Henry the Young King Recommends...

Dear Henry the Young Kings Readers,

Recently I  have been busy supporting one very special tower and haven't had much time for proper blogging, but I would like to recommend a few books, articles, blogs and blog posts well worth reading.

Firstly, many thanks to my friend Ulrik Kristiansen for drawing my attention to the doctoral thesis of Elizabeth Jane Anderson of University of Huddersfield entitled Establishing adult masculine identity in the Angevin royal family c.1140-c.1200, which can be downloaded here. I am going to take a closer look at it and use it while working on one of my upcoming posts.

Secondly, a huge request for those who still haven't read Sharon Kay Penman's Devil's Brood and Elizabeth Chadwick's Winter Crown, please do! You are going to meet Henry the Young King in them :-) Just click the titles to get access to the novel extracts. I am looking forward to meet Henry in The Autumn Throne.

I would also be very grateful if you could re-read those of my Henry the Young King posts, which I find most revealing, namely the Warren post (as I get used to call it), the Walter Map one and finally the (hopefully) illuminating one on Henry's career as the tournament patron and champion.

As always, I strongly encourage you to pay frequent visits to the blogs that do not need further introduction: Kathryn Warner's Edward II, Anerje's Piers Gaveston, Gabriele's Lost Fort, but also to Susan Abernethy's The Freelance History Writer, Sharon Bennett Connolly's History... the interesting bits and Gianna Baucero's The Maze.

Dr Helena Schrader does an excellent job Defending the Crusader Kingdoms and I highly recommend each of her first-rate, in-depth posts.

I would also like to encourage you to read and support the new and very promising blog The Medieval Mediterranean. Really interesting stuff there. Let us not forget about Magna Carta and a great blog, being a part of a website run to mark the Charter's 800th anniversary. It provides resources and commentary on the Charter itself but also on King John and his court.

And finally, the post I will always be enormously and especially proud of. Thank you for taking us in, Kathryn :-) 

I am hoping to get back to proper blogging soon. You may expect either a post about one belicose troubadour closely connected with our Liege or the one dealing with one of Henry's younger brothers. I haven't decided yet, but sooner or later both will get my attention. The images I used to "decorate" this post may provide some clues as who the articles are going to be dedicated to :)