Guest Author, Stephanie Dray - Bad Girls of the Ancient World: Expanded Edition

Today on History Undressed, I'm thrilled to present to you a new author, Stephanie Dray.  I first met Stephanie earlier this year at a local writing chapter meeting.  I stared admiringly and somewhat covetously at the paper thin laptop she was using for an hour--mine is quite large--(my apologies to the speaker!) and then introduced myself. She is an up and coming author of historical fiction, her debut Lily of the Nile, a novel about Cleopatra's daughter, will release in January 2011.  In the meantime, she has presented me with a tantalizing and fun historical article.  Enjoy!

Bad Girls of the Ancient World: Expanded Edition

by Stephanie Dray

I recently co-authored a piece about bad girls in the ancient world with Jeannie Lin, author of historical fiction set in Tang Dynasty China. Together, Jeannie and I discussed how women who have been vilified in history share a few common traits whether they hail from western or eastern culture. These women were usually warriors, seductresses, or sorceresses. Sometimes, all three.

Today I’m taking on this subject solo to introduce you to the ancient bad girls of Western Civilization--those women who defied social convention and sometimes changed the world as a result. These women are fascinating and in the context of my forthcoming novel, Lily of the Nile, they also served to inspire my heroine, Cleopatra Selene.

The historic Selene was born into a dangerous political world, a civilization on the brink of change, and one that may have embraced a more egalitarian view of women if her parents had won their struggle with Octavian. Instead, the independence and power of Selene’s mother as a ruler became a pretext for war, and the misogyny of the Augustan Age took root.

It’s taken us more than two-thousand years to move away from the attitudes towards women that were fostered in Selene’s time, so let’s talk about those bad girls who inspire us and serve as everlasting examples of how ancient attitudes about women still influence us today.

Dido -- Queen of the Carthaginians

Dido
by Christophe Cochet

Though some have argued that Dido is only a mythological figure, it seems more likely that she was a real historical figure--a Princess of Tyre, granted the right to rule jointly with her brother. However, her brother wasn’t keen on sharing power so he murdered Dido’s wealthy husband with the intention of taking over the palace. What Dido did next set her apart from most other women of known history--she didn’t seek out shelter in another kingdom as a wealthy exile, nor did she try to re-marry a powerful king to help her recover the rulership of Tyre. Instead, Queen Dido led a group of settlers and government officials who remained loyal to her and founded the city of Carthage in North Africa.

She was a politician who not only shaped her own fate but created a new civilization. She was also, apparently, so highly religious that she is often equated with her goddess, the Carthaginian Tanit. And when she faced political domination by a neighboring country that wanted to force her into marriage, Dido stabbed herself to death and threw herself upon a funeral pyre.

But why did she come to be thought of as a bad girl in the ancient world?

Because the Romans and the Carthaginians would go on to battle each other in a series of wars for more than one hundred years, the Roman hostility towards a civilization founded by a powerful woman helped forge the Roman character and its attitude towards women. Virgil’s Aeneid, the quintessential propaganda epic of the Augustan Age, immortalizes Dido as a temptress who quite nearly dissuaded the upright Aeneas from his duty to found Rome. (Historically, it’s unlikely that Dido and Aeneas could have ever crossed paths, but a Roman historical fiction writer like Virgil couldn’t resist the temptation to imagine their failed love affair!)

For the Romans, Dido was a woman who should have submitted to her brother’s rule and never taken it upon herself to build a new city or refuse marriage to another man. And because the Romans defeated the Carthaginians, it’s their attitudes that we have inherited through history.

Sophonisba -- Carthaginian Princess and Patriot




Sophonisba
by Giovanni Francesco Caroto

  There are a number of stories about proud Carthaginian women who chose death as an alternative to being ruled by men, or by Rome. Sophonisba is another of them. The legend surrounding her is that she was a fiercely patriotic princess who was betrothed to Massinissa of Numidia. But when her intended groom allied with Rome and wouldn’t stay faithful to Carthage, she decided to marry the Numidian leader Syphax instead.

But Sophonisba’s jilted groom didn’t forget her. Perhaps as much from injured pride as for political reasons, Massinissa defeated Syphax and claimed Sophonisba as his bride. She married him, but tried to use his love for her to turn him against the Romans.

Sophonisba never took up arms against the Romans; she wasn’t a political enemy in the conventional sense. However, the Romans were threatened by women who used their sexuality for political gain. Marking her for an enemy, the Romans demanded that she be handed over and marched in a triumph through Rome as a captured slave. Sophonisba drank a cup of poison instead.

As a young North African queen and wife of Juba II who was himself a descendant of Massinissa, Selene must have heard this story; it’s difficult to imagine that it didn’t remind her of her own mother.

Olympias -- Mother of Alexander the Great

Olympias
from Promptuarii
Iconum Insigniorum

This Greek princess and supposed descendant of Achilles met her husband, Philip II of Macedon, while being initiated into the mysteries of an ancient cult. She was always suspected, ever after, of sorcery and congress with serpents. Though she was the fourth of Phillip’s wives, he claimed it was a love match, and she appears to have believed him until he started marrying other women. When Philip married a seventh time and drunkenly accused Olympias of infidelity, she packed up her things and left Macedon.

Fortuitously--and perhaps not coincidentally--her husband was assassinated shortly thereafter. Olympias was able to install her son Alexander on the throne and he would go on to become ruler of the known world. But Olympias didn’t simply fade into the woodwork; she was an active participant in Alexander’s political regime. After her son’s death, though she was in her fifties, Olympias commanded an army in the field to preserve the throne for her baby grandson. What’s more, she won. For a short time, she was the mistress of Macedonia, at the zenith of her power. Eventually, she was defeated by Cassander and executed, thought to be far too dangerous to leave alive, but she leaves behind the archetype of a fiercely protective mother.
As a descendant of Alexander’s Macedonian general, Ptolemy, Selene was a kinswoman to Olympias and probably learned about her exploits.

Cleopatra -- The Most Powerful Woman in the History of the World

Marble Bust of Cleopatra
Dating from 30-40 BC

As the consort of not one, but two Roman generals, Cleopatra earned a reputation as a seductress. Though she was a Hellenistic Queen, the Romans thought of her as foreign and exotic. Because she respected older Egyptian traditions, the Romans disdained her for worshipping all manner of strange gods. What’s more, her enemies believed she was capable of wielding magic. And if that weren’t bad enough, Cleopatra was also a warrior queen, capable of commanding her own warships.

She’s come down to us as a familiar and iconic image. Everyone has heard about the infamous Queen of the Nile, and there’s a good reason for it. She was, and remains, the most powerful woman in the history of the world. Though we’ve since had powerful queens, the geographic scope of their authority has been smaller. We’ve also had women serve as prime ministers of important countries, but their powers have been limited and sharply circumscribed. Cleopatra was not only the queen of Egypt in her own right, but in concert with her Roman husband, the biddable Marcus Antonius, she wielded unprecedented power. Until the Battle of Actium, she was poised to rule the entire world. But for some bad weather and a wildly successful propaganda campaign against her, the world might be a much different place today.

It’s difficult to wonder what lessons Cleopatra’s daughter Selene must have taken from her rise and fall. Selene herself was born in Ptolemaic Egypt, the best possible place to be born a woman in the ancient world. Raised in Alexandria, she would never have lacked for strong female role models.

Nonetheless, Cleopatra Selene was not a bad girl of history; she managed, somehow, to wield great political power and religious influence without ever falling afoul of the patriarchy. This may be because no sexual scandal touched her during her twenty-year marriage to Juba II or because she never took up arms on a battlefield.

Even so, she never forgot the important women in her life or in her legacy and neither should we.

*****

With her parents dead, the daughter of Cleopatra and Mark Antony is left at the mercy of her Roman captors. Heir to one empire and prisoner of another, it falls to Princess Selene to save her brothers and reclaim what is rightfully hers…

In the aftermath of Alexandria’s tragic fall, Princess Selene is taken from Egypt, the only home she’s ever known. Along with her two surviving brothers, she’s put on display as a war trophy in Rome. Selene’s captors mock her royalty and drag her through the streets in chains, but on the brink of death, the children are spared as a favor to the emperor’s sister, who takes them to live as hostages in the so-called lamentable embassy of royal orphans.

Now trapped in a Roman court of intrigue that reviles her heritage and suspects her faith, Selene can’t hide the hieroglyphics that carve themselves into her flesh. Nor can she stop the emperor from using her for his own political ends. But faced with a new and ruthless Caesar who is obsessed with having a Cleopatra of his very own, Selene is determined honor her mother’s lost legacy. The magic of Egypt and Isis remain within her. But can she succeed where her mother failed? And what will it cost her in a political game where the only rule is win or die?

*****

Stephanie graduated from Smith, a small women’s college in Massachusetts where–to the consternation of her devoted professors–she was unable to master Latin. However, her focus on Middle Eastern Studies gave her a deeper understanding of the consequences of Egypt’s ancient clash with Rome, both in terms of the still-extant tensions between East and West as well as the worldwide decline of female-oriented religion.

Before she wrote novels, Stephanie was a lawyer, a game designer, and a teacher. Now she uses the transformative power of magic realism to illuminate the stories of women in history and inspire the young women of today. She remains fascinated by all things Roman or Egyptian and has–to the consternation of her devoted husband–collected a house full of cats and ancient artifacts.  Visit Stephanie at http://www.stephaniedray.com/

Historical Romance Review: Heartsong, by Allison Knight

I have been a lover of historical romance since I read my first fairy tale.  I've watched romances evolve over the years and believe me they have evolved.  Its a subtle difference, but there is a difference.  That being said, I really enjoy reading both older romances and newer romances.

Recently, I read Allison Knight's historical romance, Heartsong.  This book, while published in 2008, reminded me of older romance novels.  I think its partly the language, partly the story line, the alpha hero trying to show off his alphaness, the inherent danger to the heroine's life.

The book was a quick read at just under 200 pages in Trade Paperback

About the book...

Desperate and proud, Rhianna ap Brynn Ffrydd, a Welsh princess, is captured by a hated Englishman, Baron Garrett deShay, an agent of Edward I of England. Despite the passion he arouses in her, Rhianna must find a way to return home to her younger half sister, whom she's raised since birth. Garrett, emotionally scarred but intent on gaining the respect of his monarch by surrendering a member of Welsh aristocracy, fights an overwhelming attraction and the need to protect this woman, despite the charge of witch that hangs over her head. Can the two lovers conquer the cruelties awaiting them and their own natural animosity, to accept a forever kind of love?

Pubbed in 2008, Champagne Books
ISBN:  978-1897445792


My Review...
 
Medieval history is one of my favorite time periods.  There is something about the knights, ladies and castles that gets me every time.  Even their clothes and food fascinates me.  Heartsong, is a medieval historical romance, with the heroine being Welsh and the hero being English.  They were born to hate each other.  In fact the only reason they met was because he invaded her lands and captured her.  *Rubbing hands* I couldn't wait to see how he won her over!

Ms. Knight did a good job of capturing the medieval setting, with the castles, fires, furs, servants, laws, witch trials, horses, travel, food, window slits, etc... I was able to put myself into the book and visualize the surroundings. This book took me back to older Julie Garwood medievals and Kathleen Woodiwiss days--yes Ms. Knight, your writing reminds me of these medieval romance Queens!

But there were a few things I struggled with.  I had trouble with the progression of their romance.  I wish the story had been longer so I could see more reasons for her to want to stay then to return to her family.  I was a little disappointed with how Garrett treated his sister at first and his betrothed, as well as continuing to call Rhianna "wench".  I know this was in keeping with the times, and yes his sister was irritating, but I would have liked to see our hero be a little more heroic.

Now, those things aside, I did enjoy it.  I would have liked it more if it were a little longer.  The last 50 pages really had my eyes peeled open too--lots of action and drama in that last bit.  The book did have a satisfying ending.
I see after looking on Ms. Knight's website that there is a sequel to this book titled, Battlesong, which released earlier this year.  I read the excerpt, and Ms. Knight, it sounds fabulous!  I will be adding it to my TBR pile, as this one is Arthur's story, and I'm curious to check on the characters and see how his own romance progresses.

About the author...

Allison, like many authors, read a book she didn't like. Despite occasional digs from her children, she wrote a romance. "Heartsong" is her thirteenth book. A retired teacher, she's taught fiction writing and spoken at conferences throughout the country. She and her husband moved south to the land of hurricanes and sunshine. When she isn't watching the weather, she writes, creating heroes and heroines, then finding ways to make their lives miserable.

Guest Blogger, Rebecca Lynn: One Bituminous Tuber (Or How the Potato Ruined the World)

Today on History Undressed, I am super excited to have guest blogger Rebecca Lynn joining us!  Rebecca has a delcious and lovely blog, Romancing the Palate that I frequent often.  So without further ado... I give you her post today on Food History and the Potato.

One Bituminous Tuber (Or How the Potato Ruined the World)

By Rebecca Lynn



Guest Blogger,
Rebecca Lynn

 Meat and potatoes. Many of Westerners, regardless of social status, find this to be the staple of their diet. In fact, the most common side dish for any kind of meat is some form of starch or potato. Mash them, bake them, slice them, fry them... we like our potatoes basically any way but raw. But food preparation hasn't always been like this. In fact, did you know that potatoes used to be forbidden? As in, oulawed! From the introduction of the potato into the Western palate, this starchy veg has gone through a true food revolution.



Aside from being closely linked to politics and social movements (like many other foods throughout history--salt, pepper, cinnamon, and sugar, to name a few), the potato was one of the first foods to come under true scientific scrutiny. Thought to be the cause of leprosy in the 16th century, the potato was outlawed for over 100 years in some parts of Western Europe because of its association with this deadly disease. After this belief was finally proven false, the reintroduction of the potato into the culinary atmosphere was so difficult, it required military intervention. Of course, potatoes were later linked to high fertility rates and a cure for diarrhea, among other positive associations. So not all potato-based mythology was negative.



Vincent van Gogh - The Potato Eaters

Still, potatoes were generally thought to be peasant food, through most of the Modern period. It was common for food-obsessed aristocrats (especially on the Continent) to look down on restaurants or parties that served potato dishes. In the British Isles in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the potato became a subsistence crop for the very poor, especially in Ireland. Peasants relied on potato crops to keep their children's bellies full, so much so that when the potato blight happened in Ireland in 1845, over a million people died in the ensuing famine.

So now, we come to the obvious question. Why is this important? And as a romance novelist, why is food history important?

Food is necessary for humans to exist, and the realness of our culinary environment can place us at a very specific point in history. Like the evolution of the potato--which went from an illegal substance in the early 16th century to a marker of social status in the 19th to a staple across socio-economic barriers in the 21st--what a person eats, prepares, and serves can say a lot about who they are. You've heard the phrase, "you are what you eat"? Well, that's true in more than a health-obsessed way.



A 14th-century aristocrat in Scotland would likely not be eating potatoes (although I think you could make an argument for Scotland, of all places, because of its isolation). A 17th-century aristocrat in France certainly would not be eating potatoes. A 19th-century British aristocrat would associate potatoes with peasants. And if they were served at the table of, say, a merchant family, the way a true aristocrat would respond (especially in his own head) would authenticate your historicity. In the same way, the response of the merchant (who was, in essence, bridging the gap between the peasant and the noble) would make him seem more real, as well.



Food detail adds authenticity. And, let's face it, food history is FUN! :-) I had a great time researching this post. In fact, I found a great resource or two that you could potentially use. I'll give you one--the one where I got most of my information. It's called Food In History by Reay Tannahill, and it's a phenomenal food history resource. The other, well, you'll just have to take my food writing class to find out about all of my secrets!



What's that, you say? When and where am I teaching this illustrious Food Writing class? Well, you're in luck. It starts on Monday. It's called "Romancing the Palate", and you can register here: http://dunesanddreams.org/writing-workshops/2010-november-workshop-b/. If you can't take it this time, I'll be teaching another class in February that will last a full month. Watch my blog (http://romancingthepalate.blogspot.com) for more information on that one. And I have food history tidbits on my blog now and then, in addition to other food writing and foodie romance topics. So stop on by.

But mostly, I want to encourage you to use authentic and deep food detail in your books. Why? Because food is common to every human experience, much like love. And the more connected a person feels to your books, the more open they are to the message that romance writers deliver: that everyone deserves to love and be loved. In addition to being a political tool, a pleasure experience, and a necessary part of human existence, food is deeply connected to our ideas of love and loving. So what more perfect marriage could there be than food and romance novels?

I can think of none.

Rebecca Lynn has two Master's degrees and is very pretentious about it. Or, she's just another writer trying to get published. Only she does have some acumen in literature, history, and leadership, and she tries to use it as much as possible. She also ran her own restaurant for a number of years and has experience in the food industry, in addition to food writing. She believes that behind every good recipe is a good love story, and that food is integral to the experience of true romance. For her, anyway. She considers herself a foodie romance author and teaches food writing workshops online.

Visit Rebecca Lynn at http://romancingthepalate.blogspot.com/ or http://newkidonthewritersblock.blogspot.com/ 

Historical Book Review: Courtiers, The Secret History of Kensington Palace, by Lucy Worsley

I've just finished reading, Courtiers, The Secret History of Kensington Palace, by Lucy Worsley, and for all of you history buffs out there, and for those of you who want to become one, I can't recommend it enough! 

About the Book...

Kensington Palace is now most famous as the former home of Diana, Princess of Wales, but the palace's glory days came between 1714 and 1760, during the reigns of George I and II . In the eighteenth century, this palace was a world of skulduggery, intrigue, politicking, etiquette, wigs, and beauty spots, where fans whistled open like switchblades and unusual people were kept as curiosities. Lucy Worsley's The Courtiers charts the trajectory of the fantastically quarrelsome Hanovers and the last great gasp of British court life. Structured around the paintings of courtiers and servants that line the walls of the King's Staircase of Kensington Palace—paintings you can see at the palace today—The Courtiers goes behind closed doors to meet a pushy young painter, a maid of honor with a secret marriage, a vice chamberlain with many vices, a bedchamber woman with a violent husband, two aging royal mistresses, and many more. The result is an indelible portrait of court life leading up to the famous reign of George III , and a feast for both Anglophiles and lovers of history and royalty.


Hardcover, Pubbed: August 2010
ISBN: 9780802719874

My Review...

Kudos to you Ms. Worsley!  I personally enjoy reading historical factual books because I'm obsessed, but for some people reading history books can be a bit of a bore.  Rest assured, when you pick up this book, you won't be bored!  (and if you are, for shame!)  Ms. Worsley has a natural story telling voice, which was active, inviting and intriguing.  She tells the story of Kensington Palace and its inhabitants during a time period I have had a brief introduction to before, but am now fully informed of, and things that I never would have found on my own.

I think this is what most intrigued me about the book, it wasn't just the story of the kings, queens, princesses, and other royals, but covered the lives of those who traipsed through the palace daily--servants too!  And all of them held secrets.  The book brought to life that saying, "If these walls could talk..." and apparently they did talk to Ms. Worsley, and we are lucky enough to hear what they said.

The book also comes with pictures, which pleased me immensely!  While I do have a vivid enough imagination to picture the people and palace on my own, seeing it while reading it makes the book that much better.

This is definitely a keeper for me!  And I have to say thank you to you Ms. Worsley, in casual conversation the other day, someone wondered when the English monarchs came from Germany, and because I'd read your book, I knew exactly when.  I look forward to reading your future works and stockpiling your backlist.

Cheers!
Eliza

About the Author...

Lucy Worsley is the chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that looks after The Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, and Kensington Palace.  She is the author of Cavalier: A Tale of Chivalry, Passion, and Great Houses.  Visit Ms. Worsley at www.lucyworsley.com

Guest Author Mary McCall on Christian Symbolism Part II

In September of this year, Mary McCall, a regular guest author at History Undressed, offered up her article Medieval Christian Symbolism, and today I am eager to present to you, Part II of Christian Symbolism that Mary has written for us.  As I write this, Mary is herself in the heart of Rome--at the Vatican!  Eager readers, prepare to have your minds tantalized by Mary's prose...

Early Christian Symbolism: Part II

By Mary McCall

Let me begin by announcing this is a Purple Post. Amanda Kelsey did such a beautiful job with the heather-covered field on my cover that I’ve decided to declare November Purple Month. On any blog post I do this month that you respond to, leave your e-mail. I’ll be doing a drawing for a .pdf copy of Highland Treasure for each blog three days after it’s posted. In addition, I’ll save all the names and on December 3rd, I’ll do a drawing for a gift basket. I’m not very good at doing like the Romans. There’s no getting used to the time change here and my internet time is limited, but I will get back to make replies.

The Fish: One of the most common of all early Christian symbols is the fish, representing Christ - ever-watchful with unblinking eyes. In Greek, the phrase, "Jesus Christ, Son of God Savior," is "Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter." The first letters of each of these Greek words, when put together, spell "ichthys," the Greek word for "fish." This symbol can be seen in the Sacraments Chapel of the Catacombs of St. Callistus. Because of the story of the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the fish symbolized, too, the Eucharist.

The earliest literary reference to the fish as Christian symbol was made by Clement of Alexandria, who advised Christians to use a dove or fish as their seal. Tertullian wrote (in "De Baptismo") "But we, being little fishes, as Jesus Christ is our great Fish, begin our life in the water, and only while we abide in the water are we safe and sound." Also used as a Christian symbol was the dolphin, most often as a symbol of the Christian himself rather than Christ, though the dolphin was also used as a representation of Christ -- most often in combination with the anchor symbol ("Christ on the Cross"). During the reign of Diocletian, a common form of persecution/death for martyrs was to have an anchor wrapped around their neck and then toss them in a lake. In the catacombs, the final resting places of martyrs are marked with the method of death. It is common to see anchors, flames, axes, crosses, etc. carved into the stone.

Lamb: symbol of Christ as the Paschal Lamb and also a symbol for Christians (as Christ is our Shepherd and Peter was told to feed His sheep). The lamb is also a symbol for St. Agnes (Feast Day 21 January), virgin martyr of the early Church.

Dove: symbol of the Holy Ghost and used especially in representations of our Lord's Baptism and the Pentecost. It also symbolizes the release of the soul in death, and is used to recall Noe's dove, a harbinger of hope.

Peacock: As a symbol of immortality (even St. Augustine believed the peackock's flesh to have "antiseptic qualities" and that it didn't corrupt), the peacock became a symbol of Christ and the Resurrection. Its image embellished everything from the Catacombs to everyday objects, like lamps, especially in early Romanesque and Byzantine churches. This example is two peacocks facing on the side of an ancient tabernacle with the Chi-Rho on the lid. (The peacock, for obvious reasons, was also used as a symbol for pride, too).

Pelican: The Pelican is a symbol of the atonement and the Redeemer and is often found in Christian murals, frescos, paintings and stained glass. The pelican was believed to wound itself in order to feed its young with its own blood. In the hymn "Adoro Te," St. Thomas Aquinas addresses the Savior with, "Pelican of Mercy, cleanse me in Thy Precious Blood." Allusion is even made to this belief in "Hamlet" (act iv): "To his good friend thus wide I'll open my arms And, like the kind, life-rendering pelican, Repast them with my blood."

Phoenix: The Phoenix is a mythical creature said to build a nest when old, and set it on fire. It would then rise from the ashes in victory. Because of these myths (believed by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Orientals), the bird came to symbolize Christ.

Ship: As those outside of Noe's Ark were destroyed, the ship became a perfect early symbol of the Church with its associations with "the barque of Peter, the Fisherman." In the same vein, the main part of a church's interior, the place where the people worship, is called a "nave," from the Latin "navis" -- ship. The Ark is also a symbol of the Temple through its shape and purpose, both having three levels, etc. And as a symbol of the Temple and Church, it is a symbol of Mary, sealed off with pitch and closed up by God Himself.

Rainbow: Sign of the Covenant with Noe. Its 7 colors (from the top down: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) recall the 7 Sacraments (7 is the sign of Covenant and completion). In St. John's vision of Heaven, a rainbow makes an appearance -- over the head of the angel who gives John a book to eat (ch. 10), and surrounding the throne of God:

Apocalypse 4:2-3:

And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne one sitting. And he that sat, was to the sight like the jasper and the sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

We’ll look at more next time and eventually get into how some of these symbols led to development of heraldry. Until next time, happy reading and writing!

Mary

******

Can the Highlands survive a gifted soul with a tendency toward mischief?

Leonce MacPherson became chieftain after an unknown Norman slaughtered his father and clansmen. For two years he’s raided Northumbria seeking vengeance while a dream woman promises the return of his great sword, stolen in the massacre.

After escaping an abusive father, Lady Hope Nevilles, unknowingly the Gifted MacKay of her generation, has lived with animals for friends in wild Northumbria. She longs to flee to her mother’s native Highlands and find a place away from capture and torture.

When her father steals Leonce’s son, Hope takes that as a sign to journey to the Highlands. She returns the boy and the great sword to Leonce, who recognizes her as his dream siren. When he tricks her into marriage, will she keep her vow to kill herself rather than submit to any man? Can she learn to trust as her father's sin haunt her future? When she learns the truth of her ancestry and gifted spirit from a clan enemy, will Leonce accept the news, or will distrust and jealousy doom their fragile union?

You can visit Mary at www.marymccall.net or http://marymccall.wordpress.com/

Guest Author: Gretchen Craig - What the First Americans Wore Around the Pueblo

I'd like to welcome today's guest author, Gretchen Craig, to History Undressed!  Today we are in for a special treat, one of my favorite topics: clothing! 

Guest Author
Gretchen Craig

WHAT THE FIRST AMERICANS WORE AROUND THE PUEBLO

by Gretchen Craig

In 1598, Conquistadors marched up the Rio Grande Valley into the area we now call Santa Fe, New Mexico. In full regalia, they wore wool or cotton leggings, sometimes brightly dyed, and balloon trousers. The dandies wore velvet and silk, the less dandy linen and cotton canvas. And on their worst days, they wore armor. What wouldn’t they have given for Gortex!

We have a pretty good idea what the Spanish conquerors wore around 1600 from paintings and fabric remnants and fashion accounts. I imagine the men hiking through the dry lands of the Southwest were considerably less pretty and resplendent than the romantic portraits of the era, but never mind them. What were the people they encountered in the upper Rio Grande valley wearing?

A woman of Kotyit, now Cochiti pueblo, wore a cotton tunic tied over her left shoulder, belted with an embroidered strip. The tunic came down to her knees and in warm weather, that’s all she needed. In colder months, she would drape a loose, unconstructed shirt under the tunic, add some cotton, leather, or fur leggings, and a pair of boots. She might have a cloak, short or long, made of dressed skin, probably deer, or she might have one of rabbit belts. For glamour, she added necklaces and ear pendants and bracelets.

The women spent several hours every day grinding corn by shoving a stone over a stone basin, the kernels trapped in between. Every one of them would have had lovely, toned arms, so the bare shoulder and arm style suited them and didn’t require buttons or brooches or buckles.

A man wore either a cotton kilt or a knee-length tunic. He tied his tunic over the right shoulder rather than the left, and cinched an embroidered belt around his waist. (Think nicely muscled arms accustomed to throwing lances or hoeing fields or drawing bows.) Other garments were decorated with tassels and fringe. On the hottest days, a man probably just wore a loin cloth, and when it was cold, he would have dressed as the women did with an undergarment and layered cloaks. He also adorned himself with pendants and necklaces.

The puebloans grew cotton for themselves as well as imported some from a little further south where the people had larger cotton fields. They used natural dyes that produced blues and yellows and reds. They also dyed thread for the embroidery they were fond of. I’ve seen no mention in my research of their having other fiber crops like flax, and they certainly had no wool-bearing animals. They did, however, have yucca, leather, fur, and feathers.

Yucca fibers were enormously useful. A puebloan would harvest the long blades of the yucca plant to extract the tough fibers. She could roast the long green blades and then bury them till they decayed and softened to make the task easier. You can imagine the longest fibers might have been three to four feet long. She could make sandals out of these fibers, braid them into cords for weaving, string beads on them, or tie a length through her pierced ear and suspend a piece of turquoise.

Men worked at the looms weaving cotton. They also dressed deer skins, rabbit pelts, and the occasional bear or elk skin. Buffalo lived off to the east on the plains, and sometimes the men of the pueblo hunted that far from home. More likely, though, they would have traded obsidian or turquoise or arrow heads for a buffalo hide when the plains people (Apaches, for example) came around.

Tough and thick, buffalo hide was great for shoe soles (and shield covers), but the upper parts of boots were likely to be deer hide, often bleached white. (At night, the puebloans hung their shoes overhead so as to keep the mice from gnawing the leather.) The people of Kotyit had lovely, supple leather to work with, chamois to use for leggings, boots, tunics and cloaks.

For blankets and for the warmest of cloaks, the puebloans combined yucca and fur or yucca and feathers. The people in the Santa Fe region raised turkeys, so feathers were abundant. They wrapped the feathers around the yucca fibers and then wove the resulting feathered cord into a treasure of warmth that was passed down to the next generation and the next. The same process using strips of rabbit fur instead of feathers produced a wonderfully soft rug or blanket or cloak. I imagine it would have been a heavy drape for the shoulders, but wonderful as a blanket. I wonder if making one of these feather or fur blankets was akin to our grandmothers piecing a quilt together for each of her children and grandchildren.

Both men and women wore jewelry. The puebloans mined turquoise near present day Cerrillos in northern New Mexico, and they used this stone to trade for goods as far south as the Aztecs of Mexico. Trade extended all the way west to the Gulf of California, and from there they imported shells of all kinds. The craftsman cut squarish shapes from the shells or from black shale or turquoise, drilled a hole using a sharp stick whirled by leather tongs, threaded the beads on yucca fiber or leather cord, then wet-ground the necklace in order to smooth and polish the beads.

Wolves’ teeth and bear claws made dramatic necklaces for the men and no doubt made a statement about their prowess. And among archaeological finds is a lovely iridescent conch shell tablet which had been worn around someone’s neck on a leather thong.

As for dressing their hair, the most common style referenced in my research applies to Hopi women, a pueblo people who live two hundred miles west of the Santa Fe area. These women wound their long black hair around moulds at each side of the head, a little like Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie, but bigger and blacker and shinier. Other references mention pueblo women wearing their hair loose.

Using the natural materials at hand and their own ingenuity, Americans of the pueblos produced practical, comfortable, stylish clothing.

**References: The Pueblo Indians of North America by Edward P. Dozier ; Tales of the Cochiti by Ruth Benedict; The Delight Makers by Adolf F. Bandelier; The Pueblo by Charlotte and David Yue; National Geographic, February, 1964, Vol. 125, No. 2.**

****

CRIMSON SKY

With sensitivity and depth, Craig explores the clash of cultures in 1598 New Mexico. The Spanish bring new crops, animals, tools – and weapons. Facing drought and murdering marauders, the people of the pueblos strive to find a balance between submission to the powerful new invaders and resistance to their overwhelming force.


Zia would face an enemy’s sword to protect her infant son, but she learns her battle to save him requires more than physical courage. Her attraction to the Spanish conquistador leads to the most difficult choice of her life. Is his love worth abandoning her religion, her culture, and her very identity?
Diego Ortiz has yearned for a home and a family. When he meets a beautiful woman of the pueblos, he offers her not only protection for her child and herself, but also his everlasting love.


TapanAshka, ambushed in the forest, challenges death itself to achieve his two heart’s desires – finding home, and exacting revenge against his greatest enemy, the Spaniard Diego Ortiz.

Available as an e-book in Kindle and Nook formats. Fall 2010.

Gretchen Craig is the award winning author of Always and Forever and Ever My Love, both set among the Creoles and Cajuns of early Louisiana. Crimson Sky moves the reader across the country to the mesas and canyons of northern New Mexico. Based on careful research and enthusiastic exploration, Gretchen’s novels are delve into some of the most disturbing social conflicts of our country. Visit her website at www.gretchencraig.com.

Guest Author: Shana Galen - Who Needs a Research Assistant?

Welcome back to History Undressed, guest author Shana Galen!  She previously visited us in May of this year, with her release of THE MAKING OF A DUCHESS, and blogged about treason during the Regency era.  Today she's back with a new release, THE MAKING OF A GENTLEMAN, and talking with us about research and assistants.  Thanks for being here with us today!

Who Needs a Research Assistant?

by Shana Galen



Author, Shana Galen

 Several years ago I attended a Chat with Nora Roberts. At the Romance Writers of America conference, bestselling authors often host “chats,” where they answer questions from aspiring authors. One question Ms. Roberts was asked was whether or not she had an assistant. I can’t remember if she said she did or not. It seemed she was loathe to have someone else in her space—a feeling most of us can understand, I’m sure—but she made a point to say that she would never allow an assistant to do research for her. She did all her own research.

As an aspiring author, I found this amazing. As a published author, it makes complete sense. If I had as much money as Nora Roberts, I could certainly assign someone else to read history books, journals, and letters from the Regency period for me, but that person isn’t writing my books. I’m the author, and I have to find the words and phrases to depict the time period and give the reader the feeling she has stepped back in time.

Another invaluable benefit of doing one’s own research is the interesting little tidbits one finds. I was researching the Bastille for my new novel The Making of a Gentleman. The novel is the story of the comte de Valére, Armand Harcout, who as a young French aristocrat must flee his family’s chateau when peasants attack at the start of the French Revolution. He hides in Paris, where he falls under the protection of two men with a secret. When he inadvertently learns the secret, he’s imprisoned for twelve long years.

Most of the book takes place in London after Armand is rescued from prison. It’s a book about resurrecting the human spirit, but I needed to know what life would have been like for Armand during those long years. Since the Bastille is such a famous prison, I started with it. I’d always read that the Fall of the Bastille was more symbolic than anything else, but I didn’t realize that when it fell it only housed seven prisoners. Not everything I read agreed as to the prisoners’ offences, but most agreed there were seven in total. Four were forgers, two lunatics, and one was a nobleman. The nobleman was imprisoned by his own family and accused of incest.

Even though the Bastille held so few prisoners, it was a symbol of power and fear for the French people. It had been the prison of Voltaire and the Marquis de Sade. Prisoners were released only if they agreed never to speak of what they had seen or what happened inside the prison. The revolutionaries might have been surprised to learn that meals were plentiful and the prisoners were allowed to walk freely and converse with the officers guarding the prison. Some prisoners were even granted parole into Paris.

This was not the sort of prison I wanted for Armand. The secret he holds is far too dangerous to allow him such freedom. The Bastille, of course, was not the only prison. Other prisons were far more conventional and far less desirable for incarceration. I invented my own prison, based on the research I did, and had Armand imprisoned in the garret, alone, for twelve years.

I don’t think I could have captured the feel of Armand’s prison without doing my own research, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate an assistant. I could definitely use someone to do laundry and wash dishes while I dive into research books or the internet.

What about you? Could you use an assistant?

I hope you’ll pick up The Making of a Gentleman. Visit my website at www.shanagalen.com for excerpts and contests.

Two lucky commenters will win a copy of THE MAKING OF A GENTLEMAN.  Winners will be posted in the winners cube.  (US and Canada only)

THE MAKING OF A GENTLEMAN BY SHANA GALEN—IN STORES OCTOBER 2010

“Galen’s signature sense of humor, expertly blended with deep emotions, will hold readers captive right to the end.”

—RT Book Reviews

“Lively dialogue, breakneck pace and a great sense of fun.”

—Publishers Weekly

Twelve years in prison has stripped him of his humanity…

Armand, Comte de Valère has lost the ability to interact with polite society, until his family hires him a beautiful tutor, and he starts to come alive again…

Saving him is her only chance to escape a terrible fate…

Felicity Bennett vows she’ll do whatever it takes to help Armand fight back the demons that have held him captive for so long…

With Felicity’s help, Armand begins to heal, until a buried secret threatens to destroy their growing passion…

Click here for History Undressed's review of this book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shana Galen is the author of five Regency historicals, including the Rita-nominated Blackthorne’s Bride. Her books have been sold in Brazil, Russia, and the Netherlands and featured in the Rhapsody and Doubleday Book Clubs. A former English teacher in Houston’s inner city, Shana now writes full time. Shana is a happily married wife and mother of a daughter and a spoiled cat and lives in Houston, Texas where she is working on the final book in the Brothers of the Revolution series, The Making of a Rogue, which will be in stores in 2011. She loves to hear from readers: visit her website at www.shanagalen.com.