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May. 6th, 2011 08:21 amIt was -4 last night. Now it's a sultry 1 degree. What am I doing out of bed?
May. 6th, 2011
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May. 6th, 2011 11:41 amI'm caught up in town vs country in my research right now. There are neat formal definitions of what makes a town in the Middle Ages, and Saint-Guilhem-le-Desert is missing some elements. Yet when I looked into the sparse (but good) studies of the place, what I saw was a focus on the place by surrounding hamlets and town-like behaviour in dispute resolution.
I don't really care if I call it a town or a village in my novel and dissertation, but I care very much about how its structure and politics and yearly cycle affect the lifestyle of its residents. And in this aspect, the grand studies of place are failing me. They don't seem to allow for tourism (pilgrims, taking a stop on the way to Santiago de Compostella), trade (wine and olive oil going out, other stuff coming in, pedlars going through on their way to the isolated places north), major relics (William's bones and a piece of the True Cross) and other factors that bring a place that looks small and isolated into contact with the wider world in ways that would definitely undermine the poor-peasant-scrabbling-for-basics kind of lifestyle. Also, there's an abbey, two churches and a castle. If I assume 300 parishioners for each parish, then Saint-Guilhem could have around a thousand people in season. No less than 600 out of season. That fits the housing, I think.
What I suspect is that Saint-Guilhem is neither village nor town, but has some characteristics of each. This would affect lifestyle and it would affect life choices and it would affect outlook. All of this is going to affect my novel.
Peasants and hamlets give quite a different environment for time travel to a town - the people in the town are going to have to be very active players. I've been thinking this for a while, and have started to develop that side, but I have so many gaps in my understanding of everyday life in somewhere smaller than Winchester and bigger than a hamlet. And I'm not the only one. This size place, with seasonal activity, isn't that uncommon in the Middle Ages, but it's not been the focus of much study (or if it has, I can't find the studies!).
Last week I began to factor in that there have to be more technical experts (blacksmiths, coopers, notaries) than a small village would need. This isn't a bad beginning. I'll continue to research (although I've almost run out of sources for the place itself) but I'm going to have to walk the streets and work out my remaining issues from there.
The great advantage of the nature of Saint-Guilhem is that I now have yet another place to put young men who get up to mischief. This novel seems to have a lot of young men who get themselves into slightly sticky situations. I blame my nephews.
I don't really care if I call it a town or a village in my novel and dissertation, but I care very much about how its structure and politics and yearly cycle affect the lifestyle of its residents. And in this aspect, the grand studies of place are failing me. They don't seem to allow for tourism (pilgrims, taking a stop on the way to Santiago de Compostella), trade (wine and olive oil going out, other stuff coming in, pedlars going through on their way to the isolated places north), major relics (William's bones and a piece of the True Cross) and other factors that bring a place that looks small and isolated into contact with the wider world in ways that would definitely undermine the poor-peasant-scrabbling-for-basics kind of lifestyle. Also, there's an abbey, two churches and a castle. If I assume 300 parishioners for each parish, then Saint-Guilhem could have around a thousand people in season. No less than 600 out of season. That fits the housing, I think.
What I suspect is that Saint-Guilhem is neither village nor town, but has some characteristics of each. This would affect lifestyle and it would affect life choices and it would affect outlook. All of this is going to affect my novel.
Peasants and hamlets give quite a different environment for time travel to a town - the people in the town are going to have to be very active players. I've been thinking this for a while, and have started to develop that side, but I have so many gaps in my understanding of everyday life in somewhere smaller than Winchester and bigger than a hamlet. And I'm not the only one. This size place, with seasonal activity, isn't that uncommon in the Middle Ages, but it's not been the focus of much study (or if it has, I can't find the studies!).
Last week I began to factor in that there have to be more technical experts (blacksmiths, coopers, notaries) than a small village would need. This isn't a bad beginning. I'll continue to research (although I've almost run out of sources for the place itself) but I'm going to have to walk the streets and work out my remaining issues from there.
The great advantage of the nature of Saint-Guilhem is that I now have yet another place to put young men who get up to mischief. This novel seems to have a lot of young men who get themselves into slightly sticky situations. I blame my nephews.
(no subject)
May. 6th, 2011 03:03 pmI'm alive! Or have been born! Maybe both! What's more, my new birth certificate has been copied and stamped by the post office and is on its way to the passport people.
While the copying was being done, I read the letter from the passport people, requesting a new birth certificate. It was there, in front of me, after all, and if a paper has print on it (whether upside down or not) it must be read. My passport was going to be delivered on 4 May (the Fourth was not with me, obviously). This means, I think, that I should look for it after 18 May.
While the copying was being done, I read the letter from the passport people, requesting a new birth certificate. It was there, in front of me, after all, and if a paper has print on it (whether upside down or not) it must be read. My passport was going to be delivered on 4 May (the Fourth was not with me, obviously). This means, I think, that I should look for it after 18 May.
(no subject)
May. 6th, 2011 11:41 pmTonight was astonishing.
My mother and sister arrived in the late afternoon, bearing gifts.
We said to each other "What should we do for dinner." I was happy to cook something, but explained that we would have to pick up ingredients first, since anything other than basic shopping this week has simply not been done*. I have much meat and milk and cheese, but meat and milk and cheese do not a dinner make. I should have done the shopping on the way home from the cardio, yesterday, but I was worried about my birth certificate and I forgot.
Jenny said "I would like to see Tony." I wasn't sure who Tony was, but a lot of Jen's friends are in hospitality, because that's where she herself has worked for many years (this is my-sister-the-wine-and-olive-oil-expert) so I assumed this meant dinner out. Mum thought that a dinner out sounded good. I asked where Tony worked and she said "Italian" and "Braddon" and I said "I have to change into something respectable then." Immagine, wearing decent clothes several times in a fortnight. It's so out of character.
My family went to dump their things (and have discovered a good cheap place for Conflux attendees, just a few minutes drive from the convention hotel - sleeps up to five in a room) and had a bit of a rest, while I frantically did bunches of work to make up for the last two days. I'm almost caught up now, and will still be fine for a day off tomorrow. Just a bit more tonight, and I'm done. And I won't be able to sleep for two hours anyway. Which brings me back to...
Jen's friend works at Shop 6, Italian and Sons. Tony fitted us in for the second sitting.
It was quite an extraordinary evening. It always is a learning experience, being at a table with someone from the industry. It's simply not the same as normal dining. Tonight was the same, but with knobs on. Everyone chatted for the three seconds as they passed on the way to elsewhere. We got comments on where this new wine was found and given dishes that we definitely hadn't ordered because we had to taste them. The staff were awesome about my allergies (were told once and handled everything thereafter). Tony didn't spend much time with us (second sitting was completely full) but the few words every time he passed were the most interesting of all. He showed off his favourite wines to Jenny and they discussed the wine list, for instance.
We ate some exquisite food. The focaccia was sublime, the beef cheeks were beautiful, and I think I've found a direct descendant of an ancient Roman deep-fried filled doughnut. It was familiar food, but beautifully, beautifully cooked. My expert sister thought so, too, and proposed marriage to the cook who made the eggplant lasagne. The textures of that lasagne were perfect, all the way.
I don't get to see Jen very often, and I am so grateful that she and Mum drove up for tomorrow. In the back of the car is a rather interesting birthday cake, covered with ganache, made for me by Sharyn.
The year might be a difficult one, but this birthday is the best I have ever, ever had.
*I cooked something historical for tomorrow regardless, using ingedients I had to hand, but dinner needs vegetables and vegetables I lack.
My mother and sister arrived in the late afternoon, bearing gifts.
We said to each other "What should we do for dinner." I was happy to cook something, but explained that we would have to pick up ingredients first, since anything other than basic shopping this week has simply not been done*. I have much meat and milk and cheese, but meat and milk and cheese do not a dinner make. I should have done the shopping on the way home from the cardio, yesterday, but I was worried about my birth certificate and I forgot.
Jenny said "I would like to see Tony." I wasn't sure who Tony was, but a lot of Jen's friends are in hospitality, because that's where she herself has worked for many years (this is my-sister-the-wine-and-olive-oil-expert) so I assumed this meant dinner out. Mum thought that a dinner out sounded good. I asked where Tony worked and she said "Italian" and "Braddon" and I said "I have to change into something respectable then." Immagine, wearing decent clothes several times in a fortnight. It's so out of character.
My family went to dump their things (and have discovered a good cheap place for Conflux attendees, just a few minutes drive from the convention hotel - sleeps up to five in a room) and had a bit of a rest, while I frantically did bunches of work to make up for the last two days. I'm almost caught up now, and will still be fine for a day off tomorrow. Just a bit more tonight, and I'm done. And I won't be able to sleep for two hours anyway. Which brings me back to...
Jen's friend works at Shop 6, Italian and Sons. Tony fitted us in for the second sitting.
It was quite an extraordinary evening. It always is a learning experience, being at a table with someone from the industry. It's simply not the same as normal dining. Tonight was the same, but with knobs on. Everyone chatted for the three seconds as they passed on the way to elsewhere. We got comments on where this new wine was found and given dishes that we definitely hadn't ordered because we had to taste them. The staff were awesome about my allergies (were told once and handled everything thereafter). Tony didn't spend much time with us (second sitting was completely full) but the few words every time he passed were the most interesting of all. He showed off his favourite wines to Jenny and they discussed the wine list, for instance.
We ate some exquisite food. The focaccia was sublime, the beef cheeks were beautiful, and I think I've found a direct descendant of an ancient Roman deep-fried filled doughnut. It was familiar food, but beautifully, beautifully cooked. My expert sister thought so, too, and proposed marriage to the cook who made the eggplant lasagne. The textures of that lasagne were perfect, all the way.
I don't get to see Jen very often, and I am so grateful that she and Mum drove up for tomorrow. In the back of the car is a rather interesting birthday cake, covered with ganache, made for me by Sharyn.
The year might be a difficult one, but this birthday is the best I have ever, ever had.
*I cooked something historical for tomorrow regardless, using ingedients I had to hand, but dinner needs vegetables and vegetables I lack.