Category: Politics

The political events of medieval Europe, kings, popes, and what led to what.

How does a woman tell her betrothed that she  murdered her first husband?   Elise Kingston is a wanted woman. Nothing,  not even Highlander Marcus MacGregor, will stop her from returning home to  ensure that the man responsible for her daughter’s death hangs.   Until she must choose between his life and  her revenge.   […]

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Please welcome today my friend Ian Colville.  In a virtual case of It’s a Small World, I ‘met’ Ian, as best as I can remember (Ian will hopefully correct me if I’m wrong), when he stopped by my blog or facebook author page and said hello, having read my book.  On checking out his site, […]

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History has always fascinated me, but some eras could have ended better. The thirteenth century is full of these unfortunate events. It ended badly for Scotland, but even worse for Wales, which lost its prince and its independence to King Edward I of England. Edward had his eyes on Wales for thirty years, ever since […]

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It was not Adam Newton’s day.  He must have wondered, when he heard that he would be the next messenger to Robert the Bruce, what he had done to anger the clerics above him.  The previous messengers, sent by the cardinals Luke and Jocelin, probably in early September 1317, had been pleasantly but firmly sent […]

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Central to Robert Bruce’s struggles, and Scotland’s Wars of Independence which form the backdrop of The Blue Bells Trilogy, is England’s claim to be overlords of Scotland. Why Edward I claimed, in the late 1200’s, to be overlord of Scotland requires a trip back to 1174.  (Fasten your seatbelts, our time machine is revving its engines!)  […]

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