I recently heard someone describe Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, as "just a schemer." Nothing else. Just a schemer. He would turn in his grave if he still had one. Henry VIII destroyed that too. Contemporary sources tell a different story. Jean de Wavrin, who actually lived in the same period, wrote of a man who was generous, who was loved by the common people, whose household hospitality was legendary. The chroniclers record that "the Earl of Warwick was very generous to

What did a fifteenth century noblewoman actually do all day? Less embroidery, more management. The romance of the period is real, but most of the work was administration.

There are mornings when Warwick will not cooperate. He sits at the table in my head with his arms folded, and whatever I had planned for him that day, he refuses. The scene I had outlined in detail the night before turns to dust the moment I open the document, and the dialogue I was so pleased with last night now sounds so weird. The man I thought I had finally pinned down looks at me as if I have understood nothing. Those are the mornings I take Blue out for a walk a little

Medieval Knight I came to English history through Philippa Gregory. Most of us did. The White Queen was the book that opened the door to the Wars of the Roses for me. After that I went looking for everything I could find on the period, and especially on Warwick. The chronicles, the academic histories, the letters that survived. Once you start chasing Warwick, you do not stop. If you know that feeling, we are the same kind of reader. Gregory's gift is the women who were there.