The making of an unlikely leader. Matilde of Tuscany's childhood
Not much is known about Matilde/a of Tuscany's birth. The year was 1046, but the day and place are uncertain. Mantova, Lucca, Canossa,...
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larabyrne
- Nov 23, 2021
- 3 min
Eat like an 11th century prince - A Canossa Christmas hamper
Matilde and her family did not only influence Italian politics, architecture, art and culture for centuries to come. They even played an...
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larabyrne
- Oct 19, 2021
- 2 min
The Road to Canossa shortlisted for Page Turner Screenplay Awards 2021
I entered this competition with very low hopes as my manuscript required screen adaptation, Yet the jury was stellar, comprising...
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larabyrne
- Sep 24, 2021
- 3 min
Hamletic Lotharingia - The parallel lives of Hamlet and King Henry IV of Germany
Whilst I was not consciously aware of it as I was working on his character, I realise a posteriori that my version of Heinrich IV owes...
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larabyrne
- Sep 3, 2021
- 3 min
The books that inspired Lotharingia - Thoughts on Pope Joan
This is my first post in a while. I have spent the summer dreaming of holidays I could not take, and sharing visuals of the settings of...
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larabyrne
- Jun 10, 2021
- 2 min
What's in a name - The Lotharingian connection
A few people have asked how I have come up with the title and what Lotharingia means. Matilde, my heroine, is known as Matilda of...
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larabyrne
- May 28, 2021
- 2 min
What's in a cover - The golden crosses of medieval power
I have had a few questions about the cover of Lotharingia, and what it is meant to represent. Lotharingia is a tale of love, relics, and...
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larabyrne
- Dec 4, 2020
- 2 min
Why I decided to write a novel on Matilde of Tuscany
In many ways, Countess Matilde of Tuscany was the most remarkable woman of the XI century. She must have made quite an impression on...
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larabyrne
- Dec 2, 2020
- 3 min
Medieval Women in Power - Matilda of Tuscany and her precursors
Medieval Europe did not really have historians in the modern (or ancient Greek) sense of the word. It had chroniclers and propagandists....
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larabyrne
- Oct 1, 2020
- 1 min
Lotharingia shortlisted for the 2020 Page Turner Awards
I'll be honest, back in August when I received the news that my historical novel Lotharingia had been selected as a Page Turner Awards...
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larabyrne
- Aug 31, 2020
- 1 min
Lotharingia is a Page Turner Award Finalist!
I just received some amazing news. My debut historical fiction novel Lotharingia made it to the final round of the 2020 Page Turner...
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larabyrne
- May 20, 2020
- 1 min
Medieval manuscripts
Sadly, a lot of medieval castles today are very different from the way they looked in their hey day. Re-modelling and change of use, as...
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larabyrne
- Apr 10, 2020
- 1 min
Read between the lines - Imperial seals for the margravines
How else can one try and recover the traces of the historical actions of medieval women? Apart from a few exceptions, writing was the...
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