If you still use twitter, you may have noticed a recent discussion among the writing community regarding how best to end your latest book. After all, you have spent weeks or months, sometimes years writing your book, but how then do you best end it?
I like to end my books on a high note – which is odd when you realize that biographies necessarily end with the death of the biography subject. But death doesn’t have to be sad; every one of the people whose stories I am telling have a legacy, an impact on both the lives of those who knew them and on us today.
Here then are the final lines for each of my biographies. All of these books are available in both digital and paperback editions at a retailer near you.
Boudicca: Britain’s Queen of the Iceni.
Audio edition available.
Moira sat and looked intently at her mother, letting her eyes un-focus and letting herself go into the trance that marked the Sight, “You were my mother before.”
“I was.”
“Are we finally together again? Have I finally found you?”
“Yes, Alys, you have.”
Catherine de Valois: French Princess, Tudor Matriarch.
Audio edition available.
“In time, Jasper and I were allowed to enter King Henry’s service where we all became the best of friends – just as she wanted us to be from the beginning.”
Henry hugged Edmund affectionately, “And so we are. No brothers can be closer than we are. Mum would be proud.”
Mary Queen of the Scots: the Forgotten Reign.
Audio edition available.
Nineteen years of imprisonment in England followed. Nineteen years of sorrow and pain. Until at last she fell victim to her own envy for Elizabeth’s crown, falling into a trap made for her by English spymaster William Cecil. In October fifteen eighty-six the nobles of England tried Queen Mary for treason against Queen Elizabeth, the verdict and sentence decided before the trial began. For weeks Queen Elizabeth debated, delaying the sentence of death. Until at last on the eighth of February fifteen eighty-seven Queen Mary stood proudly to face her death as the queen she was. Words of compassion she spoke that morning. Gifts she gave to all those who were kind to her. Beneath her black velvet gown she wore crimson, the colour of Catholic martyrs. She died that day with grace and charm. “In my end is my beginning,” was her life-long motto. All those who hated her in life came to love her in death with memory warm and glowing.
And so with love conclude we this tale of love, of courage, of Scotland.
Queen Elizabeth Tudor: Journey to Gloriana.
Audio edition available.
“The final years of Elizabeth’s reign became known as the ‘Golden Age’ with the queen now called ‘Gloriana’ in honour of her triumph. Theatre and arts expanded, England grew rich, and the Spanish Empire waned. On the twenty-fourth of March sixteen hundred and three Queen Elizabeth died in her palace in Richmond. News immediately spread to King James of Scotland, Queen Mary’s beloved son, who was quickly proclaimed King James the First of England, the first king to rule over England, Scotland, and Wales. The first King of Great Britain.”
“Do you think the divide between England and Scotland will ever heal?” asked Elizabeth.
“Only time will tell, my friend. We may never know. But think of this: we will be one of the first from England to live in the new world. To that I say, let the adventure begin!”
Empress Wu Zetian.
Audio edition available.
“There are people who are smarter, more educated, perhaps wiser in China and around the world. But this no one can deny: the world is a better place because she dared defy traditional ideas of womanhood. She dared do what is right, not just for herself, but for all people.”
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd: the Warrior Princess of Deheubarth.
Years passed in constant warfare with the English. In time Gwenllian’s brother Owain Gwynedd became king after their father. In Deheubarth younger son Rhys ap Gruffydd became Gwenllian’s greatest legacy. For from his bloodline flowed the great hope for Wales when Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur was born in Ynys Môn. And though the castle where Princess Gwenllian was born did not survive to Owain’s time her life was still remembered in Gwynedd, in Deheubarth, and across all of Wales. As Owain helped King Henry the Fifth win against French at the Battle of Agincourt and as he secretly wed the dowager queen Catherine de Valois years later, the story of his foremother Princess Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd stayed ever dear to his heart. Did his grandson, Henry Tudor remember the valour of Princess Gwenllian as he killed King Richard III in fourteen eighty five at the Battle of Bosworth Field? Who is to say?
The world is a strange place and history has a funny way of making right the evil deeds done against the innocent. And so one must think that surely in some place beyond this physical world, Princess Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, the warrior princess of Deheubarth watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth Tudor, a woman born of her blood and legacy, and smiled.
Empress Matilda of England.
Audio edition available.
“Eleanor is right,” added Matilda. “Sooner or later Thomas would have to choose between his duties to the pope and his duties to England. Maybe not now, or this year, or even this decade, but eventually the subject will come up. Right now Becket is your man, your servant, and no one else’s.”
“My mind is made up on this matter,” declared King Henry. “You will be ordained as a priest and elevated as my archbishop of Canterbury.”
Thomas Becket paced before meeting the king’s eyes, “Very well then. Your wish is my command. But do not say you were not warned by the wisest women in all of England!”
Hypatia of Alexandria.
Audio edition available.
“Hypatia’s murder had a chilling effect on intellectual life in Alexandria. Though it did not immediately end advanced learning in the city, Cyril’s increase in power and authority sent a clear message that anyone who challenged the teachings of the Church, no matter how unintentionally, could expect the same fate.
“What about Bede? Does this mean his books are worthless?”
“Bede was first and foremost a monk,” explained Prioress Hildegard. “His loyalties were first to mother Church. For all must submit to the rulings of our church leaders and profess agreement with them, no matter if they are right or wrong. To fail to do so is to risk being burned as a heretic. Who will risk that when it is far easier to obey the Holy Father in Rome? And yet … I cannot obey. The visions God gives me supersedes everything. Popes, bishops, archbishops are all men! I do not know yet what the answer is to the problem, but this I do know: I will find the answer!”
Cleopatra VII: Egypt’s Last Pharaoh.
Hypatia shook her head, “More tragic is that these books here in Alexandria are the only records that contradict Octavian and those who sought his favour like Plutarch, books no doubt the Patriarch of Alexandria will see burned at the soonest opportunity.
“Remember that tyranny always comes at the expense of the Truth. Never forget that. And above all else, never stop resisting those who offer the most convenient explanations for why things are as they are. Be kind and patient with others, civil in your disagreements. Question everything you see and hear. Verify every story. Seek the Truth and the Truth will find you—if you are wise and if your heart is kind.”
Margaret of Wessex: Mother, Saint, and Queen of Scots.
Audio edition available.
“It was my mother who commissioned a proper biography of her, you know. She made sure that everyone who knew and remembered my mother told their story to be recorded. She was such a pious woman, even though in her piety she took away long cherished customs and traditions. And if this new clan system that is rising up in opposition to royal authority endures, then we must count that too as part of Margaret’s legacy. For it was out of love for her that Malcolm took away so much cherished heritage. The Picts never wrote things down, you see, unlike the Welsh. What was lost because of Malcolm’s love for Margaret will never be restored. Alba may endure, but it is a changed land forever,” remembered Matilda.
“We can only go forward, Your Highness. Never back. And though you grieve, rightly, for the loss of your beloved husband Heinrich, surely you must understand: you too will heal. For you are the hope of many queens and kings. You are the blood unbroken of Princess Bethoc of House Dunkeld of Alba. You are the blood unbroken of Æfgifu of York of House Wessex. And you are the heiress of the Angevin dynasty through your father. Whatever the future holds for you, milady, your legacy, and therefore your grandmother’s, will endure forever.”
Hildegard von Bingen.
Audio edition available.
“But it was not simply the number of books that remains impressive, Katharina. She challenged the severe restrictions put on women, especially by the Church, and won most of the time. She revolutionized the role of women and won improvements in the lives of women that even today are difficult to catalogue thanks to her wisdom and hard-earned respect from secular rulers. Few people in history have made greater contributions to our society and culture. She did it all through peaceful means. Her sword was her pen, her well-earned reputation as a wise woman, and her willingness to serve God by serving others,” finished Abbess Johanna.
“A true role model for all of us –women and men, religious and secular,” concluded Katharina.
“Do not forget Hildegard, Sister Katharina. For her example will serve you well if you join Martin Luther’s reformation of the Church.”
“I will not forget and shall apply these lessons for all of my life. God asks nothing less. Her legacy shall live in my heart. Now and always. A-men.”
Katharina von Bora: First Lady of the Reformation.
Audio edition available.
“Disease broke out in Saxony. In December 1552 Katharina fled to nearby Torgau, hoping to escape the Black Death. Falling, she broke her hip and died. She was buried in St. Mary’s Church in Torgau where she is remembered and honoured as few women are.
“Without seeking power or glory for herself, without high birth or wealth, Katharina von Bora changed our world through the power of love and the power of living her Faith instead of talking about it. Conscious of the attention she received as Martin Luther’s wife, she strove to be the model pastor’s wife, the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31. She succeeded beyond all imagination.”
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Youngest son John Lackland ascended the English throne, taking a new wife, also named Isabella, after Isabella of Gloucester secured her annulment from him. Together John and Isabella of Angoulême had five children, despite John’s continued infidelities and persistent agitations. In 1215 John’s agitations towards his clergy and nobility culminated in the Great Charter – the Magna Carta – John’s most enduring legacy.
For Eleanor’s part she spent the remaining years of her life in retirement in Anjou, cared for by the nuns at Fonteyrault Abbey near Chinon. In 1204 she died and was buried there at the abbey. She was eighty-two years old.
His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu.
The world was readying itself for Armand’s exit from the stage of life. Without Anne’s steady hand, Armand found it harder to fight off his illnesses. Often, despite the happiness of his bird’s company, he dreamed of her and remembered the vision of her spirit he saw as she died. The Phoenix, glorious phoenix—and the angel she said was what his spirit looked like. As the usual lethal plots raged and old enemies died off, Armand prepared to die, remembering his Anne and pondering many of the things she said.
Tuberculosis set in, making it hard to breathe. The final illness, these final pains. He was ready. For heaven? For another life as a human being? The Hour of Becomings? A wedding among the standing stones in France? Wales? England? Scotland? He did not know. But he hoped with all his heart that everything that Anne sensed and told him was true—that he would see her soon somehow, somewhere, by some divine plan his humanity could not comprehend. To serve together in government. To teach. To learn. To wed. But most of all to love.
Fourteen biographies with fourteen endings! Are you excited to read more? Find links to the Legendary Women of World History series and to His Red Eminence on this blog.
All of these books are available in multiple languages including your choice of French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Italian. Both Boudicca and Gwenllian are also available in Welsh, part of my commitment to preserving the Welsh language for centuries to come.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! As the holidays begin to wind down a bit (Yule was Monday Night/Tuesday) I thought I would share five things about Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland (1542 -1587) you probably did not know which I learned researching and writing “Mary Queen of the Scots” for the Legendary Women of World History Series.
Laurel A. Rockefeller 