Stephen de Blois came to London, and the people received him and hallowed him to king on midwinter day. But in this king’s time was all dissension, and evil, and rapine; for against him rose soon the rich men who were traitors. Then was England very much divided. Some… Read More »The Unexpected Ally by Sarah Woodbury
Within British (and by that I mean Welsh/Cymry/Celtic) legend, a High Council—a Parliament of a sort—existed in the Dark Ages to choose a “high king”. One of these high kings, according to legend, was King Arthur. Later, during Arthur’s reign, he instituted his ’round table’, a gathering of equals, to… Read More »The High Council of Britain by Sarah Woodbury
My new book, Masters of Time, the tenth book in the After Cilmeri series, opens with an attempted murder using a Welsh longbow. What’s significant about this use is that it occurred in France, where bows had given way to crossbow—a far easier weapon to use for someone who didn’t… Read More »What was so special about the Longbow? by Sarah Woodbury
Long series, and I’ve been lucky enough to write one, have their dilemmas, but historical ones include issues that can trouble modern readers. Among these problems is early mortality. In my latest book, Land of Shadows, I realized that Prioress Eleanor and her family must suffer a generational shift. King… Read More »LAND OF SHADOWS by Priscilla Royal
Historians are not in agreement as to whether or not the ‘real’ Arthur—the living, breathing, fighting human being—ever existed. The original sources for the legend of King Arthur come from a few Welsh texts. These are: 1) Y Goddodin—a Welsh poem by the 7th century poet, Aneirin, with its passing mention… Read More »King Arthur—Fact or Fiction? by Sarah Woodbury