Medieval Dance

In writing The Tapestry Shop, I researched medieval dance, because one of the scenes is a dance scene. Most of our information about medieval dance comes from fragmentary sources such as extant manuscripts and a few illuminations, leaving us to speculate on any form of dance steps that may have been used. From what little is known, the carole was most likely the form familiar in courts as well as at rural gatherings. This dance was probably a simple form of round dancing, where the dancers joined hands and sang, moving in a circle.
From Chretien de Troyes, the French poet, we know there were other forms of dance. In a wedding scene, written during the twelfth century, he says, “Maidens performed rounds and other dances, each trying to outdo the other in showing their joy.” What these other dances were remains a mystery, with the exception of references to the estampie.
A troubadour, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, may have written a Provencal song to fit the tune of an estampie he heard played by two jongleurs, which would set the date of this dance in the twelfth century. However, the earliest examples of instrumental pieces called estampies date from the 13th and 14th centuries and consist of both monophonic and polyphonic structures.
With so little information as to early medieval dance, we are left to speculate on the actual dance steps used, but we can be sure the people of the early Middle Ages found a way to express joy in their lives. From this writer’s perspective, I’m also certain that even with an open ring of dancers, two lovers would find a way to come together, even if it was across a bit of dance floor with only a sly wink or a touch of a hand.

Are Contests Worth the Price?

As writers, we’ve all either entered contests or been tempted to. Most contests have an entry fee, and it’s sometimes difficult to justify the expenditure. In addition to the fee, there are shipping expenses, and sometimes, if you final, you have additional expense. More and more contests are going to digital, which makes entering a little easier.
As an author, I’ve been on both sides of the table, judging several contests, and entering them too, throughout my writing career. From the judge’s side, I’ll tell you I’d much rather sit down with a cup of tea and read through entries, than stare at the same monitor I’ve worked at all day. I print out digital entries, because so far I’ve not bought a reader, although I’m looking at tablets.
With earlier manuscripts, my entries didn’t reach the mark. But after many workshops and classes on the craft of writing, I saw a sea-change in the scores.
Now on to the wisdom of entering contests. A writer, unless you’ve won the lottery, should be selective about contests.
First, do a little research to see if this is a legitimate contest or simply a scam. It’s pretty easy to find out. If the contest is sponsored by a legitimate writers’ group, like an RWA chapter or Historical Novel Society, or by a state association like Florida Writers, you know it’s legit.
Next, read the details to see who is judging. Don’t look at the prize money or the award. Except for the most prestigious awards, the prizes aren’t big. The real win, the biggest reward, is that you can use a nice win to catch the eye of an agent or editor. Most admit that contest wins get their attention.
Thirdly, look to see if the contest returns comments, or only scores. If a contest offers feedback, it’s like getting a mini-critique.
An aside, and one worth noting for published and unpublished writers: strangely, there are contests which do not take Advanced Reading Copies. Your professionally-edited book can/must be entered in unpublished, if the release date falls after a certain date. This seems to me a bit unfair to an unpublished author who has to compete with my edited book. I don’t really understand the reasoning for not accepting an ARC.
Google literary awards for your state. I took a chance and entered Florida Book Awards, sponsored by the state Humanities Council and Florida State University. There was a fee, and we had to mail a book to each of the judges, a time-consuming job, but it was worth every minute when I received that Bronze Medallion at the Awards dinner for The Tapestry Shop. Recently, I entered a small local contest. To my surprise, all three finalists’ entries were sent to places like HarperCollins, Medallion, etc. for final judging. Not only that, the contest offered a breakdown of genres, so that my historical wouldn’t be lost in the Mainstream category, or bunched in with SciFi.
To my delight, both my two entries finaled. One went to Medallion, the YA went to HarperCollins for final judging. After reading comments from both editors (one of whom gave me First Place for my historical. I went to work and revised according to their suggestions. No, I didn’t get a contract, but now, in a query letter, I can say “an editor at Medallion gave this story First Place in the final round of judging”. How cool is that? Feedback from an editor, and bragging rights, all for forty-five dollars. This contest, sponsored by a local writers’ group, was opened to non-members, too. So look at local and regional contests. I know, it’s like buying a lottery ticket, but you can’t win without trying.

Paper, Parchment, and Process

A few weeks ago, I posted an article about writing implements, and to follow up on that, today I’m talking about paper—old and new. Paper has been manufactured since the middle of the eighth century, when the Arabs learned the skill from the Chinese. During the ninth century, Greeks used it, and later, in the late eleventh century, the technique was practiced in Muslim Spain. Later, paper making came to Italy and the Mediterranean, where merchants and notaries kept records of transactions. Paper making spread northward, to England, and by the middle of the sixteenth century, the industry was a prominent part of European economies, although parchment (from animal skins) was still being used.

Paper was usually made from cotton or linen rags, except in the Orient, where they often used silk. The rags were soaked and pounded to a pulp, after which they went into a vat with a solution of water and size. A wooden frame strung with wires was dipped into the mixture and agitated until the fibers fused to form a sheet of paper. This was then placed between sheets of blotting paper and pressed. It could then be trimmed or left with a rough edge. Paper frames often incorporated wire devices (in the form of designs or monograms), which left an image (watermark). Is it any wonder paper was an expensive commodity, made in such a painstaking and time-consuming process?

Early paper was quite resilient, but after books began to be produced, wood was used for making paper, adding an acidity which causes pages to turn brown and eventually to crumble away, making preservation difficult. Now that we have acid-free paper, the pages of a book frequently outlast the bindings.

Historic Writing Tools

I’m fascinated by writing implements, especially older ones in museums. In researching exactly what tools Adam, the poet/musician in my historical novel, The Tapestry Shop, would have used to write his music, I discovered some little known details about old writing methods. Reed pens, like these in their holders at the Louvre, were used on papyrus. Perhaps even more interesting were the cases, which held ink and a tiny sand box to use for blotting the ink. These cases were elaborately decorated, like this to the right, a 13th century writing case with astrological signs and Arabic letters. A scribe stored papers in the empty space.
Later, quill pens came into use. These were made from a flight feather, preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. The hollow shaft acts as an ink reservoir, and because of the flexibility of a quill, it is still preferred by some calligraphers because of its sharp stroke, although now, with paper made from wood pulp, a quill wears down very quickly. For right-handed writers, a feather from the left wing works better because the feathers curve to the right, away from the hand. The feathers, I was pleased to discover, are discarded naturally by the birds during the moulting season. The quills used by medieval scribes bore little resemblance to the feathered quills romanticized in film and sketches. Instead, scribes usually trimmed the barbs or stripped them completely, as they were a nuisance.
An interesting aside on the subject, from the Supreme Court Historical Society: Each day that the U.S. Supreme Court is in session, 20 goose-quill pens, neatly crossed, are placed at the four counsel tables. Because most lawyers appear before the Court only once, they gladly take the quills home as souvenirs. The tradition dates back to the earliest Supreme Court session

Women and Sidesaddles

Women riders on horses, mules, and donkeys have been depicted through the ages, riding both astride and aside (sidesaddle). While the sidesaddle is generally believed to have developed in the 1300s and later, women rode sidesaddle long before that. There are ancient Greek images (right) showing women sitting aside, their feet on a board, as well as the gallo-Roman bronze that shows both feet of the rider on one side of the horse, clearly visible. Goddesses on horseback are frequently shown riding aside. Later, saddles were developed with a horn, which a woman could use to brace herself with one leg (image at right).
Because my latest release, The Tapestry Shop, takes place in the 13th century. Catherine, the heroine, rides both aside and astride. For serious traveling, as she does after joining the Crusades, I have her riding astride. At other times, she rides pillion with Adam, the protagonist.
Even after modesty dictated that women ride aside, some women chose to look askance at such limitations, and rode astride. Extant images of women astride show not only the mistress of Henry II of France, but also Marie Antoinette, and Catherine the Great riding astride. Catherine even commissioned a painting done showing her sitting astride the horse. Even then, she probably knew the painting would make a statement: I can ride, and command, as well as any man.
It’s interesting to note that there are examples of men riding aside, too. During WWII, men rode sidesaddle while laying field cable from the back of a galloping horse.
For further reading, and to see more images of riders in history both aside and astride, go to http://ilaria.veltri.tripod.com/sidesaddle.html .

Hats through the Ages

Hats, both men's and women's, have changed drastically throughout history. Men, of course, wore hats long before they were fashionable for women, although women always wore a head covering. In my new release, The Tapestry Shop, Adam, the protagonist, is introduced in the first chapter wearing his hat “at a rakish angle”, a signal to the readers of his personality. Hats express a bit of the wearer's character, and are a reflection of the culture of the times.
In the early Middle Ages, women began using more substantial headcoverings, and when the Church decreed that women must cover their head when attending mass, hats became more popular, even though a veil sufficed as a proper head covering in church.
Later, around the fourteenth century, ladies’ hats became, to my mind, more glamorous. Built to roughly conform to the shape of a crown, stiffened with bone, and lavishly decorated with pearls and jewels, surely they would catch the eye of any nobleman.
Although we think of straw hats as being a more modern invention, straw headcoverings were actually in use much earlier, especially by farmers and plowmen, most likely for the same reason we wear them today when gardening.
Men’s hats, especially during the Renaissance, became as outlandish as any woman’s hat ever devised. In that same period, women’s hats became an essential part of the wardrobe. Milliners’ shops sprang up, and frequently the proprietor was a woman. Sometimes the shops were owned by more than one woman. Inside, women could try on hats in relative privacy.
I’ve seen artwork depicting women in hats that appear to be the result of a drunken milliner; some hats were half again the height of the wearer, wide-angled productions that must have been an impediment to eating, walking, or even standing still.
Personal experience has taught me that men are fascinated by women in hats. Several years ago, my sisters and I were on a moving stair in an airport. I wore a hat, as I'd recently been told to do by my dermatologist. My sisters were bareheaded. A gentleman, passing the other way on the stairs, commented on the hat, and ended by saying, "Don't let her lose that hat." The next day both my sisters bought hats.
Another time, my husband and I were seated at a gathering. A man, who according to my husband, had been seated behind us, rose to leave. On the way out, he paused at our table, said how much he liked to see women in hats, and went on his way.
If that's not enough to convince you to go out and get yourself a flattering hat, I don't know what will!

Joyce's recent release, The Tapestry Shop, from Five Star/Gale, has been getting favorable reviews, excerpts of which can be seen here .

Jean de Joinville

Jean de Joinville (John) is perhaps the most well-known of medieval chroniclers. Born to noble parents, John received his education at the court of Theobald, Count of Champagne, where he studied reading and writing.
At age sixteen, he want with the count to the French king’s court, and three years later, as the king was organizing the Seventh Crusade, John decided to take up the cross and go with King Louis IX on crusade.
John became close friends with the king, and acted as advisor and confidant. Their friendship continued, but when the king set out on another crusade in 1270, John refused to go, predicting a disastrous outcome.
King Louis died on the crusade, and the pope initiated an inquest for possible canonization. Because of John’s close friendship with King Louis, John appeared as a witness. King Louis, subsequently, was declared a saint.
In John’s later years, at the request of Jeanne of Navarre, queen consort of France, John wrote Historie de Saint Louis, and finished it in 1309. John died in 1317 at age ninety-three, fifty years after the death of his good friend, the now sainted king.

In The Tapestry Shop (October from Five Star/Gale), the heroine, Catherine, vows to join King Louis’ crusade.
“Adam, the women at Orleans … they will meet me at a monastery, a famed place of pilgrimage, where they will pray for the crusaders’ safety before going on to Aigues-Mortes.”
He reined in the mare. His expression conveyed desperation. “Where? What monastery?”
“In Arles. I tried to tell you before.”

The Tapestry Shop has received glowing reviews, excerpts of which can be seen at Joyce's website.

Margaret Mitchell Gets "The Call"

Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone with the Wind, was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended Smith College, but dropped out when her mother died from the flu epidemic. Margaret then took a job writing for the Atlanta Journal.
When an editor from Macmillan Publishers came to Atlanta, his publicist introduced the two of them. The editor asked Margaret if she had ever written a book, and she said no. He told her that if she ever did, he would like to see it.
Margaret later overheard an acquaintance remarking at the incredulity of Margaret writing a book. Incensed at the woman’s remark, she hurried home, gathered up some envelopes of her writing, and brought them to the hotel to give to the editor, just as he was preparing to leave.
Later, Margaret regretted the impulsive act, and wrote to ask for the manuscript back. However, the editor had already read enough to know he had a winner in his hands. He sent her a check and asked her to write the book. At that point in time, she didn’t have the first chapter written.
In 1936, Gone with the Wind was published. That year, the sales of her book soared, and Macmillan Publishers gave their employees an 18 percent pay raise.
If you get to Atlanta, don’t miss seeing the Margaret Mitchell home, where you can learn more about her and her writing.

Research for Historicals

When crafting historical novels, a writer must first feel grounded in the period, and confidant with the setting and what the characters wear, eat, see, and how they live. That’s a tall order, and takes a lot of time.
In thinking about my upcoming workshop at RWA National in July, where I’ll be getting specific about Researching for Historicals, I realized it could have been a one-day workshop instead of only several minutes. In researching for my October release, The Tapestry Shop, I visited museums in France, where I found artifacts that enriched my novel, set in the thirteenth century. In a museum I saw some of the tools they used in the Middle Ages, as well as everyday items like a lady’s comb. What fascinated me about the comb was that the upper part, where the teeth were attached, was made of tin. This was their mirror. This same comb plays a part in my novel, when Catherine sees her mother’s face in the tin reflection.
Fine, you say. But I can’t make it to London to research my Regency! Not to worry. You can browse parts of the Smithsonian, even online. I keep a list of online sites, set down as to category and time period. When I’m in a hurry, I just throw them in my Favorites folder and sort them later.
Aside from the internet, SCA events, like reenactments, are great places to see what life was really like before modern times. Best of all, keep reading books written by authors who write in your time period. Chances are they have done their homework, and can save you a lot of time, but it never hurts to double-check the facts before sending your book out into the world.