I would say I’m more of a free-writer. Though I may switch to outlining the next time I start a novel. I could have saved myself a lot of time, I believe, because I ended up basically throwing the entire first two drafts in the trash.

1) A measurement of land, equal to a hide (used in Danelaw) (MEDIEV-L. Medieval Terms)

2) Danish equivalent of a hide. The land ploughed by eight oxen; actual area varied locally and like the hide could be reassessed. (Wood, Michael. Domesday: A Search for the Roots of England, 213)

3) A “plough-land”; a measurement of land, notionally as much land as could be kept under the plough in one years by a plough-team of eight oxen. The amount of land so described varied in different parts of the country between 60 and 120 acres. (Warren, W.L. Henry II, 633)

Extract from the Domesday Survey of the Count of Norfolk:

The land of Robert Malet.

Fredrebruge Hundred and half Glorestorp. Godwin, a freeman, held it. Two carucates of land in the time of king Edward. Then and afterwards 8 villains; now 3. Then and afterwards 3 bordars; now 5. At all times 3 serfs, and 30 acres of meadow. At all times 2 carucates in demesne. Then half a carucate of the men, and now. Woods for 8 swine, and 2 mills. Here are located 13 socmen, of 40 acres of land. When it was received there were 2 r.,’ now 1. At all times 8 swine, then 20 sheep, and it is worth 60 shillings.

*term definitions retrieved from Netserf’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary)

• 1152 -  Frederick I Barbarossa is elected King of Germany
• 1193 - Saladin dies
• 1394 - The birth of Prince Henry the Navigator
• 1461 - Edward IV ascends to the English throne

What is believed to be the first ever example of English in a British church has been discovered.

It was written half a millennia ago and its message was serious enough to be painted carefully on the wall of England’s finest cathedral.

But now it seems no one can quite decipher exactly what the inscription on the wall of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire actually says.

Read more …

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Corgi (February 1, 2010)
ISBN-10: 0552157899

Description:

A Viking adventure packed with battles, blood and gore, Raven is historical fiction at its very best, and marks the debut of an outstanding new talent.

When Norsemen from across the sea burn his village, Osric, a carpenter’s apprentice, is taken prisoner by these warriors. Their chief, Sigurd the Lucky, believes the Norns have woven this strange boy’s fate with his own, and Osric begins to sense glorious purpose among this fellowship of warriors.

Immersed in the Norsemen’s world, Osric proves a natural warrior and forges a blood bond with Sigurd, who renames him Raven. But the Norsemen’s world is savage and a young man must become a killer in order to survive. Raven chooses a bloody and dangerous path, accepting the mission of raiding deep into hostile lands to steal a holy book from Coenwolf, King of Mercia.

There he will find more than the Holy Gospels of St. Jerome. He will find Cynethryth, an English girl with a soul to match his own.

1) The grades or steps of the Christian ministry; the so-called minor orders were acolyte, lector, exorcist, and doorkeeper; the so-called major orders, which bound their holders to celibacy, were bishop, priest, deacon and subdeacon.
(Lynch, Joseph H. The Medieval Church: A Brief History, 363)

2) Referring either to the grades of clerkship (holy or minor orders) or to the different associations of religious.
(Heath, Peter. Church and Realm, 1272-1461, 365)

*definitions retreived from NetSERF’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/)

Also, if you can think of one, list an author who uses a pen name to mask his/her true identity. I’ll go first. Robin Hobb’s real name is Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden. From 1983 to 1992, she actually wrote under the pseudonym Megan Lindholm. In 1995, she began using Robin Hobb for her epic fantasy novels.

All of the questions may not apply to the story you’re writing, but they should give you a good place to start brainstorming.

I went to Alabama, to Tuscaloosa.

Before I left, I was interviewed by Tuscaloosa newspapers. “What do you expect of Alabama?” they asked “What do you know of Alabama?” I was a bit puzzled by that. It’s the kind of question you usually get asked by small, nervous countries who don’t get many visitors. (”Have you heard anything about Ruritania?” they ask, and you tell them that you’ve heard that the strudel in Strelsau is excellent and you’re glad that Jews can now own land there again, and everyone’s happy.) It’s not something I’d expected to be asked coming to a state. But then, I’d visited (if not actually signed books in) 47 states and I’d not yet been to Alabama, so they sort of had a point. I told them no, I had no expectations.

The strange thing is that, as an author, there are places publishers never send you, and the American South (if you don’t count Atlanta) is one of those places. When I’d ask, I’d be told it was because people didn’t really buy books there, or there wasn’t a demand, or something.

Read the rest of the article on Neil’s site. He had some nice things to say about Alabama and the misconceptions people have of the state in terms of its desire for good literature.

The true site of one of the most decisive battles in English history has been revealed.

Bosworth, fought in 1485, which saw the death of Richard III, was believed to have taken place on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire.

But a study of original documents and archaeological survey of the area has now pinpointed a site in fields more than a mile to the south west.

Read more and watch the video at BBC News.