Special Guest Interview with J. P. Reedman, Author of Bride of the Devil: Agnes, Wife of Robert de Belleme (Medieval Babes: Tales of Little-Known Ladies Book 13)

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She is a great heiress; he is the wickedest man in Normandy. Known to men far and wide as 'The Devil,' Robert de Belleme terrorises France alongside his equally fearsome mother, Mabel the Poisoner. But even a Devil needs an heir, and Mabel chooses the wealthy heiress Agnes of Ponthieu to be her son's bride.. The marriage is unhappy, though the longed-for son and heir is eventually born...but when Robert is away on one of his military campaigns, Agnes flees back to her father's castle.

I'm pleased to welcome author J. P. Reedman to The Writing Desk:

Tell us about your latest book

My latest novel (number 13!)  in my MEDIEVAL BABES series about lesser-known medieval queens and nobles is BRIDE OF THE DEVIL. The bride in question is Agnes of Ponthieu and the 'devil' is her husband, the notorious Robert de Belleme who eventually became Earl of Shrewsbury at the very end of the 11th century. I must admit to having a slight obsession with the Belleme family, who were notorious for raiding, murdering and side-swapping in Normandy and, later, England. I have already written about Robert's mother, the poisoner Mabel, in an earlier novel called POISONED CHALICE. Robert was most definitely a chip off the old block!

 Robert de Belleme

 I first became interested in the Bellemes in the 1980's while watching the historical fantasy series, ROBIN OF SHERWOOD. One of the antagonists was the Baron Simon de Belleme, a sorcerer who had imprisoned his wife. I later learned that there really was a hated nobleman called  Robert de Belleme who had, in fact, imprisoned his wife and got up to other nastiness (although he was a superb castle builder). Recently, I decided to research this shadowy and rather unfortunate lady and see what I could find out...

Of course, my book is Agnes' story, rather than Robert's—he is the antagonist. 

Not a lot is known about Agnes save that she was a great heiress (which meant she was a marriage prize for power-hungry Norman lords) but she must have been quite strong-minded despite having such a mercurial and dangerous husband; she managed to actually escape her imprisonment with the aid of her friend Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. She had one son with Robert, who seemed , fortunately, to be somewhat more like his mother than his father in temperament, although he did some side-swapping in allegiances as well.

Tell us something unexpected you discovered during your research

I had several unexpected finds while writing  BRIDE OF THE DEVIL. One was  that Robert had spent the last twenty or so years of his long life (he lived till 80) as a prisoner at Wareham Castle in Dorset. I took a trip to that very interesting town to have a look. The castle is now gone, but there was one Norman door with a fine decorated arch embedded in a later wall. There were several interesting churches too, one of them a former priory. I am guessing that may have been Robert's burial place, although sadly no record of his burial was ever made.

Another unexpected find was that Agnes was a direct ancestor of another of my book characters, Ela of Salisbury, the protagonist in LONGSWORD'S LADY. Agnes' granddaughter Adela/Ela first married William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and then Patrick of Salisbury. Patrick and Adela's son, William, was the father of Ela, who became one of England's two female medieval sheriffs and one of the founders of Salisbury Cathedral. She also founded Lacock Abbey. I like to think some of Ela's intelligence and strong will were also apparent in her ancestor, Agnes.

What was the hardest scene you remember writing?

Reconstructing Agnes' life was quite difficult because of conflicting information. Many references to her were only on dodgy genealogy sites, many of which had birthdates  for her that were completely implausible. Her marriage date is also debatable. One medieval source said the marriage was arranged by William Rufus, but there was reference to the marriage some years before that although nothing fixed and firm. Therefore I went for an earlier date, which seemed more likely.

What are you planning to write next?

I am having a little break from historical fiction and currently writing a dark fantasy based on Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem, Annabel Lee called SEPULCHRE BY THE SEA (due out by Halloween). That will be followed by a retelling of The Snow Queen (FROST MAIDEN), told from the Queen's perspective and set in an ancient time. My next historical fiction work might be on George of Clarence, brother of Richard III, since I have done stories on all of his other brothers! I do sometime change the order of my future works, though—if something jumps out at me screaming 'write me', that is the story that gets done first!

J. P. Reedman 

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About the Author

J.P. Reedman was born and raised in Canada, daughter of a Canadian soldier and a 17-year-old war bride. Her mother and older sister instilled a love of all parts of the British Isles in a small child, and it was all knights and castles and history from the age of about four. Earliest memories include climbing the keep of Guildford Castle. First historical writing, though, was about Cleopatra—age six. She began writing fantasy in the 70’s and in the 80’s had many fantasy short stories and poems published in the small press of the day.  In the 90’s J.P. moved permanently to the UK, first living in Northamptonshire and then in Wiltshire, near Stonehenge, where she worked for twelve years. J.P. ‘s first published novel was The Stonehenge Saga, a historical fantasy placing the Arthurian legends in a Bronze Age context. This was published in 2 volumes in 2012; in 2018 J.P.  finally made the transition to ‘full-time writer.’ Follow J.P. Reedman on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky Social, TikTok and Twitter @stonehenge2500