Friday, February 28, 2014

A Conversation with Michael Hirst

By Nancy Bilyeau


Michael Hirst & Henry VIII
After years of admiring his work--writing the screenplay of the film "Elizabeth" and creating the Showtime series "The Tudors"--I got the chance to interview Michael Hirst . He most recently created the History Chanel series "Vikings" and, on the eve of the second season première, made himself available to the press. I'm a huge fan of "Vikings" and jumped at the chance.

Michael was thoughtful and honest in our talk, and passionate about turning history into visual stories. I felt as if I were talking to a fellow historical novelist:


Nancy Bilyeau: I can’t give it away here because it’s a spoiler, but something happens in Episode Four to Athelstan that is truly horrifying. Is that taken from history too?

Michael Hirst:  It’s based on something that happened to a monk, yes.  I feel better writing about it that I haven’t made it up. That’s the way I work. I don’t think I could write a totally original screenplay. In fact, I’m not interested in writing one. I like it to be rooted in reality.

To read my review for DuJour magazine, go to: http://medievalnews.blogspot.com/2014/02/interview-with-michael-hirst-creator-of.html









Friday, February 14, 2014

The Truth About St. Valentine


By Nancy Bilyeau

Believe me, I would like to be able to deliver a sweet and touching historical anecdote. I tried. I really did. But you don't find hearts and flowers when you get to the beginning of the story of Valentine. You find martyrdom, imprisonment, plague, and death by clubbing. It's hard to conceive of anything less romantic than death by clubbing.

The Catholic Church distanced itself from St. Valentine's Day a while ago, and not because of any sort of distaste for chocolate hearts or hand-holding. The evidence that there really was a person who committed acts worthy of sainthood is fragmentary. Valentine is one of the "saints whose cult is larger than themselves, so to speak," according to Richard McBrien's Lives of the Saints. In 1969, the Pope quietly dropped Valentine's Day from the official calendar of saints' days.

The consensus seems to be that Valentine is based on a Christian priest of that name who lived in Rome when the official religion was still pagan, during the reign of Claudius Gothicus, from 268 to 270 AD. 

This was not a proud time in the history of the empire. Rome did not decline steadily from the glorious reigns of Julius and Augustus Ceasar to the crumbling under Honorius in 423 AD. There were peaks and valleys. This was a valley. Emperors rapidly succeeded each other through assassination in the mid-Third Century. There was death by poison, death by strangulation, death by hanging, death by being dragged naked from the back of a chariot through the streets. The year 238 AD saw six different emperors.

Claudius Gothicus
Claudius Gothicus, the Ceasar who would, legend has it, confront Valentine, was born a peasant in what is now Bosnia and rose rapidly through the ranks of the army. He was popular with the soldiers, a very tall man who liked to fight. His specialty was knocking out the teeth of an opponent, including, once, an opponent's horse. He played a key role in the assassination plot that eliminated Emperor Gallenius in Milan. The Rome that Claudius took charge of was near-bankrupt, with rebel populations causing lots of trouble in German and France in the West, and Syria in the East. Claudius desperately needed more soldiers in the Army, and he tried to officially discourage men from marrying. 
Valentine and the Virgin

As the story goes, Claudius heard that the  priest Valentine was busy marrying Christian couples, in defiance of the emperor, and ordered him arrested. Pressure was put on Valentine to abandon his faith; he refused. The emperor decided to visit Valentine in prison. During this meeting, instead of being meek and obliging, Valentine tried to convert Cladius to Christianity. Disgusted, the emperor ordered his execution. Valentine was clubbed to death and then beheaded.

Lupercalia
Three centuries later, long after Claudius died of the plague, a pope declared February 14th Valentine's day. One theory is that the Catholic leaders really wanted to banish the mid-February fertility celebration of Lupercalia. (What happened during Lupercalia? Let your imagination run wild and you still haven't come close.) Naming the day in honor of the martyred Valentine seems a wee random today. Nonetheless, the new holiday stuck, and in medieval times, all sorts of romantic stories were told. 

Shrine in Dublin
Did any of these sweet tales have anything to do with the Third Century Valentine? Only one--that the night before the rebellious priest was to be executed, he wrote a letter to the daughter of his jailer, and signed it "Your Valentine." The first Valentine's Day card was born.

To see some interesting images from history on St. Valentine, check out my board on Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/tudorscribe/historical-images-of-st-valentine/