Thursday, June 9, 2011

Guest Post + Giveaway - Anne Easter Smith


I am very pleased to welcome Anne Easter Smith, author of Queen By Right to One Book Shy today as she shares some very interesting things she turned up while researching Cecily Neville, Duchess of York.

Cecily Neville’s So-Called Affair
by Anne Easter Smith
I was drawn to writing about Cecily Neville as soon as I began researching my first--and what I thought would be my only--book “A Rose for the Crown.” I could not write Richard III’s story without knowing a lot about his parents and his siblings. Oddly, Cecily did not appear at all in that book, but in a few scenes her absence hung over the brothers Edward and Richard and you feel she is an indomitable presence in their lives. Indeed, I think one of the reasons Edward chose not to reveal his secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville for so long was because he feared a slap upside the head from Proud Cis. And boy, did she give him one when the marriage was finally outed, and, according to the Italian visitor Dominic Mancini who was in London in 1484--twenty years after the fact--and was the first to write about the rumor, Cecily “fell into a frenzy.” It was partly because of the scorn she had for this upstart nobody Woodville woman who must now be called queen that she began to style herself, “Cecily, the king’s mother, and late wife unto Richard, by right king of England and of France and lord of Ireland.” Or as my title infers, “Queen by Right.”
One of the stories about Cecily that I was determined to get to the bottom of was the one about her having an affair with an archer in the garrison at Rouen named John Blaybourne that allegedly produced a son, our Edward IV, on April 22, 1442. Here’s what we know:
Although no proof exists of her statement, according to Mancini she is supposed to have retorted in anger at the Woodville-marriage time that Edward shouldn’t even be on the throne because he was a bastard. But the rumor must have reached other ears before Mancini’s because in 1477, when her son, George of Clarence, finally aroused his brother Edward’s anger enough to be imprisoned for treasonous activity, he blurted out that Edward was a bastard. That was a final straw for Edward and George was clapped in the Tower. Even then, the devoted mother Cecily found Edward on a pilgrimage to Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury and went down on her knees to beg her oldest son to spare George.
It was said that Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy and husband of Cecily’s daughter Margaret, would often refer to Edward as “Blaybourne” in fits of rage, and he died in 1477.
And then there is the time in 1483 when all hell broke loose following Edward’s unexpected death and Richard of Gloucester was made Protector (and some would say--but not me--that he was actively seeking the crown). The preacher Dr. Shaw is supposed to have proclaimed from Paul’s Cross to a crowd of Londoners that Richard should wear the crown because he was the legitimate son of his father, Richard, duke of York, and that the sons of Edward were illegitimate on two counts: one is that Edward had been previously secretly contracted to a woman before he secretly wed Elizabeth, and the second is that Edward himself was a bastard. But if he did slight Cecily in public, it is very doubtful that Richard would have sanctioned such a slander of his mother. And if he had, you would think Cecily would have denounced her son and not supported his accession, but the fact is they remained on good terms until Richard’s death.
There has been a recent calculation done as to the whereabouts of Duke Richard at the alleged time of Edward’s conception, and it is true that he was in Pontoise at the exact time modern calculations for gestation would have him and Cecily in Rouen. Look it up, guys, it’s 52 miles from Pontoise to Rouen, and Richard was known to be a fast rider. But why did it have to be in Rouen. May I suggest that during a break in the fighting (and there was one), could Richard not have met Cecily somewhere between the two cities? A horse and rider can cover 20-30 miles a day easily--and 100 if you want to kill the animal! But there is no record of Richard being in Rouen on that fateful day of conception, so I came up with the meeting in the middle solution. I have them meet at a shrine to St. Clothilde in Les Andelys--a popular pilgrimage site, 33 miles from Pontoise, and voila! a romantic tryst in secret. Certainly plausible and certainly doable.
So I say phooey to the affair! Cecily knew and liked her place far too well on the social scale to stoop so low as to have given herself to an archer and soil her reputation. As for six-feet-three-inch Edward not looking like his father, he could just as easily have inherited his stature and golden hair from his Neville blood. His sister Margaret is known to have been very tall for her time and golden haired.
Those are the facts, and I think Cecily is just another of us who has been hurt by rumors.
“Thank you Julie, for hosting me here at One Book Shy of a Full Shelf”. – Anne Easter Smith

Anne, thank you so much for sharing this interesting post with us.  It is fascinating how you have made Cecily come alive for all of us.  I agree with your point that she would have been too aware of her duties and what may befall her if she were to engage in a meaningless affair with someone so far below her.

For more information please visit Anne Easter Smith’s WEBSITE and FACEBOOK PAGE.  You can also read my 4.5 Jewel Review of Queen By Right.


I'd also like to thank Amy from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for including me on this fantastic blog tour.  Please check out the other lovely bloggers who are also sharing their thoughts on this fantastic book by clicking HERE.  But before you do.....


One of you lucky readers will now be given the chance to win a copy of Queen By Right of your very own!  Thanks to Anne and Amy, I have one copy to give away. 


Queen By Right: A Novel
 

  • Must be 13 years of age or older
  • US residents only - book will be shipped by publisher
  • Leave a comment for Anne on this blog post WITH your email address
  • Drawing will close June 16th.
  • Winner will have 72 hours to respond to winning email
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~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

20 comments:

  1. I absolutely adore historical fiction, and I've read one or two of her previous novels. This one looks great as well!
    kimbers10[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  2. Great post. Cecily sounds facinating. There are so many in history that we do on know enough about.

    lizzi0915 at aol dot com

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  3. I am always curious of the research process for historical fiction/nonfiction writers. They all seem to have very different ways about going about it but it seems like such a daunting task! I would love to know how she tackles and organizes the research for her books.

    Also, I have two of her previous books on my TBR shelf that is toppling over and cannot wait to read those books and this one as well!

    Thanks,
    candc320@gmail.com

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  4. I LOVE historical fiction. Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

    lag110 at mchsi dot com

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  5. I loved hearing Anne's take on Edward's parentage. And I much prefer her conclusion!

    Thanks for the giveaway.

    ashley.l.mikowski@gmail.com

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  6. great interview
    looks like a great book
    follow via gfc
    drakebdog@gmail.com

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  7. This book sounds very interesting. I haven't read many books about this period in English history. thanks for the giveaway
    marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  8. Thanks for the giveaway! I'd love to read more about Cecily.

    meredithfl at gmail dot com

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  9. This looks like a great read. I love historical fiction, that is what I started out reading many years ago.

    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

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  10. Historical books are my favorite genre!
    This is especially true when Kings and
    Queens are the subject matter...
    Many thanks, Cindi
    jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

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  11. I'm thoroughly impressed by all this detailed research!

    headlessfowl at gmail dot com

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  12. I would be sooo happy to win this book, as Anne was the first Historical Fiction writer I ever read! Now it's my favorite genre! Thank you, Anne, for opening up a whole new world to me. I would be honored to receive this book!

    XO ~ Amy Jo (follower)
    amyjrockstar at gmail dot com
    http://lv2scrapandfibrofacts.blogspot.com/

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  13. I have just really started reading Historical based books and they are so great. I'm reading everyone I can find now.

    thegirlonfire27 at gmail dot com

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  14. Cecily looks like an interesting character.
    mce1011 AT aol DOT com

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  15. I always say I learned more through reading then when in the classroom. I'm so appreciative of all the research that goes into writing and I cannot wait to read Queen By Right. I enjoyed your post Anne.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750@aol.com

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  16. Historical Fiction is my favorite and I can't wait to read Queen By Right. We are so lucky to have Anne Easter Smith!
    mamabunny13 at gmail dot com

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  17. I would so love to read this book. I don't know much about Cecily Neville but now that I know that she was such a strong woman and so determined, I really, really want to read it.

    Thank you for this giveaway.

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

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  18. This was an interesting time in history. The book sounds good! -laura
    L_Hogg at comcast dot net

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  19. This sounds like a book I would really enjoy! Thank you for the giveaway!
    mittens0831 at aol dot com

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  20. Looks like a great book
    Thanks for the giveaway
    jenhedger at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete

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