Pour son second roman Eleanor of Aquitaine. There was evening and there was morning, the Montluçonnais journalist and writer Marie-Noëlle Demay draws the reader alongside this magnificent figure of the 12th century. She is interested in a particular episode where the great queen, then 75 years old, goes to look for her granddaughter in Spain to make her the future queen of France, Blanche of Castile.
Why did you choose to write about Eleanor of Aquitaine?
“I didn’t choose her, she chose me. It would never have crossed my mind to devote a book to a historical figure and to her in particular. But the fact is that I came across a TV documentary completely by chance that I started watching one evening, but really with a distracted eye, and then its story grabbed me. »
There was a kind of spell that made me want to know more and really take an interest in her. In fact, when the documentary was finished, I knew I was going to write about her.
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Was there a lot of research? Absolutely !
“It was very time-consuming because I really had to do some research, because I’m not a historian. I had to swallow a lot of documents and do a lot of research not only on her, Eleanor, but also on Richard the Lionheart, on Blanche de Castille, on the time, on mores, on politics, on crusades, and on Istanbul which was not yet called Istanbul in the 12th century. Finally, it caught me and kept me busy, I must say. »
Is that why it was important for you that the book be reread and validated by Martin Aurell, professor at the University of Poitiers?
” Yes yes ! Absolutely ! It seemed like the least of respect to the reader. It’s like a tapestry that has been eaten away by time and I, very humbly, embroider a little to fill in the holes. I embroider it in a romantic way but the weft is there. The historical framework must be irreproachable and this is somewhat the backbone of the book. »
And even if I did a lot of research, if I tried to be as conscientious as possible, I could not imagine that it would not be validated by someone of Martin Aurell’s caliber. He is still director of the Center for Higher Studies in Medieval Civilization and he knows about this period of the High Middle Ages, the Plantagenêts and Eleanor of Aquitaine better than anyone since he works almost exclusively on it. He really is the authority on the subject.
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We rediscover the place that aristocratic women had in the Middle Ages.
“It is a misconception to think that the Middle Ages was a time of obscurantism for women. Not at all, on the contrary! They had a lot of freedom. They had a role which could be extremely important, which was respected, even if it was envied by men. The women of power in this book are numerous. There is also the Abbess of Fontevrault. »
Aliénor is a woman of power but she is also a woman of duty.
” Yes quite. He was someone, I believe, very demanding of his role. We almost find this requirement today in Elizabeth II, the Queen of England. They were born for it and do it until death. They are dedicated to that. »
Aliénor, her first role, was the expansion of the Plantagenêt domain, of the power of the Plantagenêts… And she did everything for it, up to imagining a necropolis, which is Fontevrault, exactly like that of the Capétiens in Saint Denis. So the duty, the requirement is something that structures her and that has been a deep part of her from the start.
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Do you already have an idea for a third novel?
“Not yet because I’m so possessed by Eleanor that it’s hard for me to let go of her. I also wonder if I’m not going to continue a little with her because I can’t really manage to be interested in a story other than hers. »
After a rich career in the press, the Montluçonnaise Marie-Noëlle Demay publishes her first novel
Eleanor of Aquitaine. There was evening, and there was morning is published by Presses de la Cité (price: 20 euros). Marie-Noëlle Demay will be signing at Fnac in Montluçon on Saturday May 21.
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Florence Farina
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