Читать книгу Her Banished Lord - Carol Townend, Carol Townend - Страница 3

Crèvecoeur Château in Normandy still exists, although in the eleventh century it would have looked very different. There would have been wooden buildings and a motte and bailey—a defensive mound and a yard within a palisade.

A little before the year this novel begins, the real Lord of Crèvecoeur was banished; he spent many years in exile. This is not his story. The characters in these pages are entirely fictitious, although the themes of disgrace and injustice proved rich sources of inspiration.

On marriage rites: in the early Middle Ages many marriages were solemnised by a church blessing—but a church blessing, although desirable, was not yet mandatory. In the eleventh century a marriage simply had to be declared before witnesses to be considered binding.

During the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Church began to regularise the varying traditions. The need for clear inheritance laws helped speed this process along, and over time more and more weddings took place under the auspices of the Church.

To my brother David,with particular thanks for all the photos,And to Dad for so many happy memoriesof the Yorkshire Dales.