The Ritual Master Hello friends, and welcome back to our Medieval adventure. Today I’m recommending two books for the French speaking readers, though I hope some day you’ll find them in translation, since they are a beautiful tribute to Aliénor of Aquitaine’s life.
Clara Dupont-Monod is a French journalist and writer, who dedicated two of her novels to the story of Aliénor’s life.
Le roi disait que j’étais diable translates to The King said I was the devil, and covers Aliénor’s time as Queen of France, during her first marriage to Louis VII. Clara Dupont-Monod reinvents the story of their marriage, from the wedding day to the crusade, through failed battles and the lack of heir to the throne, in a historical fiction that reads like a confession. Written in the first person, the book aims to bring to the light Aliénor’s inner feelings during what were the formative years of her life as a Queen. The passage of the first meeting between the two is brutally honest :
And of course, there is Louis. His face shines. He wipes his lips. He is thirsty. The drought is everywhere, even in Paris where, they say, his father Louis the Fat was transported to die. He takes out his sword. I wait for him to lower the point in respect. His hand trembles. (…) I observe this body, this face and this wavering sword. I can sense the endless discussions, the doubt and morality, the cowardice hidden beneath the appetite for words. My future stands there, pale and languid, in a sickening perfume of mint. For the truth appears to me: I am going to marry a monk.
The second novel, The Revolt, focuses on the betrayal of Henry II by Aliénor and their children, in a personal narrative told by her favourite son, Richard. After the first years of their successful and passionate marriage, Henry slowly morphs into a tyrant, imposing his law over her beloved Aquitaine, and, as a supreme offense, falls in love with another woman. Incontrolable and completely unpredictable, he is a danger to be managed, and so, Aliénor unites her three older sons, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, in order to overthrow his supremacy. The passage in the book is chilling :
Her dress caresses the ground. At that moment, we are like the stones of the vaults, motionless and breathless. But what stiffens my brothers is not indifference, for they are used to not being looked at; nor the solemnity of the conversation – everything that concerns Eleanor is solemn. No, what freezes us, at that moment, is her voice. For it is in a soft voice, full of threats, that my mother orders us to go and overthrow our father.
Two novels grounded in history that bring emotion to events told by the books. I would say you need to know the facts before reading this, if you want to grasp the entirety of Dupont-Monod’s work. For she puts into words what we can only imagine to have been the perception of all those present. Their reactions weigh more than their actions. And in a phrase, she sublimates the indescribable :
I would like for the story of Aliénor to be written, the woman who wanted to be king, failed and became so much more.
See you tomorrow !
