. Except in Margot’s case she had to fight for the return of hers, and until the finances were agreed between herself and Henry, she refused to grant him the divorce he craved to marry Marie de Medici.

Royal brides often went through a proxy marriage first, as the intended husband was more than likely thousands of miles away, and she would not be allowed to embark on such a journey without that security. It was as binding as the true marriage ceremony, which followed when the bride and groom actually met.

For Marie’s proxy wedding, The Duc de Bellegarde, Grand Equerry of France, together with an entourage of forty nobles, reached Livorno on the 20th of September. Seven days later he entered Florence, and on 6 October 1600, the proxy wedding took place, the Grand Duke Ferdinando himself standing in for the absent husband. His Eminence made his entry on horseback beneath a canopy held high by eight young Florentine nobles, preceded by all the ecclesiastical and secular bodies, sixteen prelates, and fifty gentlemen bearing halberds.

The baroque

Afterwards would come the celebrations with a ball and banquet, hunting-parties, jousts, races, tilting at the ring and other sports, while the nights would be filled with dancing, plays, masques and ballets. The bride would then set out to go to her husband, a journey across land and sea which might take weeks or even months. And often within a day of meeting, the ceremony proper would take place.

Marie de Medici's Wedding

Dressed in a gown of crimson, blue and gold, fashioned in the Italian style and glittering with jewels that represented a goodly portion of her dowry, she looked a queen in every respect, even one not yet crowned. About her neck she wore the valuable pearl necklace, given to her by the King, but the most magnificent ornament consisted of an octagonal diamond brooch. Worn on her stomacher it was framed by several smaller stones, each enclosing a portrait in enamel of one of the princes of her house, beneath which hung three large teardrop pearls. It became known as the Queen’s Brilliant.

And so the bride would be wedded and bedded to a perfect stranger, stripped of her possessions, her ladies-in-waiting often returned whence they came, and a whole new way of life in a foreign land would begin. Within days of Marie de Medici’s marriage, Henry returned to Henriette.

Henriette d'Entragues

Henriette d'Entragues isn't satisfied with simply being the mistress of Henry IV of France, she wants a crown too. Despite his promises to marry her, the King is obliged by political necessity to ally himself with Marie de Medici, an Italian princess who will bring riches to the treasury. But Henriette isn’t for giving up easily. She has a written promise of marriage which she intends to use to declare the royal marriage illegal. All she has to do to achieve her ambition is to give Henry a son, then whatever it takes through intrigue and conspiracy to set him on the throne.

The Queen and the Courtesan can be found as a paperback or ebook here:

Amazon

The Renaissance Betrothal

Popular since the Middle Ages, betrothal ceremonies frequently involved some sort of ceremony or symbolic act. This is believed to date back to the time of ancient Rome. In Anglo-Saxon England the joining of hands to seal the betrothal was common as we know from the term ‘handfasting’ to signify a betrothal. In fourteenth and fifteenth century Italy, the betrothal was sealed by a handshake between the parents, or at best the father of the bride and the prospective groom.

In sixteenth century France this ritual was known as les accords. There would be the giving of a ring, often a gimmel ring which was in two parts, one to be worn by the prospective groom, the other by the bride, the two joined together to form the wedding ring. Records indicate the drinking of wine to toast the agreement, or taking part in a sumptuous feast ‘in the name of marriage’, or simply be sealed with a kiss.

The betrothal ceremony confirmed that these two people promised to marry one another, an agreement which could be considered more legally binding than the marriage ceremony itself. Once betrothed, if a couple had sexual intercourse, then they were considered married. And a betrothal contract could only be broken if both parties agreed.

Not that the young woman concerned had much say in the matter. Marriage was less about love and more about wealth, position and power, which meant, as we romantic novelists know, plenty of opportunity for extra-curricular activity in the way of affairs. Henry IV is reputed to have enjoyed at least 60 mistresses with whom he sired numerous illegitimate children, and three or four maîtresse-en-titre.

But with Henriette de’Entragues he perhaps took on more than he’d bargained for she had set her sights on nothing less than marriage, and with it a crown. She therefore insisted upon a promesse de matrimonio before agreeing to surrender her maidenhead, allegedly still intact, and becoming his mistress. In a weak moment of overwhelming desire, Henry agreed that if she could give him a son, then he would marry her. A decision which was to create untold problems in the years ahead, and leave Henriette fighting a battle for what she perceived to be her rights, at whatever the cost.


Next came the fiançailles when the bans were published. The parents, bride and bridegroom would visit the curé together to attend to this important matter. Then came the Epousailles which of course took place in church. The bridegroom was not allowed to enter without giving a considerable sum in alms, and guests were chosen to attend the wedding breakfast with an eye to the money they’d be likely to give. A bowl was handed round at dinner into which donations for a ‘nest-egg’ for the couple could be dropped.

Henry left such traditions to the bourgeoisie, but provided well for all his children, whatever their status, and was a loving father. Those he had with Henriette shared the royal nursery with the legitimate heirs he had with his queen, Marie de Medici, much to that lady’s displeasure. But Henry loved to play with them, and it was so much more practical to keep them all together in one place. The people of Paris were highly entertained by the fact that his mistress and queen were often enceinte at the same time.

The Queen and the Courtesan, published 29 June, can be found as a paperback or ebook here: 

Amazon

The Calendar of the French Revolution

Happy Bastille Day, all. Vive la France!

The French Revolution in 1789 was supposed to create a new order in France. Out with aristocratic tyranny, in with republican democracy! Liberté, égalité, fraternité!

Well, not quite. As part of the process of ousting monarchy, the French Revolution swept away many of the trappings of the Ancien Régime, or attempted to. One of the things they changed was the calendar.

Various versions of the revolutionary calendar existed from 1789 until 1792. But the dates were confusing. What was the start date, January 1, 1789, or July 14, 1789 (the storming of the Bastille)? Since financial transactions especially suffered from this confusion, the legislature made a final decision in 1792 when the French Republic was established. By naming 1792 Year One, the Calendar of the Revolution is in reality the Calendar of the Republic. In France, the same calendar is known as both calendrier républicain as well as the calendrier révolutionnaire.

The Calendar of the Revolution consisted of twelve months of thirty days each and started at the autumnal equinox. The months received new names derived from nature, the nature mainly the weather around Paris. The years are written in Roman numerals.

From Wikipedia:

Autumn:
Vendémiaire in French (from Latin vindemia, "grape harvest"), starting 22, 23 or 24 September
Brumaire (from French brume, "fog"), starting 22, 23 or 24 October
Frimaire (From French frimas, "frost"), starting 21, 22 or 23 November

Winter:
Nivôse (from Latin nivosus, "snowy"), starting 21, 22 or 23 December
Pluviôse (from Latin pluvius, "rainy"), starting 20, 21 or 22 January
Ventôse (from Latin ventosus, "windy"), starting 19, 20 or 21 February

Spring:
Germinal (from Latin germen, "germination"), starting 20 or 21 March
Floréal (from Latin flos, "flower"), starting 20 or 21 April
Prairial (from French prairie, "pasture"), starting 20 or 21 May

Summer:
Messidor (from Latin messis, "harvest"), starting 19 or 20 June
Thermidor (or Fervidor) (from Greek thermon, "summer heat"), starting 19 or 20 July
Fructidor (from Latin fructus, "fruit"), starting 18 or 19 August

The calendar changes didn't end with the months. Within each month were three weeks of ten days apiece, called décades.

The year ended with five extra days to fill in the discrepancy between the order of the French calendar and the disorder of the physical year, which refused to use less than 365 days (or 366 days in leap years).

In the French Calendar of the Revolution, today, July 14, 2012 is 25 Messidor CCXX. A Gregorian-Revolutionary Calendar converter is here. (use Internet Explorer).

The adoption of the final form of the new calendar didn't end France's calendar woes. The French still had to communicate with the outside world which used the Gregorian calendar. The onus of translating between two calendars added another level of tedium and confusion to the dating of events.

The Calendar of the Revolution came to an end some thirteen years after its adoption, when Napoleon declared the day after 10 Nivôse An XIV as January 1, 1806.

Thank you all,
Linda
Linda Banche
Welcome to My World of Historical Hilarity!
http://www.lindabanche.com

Picture is the Calendrier républicain de 1794 from Wikipedia