7QT10: An Alcuin-pedia

We debated for a long time whether to go with Alcuin as a first name for our son, mainly because of others' possible reactions. But when he was born he was definitely Alcuin. I like to think of it as a special name for a special baby, or an ancient name for a child with ancient parents :). So, to celebrate our nerdiness, here is a mini Alcuin-pedia.

1. The name, pronounced AL-kwin, is an ancient British one (well, Teutonic, but we'll go with British). It means "noble friend".

2. The most (only?!) famous Alcuin in history is Alcuin of York, ca. 735-804 AD. He was sent to York cathedral school as a child, and remained there as a teacher and then headmaster. On a journey to Rome, he met with Charlemagne, who was sufficiently impressed to persuade Alcuin to lead the palace school at Aachen, in which even the Emperor and his wife enrolled along with their children. One of the foremost scholars of his time, Alcuin was a key figure in the Carolingian renaissance. He is credited with restoring Latin as a literary language and with developing the miniscule script which, among other things, made it easier to copy mathematical texts. Though more a teacher than an innovator, he is also the only name of note in mathematical history in this period. It was said of him that "wherever anything of literary activity is visible, there we can with certainty count on finding a pupil of Alcuin's."

See - how long did that take you to read?

Note the uncanny lack of resemblance

3. Here is a contemporary depiction of Alcuin of York

4. Famous Alcuin quotes:

• He who does not learn when he is young, does not teach when he is old
• Man thinks; God directs
• Oh how sweet life was when we were sitting quietly... among all these books

5. Alcuin loved libraries - he established a great library at Aachen, and at Tours, where he retired to be Abbot at Saint Martin's monastery. One of his poems celebrates York and its library (sadly destroyed by Viking raiders after his death).

6. The Alcuin Club, formed in 1897, promotes sound liturgical scholarship. I'm waiting for our complimentary membership.

7. Although I didn't know this at the time, our Alcuin was born at the very time Alcuin of York was being commemorated in my church's noonday service. And the vicar who will christen him in England is a member of the Alcuin Club. So there you go - a name that was meant to be.

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More Christmas Fare

Browsing around, I found a wonderful description of a medieval Christmas feast, complete with links to other sites and recipes, at A Book of Gode Cookery.
Below are a couple of recipes in their modern versions; click on the links for the original. 

Gyngerbrede

• 4 cups honey
• 1 lb. unseasoned bread crumbs
• 1 tbs. each ginger & cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground white pepper
• pinch saffron
• whole cloves

Bring the honey to a boil and skim off any scum. Keeping the pan over very low heat, stir in the breadcrumbs and spices. When it is a thick, well-blended mass (add more bread crumbs if necessary), remove from heat & let cool slightly, then lay out on a flat surface & press firmly into an evenly shaped square or rectangle, about 3/4 of an inch thick. Let cool, then cut into small squares to serve. Garnish each square by sticking a whole clove in the top center. OPTION: add a few drops of red food coloring when adding the spices, "if thou wolt haue it Red."

Wardonys in syryp

• 3 -4 pears, sliced
• 3 cups red wine
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 tsp. ginger
• 2 Tbs. vinegar
• few threads saffron

Boil pears until they just become tender; drain well. In a separate pot, bring wine and cinnamon to a boil, stirring well. Let cool, then strain. Bring wine back to a boil, then add the sugar, ginger, saffron, and vinegar, stirring until spices are dissolved. Add pears, and allow to cook for several minutes until they soften slightly and change color. Remove from heat. Serve hot or cold. Serves 4. 

This is essentially poached pears in wine, with a little vinegar added for sharpness. The period receipt advises to cook the pears first, then pare and cut them, but I find cutting and paring cooked pears a bit difficult, and prefer to pare and slice them before boiling. "Wardonys" or "Wardens" were a type of English pear not common today - feel free to substitute any slightly hard, not-too-sweet variety. Be sure that the final product is both "poynaunt" (piquant with vinegar) and "dowcet" (sweet).

What was she thinking? (Part 2)

I talked in a previous post about using primary sources to get inside the head of your historical character.  It can be much trickier to find a secondary source whose author really has a feel for the period, but nevertheless, here is a sampling of resources, in no particular order, for the Middle Ages through to the 17^th century that I’d recommend. It’s an admittedly personal list, compiled from my years as a graduate student, teacher and writer, but I hope it offers insight.  Several of the books cover specialized topics rather than overviews of a period, but I’ve chosen them because they address underlying values or ideas that will get you to the core of a character.  Your additions are welcome!

For the medieval and early Renaissance world, I cannot praise C.S. Lewis’s The Discarded Image highly enough.  Thankfully for all of us, Lewis was involved in academics before one had to prove one’s ability by writing textbooks full of obscure technical terms.  He presents both literary and theological concepts in a style perfectly accessible to the average educated person.  I’d recommend The Discarded Image to a student or ‘layperson’ interested in the Middle Ages.  Although first published in 1964, it is, in my opinion, still the most balanced and coherent introduction to the worldview of the Middle Ages you will find.

More specialized but useful is Writers and Readers in Medieval Italy: Studies in the History of Written Culture by Armando Petrucci (trans. Charles M. Radding) for an understanding of the way books, reading and libraries were viewed from late antiquity through the Middle Ages.

Despite what school history might suggest, the English did not become Protestant overnight.  Renaissance Drama and the English Church Year, by R. Chris Hassel is a stepping stone into the liturgical way of seeing the year that is lost to most of us.  Add The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580 by Eamon Duffy, and you’ll get a much better idea of the mindset of the nation in this period of transition.

If you want to stretch your brain cells a little more, celebrity professor Stephen Greenblatt’s Renaissance Self-Fashioning is almost compulsory reading for the college English student on the formation of the Elizabethan (mostly male) mind.

I’ve yet to forgive Simon Schama for being disrespectful about the Queen Mother during her funeral but I have to admit that An Embarrassment of Riches gave me a whole new insight into European Protestant thought, although its focus is Dutch culture in the seventeenth century. (However, I gave my copy away after he offended me.)

On an opposite note from my displeasure with Mr. Schama, I’d recommend both the person and writings of Neil Keeble (N.H. Keeble).  His seminal The Literary Culture of Nonconformity in Later Seventeenth Century England was constantly at my side as a graduate student.  It covers about every type of nonconformity, from Baptists to Diggers, and is invaluable to anyone interested in the topic.  A more general survey is found in The Puritan Experience by Owen C. Watkins.  For New England, Charles E. Hambrick’s The Practice of Piety delves into the religious mindset of the first generations of Puritan colonists.

Also on my list of people who are erudite and just plain nice is Margaret Spufford.  Her study of Cambridgeshire nonconformity, Contrasting Communities, gives insight into the way these new beliefs played out in smaller communities.  Tessa Watt’s Cheap Print and Popular Piety 1550-1640 also shows the impact of the newly emerging cheap print culture on communities and belief (and will give you lots of titles to cleverly throw into your novel).

I had fun digging through old notes to compile this list – so more may be forthcoming!

What can ‘neglected classics’ do for your writing?

In relaunching my blog from my web journal format, I knew that one of my focuses would be neglected classics.  Partly this is because I’m an English lit nerd, and partly because I love history.  But neglected classics have real value for the historical novelist, opening a window into areas history books may overlook.  Books that were popular in their day but little read now have often fallen out of popularity because they reflect the tastes, ideas, references, language etc. of a very particular time. – just what you want for an authentic feel to your novel.

Here’s a couple of ideas to get you thinking:

• Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson (made more popular by the spin-off tv series) is a thinly disguised autobiography of her life growing up in an English village at the end of the nineteenth century.  Even though I considered I had a pretty good idea of English rural life in that period, she opened my eyes to attitudes and facts I hadn’t considered, from the idea of the older women that ‘good’ wives kept to their homes, to the ways in which some younger couples were already beginning to use family planning methods.
• E. Nesbit’s voluminous output, including her children’s books, provide a detailed picture of middle class late Victorian and early Edwardian life, from popular  slang (brekkers, anyone?) right down to the colours of the forms that various tradesmen use. 

Finding neglected classics

Here are a few ideas – please share your own!

• Follow leads in the ‘standard’ classics: what is the hero or heroine reading?  I used Northanger Abbey as the starting point for my foray into popular gothic novels – Jane Austen makes fun of Catherine’s addiction to The Monk by Henry Lewis and The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, for example.  The heroine of Udolpho, in turn, I discovered, fortifies her character through a regimen of ‘good’ reading, and so the trail goes on...
• Check out the advertisements and previews in those musty, second hand books on your shelves.
• Check local history societies or the shops of stately/historic homes, National Trust shops etc. for local autobiographies.  Again, you’ll get insights into everyday life.  An example that sticks in my mind is A Kingston Lacy Childhood, the recollections of Viola Bankes, of the upper class Bankes family of Dorset.  When Viola’s father died, she was told for years that he was working abroad, and only found out the truth through the mistake of a servant!
• If you’re fortunate enough to live near a major, older library, peruse their older catalogues for the period you’re writing in (this brings back memories of many happy hours in Cambridge libraries).

The advantage for writers now is that so many of these books have been digitized, and although I’ve found the quality of the scanning to vary, there are thousands of free books out there to download onto your computer or e-reader.  Try sites such as Barnes and Noble, Google Books, Bartleby, and Project Gutenberg.

I hope these few reason have convinced you that neglected books should be on your real/virtual bookshelf, or at least on your reading list as you work on your novel.  You may find some gems that deserve attention, plus you’ll have built up reading lists for your own characters!