On History

Quote of the Day

“History isn’t dead. New facts are constantly being uncovered and published.”

From the fascinating comments thread for this post [Warning! NSFW!] over on Trashy Books, Smart Bitches.  The discussion contains some, um, rather frank discussion of period terms for lady bits and manly bits.  But also some fascinating insights into how authors research and write historical romances, and what readers look for in their historicals.

Oh, and did you know that there is a Historical Novel Society?

 *waits patiently for Christmas cheque from mum to arrive*

The Devil’s Stripes

I got a bee in my bonnet this week, and started drafting some costume guidelines for the Guild.  And as I sorted through the rather extensive collection of woodcuts and portraits on my hard drive, I noticed how very many of them contained stripes

I can’t remember when I added The Devil’s Cloth: a History of Stripes to my Amazon wish list, but I suddenly had the overwhelming urge to read it.  I toddled off to the local Barnes and Nobles, intending to order it.  But what to my wondering eyes should appear, but the in-house book search showed that it was in stock and on the shelf!  In the social sciences section, of all places.  Clutching the book to my breast, I did an internal little dance of glee as I scurried off to the checkout.

It’s a slim volume.  And quite scholastic.  It reads much like the sorts of academic articles I had to slog through back when I was in graduate school. Luckily it isn’t a very long book, a mere 90 pages, not counting the 30 pages of bibliography and footnotes.  But despite the dry academic tone, right from the beginning I knew that he was going to have something useful to say to me. 

Somewhere between the Medieval and the Modern

 

The Magdalen Reading

Rogier Van der Weyden

Before 1438

National Gallery, London

I’m a child of the modern world. And one of my main challenges as a 16^th century reenactor is trying to understand the medieval mind so that I can more fully inhabit my character.