larabyrneMar 21 minThe Road to Canossa updateTo all my subscribers...I know it took me a while, but your patience is about to be rewarded! I have just sent the first copy of my new...
larabyrneDec 7, 20215 minThe making of an unlikely leader. Matilde of Tuscany's childhoodNot much is known about Matilde/a of Tuscany's birth. The year was 1046, but the day and place are uncertain. Mantova, Lucca, Canossa,...
larabyrneOct 19, 20212 minThe Road to Canossa shortlisted for Page Turner Screenplay Awards 2021I entered this competition with very low hopes as my manuscript required screen adaptation, Yet the jury was stellar, comprising...
larabyrneSep 24, 20213 minHamletic 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...
larabyrneSep 3, 20213 minThe books that inspired Lotharingia - Thoughts on Pope JoanThis 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...
larabyrneJun 10, 20212 minWhat's in a name - The Lotharingian connectionA few people have asked how I have come up with the title and what Lotharingia means. Matilde, my heroine, is known as Matilda of...
larabyrneMay 28, 20212 minWhat'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...
larabyrneDec 4, 20202 minWhy I decided to write a novel on Matilde of TuscanyIn many ways, Countess Matilde of Tuscany was the most remarkable woman of the XI century. She must have made quite an impression on...
larabyrneDec 2, 20203 minMedieval Women in Power - Matilda of Tuscany and her precursorsMedieval Europe did not really have historians in the modern (or ancient Greek) sense of the word. It had chroniclers and propagandists....
larabyrneMay 20, 20201 minMedieval manuscriptsSadly, 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...