Felicity Pulman

My love affair with medieval England began some years ago when I started writing my timeslip novel for teenagers, the Shalott trilogy. 

 I'd been asking myself the 'what if' questions that writers so often ask:   'What if it's possible to go back to the time of King Arthur, to save the life of 'the lady of Shalott' and change the fate of Camelot?  What if, instead of rewriting a legend, the characters actually rewrite their own lives?'

This was my thesis, but I then had to work out when to set my story:  at the time when the 'real' Arthur, the dark age dux bellorum is thought to have existed, or in medieval time, when the story of Arthur the warrior was first written down by Geoffrey of Monmouth in 1136, followed by more romantic versions from French writers including Chretien de Troyes.   As the French embellishments of Lancelot du Lac and the love triangle between him, Guinevere and King Arthur, and the naming of Mordred as the king's bastard rather than his nephew, were integral to my plot, I opted for a medieval setting as opposed to the dark age setting chosen by Marion Zimmer Bradley and other contemporary writers.

I am not a historian, I have no formal training, so writing the trilogy was a huge learning curve for me, especially when, in the 3rd novel, Shalott: The Final Journey, I brought my central character from the parallel reality of Camelot into 'real' medieval time.  I introduced her to Geoffrey of Monmouth, his patron Robert of Gloucester, and also to the Empress Matilda, Earl Robert's half-sister.  I could no longer excuse any mistakes with an airy, 'Well, this is based on fantasy and legend, it's not set in real time.'  Suddenly I found myself having to come to grips with the society and mores of the middle ages, and the history of a specific period. And I was hooked!

Once the Shalott trilogy was over, I cast about for something Australian to write, perhaps something based on history like my previous novel Ghost Boy, which has a flashback to a smallpox outbreak and the dreadful conditions of Sydney's Quarantine Station in 1881.  I also enjoy reading and writing crime, and have had some success with my short stories, including winning the inaugural Queen of Crime Award in 1999, so embarking on a new crime series was a tempting idea.  Yet, try as I would, I couldn't get my imagination away from medieval England.  History or crime?  I decided to combine them.

I freely acknowledge that this new series was partly inspired by Ellis Peters' wonderful Brother Cadfael novels. My central character, Janna, lives as an outcast with her mother, who is a wortwyf (herbwife).  The series tells of her quest to find her unknown father in order to avenge the murder of her mother.

I needed to give Janna a skill that would transcend social boundaries, and I found it in her gift for healing.  This knowledge, her curiosity and courage, her powers of observation and deduction, and her willingness to learn new skills and educate herself, empower Janna and help her to succeed not only in her quest, but also in solving the crimes and mysteries she encounters along the way.  In addition, as she travels from forest to farm to abbey and on to the royal seat of power at Winchester, she learns much about society and about herself and her family, as well as coming to understand the secrets of her own heart.  Note to authors:  the more your character moves around the landscape, the more research you have to do!

While researching the time of Geoffrey of Monmouth for the Shalott trilogy, I became intrigued by stories of the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin and rightful heir to the throne, the Empress Matilda, which lasted from 1139-1152.  Here was a feisty woman who did not take kindly to having her throne snatched by her cousin, and she went to war to reclaim it.  The result was a series of battles and great devastation of the countryside, along with shifting allegiances and daring escapes, all of which fitted my scenario perfectly.  This period in history is something else Janna shares with Cadfael, although their loyalties fall on different sides!

I had plot and characters; I then had to find a setting.  I knew the sorts of places I wanted Janna to travel to, and I knew they couldn't be too far from Winchester, a royal seat of power at that time.  I bought a detailed map of Britain and, with the aid of a copy of the Domesday Book, I set about finding a royal hunting forest, the site of Janna's home and the starting point for her journey. 

In the meantime, I began to add to my library of reference books: the contemporary Anglo Saxon chronicles plus William of Malmesbury's Historia Novella and the Gesta Stephani (life of Stephen) plus numerous biographies of both the king and the empress; fictional accounts of the civil war as well as English political and social histories; writers' guides, clothing guides, and illustrated books for young students about life in the middle ages, which are particularly good as they have lots of pictures and plans of eg castles, manor houses and farms, water mills, farming implements, etc. 

As well as Cadfael's Herb Garden, I also stocked up on the herbals of Gerard and Culpepper, books on Anglo Saxon food, drink and leechcraft, and also the Writers Guide to Deadly Doses - great for details about what to use, how long the poison takes to work, the symptoms and manner of death, etc.  The internet was also a wonderful resource, but I soon became aware that I couldn't write about the English countryside and the places I'd chosen unless I actually went over there to see them for myself.

I made plans to travel to the UK, hoping that my imaginary landscape would fit the real thing - and it did!  I found a wonderful B & B to stay in, on a manor farm at Burcombe, managed by a farmer who can trace his ancestors back to the time of William the Conqueror. The farmland would once have belonged to Wilton Abbey; now it belongs to the Earl of Pembroke, whose family inherited the land after the sacking of the abbeys in Henry VIII's time.  Plus ca change and all that!  I was given introductions to all sorts of useful people, including the owner of a water mill which is still used to grind corn, and the warden of Grovely Wood (Forest of Gravelinges), which is the only royal hunting forest in Wiltshire to be mentioned in the Domesday Book. Everyone I spoke to was enormously kind and helpful, which made my task a whole lot easier.

Since that first visit I've been back again and am about to go for a third time. I suspect I've gained something of a reputation as I spend my days walking in the footsteps of my characters, taking photographs and muttering into my tape recorder. I used to stuff my pockets full of flowers and leaves for later identification, but I've now discovered that it's illegal to pick them.  But I travel around with wildflower, bird and tree guides so that I can identify what Janna would have known from her time in the forest. Identification was difficult on my first visit as I was there in early spring before the trees had come into leaf.  But the daffodils were out, followed by primroses, violets and bluebells, all growing wild.  The English countryside in spring is breathtakingly beautiful … as it is in summer, and autumn...

When I'm not walking the landscape, I visit museums and buildings. Some date back to the 1100s, mostly Saxon churches, cathedrals and the ruins of castles at Sarum and Winchester, plus what's left of the abbeys at Wilton, Shaftesbury and Laycock (where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed.)  Having visited those sites has helped me describe them, as do all the brochures and maps I collect, while the places themselves often give rise to plot possibilities - like Stonehenge, where the vision of a bleeding body stretched out on a fallen monolith became central to the fourth Janna Mystery, Willows for Weeping.   I also hole up in libraries and government offices, reading and photocopying, and usually have to post enormous parcels home so as not to take up space and weigh down my luggage.

A favourite city is Winchester.  What a thrill to stand in the oldest part of the Norman cathedral, listening to the famous choir and imagining Bishop Henry of Blois, King Stephen's brother, conducting a mass there.  Jane Austen is buried in the cathedral, and while her tombstone and a memorial window pay tribute to her piety and sweetness of nature, and commemorate her 'foul' to God, both neglect to mention that she was also one of England's greatest novelists! 

I enjoy exploring the ruins of Bishop Henry's Wolvesey Castle, and walking across the water meadows to claim the 'wayfarer's dole' (a beaker of ale and a hunk of bread) at the Hospital of St Cross - a tradition dating back almost a thousand years. The Hospital was established by Bishop Henry in 1136 to house thirteen poor men and feed another hundred every day, and it is still occupied by families. I walk there by way of the beautiful water meadows, where Keats walked while composing his Ode to Autumn. 

Oxford is also magical, even though the castle tower is now part of a huge building project which, I believe, will incorporate a hotel and shops.  I managed to gain access to the tower, however, and was able to imagine the scene:  in December 1142 the Empress Matilda escaped the king's siege by letting herself down by a rope from the tower, camouflaged in a white cloak. With three companions, she walked across the frozen Thames and on to Abingdon where she found men and horses waiting to take her party safely to Wallingford.

As I walk around these places I see them through Janna's eyes and I think Janna's thoughts. There is history and tradition wherever you turn in England and it's an amazing experience to be part of it all, plus being invaluable to me as a writer.
 
©  Felicity Pulman.   

[* A version of this article was first published in Viewpoint in 2004.]