Okay, so I can already hear the questions: Emily, why do you have a sword?

Why not?

Yeah, that’s a flippant reply, and there’s actually a huge amount more to it. So here’s the story about why I have a sword, a dagger, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff in my house!

First off, you have to understand that I’m a medievalist by training. I adore the medieval period, and I have also have a fascination with material culture. That’s the stuff that a society uses that gets left behind after a person, a family, a community, a culture is left behind.

So a cathedral is material culture, but so are the sheep shears from a farm house. Embroidery is material culture, clothing is material culture, the pen someone used to write their last will and testament? Also material culture.

Whenever I have the chance to get my hands on material culture that is old, I absolutely jump at it. Seriously. I’m a hoarder.

When I was a student at the University of York, I of course joined the Medieval Society, or MedSoc. One of the perks of joining was that you could order historically accurate replicas of medieval weapons at a serious discount.

Who was I to turn down that opportunity?

So the sword I have is a medieval one and a half hander. That means that it’s a big sword: big enough to be wielded by either one hand, or both hands to get that extra swing. It’s so pretty!

But even before that, my attraction to old weaponry had begun. When I was only about fifteen, I came across an antique looking dagger with a seriously rusted blade in a charity shop in the UK. Honestly, US readers: history truly is everywhere in this country!

I bought it for what was, at the time, the princely sum of £25. And it’s one of my prized possessions.

There are a few other beautiful and old objects in my home. I have a bookcase made from floorboards, constructed during WWII by my great-grandfather. I have a set of pewter tankards.

It really brings me joy to be surrounded by such beautiful objects – and they’re worth almost nothing!

But that’s not the point of them. They remind me that history is tangible, if we want it to me. We can reach out and touch something that has been touched by people in the past.

So if you ever feel the urge to buy a sword…I say, go for it.

Have you ever noticed that if you read, I don’t know, ten Regency historical romances in a month, you start to see the same names over and over again?

William, James, Charles…Elizabeth, Mary, Sophia…

Why does this happen?

Well, as a historian and an author, let me give you some of my thoughts, which are 100% not scientific but based on my own experience, and a few comments from my author friends!

Firstly, there are some names that were super popular in the Regency era. Just like there was a time about a decade ago when every baby seemed to be named Oliver or Isla, there have been name fashions throughout history. So we see a huge number of Olivias in the historical record, for example. Many historical authors want to be accurate, so they choose these popular names.

Secondly, some of the names that were quite popular in the Regency era simply haven’t stuck it out to the 21st century, and so sound really odd to the modern ear. Be honest: would you read a book if the heroine was called Spencer, or Awellah, or Unity? Can you picture a duke called Americus, Coape, or Jahleel?

Don’t get me wrong: there is nothing wrong with these names! But they are unusual, and so often pull the reader out of the story.

And thirdly, we come to ‘the Tiffany effect’. The Tiffany effect is simple: it’s when something seems historically inaccurate, but it’s actually 100% true. For example, the name Tiffany was a popular name in medieval England, but it just seems…wrong? Doesn’t it?

In a similar way, there are names historically used in Regency England that sound far too modern, and so readers might complain that the author isn’t being historically accurate…even if they are! Examples include Miles, Sampson, Marina, and Angel.

So there you have it! Some of the complexities we authors face when it comes to naming characters 😅

Does anything in this blog surprise you?

If you have somehow been living under a rock the last few weeks, you might have missed that here in Blighty, we officially have a new monarch.

I mean, we had one since last year, but today, it becomes official in a legal, spiritual, and governmental way.

Charles III was crowned today!

As a medieval historian, I have a huge fascination with kingship, coronations, and what it means to transform someone of the royal bloodline into a ‘monarch’, with a few traditions and pieces of clothing.

There was a lot of speculation about this coronation. There are literally hundreds of rules and regulations when it comes to crowning a monarch, but honestly, because we haven’t done it in this country for so long, I don’t think most of us had ever seen a coronation in the flesh!

For a long time, Charles was clear that he didn’t want to have as complicated a coronation as Queen Elizabeth II, his mother, and that made me sad for two reasons. Firstly because I love a bit of pageantry, but secondly because my great-grandfather was knighted for his leadership in organising Elizabeth II’s coronation. I wanted to see another spectacular coronation in my lifetime.

But having said all that, I think Charles was onto the right lines.

Our attention span as a generation is short, and our awareness of the environmental impact of big events like coronations means that it’s a good thing to keep it short. Short and sweet.

And memorable. I don’t think I’ll ever forget watching this coronation, a truly amazing part of history.

Did you watch the coronation? What did you think?