Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

My Coffee Pot Guest - Mercedes Rochelle The Last Great Saxon Earls

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through wonderful worlds
real and fictional,
meet interesting people,
visit exciting places
and find a few good books
to enjoy along the way!

About the Book

Godwine Kingmaker

The Last Great Saxon Earls

Mercedes Rochelle

April 4, 2015

Sergeant Press

351 pages

Historical Fiction

They showed so much promise. What happened to the Godwines? How did they lose their grip? Who was this Godwine anyway, first Earl of Wessex and known as the Kingmaker? Was he an unscrupulous schemer, using King and Witan to gain power? Or was he the greatest of all Saxon Earls, protector of the English against the hated Normans? The answer depends on who you ask.

He was befriended by the Danes, raised up by Canute the Great, given an Earldom and a wife from the highest Danish ranks. He sired nine children, among them four Earls, a Queen and a future King. Along with his power came a struggle to keep his enemies at bay, and Godwine's best efforts were brought down by the misdeeds of his eldest son Swegn.

Although he became father-in-law to a reluctant Edward the Confessor, his fortunes dwindled as the Normans gained prominence at court. Driven into exile, Godwine regathered his forces and came back even stronger, only to discover that his second son Harold was destined to surpass him in renown and glory.

Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, wife of Godwine

by Mercedes Rochelle

Gytha Thorkelsdottir
from St Nectan's Church
Source: Wikipedia

Overshadowed by their husbands or subject to their fathers' ambitions, noble medieval women had to be pretty plucky to carve out a niche in the history books. Still, Gytha Thorkelsdóttir was related to so many famous (and mostly tragic) figures that it is amazing we know so little about her.

Raised in Denmark, she was the sister of Earl Ulf who served Canute as Regent of Denmark before his unfortunate death (reportedly killed by Canute's order). Her father Thorkel (also known as Torkel, Torgils, or Thorgil) was said to have been the grandson of a bear and a Swedish maiden. Of course, having a bear as an ancestor is only mentioned when referring to a male (like Ulf), but I can only assume that a female of the line would absorb the same characteristics?

Ulf was married to Canute's sister, which made Gytha part of the royal family. So it may have been a great surprise to Gytha when King Canute married her off to his favorite, Godwine. Probably from a less than stellar background (his father was an out-of-favor Thegn in England), Godwine's rapid rise to power was destined to make him the most important man in England after the king. But he hadn't achieved this status yet, though he may have been Earl of Wessex when they married. I doubt whether Gytha was given a choice.

They did have a large family: at least 10, possibly 11 children. Among their brood was Harold Godwineson (last Saxon King of England), Editha Queen of England (married to Edward the Confessor), and three earls. However, it was her misfortune to outlive at least six of them; she lost three in one day at the Battle of Hastings, for Harold died alongside his brothers Gyrth and Leofwine. And of course this was only two weeks after the death of Tostig at the Battle of Stamfordbridge. How a mother felt seeing two sons face each other as enemies across the battlefield can only be surmised. There was never any indication that she had a falling out with Tostig; in fact, it is rumored that he visited her on the way out of the country when forced into exile.

Holy Trinity Church,Bosham
© the author

It was written that Gytha petitioned William the Conqueror to let her take Harold's body after Hastings and even offered to pay him its weight in gold. But William refused, fearing the Saxons would turn Harold's burial site into a shrine. However, local legend at Bosham declares that the unidentified bones beneath the floor of Holy Trinity Church belong to Harold who was secretly buried there after the fact (next to the coffin allegedly containing the bones of Canute's daughter who drowned in the mill race). The estates around Bosham were confiscated by William the Conqueror, and if he did take pity and let Gytha bring the body there, it would have been possible to keep the event a secret. Regardless, she had to leave her home in Bosham and it was probable that Gytha went to live in Exeter.

from a pamphlet purchased at Bosham church
entitled
"Harold: Rex. Is Harold II buried in Bosham Church"
by John Pollock

Exeter became a focal point of local rebellion, led by Gytha and her three grandsons Godwine, Edmund, and Magnus (Harold's sons); King William took the threat seriously enough to lay siege to the city for 18 days in the winter of 1068. As usual, William overcame their resistance and Exeter capitulated, while Gytha, accompanied by her allies, fled to the island of Flat Holm in the Bristol Channel. There she stayed for many months while waiting for her grandsons to return, aided by King Diarmaid of Leinster. Unfortunately, their last invasion was a disaster and, conceding defeat, they all left England for good and traveled to Flanders. She may have entered a convent at St. Omer. Or she might have gone back to Scandinavia, where the presiding King of Denmark was her nephew. It is thought that Gytha died four years later.

This series is available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/38VrJZ

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BRQMHYWB

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRQMHYWB

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BRQMHYWB

Amazon AU:

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BRQMHYWB

Audio:

https://www.audible.com/pd/Godwine-Kingmaker-Audiobook/B09JFJCY3G

About the Author

Mercedes Rochelle is an ardent lover of medieval history, and has channeled this interest into fiction writing. She believes that good Historical Fiction, or Faction as it’s coming to be known, is an excellent way to introduce the subject to curious readers. She also writes a blog: HistoricalBritainBlog.com to explore the history behind the story.

Born in St. Louis, MO, she received by BA in Literature at the Univ. of Missouri St.Louis in 1979 then moved to New York in 1982 while in her mid-20s to “see the world”. The search hasn’t ended!

Today she lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.

Website: https://mercedesrochelle.com

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/authorrochelle

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/mercedesrochelle.net

Book Bub:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/mercedes-rochelle

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mercedes-Rochelle/author/B001KMG5P6

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1696491.Mercedes_Rochelle

Follow the Tour

Twitter Handle: @authorRochelle @cathiedunn

Instagram Handle: @thecoffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #AngloSaxon #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page:

https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2023/01/blog-tour-last-great-saxon-earls.html

note: Helen has not yet read this title - it is on her TBR list!

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You might also like

books written by Helen Hollick

Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

The Jan Christopher Cosy Mysteries

set in the 1970s

buy from Amazon
https://getbook.at/MirrorMurder

http://mybook.to/AMysteryOfMurder

https://mybook.to/MISTAKEofMURDER

The SEA WITCH VOYAGES

nautical adventures set during the Golden Age of Piracy

If you liked Pirates Of The Caribbean?
then you'll love the Sea Witch Voyages!
Amazon: https://viewbook.at/SeaWitch

* * *

THE SAXON SERIES

the events that led to 1066

the Battle of Hastings

1066 - the events that led to the
Battle of Hastings
from Amazon
Harold the King (UK edition)
I Am The Chosen King (US/Canada edition)
1066 Turned Upside Down -
an anthology of alternative stories

* * *

www.helenhollick.net

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tuesday, 7 March 2023

My Coffee Pot Guest: Trish MacEnulty - The Delafield & Malloy Investigations

The Whispering Women

The Burning Bride

Secrets and Spies

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through wonderful worlds
real and fictional,
meet interesting people,
visit exciting places
and find a few good books
to enjoy along the way!

About the Book

First Book Title: The Whispering Women

Series: Delafield & Malloy Investigations

Author: Trish MacEnulty

Publication Date: 09/06/22

Publisher: Prism Light Press

Page Length: 387

Genre: Historical Mystery, Women’s Fiction

Can two women get the lowdown on high society?

“Two powerless young women must navigate a soul-crushing class system and find the levers of power they wield when they combine their strengths. These women may have been taught to whisper, but when their time comes, they will roar.”

– 5 Star Amazon Review

Louisa Delafield and Ellen Malloy didn’t ask to be thrown together to bring the truth to light. But after Ellen witnesses the death of a fellow servant during an illegal abortion, Louisa, a society columnist, vows to help her find the truth and turn her journalistic talent to a greater purpose.

Together, these unlikely allies battle to get the truth out, and to avenge the wrongful death of a friend.

What will our heroes do when their closest allies and those they trust turn out to be the very forces working to keep their story in the dark? They’ll face an abortionist, a sex trafficking ring, and a corrupt system determined to keep the truth at bay.

“If you like historical fiction and if you like mysteries, this one is for you!”

– 5 Star Amazon Review

Was change possible in 1913?

To find out, read THE WHISPERING WOMEN today!

“Richly drawn characters, the vibrant historical setting, and a suspenseful mystery create a strong current that pulls readers into this delightful novel. But it's the women's issues—as relevant today as they were in the early 1900s—that will linger long after the last page."

-- Donna S. Meredith, The Southern Literary Review

The Whispering Women, Book #1, A Delafield & Malloy Investigation

The Burning Bride, Book #2, A Delafield & Malloy Investigation

Secrets and Spies, Book #3, A Delafield & Malloy Investigation

by Trish MacEnulty

Guest Post by Trish MacEnulty

Thanks so much for the opportunity to talk about some of my historical interests that relate to the Delafield & Malloy Investigations series!

In The Whispering Women, the first book in my Delafield & Malloy Investigations series, the inciting incident of the story is the death of a young woman during an illegal abortion in 1913. I did not intend to write a political story. At the time I was writing it, abortion wasn’t even in the news. I was simply writing about something that was a problem for women at the time and developing a plot around it.

In the third and most recent book in the series, Secrets and Spies, the plot centers around the presence of German spies and saboteurs in New York City in 1915, two years before the United States entered the Great War. The information I found was absolutely fascinating and sometimes horrific. I was especially disturbed when I learned that German saboteurs killed hundreds of potential war horses in New York with a bacteria called glanders.

However, the topic I want to discuss for this blog is the protest movement in 1914 New York City, which I covered in The Burning Bride! Wow! When I first started this book, I had no idea that Emma Goldman was publishing a magazine for anarchists called Mother Earth or that a 21-year-old man was leading an army of hungry unemployed men into churches demanding that they adhere to the teachings of Jesus and house and feed the hungry. Some of the churches responded with kindness. Others did not!

New York church

The young man in question was Frank Tannenbaum. When he led a group of a couple hundred protestors to St. Alphonsus Church to demand food and shelter, he and his group were met by an overwhelming force of police.

Here is how I described the event in my book, using primary sources:

According to the reporter, the priest ordered them to leave, but the men refused, standing on the pews, yelling. A few frightened congregants were quoted in the paper. One woman had insisted that the fellow standing in her pew take off his cap out of respect. Which he did. Frank had asked the priest to let the men sleep in the church that night.

Ellen read the story, outrage building a fire in her mind.

“You'll do nothing of the kind,” Father Adrian replied. “The Catholic church is no place for you to sleep, and I strongly object to the way you entered here.”

“Well, will you give us money to buy food?”

“No.”

“Will you give us work?” Frank asked.

Again Father Adrian refused.

“But I tell you we're starving,” Frank implored.

Of course, starving men and women were not Father Adrian’s problem.

According to the account, Frank had finally given up but it was too late. The police were bound and determined to end the threat of Frank Tannenbaum.

Frank Tannenbaum spent a year in jail and was fined the exorbitant sum of five hundred dollars all because he demanded food and shelter for hungry, out-of-work people. That’s where Frank’s story ends in the book, but he later went on to attend Columbia University, earn a Ph.D. in economics and eventually become an expert on Mexico and Latin America.

Frank Tannenbaum. Public Domain.
This image is available from the United States
Library of Congress's Prints
and Photographs division under the digital ID ggbain.19596.

Another historical figure from that era whom I found fascinating was Becky Edelsohn. She was a feisty anarchist who stood up to authority any chance she got. One time, she opened the door of a limousine and spit in a plutocrat’s face. She was famous for her signature red stockings, for her fiery speeches, and for being one of the first hunger strikers in the U.S.

Becky Edelsohn under arrest, public domain

Anarchists get a bad rap these days, and even then, they would sometimes use violence to call attention to their cause. But remember that in the early 20th century, there was no such thing as “unemployment insurance” or “workmen’s comp” and children often worked 15-hour days in dangerous factories while the wealthy lived extravagant lives of conspicuous consumption. It’s understandable that the poor, and the activists who advocated for them, were so outraged.

I got a lot of information about this era from a terrific book titled More Powerful Than Dynamite by Thai Jones, and both Emma Goldman and her first husband, Alexander Berkman (who went to prison for trying to kill Henry Frick) wrote memoirs. I was even able to find copies of Mother Earth online.

I’m lucky that my brother lives in Manhattan and so I’ve been able to do so much research in the area. On one trip I took a tour with the Bowery Boys — I highly recommend their podcast series!! — and got to see the Greenwich Village apartment building where Emma Goldman, once labeled the “most dangerous woman in America,” lived.

Emma Goldman’s apartment

And just in case you’ve been wondering who’s been keeping me company while I’ve been writing these stories, here’s my little guy, Franco:

Franco

The books in this series are available to read on Kindle Unlimited.

Universal Link:

https://books2read.com/u/47Vrla

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whispering-Women-Delafield-Malloy-Investigation/dp/1737575175/

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/Whispering-Women-Delafield-Malloy-Investigation-ebook/dp/B0B9W2WG8T/

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/Whispering-Women-Delafield-Malloy-Investigation-ebook/dp/B0B9W2WG8T/

Amazon AU:

https://www.amazon.com.au/Whispering-Women-Delafield-Malloy-Investigation-ebook/dp/B0B9W2WG8T/

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-whispering-women-trish-macenulty/1142117381?ean=9781737575177

About the Author:

Trish MacEnulty is a bestselling novelist. In addition to her historical fiction, she has published novels, a short story collection, and a memoir. A former Professor of English, she currently lives in Florida with her husband, two dogs, and one cat. She writes book reviews and feature articles for the Historical Novel Review. She loves reading, writing, walking with her dogs, streaming historical series, cooking, and dancing.

Social Media Links:

Website: https://trishmacenulty.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmacenulty

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100055362621397

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/trishmac_historicalfiction/

Book Bub:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/trish-macenulty