Plantagenet Shade

Welcome to Plantagenet Lampshade! Current events sometimes have historical echoes, and that has barely ever been more true than it was this past week with the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of King Charles. The incident brought immediately to mind the arrest and ultimate execution of another troublesome royal sibling, George, Duke of Clarence in 1478. 

Ahead of the broadcast of FX's new limited series based on James Clavell's 1975 novel, Shōgun, we read the book, talked about its historical setting, chatted a little about the rest of Clavell's Asian saga, and discussed Shōgun's cultural impact. We also talked briefly about the 1980 miniseries based on the novel. 

We finally talked about the Tudor era, using Hilary Mantel's brilliant novel, Wolf Hall, as our starting point. 

In line with the coronation of King Charles III this month, Plantagenet Shade looks back 70 years to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 through the eyes of Jennifer Robson's novel, Coronation Year. 

In the first episode of Season 2 of Plantagenet Shade, we visit England in the 1440s to take a closer look at the events that led to the War of the Roses and the important personalities of that era via Conn Iggulden's Stormbird.

For this episode, we visit imperial Russia and revel in the splendor of St Petersburg through the eyes of Empress Maria Feodorova, the protagonist of C.W. Gortner's novel, The Romanov Empress. 

Non-fictional resources referenced in this episode: 

1. Robert K. Massie, Nicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last of the Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia (1967).

2. Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Romanovs 1613-1918 (2016). 

Montefiore also has an hour-long presentation on the Romanovs on YouTube, which is very informative: https://youtu.be/c6iZfDHBSN8

On the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth, Chelle and RK talk about Richard III, the last Plantagenet monarch, through the lens of two novels, The Sunne in Splendor, by Sharon Kay Penman and The Seventh Son by Reay Tannahill.

Other Ricardian fiction referenced in this episode

1. Anne Easter Smith's This Son of York (and other War of the Roses novels): https://anneeastersmith.com/this-son-of-york

2. Rhoda Edwards, Fortune's Wheel (and other novels about Richard III): https://www.fictiondb.com/title/fortunes-wheel~rhoda-edwards~11132.htm

3. Rosemary Hawley Jarman, We Speak No Treason: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/rosemary-hawley-jarman/we-speak-no-treason/

4. Josephine Tey, The Daughter of Time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Daughter_of_Time

Theories on the Princes in the Tower

1. Matthew Lewis, The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: https://mattlewisauthor.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/the-survival-of-the-princes-in-the-tower-extract/

2. Dr. Kavita Mudan Finn, Aliens: https://poorshadowspaintedqueens.tumblr.com/post/50682748575/from-the-paper-i-gave-for-the-societas-fontibus

Chelle and RK talk about The Anarchy and the framing of the era in historical fiction through the lens of two novels, When Christ and His Saints Slept, by Sharon Kay Penman and Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.

00:56 Thanks to everyone who listened to our first episode!

4:03 We discuss the White Ship Tragedy and its aftermath as background for The Anarchy and briefly summarize the two novels we read for this episode. 

12:56 How did Chelle first discover Penman's novel? Did she like it? 

18:30 RK's long adventure with medieval fiction began with Pillars of the Earth. 

24:45 We talk about what we each found appealing (or not) about these books. 

28:45 We compare the portrayal of historical figures Stephen and Maude in these books. 

32:20 The inevitable sidebar about the Tudors. 

33:50 Penman's characterization of King Stephen reminded both of us of another one of her books. 

40:03 We take a brief detour and talk about the TV series based on Pillars of the Earth (and share an inside joke too).

44:15 The two authors had very different objectives.Penman wanted to rehabilitate both Stephen and Maude, and Follett wanted to know who built these grand medieval churches and how they did it. 

53:40  We talk about the proliferation of disappointing sons in Pillars of the Earth. 

56:09  It's impossible to talk about these books without discussing the gender politics. 

1: 01  Just how much Plantagenet shade did Henry II and his chroniclers throw at Stephen anyway? Did the two books give us a sense of The Anarchy? 

1:20  As we wrap up, we give the Brother Cadfael series a shoutout and also recommend a documentary on the period, She-Wolves. 

Chelle and RK talk about the War of the Roses and the framing of the era in historical fiction through the lens of Philippa Gregory's Cousins' War series.