what's up in the 12th century?

[perteltote]

So, my husband bought a book to read on the plane the other day, and since he pretty much only reads non-fiction he bought The Book of Firsts  by Peter D'Epiro which is mostly a list of cultural happenings throughout history.  I (naturally) read the twelfth century section last night

Comments

[01cheers]

Fascinating stuff. I have always been interested in this sort of thing, mostly as research for recreational writing (non-fanfic, but a permanent WIP where I am stuck in the early 18th century), and in general. I own a book called something like "Timelines in modern history" that actually has about 2,000 years worth of timeline tables (am on business trip so cannot check title), but the best source online is this wonderful site

[ladykate63]

Wow, that is so cool about Abelard and Heloise! I always thought they lived in the 13th Century... obviously I was wrong!

And yeah, Richard and John both sucked in their respective ways. Interestingly, their portrayal on the show isn't really that far off. Richard was brave, extremely rash to the point of doing pretty stupid things (kinda like ordering Robin and friends to be tied up to die in the desert on a dubious tip of conspiracy), and didn't give a s**t about what was happening back home in England. John was smart, narcissistic, and yes, a bit sexually twisted (not only did he have a habit of routinely screwing his nobles' wives, he would sometimes taunt the cuckolded husbands with descriptions of what they did in bed).