There is no cover this week, because what I am reading is not a book. Instead, it is a collection of letters. Thanks to this amazing website from Columbia University, Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters, I now have a treasure trove of goodies - the surviving letters to and from Eleanor in both English AND Latin.
This week's line then comes from one of the many letters Eleanor dictated to the public, dated May 4th, 1199. Almost to the day, this is a letter written 818 years ago, and (for the most part) are the words of a woman I admire greatly:
"Eleanor, by the grace of God, queen of the Angles, duchess of Normandy and Aquitaine, countess of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, counts, viscounts, barons, justiciaries, provosts, and all her bailiffs and faithful, and to all the sons, present and future, of the holy mother Church, greetings."
Quite the intro, no?
Let me know what you think of this line, and/or leave a line of your own. Then, visit my fellow First-Liners to see what they have this week for you.
Bree - Bibliophile Reviews
Rachel - Bookworm Mama
Heather - Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen
Beth - Faithfully Bookish
Katie - Fiction Aficionado
Lauraine - Lauraine's Notes
Andi - Radiant Light
Carrie - Reading is my SuperPower
Robin - Robin's Nest
Sydney - Singing Librarian
Kathleen - Kathleen Denly
Amanda - With a Joyful Noise
Happy Reading!
Sarah
That is quite the intro! I'm glad we don't have to write that much when writing a formal letter today!
ReplyDeleteRight?? It would make people even less inclined to write formal letters now than they already are!
DeleteNow THAT is how you start a letter!
ReplyDeleteRight??!! I think I will come up with something similar. After all, 'Sarah' means princess in Hebrew, so I am practically royalty anyway. I can start all future blog posts that way, haha!
DeleteLol! My next line would be, "Now, what was I going to say again?"
ReplyDeleteI have the first line of Tosca Lee's 'Firstborn' on my blog today, but here I'm going to share the first line of "Wings of the Wind" by Connilyn Cossette:
"Forging through the teeming mass of Canaanite soldiers in this vast army camp, I'd never felt more alone."
Exactly!! Good thing she had a secretary to write everything for her. In my research for my book, I am pretty consistently seeing the idea that she likely could read but not write (her documents signed with an X suggest this, as it was pretty common).
DeleteThe name 'Tosca' is very unusual. I keep seeing books by this author pop up in other FLFs. I am intrigued.
Happy Friday!
First line from A Love So True by Melissa Jagears.
ReplyDeleteIf David Kingsman had any chance of making his father proud, this next decision could be it.
I think I would not write letters if I had to write that much in the greeting!
Thanks for coming by Andrea! Maybe it would be easier for lengthy intros if you had a scribe to write it all for you! Happy Friday!
DeleteSeptember 1939
ReplyDeleteIf I'd known I was about to meet the man who'd shatter me like bone china on terra-cotta, I would have slept in. ~ Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Dinh @Arlene's Book Club
Very powerful line Dinh, thank you for sharing. Happy Friday!
DeleteHappy Friday!!
ReplyDeleteMy first line is from True to You by Becky Wade:
“Finding oneself at the mercy of a crazed gunman isn’t all fun and games.”
Happy Friday to you also Becky, thank you for coming by!
DeleteMy first line comes from Live Free or Die by Hunter Lee.
ReplyDeleteFriday, 19:00 GMT
Dawkins Eames tugged on his collar while he gazed at pedestrians jockeying for position at the crosswalk.
Hey Caryl, thank you for coming by. Happy Friday!
DeleteThat is quite the line! Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it though? No one could forget an intro like that. Happy Friday!
DeleteIsn't is amazing we can read letters that were written so long ago?! I remember getting to see letters penned by C.S. Lewis when I was at the Bodleian in Oxford...so incredible! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was like Christmas in April! I was so excited when I stumbled upon it. Given that I have zero access to materials in France (obviously because I am not there, and also because I do not speak or read French and/or Latin), it was a miracle! I also love that the original Latin is included, and historical context too.
DeleteAwesome first line! :)
ReplyDeleteHarley Diekerhoff looked up from peeling potatoes to glance out the kitchen window.
From – Christmas at Cooper Mountain by Jane Porter
Thank you Kay, and thanks for coming by. Happy Friday!
DeleteQuite the intro indeed!! Happy Friday!!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it?? Happy Friday to you as well!
DeleteThat IS quite the intro! And amazing to imagine back to 1199... such a different worls, and as she was dictating that she probably would scarcely think her words would be read 818 years later!
ReplyDeleteMy thought exactly! And for the difficulties she endured while Henry had her imprisoned (albeit still as a queen, she just wasn't allowed to leave), she had no idea she would come to be viewed as one of the greatest figures of the middle ages. This thought was probably far from her mind as the Angevin empire was slowly being encroached on in her final years during John's reign. It must have been very hard for her to retire that final time, knowing how weak he was as a king.
DeleteGood website resources are always an amazing find!!
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It is especially helpful to find translated material, as I read neither Latin nor French (or Occitan or ny other French variation Eleanor herself might have spoken)
Delete