We simply wish to say that this is not an historic account but a romance novel using history as its background. We have tried at all times to remain faithful and accurate but it is a fictional story.
It is what could have happened.
Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, did marry Thomas Holland when she was very young. It has been suggested she may have been carrying his child and that is why they married in secret, without permission. We gave our women education and the wherewithal to procure parchment for their letters so they could tell their story. Couriers did run private services if you had the coin and both families to whom we refer, did not lack fortune. Edward of Woodstock did have bastard sons. We draw from references and weave our story with fact and interpretation.
The rest is imagination.
References to the songs/poems
Chapter 12 – Gillet recites a sonnet from Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Chapter 26 – ‘Rose Red’ – this is a song that I first heard during my SCA (Society of Creative Anachronism) days and it fit perfectly for Cécile, particularly the haunting, melancholy melody that was used. I have tried to locate the origin of the version I applied but to no avail. Other versions appear on the internet though various threads seem unable to locate its origin for sure. I did read where it was thought to be a 14thC song. (Cathy T)
Chapter 26 – Armand’s bawdy ballad – written by Catherine T Wilson. The ending is altered from the version on the Lions and Lilies website for the purpose of the chapter.
We would like to express our gratitude to the following people who have made our journey a part of their lives.
Firstly, we wish to thank our publisher Kerry Collison at Sid Harta; Les Zig, our editor; and Luke Harris from Chameleon Design for our covers. To see our dream in paperback was truly a special moment.
To Gary Schweikert, (Big Hat Pictures) and to Peter Enright (EnrightOgraphy) for making the documentary of how we met, first online, then eventually in person. Your support in our project has been unwavering and uplifting.
To Dr Ingrid Berling for her advice on all matters medical. Should discrepancies occur, they fall within the writers’ scope of imagination.
To Jean-Louis and Hazel in France, who made time available to show Cathy T and her husband around Bellegarde and surrounding districts. The time spent at Azincourt was amaz-ing, an experience not to be forgotten.
To Count Charles-Henri, Chateau de Saint-Loup, France, who took time away from a busy schedule to show Cathy T, in person, the keep where the Black Prince kept King Jean le Bon prisoner.
To Andrew Hill-Male for our fabulous website and to Luke Wilson for his wonderful, original artwork on the home page.
But the biggest thanks must go to our readers for their support. If this story fills your heart, makes you laugh, makes you cry, and brings some pleasure into your life, we will have succeeded in our dream, and for that, we thank each and every one of you.
Arras: A tapestry of Flemish origin used especially for wall hangings. A screen of tapestry.
Bliaut: An over garment featuring a voluminous skirt and horizontal puckering or pleating across a snugly fitted abdomen. The sleeves are long and loose. It was worn with a belt or stomacher.
Braies: An undergarment tied about the waist, a form of men’s underwear to which the chausses were tied.
Camail: Also called aventail – a curtain of mail attached to the helm, covering the shoulders.
Caparison: The decorative covering for a horse bearing his owner’s colours and heraldic device.
Chaperon: The fashion of a hood with a thick roll at the base and a liripipe draped around the chin.
Chausses: Individual leggings (not joined with a gusset) usually made of wool and tied at the top to the braies. Some knights wore gamboised (padded) chausses for protection in battle.
Chemise: Linen undergarment for women. The shift beneath the gown, sometimes visible at the neck and sleeves.
Cockscomb: The comb or crest of a cock incorporated into a hat worn by a jester or professional fool.
Compline: The last of seven canonical bells that indicated mid-evening prayer.
Cordovan: Expensive soft, smooth leather made in Córdoba, Spain.
Cotehardie: A 14th to 16th-century unisex garmenttailored to fit the torso and arms, usually with a row of buttons down the front as well as down each fitted sleeve, from the elbow to the wrist.
Cuisses: A piece of armour made to fit the thigh.
Device: Coat of arms or heraldic emblem.
Demesne: The central part of a manorial estate set apart for the lord’s own use that provided for the needs of his household.
Ducat: A gold coin used in medieval Europe.
Ephedra: Shrubby, almost leafless plant found in dry regions
Falchion: A short, single-edged sword with a cleaver-like curved blade.
Gamboised: Quilted or padded – as in ‘gamboised chausses.’ Sometimes, quilted in longitudinal folds or ridges so as to be pliable in one direction and more or less stiff in the other.
Garcon: French word for boy.
Hawking glove: Thick, sturdy glove used in falconry.
Hastilude: A medieval term that refers to many kinds of martial or lance games.
Hose: See chausses.
Jupon: A tight-fitting garment, usually padded, and worn over armour from c1350–1410. Often used to display the wearer’s device.
Kirtle: A woman’s gown.
Lapis Lazuli: Precious stone from ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations known as ‘stone from Heaven’ or ‘sky stone’ for its rich blue colour.
Lauds: A service of morning prayer traditionally said or chanted at daybreak.
Liripipe: The long tail of fabric hanging from a hood, wrapped scarf-like around the neck or wound around the head. Eventually this hood and wound liripipe became a fashion in itself called the ‘chaperon.’
Loveage: A plant of the parsley family.
Lozenges: A diamond pattern, often used in heraldic devices
Lungwort: A bristly plant of the borage family, typically having white-spotted leaves and pink flowers that turn blue as they age.
Mandrake: A Mediterranean plant of the nightshade family, with white or purple flowers and yellow berries. It has a forked root that supposedly resembles the human form and was formerly used in medicine and magic.
Mail: Chain mail – interlinked rings of metal ‘knitted’ together to form a protective covering. Sometimes used as a slang term for armour in general.
Matins: The first of seven canonical bells that indicated the first or dawn prayer.
Mummer: A silent or mime performer.
Nones: The fifth of seven canonical bells that indicate afternoon prayer.
Palliasse (or pallet): Straw-filled mattress or small makeshift bed.
Pattens: A wooden overshoe worn to protect the hose/chausses.
Peytral: Horse armour designed to protect the horse’s chest.
Perry: A drink made from fermented pears.
Plague: Pestilent: likely to spread and cause an epidemic.
Prime: The second of seven canonical bells that indicated morning prayer.
Quintain/s: A target (usually a shield) mounted on a moveable crossbar used in the medieval sport of ‘tilting’ (jousting). The sport of tilting at a quintain.
Retainer: Person/s attached to a noble household or owing it service.
Seneschal: The steward or major-domo of a medieval great house.
Sext: The fourth of the seven canonical bells that indicated noon prayer.
Shaffron: Protective covering/armour for a horse’s head.
Simples: Herbs used in healing.
Solar: A living or sitting room in an upper storey.
Surcote/Surcotte: Female: a full-length sleeveless outer gown with wide armhole openings worn over a chemise or gown. Male: a mid-calf length tunic, with slits front and back, sleeved or sleeveless. Worn by knights over their armour. The different spellings are to represent
the Anglo French/French languages in use at the time.
Tablier: Game board.
Terce: The third of seven canonical bells that indicated mid-morning prayer.
Treadmill: A large mill-type wheel used to operate a crane for lifting stone and operated by peasants walking within the wheel.
Tumbler: An acrobat who tumbles.
Umble: The numbles (or noumbles, nomblys, noubles) was the name given to the heart, liver, entrails, etc. of animals, especially of deer – what we now call ‘offal’ or ‘lights’. The word became ‘umble’ from which came ‘umble pie’, the pie made from the lesser cuts.
Vespers: The sixth of seven canonical hours that indicated late afternoon prayer.
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Catherine A Wilson
‘My grandmother was a wonderful storyteller and I count myself fortunate to have been able to spend time with her and my great uncles and aunts, who loved nothing more than a good pot of tea with added lashings of gossip. It is their legacy that fuelled my genealogical addiction as I strove to identify fact from fiction and then record the information for posterity. From this sprouted my love of history, the urge to research and write and, eventually, to develop my own stories.
‘At the suggestion of Anna Jacobs, another highly successful and talented Australian novelist, I joined Romance Writers Australia. One keystroke error placed me on a chat loop where I met my namesake, Cathy T. After making a crass remark concerning my rather plain name, our friendship was born. We began to regularly email one another, offering words of encouragement (the publishing world is a tough place for the uninitiated – believe me), when Cathy T came upon the idea to create a novel along the lines of our real-time friendship. Hence, Lions and Lilies was born.’
Catherine was born in London, England and emigrated to Australia in the 1970s, growing up in and around the leafy suburbs of Eastwood, Epping and Dundas. Without a particular path in mind she simply took the first job she was offered, which happened to be the position of Layout Artist for a well-known map publisher,
but changed course and selected a career in nursing. She later enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force, before resigning to a quiet life at home.
She lives in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, with her husband and two beautiful children, several Jack Russells, a large flock of flighty chickens, goldfish and budgies. When not writing (which is not often) she likes to garden, read books, shop, read books, drink copious cups of strong coffee with friends and read plenty of books.
Catherine T. Wilson
‘My first lasting love? Hmm, I was fourteen when a friend handed me a book about a heroine in France during the 15th century, and I fell in love with everything medieval. But maybe it didn’t start there. Come to think of it, when I was younger I devoured Alan Garner’s tales of sleeping knights in The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, progressing to King Arthur and Ivanhoe, but somehow that French heroine always stayed with me.’
Catherine was born in Burnley, England, but moved to Australia when she was eleven months old. She grew up in Elizabeth, South Australia, relocating to Queensland when she was fourteen. She worked in communications, before finally deciding to fulfil her dream as a writer. The raw draft of her first novel, a Viking romance, won an encouragement award of $1,000 from six hundred entries in a popular women’s magazine competition. A member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, she visited Europe in 2006 to witness the annual re-enactment of The Battle of Agincourt, and then travelled extensively throughout Britain and France, researching material for Lions and Lilies.
She lives on a small bushland property, on a mountain range west of Brisbane, with her husband and two beautiful children, three dogs, a small herd of cattle, a flock of cockatoos, and one horse. And yes, you only have to walk into her house to see her first love. Pictures of maidens on horseback grace the walls, and every corner and mantel is filled with knights and battle axes, the bookshelves overflowing with tales of chivalry.
The Lily and the Lion was published in 2012
The Order of the Lily Page 38