Henry VII and my book "King of Princes"

Hi
I've just finished my book it's called "King of Princes" and am submitting it for manuscript appraisal (Welsh Book Council) so hold thumbs for me. king
I've also published a Henry VII web page (still needs a little tweaking) but would like some feed-back - "fi aros gyda diddordeb"

http://www.tudor.vc/tudor/harritudur.html

When you write a Historical Novel you need to research the history. I did this about Henry VII and the more I researched the history the more I came to the conclusion that it was all wrong and conflicting. e.g. Richard III had anything from 6000 troops to 120000, Henry had anything from 5000 troops to 80000 troops, depending on the whims of the historian. Everything I researched was confusing and most of it 'make believe' and so ridiculous it's even funny.

So I put everything together from a purely logistical point of view and came up with some surprising results, even the Battle of Bosworth could not have taken place at Bosworth - read my web page for details.
Luigie

Your site is interesting and I am curious about your book. It has been some time since I studied the Tudors. I once took a college history course on the Tudors and Stuarts, and another in Shakespeare's history plays, which included a study of the monarchs involved.

I don't remember reading much that disparaged Henry. Shakespeare's Richard III was clearly a villain, and Henry Tudor the hero. The history professor, Dr. Ralph Wooster, as I recall, thought history was unfair to Richard, and presented what he felt was an unbiased view of both kings. He believed that the York princes were probably killed by Henry rather than Richard, in order to put an end to the conflict between the two families. I'm really straining my memory, though. I took that history course back in 1962, and the one on the history plays in 1978, so my memory is rusty.

Hope you will tell us more.

Ann

Hi alj
Thanks for your post and your interest in the story.
As regards the young princes, they disapeared two years before Henry arrived in Wales and England.
Richard locked them away to make himself king in 1483AD Henry arrived in Wales and England in 1485AD.
The Richard III Society has been trying to influence history since it was formed and a lot of rubbish they have been saying is rubbing off as history. I'm just trying to set the record straight.
Best regards
Llew

Llew,

I like that name. Llewellyn the Great is one of my heroes, as is his son David. My current WIP has a major character named David Llewellyn.

I want to apologize ahead of time to any UK citizens whose toes I might inadvertently step on during this discussion. I am an American with mixed UK heritage, trying to get an "objective" picture of my ancestral history.

If I say something offensive, just tell me nicely, OK? Looking forward to more about this period of history.

Wasn't Llew the name of the Welsh sun god?

Ann

Hi Ann

Quote :

Wasn't Llew the name of the Welsh sun god?

Not sure! I'll try googling it.
Llew

Hi Ann
Llew in Welsh means Lion - and yes, also the name of the Welsh sun god.
Best regards
Llew
P.S. Sorry I've only just remembered your question.

Hi Marie Pacha
Thanks! I hope it is, my wife is editing it and has suggested quite a few changes, subject to argument, of course.
The Welsh Book Council has agreed to do a free manuscript appraisal once the editing has been completed.
I hope it goes well as I have a few more 'stories' to tell.
Best regards
Luigie

Hi
I'm feeling rather depressed about my book. My wife is editing it and is highly critical of my work.
I have made a lot of errors that she is picking up and can't believe it as I've edited it many times myself.
I just did not see those errors myself, does this happen to everyone or is it just me?
Please give me some feedback.
Luigie

Yes,

Can't you tell by my posts?
I only see my own errors later--after everyone else does.

Hi Alice
Thanks for the encouragement.
I
am still correcting all the errors my wife has picked up and grudgingly
I have to admit the changes make the book read much better.
One
thing that I am disputing with my wife is on dialogue, I write using
todays terminology/speech and not as they would have spoken in the 15th
century, she says I should make it sound like they would have spoken
then...but who really knows how they spoke then, especially as they
would have either spoken Welsh or Breton??
Any ideas would be appreciated
Luigie

Luigi,
your book sounds very interesting. I've done some reading about King Henry. In fact, I'm now reading the German version of a novel by Philippa Gregory called "Die Schwester Der Koenigin" (The sister of the Queen). It was made into a movie. The original work was written with the title: The Other Boleyn Girl.
I've just started the book and am at the point where King Henry wants a son that his wife can't produce. Of course I'm reading about King Henry VIII.

Hi Luigie,

Just stay away from jargon and you should be okay.

From what I have studied, Henry VII represented a major change in governmental procedures. This first Tudor king brought in a sense of politics, perhaps for the first time in British history, if not European history in general. The concept of "Divine Right" was dying out, and the need to address the needs and perspectives of the population was being born. The Wars of the Roses had taken its toll, so to speak. The people of England could no longer be convinced that God was in charge of the monarchy; too many incidents had disproved the theory. The direction the change took with Henry VIII seemed to focus on this king's desire for a male heir, possibly due to that Henry's tendency to think with his "little head"?. Ironically, it was his "illegitimate" daughter who refocused the direction begun by his father, by legitimizing England's independence from Rome, and making England a viable political entity.

Ann

Hi Marie Pacha

Quote :

From my own experience I know that I tend to
miss my own errors. I don't know if it's because I am so familiar with
a story that my brain just substitutes what should be there or not, but
it's easier for me to catch mistakes others have made.

Yeah! You're quite right, you know what you are saying notwithstanding the mistakes which your mind overlooks, however others pick up the errors as they want to know what has been said. :-)

Quote :

Using
15th century dialogue might make it more difficult for your readers to
follow, especially if you go with Welsh. My fluency in that language
consists of good night, good morning, and how are you.

My book is written in English not Welsh (although I am hoping to get it translated into Welsh. I really do not think that there is any point in trying to use 'old English' in the dialogue, as used in some historic novels, "thee and thy don't apply" as they would not have been speaking English anyway.
Luigie

Hi All
Thanx for the encouragement.
Henry VII appears to have had a shadowy existance, very little has been written about him. In my research a few things have stood out which, in my opinion, makes him stand out as a very strong and able character. These attributes I have tried to capture in my story. The main attribute that I noticed in my research was that everyone he came into contact with, from a young boy, helped him or sided with him. People as diverse as his uncle Jasper, Francis II of Brittany, Anne of France and the powerful Welsh Barons of which Rhys ap Thomas being the main one.
Why? I ask myself, has so much been written about his son Henry VIII and so little about him after all he is the foundation. To this day a direct descendant of his is still on the throne of England, five hundred years later.
Best regards,
Luigie