![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Medieval Murderers
Mar. 15th, 2013 10:29 pmOn Wednesday we went to Stockton for a Medieval Murderers gig: two members of an alliance of crimewriters whose books are set in the middle ages, teaming up to speak about their books. Michael Jecks is a client, Karen Maitland (as a result of matters I won't go into, but which don't imply any dissatisfaction on either of our parts) an ex-client, and they are both lovely people and entertaining speakers, so of course we had a wonderful evening, and what with staying on for something to eat (and drink) after the event, we didn't get home until one in the morning. The format of the event was that the two authors half chat, half interview each other, about their books and life in general - they don't focus on their latest book.
Which is how Karen came to be talking about her previous book, The Gallows Curse, which is set in the reign of King John, during the Interdict, when - in the memorable words of1066 and All That - "John was so bad that the Pope decided to put the whole country under an Interdict, i.e. he gave orders that no one was to be born or die or marry (except in Church porches)." I don't think I'd ever, before I read the book, stopped to think what a big deal it was, for a nation of believers, to have the Church - which held the key to salvation - effectively go on strike. Now I wonder why there aren't more novels set during this period (it was only five years, but five years is quite a long time if you're living through it). Perhaps there are, and I just don't know about them.
Anyway, a central element of The Gallows Curse is the idea of the sin eater, someone who could assume the sins of a person who had died without being absolved, a particularly valuable service when absolution was nowhere to be had.
Later, over dinner, we were talking about Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce (general gist of conversation: what were they *thinking*?) and the practice of accepting someone else's points, and it occurred to me that what Vicky Pryce had done was, she had eaten her husband's sins.
For some reason, put that way it makes a lot more sense to me.
Which is how Karen came to be talking about her previous book, The Gallows Curse, which is set in the reign of King John, during the Interdict, when - in the memorable words of1066 and All That - "John was so bad that the Pope decided to put the whole country under an Interdict, i.e. he gave orders that no one was to be born or die or marry (except in Church porches)." I don't think I'd ever, before I read the book, stopped to think what a big deal it was, for a nation of believers, to have the Church - which held the key to salvation - effectively go on strike. Now I wonder why there aren't more novels set during this period (it was only five years, but five years is quite a long time if you're living through it). Perhaps there are, and I just don't know about them.
Anyway, a central element of The Gallows Curse is the idea of the sin eater, someone who could assume the sins of a person who had died without being absolved, a particularly valuable service when absolution was nowhere to be had.
Later, over dinner, we were talking about Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce (general gist of conversation: what were they *thinking*?) and the practice of accepting someone else's points, and it occurred to me that what Vicky Pryce had done was, she had eaten her husband's sins.
For some reason, put that way it makes a lot more sense to me.
