1275… a cry for help from a woman who is kidnapped at sea. Present day. Dutch archivist Fenna van Wijk is helping architect Ned Thompson to sift through a stack of ancient papers kept in an untouched archive in an old English manor house in Lincolnshire. Among manuscripts dealing with the holy Gilbert of Sempringham, they discover a letter from 1275, written by Eleanor de Montfort, the young bride to be of Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. During their research, Fenna stumbles upon a mysterious child: Gwenllian. The English king Edward I had this infant locked away for ever in a cloister in … Sempringham. When Fenna and Ned try to understand this harsh decision, they find more than they bargained for.
“Gwenllian” is our first move into serious historical fiction.
£7.50
In Medieval England political martyrs were not uncommon, particularly in periods of political unrest, expressed in deeply religious terms, and in many cases that hostility was directed toward two Kings, Henry III (r.1216-1272) and Edward II (r.1307-1327). Two leaders of...
For many, Kilpeck church is the quintessential example of an English parish church. Its very appearance has been influenced through restoration by an antiquarian’s view on how the medieval church should look. In this building the efforts and agendas of...
What happened to Simon de Montfort, leader of the Reformers, after his defeat at the Battle of Evesham? Was Earl Simon captured alive and later murdered? Does this explain the murder of Henry of Almain by Simon’s sons, Simon and...
The fate of the remains of Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, has long been a mystery. Since his death at the battle of Evesham in 1265, one foot of the dismembered corpse has been confidently traced to Alnwick abbey...
Pilgrimage is the most essential of medieval studies – that’s a conclusion which Tim Porter has drawn from years of reading, research and exploration. Religion, politics, economics, travel, industry, art, architecture – pilgrimage opens into all these fields, and many...
William de Nangis’ account of the Battle of Evesham is an important source predating some of the other chronicler accounts. Although some sentences and the paragraph describing the death of Simon de Montfort have been translated, for example by John...
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