Young Writers Society

I'm doing research on medieval times for my next book. Can anybody help with 12th century england?

While I don't know anything about 12th century England, I wrote a short story on England in the 14th century. I would say what you need to do is read, read, read, read. Your library in your town (or wherever is closest) will usually have quite a few books on the subject, and I have found the internet to be an amazing resource with so many different articles and people putting their knowledge out there for others to see.

Although one thing to make sure of is that the information is accurate. When I was reading through on one particular subject, each account of the story was dramatically different from the other - hence, there were issues. With everything, you have to weed through the fluff to find what you need.

On a different note, perhaps knowing more about your story would help us know how to help you? Because 12th century England covers an immense scope - from history to decorations to fashion to people to politics. It's almost a different world from what we live in now. Are you writing this on a famous person - someone we would be able to recall? A few more details on what this story is about will help those wanting to give advice. c:

More details would be helpful, yes.

The term you might be looking for is "middle ages", with medieval times being a particular entertainment park. Even then, you've got to specify if it's the early middle ages, high middle ages, or late middle ages, seeing as there were different turmoils around each era.

The 12th century in England would be a century after the Norman Conquest, which marked one of the biggest changes in England both as a country and as a language (we owe much of our swear words to the Norman conquest). These ramifications would still be relatively new in the 12th century, which is something to keep in mind.

Toward the end of the century the crusades also began. That is another point of interest to look into, to add to what Rosey said.

Thanks for all your advice. The main character is a girl named Sarah, who is the handmaiden to the princess. When the prince is murdered, she is the only one in the room when he is found, so she is accused of murder. After the murder a snowstorm pops up, and she has to find the murderer and stop him or her before things get completely out of control.

It's great you want to write a historical mystery like that! They were some of my favourite stories growing up. They're really cool but require a ton of research, so good on you to ask.

A few things I noticed in your summary!

1- England, from what I can tell, doesn't get huge snowstorms all that often. This is a history of British weather that might only go to the 17th century, but it should give you an idea what the 12th century could've been like. Do keep in mind, Irish monks called "Iceland", well, Iceland, because they weren't used to seeing snow and Iceland had more of it than the UK. (Iceland is actually a fantastic farming land with warm summers)

2- I'm not completely sure that "Sarah" would be all that common a name at the time. It was in use at the time, but it feels off, for me. Sarah is an Old Testament name, and Biblical names were kind of a big deal. Christianity deals pretty heavily with the New Testament, which features different names than the Old Testament. Back in the day, naming based on meaning and role in the Bible was a huge thing. The Old Testament was often associated with Jews, who were banished from England around that time period. Something to consider.

3- Why would she be in the room when he was found, when she's not his servant? She's the handmaiden to the princess. I'm not sure what the gender division in English nobility was at the time.

4- What is her social class? If you're going for "poor person gets pegged for the crime", realize she might not be that poor. She could just be a lower ranking noblewoman's daughter, or a desolate noble family that is now in servitude position. There would've actually been a huge language divide between nobility and non-nobility, because the Normans spoke French and the peasants primarily spoke Germanic languages. Both languages heavily influenced each other, but language change would've been a slower process at the time.

Just some things to think about for the story.

12th Century England was not glamorous, even for the wealthy. If you want grand castles and pretty dresses, you'll want to look elsewhere in time. Not that there weren't princesses and princes and kings--there certainly were--but life was hard back then. Really, really hard.

For the sort of medieval, knights-in-shining armor glamour you might be hoping for, you'll want to go to at least the Renaissance in the 15th, if not into the 17th and 18th.

Europe lagged behind much of the rest of the world at the time. It wasn't until the Crusades really got going and travel to the Far East began that Europe started to go anywhere.

For research on what life was like in the 12th, I'd suggest looking at stories such as Tristan, or old accounts of King Arthur (even though that would be circa 5th century), or stories like the Nibelungenlied, which, while Germanic, covers much of the same sort of principles.

If you want snowstorms, you'll want to look at continental Europe.