The Baroness and the real Caltagirone

In Book #2 of the Vespers Trilogy, Malice Stalks the Leopard, one of the major characters is The Baroness, an old love of Ferdinand de Lerida.  She is presented in the book as the widow of the Count of Caltagirone.  Naturally, she's a fictitious person who was fun to write, but the real family who ruled this region was powerful and always part of the king's counsel.  The city is also one of the oldest in Sicily, dating back to before 1000 B.C.


Today, Caltagirone is known for its ceramics, the beauty of which date back to Arab times in Sicily - 9th and 10th century - because the Arabs brought the greens, blues and yellows to the industry.  They also brought a sophistication to the ceramics with geometric designs and graceful  depictions of animals and plants.  This is typical of Sicilian ceramics today and what this area is famous for.


And of course, the name itself is said to be of Moorish derivation - the name Caltagirone means Castle or Fortress of Vases.

Midwives Part 3

Midwives worked at their chosen profession with little interference from men throughout most of the medieval era. This may have had to do with various taboos surrounding the "secret" parts of female anatomy. However, as the professionalization of medical practitioners began to advance, the women's role as midwife was ultimately pushed aside. Generally, midwives learned their trade from other women and from personal experiences with childbearing. Men were not allowed to view childbearing. Laws aimed at regulating the professions were eventually imposed from the outside by municipal or ecclesiastical authorities to ensure that infants were not delivered by "charlatans". Given the religious tasks of the midwife described by Sam Thomas, particularly baptism, you can bet these so-called charlatans were non-believers or heretics. The church managed to impose itself on everyone's lives. Brussels, Belgium, was the first town to enact regulations on the functions of midwives in 1424. These restrictions contributed to a reduction in the staus and role of the midwife and a more general degradation of attitudes toward women, particularly those with knowledge and power, at the end of the Middle Ages.

Edith Pargeter

I finished the Ellis Peters novel about Cadfael and was eager to know a little more about the author, Ellis Peters is a pen name for Edith Pargeter (1913 to 1995) who wrote many novels and non-fiction volumes up until just a few years before her death. Born in Horsehay, Shropshire, she was fascinated by the history of Wales, especially medieval history. She is especially known for the Cadfael mysteries, the Brothers of Gwynedd quartet, and The Heaven Tree trilogy, all about medieval Wales. She also wrote 13 George Felse mysteries, but I haven't explored those yet. Interestingly, Gwynedd is a town that is mentioned in Monk's Hood, the mystery I just finished, as well as having the quartet named after it. I was lucky enough to find the Heaven Tree trilogy at my local used book sale, which benefits the public library. Many communities have such sales and they are great for collectors, book lovers, and explorers. Just the place to try out a new author for very little investment.

Ellis Peters -Wikipedia image

Aconitum, also known as monkshood, wolf's bane, Queen of all Poisons and several other names, is a genus of over 250 species of perennial flowering plants native to the mountains of the northern hemisphere. It is extremely poisonous. Several cultures use one or another of the species as arrow poisons, including the Minaro, Ainu, Chinese and Aleuts. Cleopatra used aconite to kill her brother Ptolemy XIV, so she could put her son on his throne. It has been used in multiple real and fictional murders. One of the most recognizable is Monk’s Hood by Ellis Peters (1980), which I have just been reading.  It also features prominently in wolfman and vampire stories.

Monks' Hood photo by Bernd Haynold

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Marked symptoms appear within one hour with ingestion of the poison. Death may occur instantaneously with large doses or within two to six hours in lower doses (20 to 40 mL of tincture may prove fatal) The initial signs are gastrointestinal including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, followed by a sensation of burning, tingling, and numbness in the mouth and face, and of burning in the abdomen.  In severe poisonings pronounced motor weakness occurs and cutaneous sensations of tingling and numbness spread to the limbs. Cardiovascular features include hypotension, bradycardia, and arrhythmia. Other features may include sweating, dizziness, difficulty breathing, headache, and confusion. The main causes of death are ventricular arrhythmias and asystole, paralysis of the heart or of the respiratory center. The only post-mortem signs are those of asphyxia.

Poisoning may also occur by picking the leaves without wearing gloves, as the toxin is absorbed easily through the skin. In this event, there will be no gastrointestinal effects. Tingling will start at the point of absorption and extend up the arm to the shoulder, after which the heart will start to be affected. 

Midwife Detective

I recently finished reading The Midwife's Tale by Sam Thomas, and it was a good story. I thought his descriptions of the midwife's activities might be insightful since lovely Renata in book 3 of our series will be apprenticed to a midwife. The time periods and the cultural background between the two differ, but the job, I believe, remains pretty much the same. What was most curious to me was the multiple roles played by a licensed midwife. First, she was helper, healer and educator to the pregnant woman. She not only delivered the baby but also provided pre-natal care and then taught the mother how to nurse and care for the child during the first few months. Second, the midwife, had a role in the baptism of the child. The mother, being confined to her home for 40 days after birth, could not attend the child's baptism, so the midwife carried the child to the church and told the priest what it's name would be. Of course, she likely consulted with the family about that. Thirdly, the midwife was an agent of the crown, at least in 1600's England, because it was her job to drag the name of the father out of an unwed mother. In fact, she may have refused her services until the name was revealed. Then the government could make the father pay child support so the burden of another mouth to feed did not fall upon the very limited social resources of the time. So midwife as private detective.... Too many cases in which she could not get the father's name and she may have had her license revoked.

Medieval beekeeping

Anyone interested in honey or bees should check out medieval beekeeping.  Just google that and the images that come up are incredible. 


The source I read tonight was a 10th century Byzantine agricultural work, the Geoponika.  In Sicily and the Roman world, Virgil's widely read work on agriculture would have been the source for any beekeeper, provided, of course, he or she could read Latin.


The Byzantine work indicates that beechwood, fig or Valonia (where is that?!) oak should be used for the hive and rubbed with ash and cow dung.  Ash - okay, cow dung - I just don't know about that ...


Basins of wine mixed with honey should be put out to feed young bees and the beekeeper should be sure to put leaves (the source says of savory, but I imagine any leaves will do) in the bowl so that the bees have something to crawl on and won't drown.


Honey should be harvested three times a year - in early May, summertime, and finally around October.  Of course, some honey needs to be left in the hive.


To avoid being stung, smoke was used.  The medieval images also show masks and protective clothing and also smearing oneself with the juice of the male wild mallow.  Do not ask me where that would grow or how to recognize male from female!

The Palio, contrade, medieval and modern mutual aid society and social club, Siena

Everyone knows about Siena's famous 90 second horse race, the Palio.  Who has been to Siena?  Who has seen the Palio raced?  There are 17 contrade or districts in Siena, and all of them have their own flags, symbols, saints, churches and organizations.  Like in the Vespers Trilogy, where the de Rogerios live in the Porta Patitellorum, one of Palermo's five districts, the Palio encompasses a fierce rivalry between the districts every August.


For the best source on this wild race, check out www.thepalio.com


As in medieval times, each contrade has its own organization.  It reminds me very much of my hometown, Chicago, whose wards and districts were under the supervision of an alderman.  The alderman knew every household, every street, and everything that went on in his district.  Italian contrade and Chicago wards function in exactly the same way - mutual aid society and social club.  Each contrade has its own church - all wards and districts have their own churches in Chicago.  When my mother was growing up, she would give directions by saying, go to such and such a parish.  If you were Methodist or Baptist, you were bewildered and SOL!