I’m in the midst of writing a historical novel set in England in 1452 through 1455. It’s not primarily about the Wars of the Roses or King Henry VI but obviously the issues of the day have to set the background for the piece.
Where the fictional action of the novel is touched by actual history, I want to make it absolutely accurate…and I’m trying to do this without leaving my home in the Chicago suburbs…and hope the Brits won’t sneer too much at the result. Luckily, there is a vast amount of source material, both primary and secondary, online. The Paston Letters, for instance, are available in both the original language and translated. There is also a wealth of secondary sources, great books exhibiting careful and amazing scholarship.
There is even an online interactive street map of the village of St. Albans in the 15th Century. Who knew?
But the one thing I can’t seem to find is a record of the day-by-day movements of the court of Henry VI through this period. I expect to be needing this for the entire period covered by the novel but I’m feeling the critical need for this information for October of 1452.
I’ve found one secondary source that indicates that Henry and his queen, the chief justice Sir John Fortescue, and many peers of the realm went on a judicial progress through the Midlands beginning in October 1452…but I can’t find the exact dates and it’s important to the plot to know when the court left Westminster.
Can any of the historians out there point me in the right direction for this?
If not, I’ll have to wing it and hope no reader, five years from now, comes back to bite me in the arse…
You could just do what Dan Brown did for “DaVinci Code”. Where there is no actual historical justification, just make it up. Many authors have used that dodge, throughout history. It’s called “artistic license”.
Many readers take your “artistic license” as fact… That’s just the way it works. :(:(
While this is a valid point, typically the writer of a good historical novel attempts to get as many details factually correct as possible. While we may not know that the kitchen drudge at Arundel Castle was Bess, daughter of Jarret the Miller, we do know that the kitchens were located in an outbuilding within castle walls, and that Sir John Fitzalan the Earl’s son was partial to roast capon, etc. (‘Facts’ made up for the example, but typical of the sorts of things available from chrnicles of the day.)
Chesire Human, I understand the concept but I’m attempting to hold myself closer to the standards of, say, Gore Vidal and Colleen McCullough, both of whom made up plenty…without contradicting known, historical fact.
My entirely fictitious protagonist is involved in entirely fictitious action based on the fact that the king and queen are in residence at Westminster on October 11, 1452. My point is that I’m hoping to avoid someone coming back later with evidence that the king was in Norwich or somewhere on that date.
Jormungandr, thanks for the reference to that book by Mabel Elizabeth Seebohm. I had been through Google books but somehow overlooked that one.
Ms. Seebohm’s telegraphic entry seems to indicate that Henry was in Westminster from September 8th through November 15th, completely contradicting my other source, Christina Hardyment’s Malory, The Knight Who Became King Arthur’s Chronicler. I suspect that Ms. Hardyment is more accurate than Ms. Seebohm…but at least I have one secondary source defending me in the unlikely instance a question should ever come up.
That’s just the way it works. :(:(