Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald by Janet L Nelson, 264 pages

Charles the Bald, the youngest son of Louis the Pious and a grandson of Charlemagne, has often been regarded as the first French king, even as he has often been characterized as a weak ruler who squandered his inheritance and empowered an increasingly assertive aristocracy.  In Janet Nelson's account of his life, however, he is understood as a semi-independent ruler within the greater Carolingian empire and as a deft politician who struggled with fractious vassals and relatives at a time when the end of expansion meant that rewards and inducements had to come from within the already existing realm.

Nelson manages to make even discussions about the distribution of coins from regional mints readable, if not enjoyable.  The book is neither revolutionary nor a particularly deep exploration of the Carolingian world, but it is an intriguing look at certain aspects of that culture, from an interesting perspective.

Blessed Charles of Austria

 Blessed Charles of Austria: A Holy Emperor and His Legacy by Charles Coulombe, 374 pages

The subtitle of this biography of the last of the Habsburg monarchs is certain to raise a few eyebrows.  At best, Charles was helpless as Austria-Hungary went down in defeat in the last years of World War I, ultimately being dissolved by the victorious Allies into a handful of feuding ethno-states.  What kind of legacy could he have?  More generally, how is it possible for an emperor to be "holy"?  Did not the high priests of Enlightenment indelibly write their verdict that "no one can reign innocently" across the pages of history in the blood of Louis XVI and his family?

As Charles Coulombe relates, the life of Blessed Charles was dominated by three great loves - his God, his family, and his people.  These were not competing, but complimentary, just as his love for his wife only reinforced his love of his children, and his children his love of his wife.  These were loves tested, proven, and refined through suffering, yet loves to which Charles remained faithful with his whole heart.  It is for this reason that he has been raised to the altars of the universal Church even as the men who supplanted and persecuted him are increasingly maligned or forgotten.

It is no doubt possible to construct a coherent biography of Charles of Austria, based entirely on his external acts, which portrays him as yet another incompetent Machiavel, interested only in power, badly exercising it when he had it and futilely attempting to regain it after he lost it.  This would seem superficially plausible, but would miss the inner life of the man and the self-sacrificial ideal of rulership he represents.  It would also do nothing to change the disastrous course the world has been on since at least 1914.

King's Minion

The King's Minion: Richelieu, Louis XIII, and the Affair of Cinq-Mars by Philippe Erlanger, translated by Gilles and Heather Cremonesi, 240 pages

As the Thirty Years' War stumbled to its exhausted close, it became increasingly clear that the power of France would dominate the Continent, and that the director and architect of that power was the Red Eminence, Armand Jean de Plessis, Cardinal de Richelieu.  If to some he seemed nearly omnipotent, canny observers - and there were none more canny than the Cardinal himself - understood how precarious his position truly was, for he was deeply unpopular and served only at the pleasure of the king.  Louis XIII, for his part, personally loathed the man who had forced him to send his beloved mother into exile and thrown France into a murderous war for which he would have to answer before God, yet Louis also recognized his minister's genius and found him irreplaceable.  In an effort to ensure that this did not change, Richelieu went to great lengths to introduce Louis to the charming young Henri Coiffier de Ruze, Marquis de Cinq-Mars.  As Richelieu hoped, Cinq-Mars captivated the king, swiftly replacing his quarrelsome mistress Marie de Hautefort in his affections.  The proud, impetuous Cinq-Mars chafed under Richelieu's patronage, however, and soon found himself embroiled in a series of conspiracies against the Cardinal, eventually leading to a tragic end for the royal favorite.

Erlanger walks breezily through the backroom intrigues of the baroque court, following the interwoven plots with a clear narrative and such memorable sketches of the various personalities involved that even minor figures are easily distinguished.  If at times this leads him to go beyond the facts and to presume to know the hearts and minds of his subjects, it is easy enough to recognize this as the informed speculation it is.

Tales of the Early Franks

 Tales of the Early Franks: Episodes from Merovingian History by Augustin Thierry, translated by MFO Jenkins, 166 pages

It is no less a commonplace of our time than of Augustin Thierry's that the so-called "Dark Ages" are a confusing, dull, and unprofitable era to study - indeed, the sometimes-equivalent term "Middle Ages" seems to imply an unedifying interlude between the more significant Classical and more important Modern periods.  If scholars and ideologues are divided on when the "darkness" fell, in what, precisely, it consisted, and when and how it lifted, it seems certain that Gaul in the late 6th century was deep beneath it.  

It should be a pleasant surprise, then, to discover Thierry's tales of love, war, religion, politics, and intrigue in the Merovingian era.  Based largely on the histories and memoirs of St Gregory of Tours, Thierry's work is divided into seven interrelated narrative episodes covering events ranging from the tragic life of Queen Galswinth to the rigged trial of Bishop Praetextatus to the happy friendship of Radegund and Venantius Fortunatus.  Thierry delightfully combines a contagious love for the period with a deep awareness of the importance of personalities and character.

The Boleyn Reckoning

The Boleyn Reckoning by Laura Andersen     416 pages

Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir, The Boleyn Reckoning heralds the triumphant conclusion of Laura Andersen's enthralling trilogy about the Tudor king who never was: the son of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn--Henry IX--who, along with his sisters and those he holds most dear, approaches a dangerous crossroads. 

Meh. The ending of this series was overly dramatic and ultimately blah. It just solidified my dislike of love-triangles. Not only was a love-triangle the sole plot of this book, but it ends up taking over every character's actions and what you get is a sopping mess of drama, rage, revenge, grief, despair, and on and on. It gets a little tedious.

I absolutely love Tudor history, but this story makes it less interesting when it focuses on indirect Tudor characters - Minuette and Dominic are nice and all, but their love is not as interesting as the rest of this alternative history unfurling. And the ending - I don't know what to make of <spoiler> Elizabeth threatening Minuette about her child's probable lineage (as William's) to get her to do what she wants. That seems oddly out of character for this series so I don't know what Andersen was trying to do there. And she couldn't have just left it a mystery as to who the father is? I'm just dissatisfied with it ultimately being Williams.</spoiler>.

Dissatisfied and not likely to pick up Andersen's follow-up series about Elizabeth I.

Goblin Emperor

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison 446 Pages
"The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir. Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment. Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne-or his life. Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor is an exciting fantasy novel, set against the pageantry and color of a fascinating, unique world, is a memorable debut for a great new talent."
An excellent book, I highly recommend.  The whole goblin/elf theme is very subdued and has little to do with the story or plot

Brazen

Brazen by Katherine Longshore, 524 pages

This is the fictional story of Mary Howard, who married Henry Fitzroy, the illegitimate son of King Henry VIII.  The author has used as much factual history as possible, but only a small amount is known as fact about Mary so some of the story is completely made up.  This is more about Mary’s feelings, her love and anger at her father, her hopeless anger at her mother, her love and worry for her brother and her friends, and her ambivalent feelings towards her husband.  Theirs was an arranged marriage and the two barely knew each other.  Even after they were married, the King said they were too young to consummate the marriage and never legally did.  However, the author presumes that they did end up loving each other.  Whatever the truth, this was a fascinating story told from a minor character in the Tudor saga and teen fans of historical novels will probably like this book.