Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events . Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature , it can also be applied to other types of narrative, including theatre , opera , cinema , and television , as well as video games and graphic novels . It often makes many use of symbolism in allegory using figurative and metaphorical elements to picture a story.
184-626: The Scarlet Pimpernel is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy , published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having opened in Nottingham in 1903. The novel is set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution . The title is
368-606: A Zeppelin bombardment on 15 January 1915, falling through the roof. General de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux on 6 April 1921 at the cathedral. The building experienced extensive damage during World War II, and was partially rebuilt, although much of the old altar and furnishings were not replaced. The Tour du Guet (Watch Tower), situated in Calais Nord on the Places d'Armes, is one of the few surviving pre-war buildings. Dating from 1229, when Philip I, Count of Boulogne , built
552-508: A century prior and its author asserted that her work could present a "fuller and therefore 'truer ' " version of history. One of the early examples of the historical novel in Europe is La Princesse de Clèves , a French novel published anonymously in March 1678. It is regarded by many as the beginning of the modern tradition of the psychological novel and as a great work. Its author generally
736-521: A clear day from Calais. Calais is a major port for ferries between France and England, and since 1994, the Channel Tunnel has linked nearby Coquelles to Folkestone by rail. Because of its position, Calais has been a major port and an important centre for transport and trading with England since the Middle Ages . Calais came under English control after Edward III of England captured
920-453: A close resemblance to our own world at various points in history. Historiographic metafiction combines historical fiction with metafiction . The term is closely associated with postmodern literature including writers such as Salman Rushdie and Thomas Pynchon . Several novels by Nobel Prize laureate José Saramago are set in historical times including Baltasar and Blimunda , The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and The History of
1104-735: A contemporary Western literary genre has its foundations in the early-19th-century works of Sir Walter Scott and his contemporaries in other national literatures such as the Frenchman Honoré de Balzac , the American James Fenimore Cooper , and later the Russian Leo Tolstoy . However, the melding of historical and fictional elements in individual works of literature has a long tradition in many cultures; both western traditions (as early as Ancient Greek and Latin literature ) as well as Eastern, in
1288-419: A contemporary narrative, but rather as a distinct social and cultural setting. Scott's Scottish novels such as Waverley (1814) and Rob Roy (1817) focused upon a middling character who sits at the intersection of various social groups in order to explore the development of society through conflict. Ivanhoe (1820) gained credit for renewing interest in the Middle Ages . Many well-known writers from
1472-511: A deep and mellow tone, and highly ornamented by figures in relief—was built at Canterbury sometime around 1700. The pulpit and reading-desk, richly sculptured in oak, is another well-executed piece of ecclesiastical workmanship from St. Omer . The altar-piece, the Assumption, was often attributed to Anthony van Dyck , though in reality it is by Gerard Seghers ; whilst the painting over the side altar, once believed to be by Peter Paul Rubens
1656-493: A distinct subgenre recognized by both publishers and libraries. Romantic themes have also been portrayed, such as Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell . One of the first popular historical romances appeared in 1921, when Georgette Heyer published The Black Moth , which is set in 1751. It was not until 1935 that she wrote the first of her signature Regency novels, set around
1840-485: A double life, along with the love story and conflict of loyalties. Dugan says that "Behind the wigs and Mechlin lace cuffs lies an enduring human story of love, misunderstandings, conflict of loyalties, audacious bravery – and a dramatic double life." and this is a major part of the story's enduring popularity. Another aspect is the "Englishness" of the hero in the era when the British Empire began to shrink. As
2024-489: A few decades, and the trope remains a popular one in serial fiction today. Read by Stan Lee as a boy, the Marvel co-creator called The Scarlet Pimpernel "the first character who could be called a superhero." In 1792, an early stage of the French Revolution , Marguerite St. Just, a beautiful French actress, is married to wealthy English fop Sir Percy Blakeney, baronet . Before their marriage Marguerite took revenge upon
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#17327718751892208-653: A following of readers in Britain and the rest of the world. The stage play and subsequent novel, with their hero and villain, were so popular that they inspired a revival of classic villainy at the time. Orczy's premise of a daring hero who cultivates a secret identity disguised by a meek or ineffectual manner proved enduring. Zorro , Doctor Syn , the Shadow , the Spider , the Phantom , Superman and Batman followed within
2392-644: A historical event or biography , to the degree that the available historical research will allow. Other historical dramas are fictionalized tales that are based on an actual person and their deeds, such as Braveheart , which is loosely based on the 13th-century knight William Wallace 's fight for Scotland 's independence. For films pertaining to the history of East Asia , Central Asia , and South Asia , there are historical drama films set in Asia , also known as Jidaigeki in Japan. Wuxia films like The Hidden Power of
2576-800: A historical work in the manner of Sir Walter Scott. This was subsequently incorporated into La Comédie Humaine . The bulk of La Comédie Humaine , however, takes place during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy , though there are several novels which take place during the French Revolution and others which take place of in the Middle Ages or the Renaissance, including About Catherine de Medici and The Elixir of Long Life . Victor Hugo 's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) furnishes another 19th-century example of
2760-468: A novel. Works of historical fiction are sometimes criticized for lack of authenticity because of readerly criticism or genre expectations for accurate period details. This tension between historical authenticity and fiction frequently becomes a point of comment for readers and popular critics, while scholarly criticism frequently goes beyond this commentary, investigating the genre for its other thematic and critical interests. Historical fiction as
2944-488: A revival of classic villainy at the time. The novel The Scarlet Pimpernel was published two years after the play opened and was an immediate success. Orczy gained a following of readers in Britain and throughout the world. The popularity of the novel encouraged her to write a number of sequels for her "reckless daredevil" over the next 35 years. The play was performed to great acclaim in France, Italy, Germany and Spain, while
3128-570: A series of belfries across the region . The building parts have also been listed as a series of historic monuments by government decree of 26 June 2003, including its roofs and belfry, main hall, glass roof, the staircase, corridor serving the first floor, the rooms on the first floor (including decoration): the wedding room, the VIP lounge, the lounge of the council and the cabinet room. The hall has stained glass windows and numerous paintings and exquisite decor. It houses police offices. Église Notre-Dame
3312-634: A short steeple. The tower was a main viewing point for the Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) which linked the Paris Observatory with the Royal Greenwich Observatory using trigonometry . Cross-channel sightings were made of signal lights at Dover Castle and Fairlight, East Sussex . The church was assigned as a historic monument by decree of 10 September 1913, only to have its stained glass smashed during
3496-444: A veiled attack on Austria, which controlled the region at the time the novel was written. The critical and popular success of The Betrothed gave rise to a crowd of imitations and, in the age of unification , almost every Italian writer tried his hand at the genre; novels now almost forgotten, like Marco Visconti by Tommaso Grossi (Manzoni's best friend) or Ettore Fieramosca by Massimo D'Azeglio (Manzoni's son-in-law), were
3680-472: A wealthy English fop who transforms into a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking escape artist, established the "hero with a secret identity " in popular culture, a trope that would be seen in subsequent literary creations such as Don Diego de la Vega ( Zorro ), Kent Allard/Lamont Cranston ( The Shadow ), Clark Kent ( Superman ), and Bruce Wayne ( Batman ). The Scarlet Pimpernel exhibits characteristics that would become standard superhero conventions, including
3864-697: A writer, Orczy often alluded to historical events and figures but adapted these freely in creating her tales. Citizen Chauvelin , the recurring villain of the Scarlet Pimpernel series, is based to some extent on the real-life Bernard-François, marquis de Chauvelin , who survived the Revolutionary period to serve as an official under Napoleon . He was a noted liberal Deputy under the Bourbon Restoration . Other historical figures who appear in Orczy's Pimpernel series include: Orczy wrote
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#17327718751894048-478: Is Christopher Meredith (b. 1954), whose Griffri (1991) is set in the 12th century and has the poet of a minor Welsh prince as narrator. Nobel Prize laureate William Golding wrote a number of historical novels. The Inheritors (1955) is set in prehistoric times, and shows "new people" (generally identified with Homo sapiens sapiens ) triumphing over a gentler race (generally identified with Neanderthals ) by deceit and violence. The Spire (1964) follows
4232-475: Is Peter I (1929–34) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy , and I, Claudius (1934) and King Jesus (1946) by Robert Graves . Other recent biographical novel series, include Conqueror and Emperor by Conn Iggulden and Cicero Trilogy by Robert Harris. The gothic novel was popular in the late eighteenth century. Set in the historical past it has an interest in the mysterious, terrifying and haunting. Horace Walpole 's 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto
4416-649: Is a subprefecture . Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras . The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,625 (2020). Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover , the narrowest point in the English Channel , which is only 34 km (21 mi) wide here, and is the closest French town to England . The White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on
4600-469: Is a genre of largely Italian-made historical or biblical epics (costume dramas) that dominated the Italian film industry from 1958 to 1965. Most pepla featured a superhumanly strong man as the protagonist, such as Hercules , Samson , Goliath , Ursus or Italy's own popular folk hero Maciste . These supermen often rescued captive princesses from tyrannical despots and fought mythological creatures. Not all
4784-514: Is a great church which was originally built in the late 13th century and its tower was added in the late 14th or early 15th century. Like the town hall it is one of the city's most prominent landmarks. It was arguably the only church in the English perpendicular style in France. Much of the current 1400 capacity church dates to 1631–1635. It contains elements of Flemish, Gothic, Anglo-Norman and Tudor architecture. In 1691, an 1800 cubic metre cistern
4968-540: Is able to escape. With Marguerite's love and courage amply proven, Percy's ardour is rekindled. Safely back on board their schooner, the Day Dream , the happily reconciled couple returns to England. Sir Andrew marries the count's daughter, Suzanne. "Orczy introduced a new idea into the collective consciousness: a heroic figure who creates a lounging foppish alter ego to hide his (or her) true heroic nature." —Peter Royston. The title character, Sir Percy Blakeney,
5152-590: Is an epic retelling of the story of an Italian nobleman who lives through the Napoleonic period in Italian history. It includes a description of the Battle of Waterloo by the principal character. Stendhal fought with Napoleon and participated in the French invasion of Russia . The Betrothed (1827) by Alessandro Manzoni has been called the most famous and widely read novel of the Italian language. The Betrothed
5336-602: Is commemorated in The Burghers of Calais ( Les Bourgeois de Calais ), one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin , erected in the city in 1895. Though sparing the lives of the delegation members, King Edward drove out most of the French inhabitants, and settled the town with English. The municipal charter of Calais, previously granted by the Countess of Artois , was reconfirmed by Edward that year (1347). In 1360
5520-518: Is considered to be an influential work. Historical mysteries or "historical whodunits " are set by their authors in the distant past, with a plot that which involves the solving of a mystery or crime (usually murder). Though works combining these genres have existed since at least the early 1900s, many credit Ellis Peters 's Cadfael Chronicles (1977–1994) with popularizing them. These are set between 1137 and 1145 A.D. The increasing popularity of this type of fiction in subsequent decades has created
5704-509: Is engaged in rescuing their French counterparts from the daily executions of the Reign of Terror . Their leader, the mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel, takes his nom de guerre from the small, wayside red flower he draws on his messages. Despite being the talk of London society, only his followers and possibly the Prince of Wales know the Pimpernel's true identity. Like many others, Marguerite
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5888-468: Is entranced by the Pimpernel's daring exploits. We seek him here, we seek him there, Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven?—Is he in hell? That demmed, elusive Pimpernel. Sir Percy Blakeney, Baronet (ch.12) At a ball attended by the Blakeneys, Percy's verse about the "elusive Pimpernel" becomes an instant success. But Marguerite is being blackmailed by Citizen Chauvelin ,
6072-524: Is held to be Madame de La Fayette . The action takes place between October 1558 and November 1559 at the royal court of Henry II of France. The novel recreates that era with remarkable precision. Nearly every character – except the heroine – is a historical figure. Events and intrigues unfold with great faithfulness to documentary records. In the United Kingdom, the historical novel "appears to have developed" from La Princesse de Clèves , "and then via
6256-437: Is in fact by Pieter Van Mol . A high and strongly built wall, partaking more of the fortress than a cathedral in its aspect, flanks the building, and protects it from the street where formerly ran the old river, in its course through Calais to the sea. The square, massive Norman tower has three-arched belfry windows on each face, surmounted by corner turrets, and a conically shaped tower of octagonal proportions, topped again by
6440-470: Is known by his symbol, a simple flower, the scarlet pimpernel ( Anagallis arvensis ). Opening at the New Theatre in London's West End on 5 January 1905, the play became a favourite of British audiences, eventually playing more than 2,000 performances and becoming one of the most popular shows staged in London. Published after the success of the play, the novel was an immediate success, gaining Orczy
6624-466: Is located about 37 km (23 mi) to the east. Calais is located 236 km (147 mi) north of the French capital of Paris , or around 295 km (183 mi) by car. The commune of Calais is bordered by the English channel to the north, Sangatte and Coquelles to the west, Coulogne to the south and Marck to the east. The core area of the city is divided into the Old Town area within
6808-548: Is not known when she was formally enrolled. The Prince Regent is rumored to also be a member of the League, but in the original novel he refuses to confirm or deny this, saying "My lips are sealed!"; in the novel The Elusive Pimpernel , Sir Percy tells Marguerite that he has had to report to the Prince before joining her at the village gala. Orczy did not publish her Pimpernel stories as a strict chronological series, and in fact,
6992-409: Is one of the earliest examples of the historical novel in English and went through at least 84 editions, including translation into French and German. The first true historical novel in English was in fact Maria Edgeworth 's Castle Rackrent (1800). In the 20th century György Lukács argued that Scott was the first fiction writer who saw history not just as a convenient frame in which to stage
7176-445: Is one of the most famous 19th-century American historical novels. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne , who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. In French literature, the most prominent inheritor of Scott's style of the historical novel was Balzac . In 1829 Balzac published Les Chouans ,
7360-524: Is set amid the Gordon Riots , and A Tale of Two Cities in the French Revolution . In some works, the accuracy of the historical elements has been questioned, as in Alexandre Dumas ' 1845 novel Queen Margot . Postmodern novelists such as John Barth and Thomas Pynchon operate with even more freedom, mixing historical characters and settings with invented history and fantasy, as in
7544-600: Is set in 16th century Småland and his widely read novel series The Emigrants tells the story of Småland emigrants to the United States in the 19th century. Per Anders Fogelström wrote a hugely popular series of five historical novels set in his native Stockholm beginning with City of My Dreams (1960). Other writers of historical fiction in Swedish literature include Sara Lidman , Birgitta Trotzig , Per Olov Enquist and Artur Lundkvist . The historical novel
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7728-562: Is sometimes claimed that the Romans called the settlement Caletum and that it was the departure point for Julius Caesar 's invasion of Britain. However, the name Caletum does not appear in Caesar's accounts of the invasion. Caesar describes his departure point as Portus Itius , which is believed to have been near Boulogne . At that time Calais was an island in the North Sea. Calais
7912-611: Is still used in Dutch sources wishing to emphasise former linguistic ties to the area. Though the modern French spelling of Calais gradually supplanted other variants in English, the pronunciation / ˈ k æ l ɪ s / ( KAL -iss ) persisted and survives in other towns named for the European city including Calais, Maine , and Calais, Vermont , in the United States. In " De Gustibus " (1855), Robert Browning rhymes Calais with malice . The pronunciation shift can be seen in
8096-521: Is that it is set in the past and pays attention to the manners, social conditions and other details of the depicted period. Authors also frequently choose to explore notable historical figures in these settings, allowing readers to better understand how these individuals might have responded to their environments. The historical romance usually seeks to romanticize eras of the past. Some subgenres such as alternate history and historical fantasy insert intentionally ahistorical or speculative elements into
8280-585: Is the German author Thomas Mann 's Buddenbrooks (1901). This chronicles the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseatic bourgeoisie in the years from 1835 to 1877. Mann drew deeply from the history of his own family, the Mann family of Lübeck , and their milieu. This was Mann's first novel, and with
8464-612: Is the author of historical novels which were translated into 11 languages. Anton Donchev (1930–) is an old living author, whose first independent novel, Samuel's Testimony , was published in 1961. His second book, Time of Parting , which dealt with the Islamization of the population in the Rhodopes during the XVII century was written in 1964. The novel was adapted in the serial movie " Time of Violence ", divided into two parts with
8648-421: Is the spurious " love triangle ", where a woman is torn between attraction to her staid husband and the dashing hero—although they are in reality the same man. Marvel co-creator Stan Lee stated: "The Scarlet Pimpernel was the first superhero I had read about, the first character who could be called a superhero." The popular success of the novel is considered to be based on the myth of the aristocratic hero with
8832-698: Is to say "the stubborn" or "the tough" and derives from the Proto-Celtic stem *kaletos - ("hard, cruel, strong") Early French sources use a bewildering array of spellings from Kaleeis to Kalais to Calays together with Latin-based Calaisiacum, Calesetum and Calasium . The modern French spelling of Calais first appeared in 1331. The earliest English name for the city was the Anglo-Norman Caleis . In Middle and Early Modern English , variants including Caleys, Calais, Calays, Callis and Cales were used. In later Middle English,
9016-676: The Leatherstocking Tales pentalogy. The Last of the Mohicans is set in 1757, during the French and Indian War (the Seven Years' War ), when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. Cooper's chief rival, John Neal , wrote Rachel Dyer (1828), the first bound novel about the 17th-century Salem witch trials . Rachel Dyer also influenced future American fiction set in this period, like The Scarlet Letter (1850) by Nathaniel Hawthorne which
9200-417: The nom de guerre of its hero and protagonist, a chivalrous Englishman who rescues aristocrats before they are sent to the guillotine. Sir Percy Blakeney leads a double life : apparently nothing more than a wealthy fop , but in reality, a formidable swordsman and a quick-thinking master of disguise and escape artist. The band of gentlemen who assist him are the only ones who know of his secret identity . He
9384-486: The 10th Panzer Division . The town was flattened by artillery and precision dive bombing and only 30 of the 3800-strong defending force were evacuated before the town fell. This may have helped Operation Dynamo , the evacuation of Allied forces at Dunkirk, as 10th Panzer would have been involved on the Dunkirk perimeter had it not been busy at Calais. Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, some 330,000 Allied troops escaped from
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#17327718751899568-427: The 1930s and 1940s . The following American authors have also written historical novels in the 20th century: Gore Vidal , John Barth , Norman Mailer , E. L. Doctorow and William Kennedy . Thomas Pynchon 's historical novel Mason & Dixon (1997) tells the story of the two English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, who were charged with marking the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland in
9752-457: The 2024 election . For elections to the Pas-de-Calais departmental council , the commune of Calais is divided between the cantons of Calais-1 , Calais-2 , and Calais-3 , the first two of which also contain adjoining communes . The mayor of Calais has been Natacha Bouchart since 2008, first for the Union for a Popular Movement and then its successor The Republicans. From 1971 to 2008,
9936-844: The American Girl novels and the Magic Tree House series . A prominent award within children's historical fiction is the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction . Historical narratives have also found their way in comics and graphic novels. There are Prehistorical elements in jungle comics like Akim and Rahan . Ancient Greece inspired graphic novels are 300 created by Frank Miller , centered around Battle of Thermopylae , and Age of Bronze series by Eric Shanower , that retells Trojan War . Historical subjects can also be found in manhua comics like Three Kingdoms and Sun Zi's Tactics by Lee Chi Ching , Weapons of
10120-650: The Battle of Crécy between England and France in 1346, followed by Edward's siege and capture of Calais in 1347. Angered, the English king demanded reprisals against the town's citizens for holding out for so long ("obstinate defence") and ordered that the town's population be killed en masse . He agreed, however, to spare them, on condition that six of the principal citizens would come to him, bareheaded and barefooted and with ropes around their necks, and give themselves up to death. On their arrival he ordered their execution, but pardoned them when his queen, Philippa of Hainault , begged him to spare their lives. This event
10304-542: The Channel Tunnel is situated in the vicinity of Calais, in Coquelles some 4 miles (6.4 km) to the west of the town. Calais possesses direct rail links to Paris, 148 miles (238 km) to the south. More than 10 million people visit Calais annually. From medieval times, English companies thrived in Calais. Calais was a particularly important centre in the production and trade of wool and cloth, which outweighed
10488-578: The English Regency period (1811–1820), when the Prince Regent ruled England in place of his ill father, George III . Heyer's Regency novels were inspired by Jane Austen 's novels of the late 18th and early 19th century. Because Heyer's writing was set in the midst of events that had occurred over 100 years previously, she included authentic period detail in order for her readers to understand. Where Heyer referred to historical events, it
10672-509: The Gothic architecture of France , leading to the establishment of the Monuments historiques , the French governmental authority for historic preservation . Rita Monaldi and Francesco Sorti 's historical mystery saga Imprimateur Secretum Veritas Mysterium has increased interest in European history and features famous castrato opera singer Atto Melani as a detective and spy. Although
10856-1069: The Gothic novel ". Another early example is The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nashe , published in 1594 and set during the reign of King Henry VIII . Historical fiction rose to prominence in Europe during the early 19th century as part of the Romantic reaction to the Enlightenment , especially through the influence of the Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott , whose works were immensely popular throughout Europe. Among his early European followers we can find Willibald Alexis , Theodor Fontane , Bernhard Severin Ingemann , Miklós Jósika , Mór Jókai , Jakob van Lennep , Demetrius Bikelos , Enrique Gil y Carrasco , Carl Jonas Love Almqvist , Victor Rydberg , Andreas Munch , Alessandro Manzoni , Alfred de Vigny , Honoré de Balzac or Prosper Mérimée . Jane Porter 's 1803 novel Thaddeus of Warsaw
11040-843: The Napoleonic Wars . There are also adventure novels with pirate characters like Robert Louis Stevenson 's Treasure Island (1883), Emilio Salgari 's Sandokan (1895–1913) and Captain Blood (1922) by Rafael Sabatini . Recent examples of historical novels about pirates are The Adventures of Hector Lynch by Tim Severin , The White Devil (Белият Дявол) by Hristo Kalchev and The Pirate Devlin novels by Mark Keating. A number of work take place in variants of known history, in which events had occurred differently. This can involve time travel . There are also works of historical fantasy , which add fantastical elements to known (or alternative) history or which take place in second worlds with
11224-553: The Partitions of Poland . Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote several immensely popular novels set in conflicts between the Poles and predatory Teutonic Knights , rebelling Cossacks and invading Swedes . He won the 1905 Nobel Prize in literature . He also wrote the popular novel Quo Vadis , which was about Nero 's Rome and the early Christians and has been adapted several times for film, in 1913 , 1924 , 1951 , 2001 to only name
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#173277187518911408-597: The Pas de Calais , which marks the boundary between the English Channel and North Sea and located at the opposite end of the Channel Tunnel , 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Dover . On a clear day the White Cliffs of Dover can be viewed across the channel. Aside from being an important port and boarding point between France and England, it is at the nucleus of many major railway and highway networks and connected by road to Arras , Lens , Béthune and St. Omer . Dunkirk
11592-643: The Port of Calais or the Eurotunnel Calais Terminal , or while waiting for their French asylum claims to be processed. The people were a mix of asylum seekers and economic migrants from Darfur , Afghanistan , Syria , Iraq , Eritrea and other underdeveloped or conflict-stricken countries in Africa and Asia. The Calais migrant crisis led to escalating tension between the UK and France in
11776-408: The Treaty of Brétigny assigned Guînes , Marck and Calais—collectively the " Pale of Calais "—to English rule in perpetuity, but this assignment was informally and only partially implemented. On 9 February 1363 the town was made a staple port . It remained part of the Diocese of Thérouanne from 1379, keeping an ecclesiastical tie with France. The town came to be called the "brightest jewel in
11960-405: The Vatican in Rome. His story is told in two books and a film: Harald Edelstam (1913–1989) was a Swedish diplomat. During World War II, he earned the nickname Svarta nejlikan ("the Black Pimpernel") for helping Norwegian resistance fighters in Hjemmefronten [ nl ] escape from the Germans. Stationed in Chile in the 1970s, he arranged for the escape of numerous refugees from
12144-489: The historical romance genre and its subgenre Regency romance , which was inspired by Jane Austen . To ensure accuracy, Heyer collected reference works and kept detailed notes on all aspects of Regency life. While some critics thought the novels were too detailed, others considered the level of detail to be Heyer's greatest asset; Heyer even recreated William the Conqueror 's crossing into England for her novel The Conqueror . Naomi Mitchison's finest novel, The Corn King and
12328-404: The human condition , or to escape the depredations of the censor . In some historical novels, major historic events take place mostly off-stage, while the fictional characters inhabit the world where those events occur. Robert Louis Stevenson 's Kidnapped recounts mostly private adventures set against the backdrop of the Jacobite troubles in Scotland . Charles Dickens 's Barnaby Rudge
12512-428: The magnum opus by the 2018 Nobel Prize laureate Olga Tokarczuk . A 20th-century variant of the historical novel is documentary fiction, which incorporates "not only historical characters and events, but also reports of everyday events" found in contemporary newspapers. Examples of this variant form of historical novel include U.S.A. (1938), and Ragtime (1975) by E.L. Doctorow . Memoirs of Hadrian by
12696-400: The military junta of Augusto Pinochet ; this brought him into conflict with the regime, and he eventually was forced to leave the country. This name was also given to Nelson Mandela prior to his arrest and long incarceration for his anti- apartheid activities in South Africa due to his effective use of disguises when evading capture by the police. Raoul Wallenberg , a Swedish diplomat,
12880-403: The 18th century. More recently there have been works such as Neal Stephenson 's Baroque Cycle . In Italy, the tradition of historical fiction has flourished in the modern age, the nineteenth century in particular having caught writers’ interests. Southern Italian novelists like Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa ( The Leopard ), Francesco Iovine ( Lady Ava ), Carlo Alianello ( The Heritage of
13064-513: The 1930s, the town was known for being a politically socialist stronghold. Calais was virtually razed to the ground during World War II . In May 1940, it was a key objective of the invading German forces and became the scene of a last-ditch defence—the siege of Calais —which diverted a sizable amount of German forces for several days immediately prior to the Battle of Dunkirk . A total of 3,000 British and 800 French troops, assisted by Royal Navy warships, held out from 22 to 27 May 1940 against
13248-408: The 19th century where the / ˈ k æ l ɪ s / pronunciation with the s ending was prescribed through much of the century, but was disappearing by the end. In the beginning of the twentieth century, the English pronunciation / ˈ k æ l eɪ / KAL -ay with stress on the first syllable was firmly established. Sources on the early history of habitation in the area is limited. It
13432-500: The Allies would target the Pas-de-Calais for invasion (rather than Normandy). The town, by then largely in ruins, was laid siege to and liberated by General Daniel Spry 's 3rd Canadian Infantry Division between 25 September and 1 October 1944. On 27 February 1945 Calais experienced its last bombing raid—this time by Royal Air Force bombers who mistook the town for Dunkirk, which was at that time still occupied by German forces. After
13616-559: The Belgian-born French writer Marguerite Yourcenar is about the life and death of Roman Emperor Hadrian . First published in France in French in 1951 as Mémoires d'Hadrien , the book was an immediate success, meeting with enormous critical acclaim. Margaret George has written fictional biographies about historical persons in The Memoirs of Cleopatra (1997) and Mary, called Magdalene (2002). An earlier example
13800-712: The Boulevard La Fayette, the latter of which is noted for its oysters , lobster and crabs from Brittany. The Emile Fournier et Fils market on the Rue Mouron sells mainly smoked fish including salmon , trout , herring and halibut . Calais is part of Pas-de-Calais's 7th constituency for the National Assembly ; the current deputy is Marc de Fleurian of the National Rally , who ousted Pierre-Henri Dumont of The Republicans at
13984-471: The British army used Calais as their departing port to return home after occupying post-Waterloo France. General Murray appointed Sir Manley Power to oversee the evacuation of British troops from France. Cordial relations had been restored by that time and on 3 December, the mayor of Calais wrote a letter to Power to express thanks for his "considerate treatment of the French and of the town of Calais during
14168-708: The Dragon Sabre (1984) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), based on novels by Jin Yong and Wang Dulu , have also been produced. Zhang Yimou has directed several acclaimed wuxia films like Hero (2002), House of Flying Daggers (2004) and Curse of the Golden Flower (2006). Although largely fictional some wuxia films are considered historical drama. Samurai films like Zatoichi and Lone Wolf and Cub series also fall under historical drama umbrella. Peplum films also known as sword-and-sandal,
14352-693: The Eastern Zhou Kingdoms ), Chu Renhuo 's Sui Tang yanyi ( Romance of the Sui and Tang dynasties ), Xiong Damu 's Liang Song Nanbei Zhizhuan ( Records of the Two Songs, South and North ) and Quan han zhi zhuan , Yang Erzeng 's Dong Xi Jin yan yi ( Romance of the Eastern and Western Jin dynasties ), and Qian Cai's The General Yue Fei , etc. Classical Greek novelists were also "very fond of writing novels about people and places of
14536-430: The English crown" owing to its great importance as a gateway port for the tin , lead , cloth and wool trades (or "staples"). Its customs revenues amounted at times to a third of the English government's revenue, with wool being the most important element by far. Of its population of about 12,000 people, as many as 5,400 were recorded as having been connected with the wool trade. The governorship or Captaincy of Calais
14720-566: The Englishman escapes by offering Chauvelin a pinch of snuff , which turns out to be pure pepper. Through a bold plan executed right under Chauvelin's nose, Percy rescues Marguerite's brother Armand and the Comte de Tournay, the father of a schoolfriend of Marguerite's. Marguerite pursues Percy right to the very end, determined to either warn him or share his fate. Percy, heavily disguised, is captured by Chauvelin, who does not recognise him, so he
14904-512: The First World War, it served as a military observation post and narrowly missed destruction during World War II. This tower has been classified as a historic monument since 6 November 1931. The Calais Lighthouse (Le phare de Calais) was built in 1848, replacing the old watch tower as the lighthouse of the port. The 55-metre-high (180 ft) tower was electrified in 1883 and automated in 1992. The staircase has 271 steps leading up to
15088-438: The French service, betrayed to the authorities in London some French plans for the capture of Calais, to be followed by a descent upon England. Stukley himself might have been the author of these plans. On 7 January 1558, King Henry II of France sent forces led by Francis, Duke of Guise , who laid siege to Calais . When the French attacked, they were able to surprise the English at the critical strongpoint of Fort Nieulay and
15272-571: The French. Use of the term is reminiscent of the Spanish Reconquista , with which the French were certainly familiar—and, since it occurred in the context of a war with Spain ( Philip II of Spain was at the time Queen Mary's consort), might have been intended as a deliberate snub. The town was captured by the Spanish on 24 April 1596 in an invasion mounted from the nearby Spanish Netherlands by Archduke Albert of Austria , but it
15456-531: The Germans at Dunkirk. During the ensuing German occupation, it became the command post for German forces in the Pas-de-Calais/Flanders region and was very heavily fortified, as the Germans generally believed that the Allies would invade there. It was also used as a launch site for V1 flying bombs and for much of the war, the Germans used the region as the site for railway guns to bombard
15640-601: The Gods by Wong Yuk Long as well as The Ravages of Time by Chan Mou . There are also straight Samurai manga series like Path of the Assassin , Vagabond , Rurouni Kenshin and Azumi . Several comics and graphic novels have been produced into anime series or a movie adaptations like Azumi and 300 . Historical drama film stories are based upon historical events and famous people. Some historical dramas are docudramas , which attempt an accurate portrayal of
15824-722: The Lion d'Or (concerned with the War's consequences); Pat Barker 's Regeneration Trilogy and Sebastian Barry 's A Long Long Way . American Nobel laureate William Faulkner 's novel Absalom, Absalom! (1936) is set before, during and after the American Civil War . Kenneth Roberts wrote several books set around the events of the American Revolution, of which Northwest Passage (1937), Oliver Wiswell (1940) and Lydia Bailey (1947) all became best-sellers in
16008-516: The London production was enthusiastically received by the audience, but critics considered the play 'old-fashioned.' In spite of negative reviews, the play became a popular success, running 122 performances and enjoying numerous revivals. The Scarlet Pimpernel became a favourite of London audiences, playing more than 2,000 performances and becoming one of the most popular shows staged in the United Kingdom. The stage play (and subsequent novel), with their hero and villain, were so popular that they inspired
16192-605: The Marquis de St. Cyr, who had ordered her brother beaten for his romantic interest in the Marquis' daughter, with the unintended consequence that the Marquis and his sons were guillotined . When Percy found out, he became estranged from his wife. Marguerite, for her part, became disillusioned with Percy's shallow, dandyish lifestyle. Meanwhile, the "League of the Scarlet Pimpernel", a secret society of twenty English aristocrats, "one to command, and nineteen to obey",
16376-549: The Marquis de St. Cyr. Desperate to save her husband, she decides to pursue Percy to France to warn him that Chauvelin knows his identity and his purpose. She persuades Sir Andrew Ffoulkes to accompany her, but because of the tide and the weather, neither they nor Chauvelin can leave immediately. At Calais , Percy openly approaches Chauvelin in the Chat gris , a decrepit inn whose owner is in Percy's pay. Despite Chauvelin's best efforts,
16560-695: The Patriarch (1975) by Gabriel García Marquez . Other writers of historical fiction include Abel Posse , Antonio Benitez Rojo , João Ubaldo Ribeiro , Jorge Amado , Homero Aridjis . In the first decades of the 21st century, an increased interest for historical fiction has been noted. One of the most successful writers of historical novels is Hilary Mantel . Other writers of historical fiction include Philippa Gregory , Bernard Cornwell , Sarah Waters , Ken Follett , George Saunders , Shirley Hazzard and Julie Orringer . The historical novel The Books of Jacob set in 18th century Poland has been praised as
16744-489: The Pimpernel's true identity. Later that night, Marguerite finally tells her husband of the terrible danger threatening her brother and pleads for his help. Percy promises to save him. After Percy unexpectedly leaves for France, Marguerite discovers to her horror (and simultaneous delight) that he is the Pimpernel. He had hidden behind the persona of a dull, slow-witted fop to deceive the world. He had not told Marguerite because of his worry that she might betray him, as she had
16928-615: The Place and opposite the Parc St Pierre is the Hôtel-de-ville (the town hall), and the belfry from the early 20th century. Today, Calais is visited by more than 10 million annually. Aside from being a key transport hub, Calais is also a notable fishing port and a centre for fish marketing, and some 3,000 people are still employed in the lace industry for which the town is also famed. The name Calais first appears in
17112-740: The Po , a patchwork saga of a family of millers from the time of Napoleon to the First World War , one of the most epic novels of the last century. In 1980, Umberto Eco achieved international success with The Name of the Rose , a novel set in an Italian abbey in 1327 readable as a historical mystery, as an allegory of Italy during the Years of Lead , and as an erudite joke. Eco's work, like Manzoni's preceding it, relaunched Italian interest in historical fiction. Many novelists who till then had preferred
17296-731: The Prioress ) and more recently Andrea Camilleri ( The Preston Brewer ) retold the events of the Italian Unification , at times overturning its traditionally heroic and progressive image. The conservative Riccardo Bacchelli in The Devil at the Long Point and the communist Vasco Pratolini in Metello described, from ideologically opposite points of view, the birth of Italian Socialism . Bacchelli also wrote The Mill on
17480-437: The Scarlet Pimpernel or the League, most notably The Bronze Eagle (1915). The Life and Exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel , a fictional biography of Percy Blakeney published in 1938, named the nineteen members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Three members of the League have betrayed their oath of loyalty: Marguerite, Lady Blakeney, is also named as a member of the League in the book Mam'zelle Guillotine , but it
17664-470: The Siege of Lisbon . In a parallel plot set in the 12th and 20th century where history and fiction are constantly overlapping, the latter novel questions the reliability of historical sources and deals with the difference of writing history and fiction. A prominent subgenre within historical fiction is the children's historical novel. Often following a pedagogical bent, children's historical fiction may follow
17848-644: The Spring Queen (1931), is regarded by some as the best historical novel of the 20th century. Mary Renault is best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece . In addition to fictional portrayals of Theseus , Socrates , Plato , Simonides of Ceos and Alexander the Great , she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander. The Siege of Krishnapur (1973) by J. G. Farrell has been described as an "outstanding novel". Inspired by events such as
18032-684: The Three Kingdoms concerns 3rd-century wars which ended the Han dynasty ; Wu Cheng'en 's 16th-century Journey to the West concerns the 7th-century Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang . In addition to those, there was a wealth of historical novels that became popular in the literary circles during the Ming and Qing periods in Chinese history; they include Feng Menglong 's Dongzhou Lieguo Zhi ( Chronicles of
18216-468: The UK government supplied fencing to be installed around the Eurotunnel complex, where the vehicles are loaded onto train shuttles in Calais. On 26 October 2016, French authorities announced that the camp had been cleared. By January 2017, 500–1,000 migrants, mostly unaccompanied minors , had returned and were living rough in Calais and there has been a presence ever since. Calais is located on
18400-568: The United Kingdom published historical novels in the mid 19th century, the most notable include Thackeray 's Vanity Fair , Charles Dickens 's A Tale of Two Cities , George Eliot 's Romola , and Charles Kingsley 's Westward Ho! and Hereward the Wake . The Trumpet-Major (1880) is Thomas Hardy 's only historical novel, and is set in Weymouth during the Napoleonic wars , when
18584-422: The actors Fred Terry and Julia Neilson who wanted a new romantic drama. The Scarlet Pimpernel was produced and adapted by Neilson and Terry and the play opened on 15 October 1903 at Nottingham's Theatre Royal , but it was not a success. Terry, however, had confidence in the play and, with a rewritten last act, took it to London's West End where it opened at the New Theatre on 5 January 1905. The premiere of
18768-406: The best-sellers of their time. Many of these authors (like Niccolò Tommaseo , Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi and D'Azeglio himself) were patriots and politicians too, and in their novels, the veiled politic message of Manzoni became explicit (the hero of Ettore Fieramosca fights to defend the honor of the Italian soldiers, mocked by some arrogant Frenchmen). In them, the narrative talent not equaled
18952-403: The building (and near collapse) of a huge spire onto a medieval cathedral (generally assumed to be Salisbury Cathedral ); the spire symbolizing both spiritual aspiration and worldly vanity. The Scorpion God (1971) consists of three novellas, the first set in a prehistoric African hunter-gatherer band ( Clonk, Clonk ), the second in an ancient Egyptian court ( The Scorpion God ) and the third in
19136-587: The character while standing on a platform on the London Underground , Orczy wrote in her autobiography, Links in the Chain of Life : I have so often been asked the question: "But how did you come to think of The Scarlet Pimpernel? " And my answer has always been: "It was God's will that I should." And to you moderns, who perhaps do not believe as I do, I will say, "In the chain of my life, there were so many links, all of which tended towards bringing me to
19320-425: The city in 1347, followed by a treaty in 1360 that formally assigned Calais to English rule . Calais grew into a thriving centre for wool production, and came to be called the "brightest jewel in the English crown" because of its importance as the gateway for the tin , lead , lace and wool trades (or "staples"). Calais remained under English control until its recapture by France in 1558. During World War II ,
19504-650: The city of Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais merged with Calais in 1885. According to the INSEE census of 2017, Calais has 73,911 people (a decrease of 4.4% from 1999). The town's population ranked 60th nationally, down from 53rd in 1999. The city's proximity to England has made it a major port for centuries. It is the principal ferry crossing point between England and France, with the vast majority of Channel crossings being made between Dover and Calais. Companies operating from Calais include SeaFrance (currently in liquidation ), DFDS Seaways , and P&O Ferries . The French end of
19688-502: The composer Henri Dutilleux , the writers Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens , and the painters J. M. W. Turner , Carolus-Duran , Maurice Boitel and Eugène Boudin . It was the painter Édouard Lévêque [ fr ] who coined the name for this area in 1911 to describe the distinctive quality of its light. Calais has a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb in the Köppen climate classification ). Temperature ranges are moderate and
19872-488: The contemporary novel tried their hand at stories set in previous centuries. Among them were Fulvio Tomizza ( The Evil Coming from North , about the Reformation ), Dacia Maraini ( The Silent Duchess , about the female condition in the eighteenth century), Sebastiano Vassalli ( The Chimera , about a witch hunt ), Ernesto Ferrero ( N ) and Valerio Manfredi ( The Last Legion ). Fani Popova–Mutafova (1902–1977)
20056-428: The conventions of many of the other subgenres of historical fiction. A number of such works include elements of historical fantasy or time travel to facilitate the transition between the contemporary world and the past in the tradition of children's portal fiction. Sometimes publishers will commission series of historical novels that explore different periods and times. Among the most popular contemporary series include
20240-533: The costs of maintaining the town as part of England. In 1830 some 113 manufacturers were based in Calais and the St Pierre suburbs, the majority of which were English. There are still two major lace factories in Calais with around 700 looms and 3000 employees. The town exports in the early 20th century were lace, chemicals, paper, wines, especially champagne, spirits, hay, straw, wool, potatoes, woven goods, fruit, glass-ware, lace and metal-ware. Principal imports in
20424-630: The court of a Roman emperor ( Envoy Extraordinary ). The trilogy To the Ends of the Earth , which includes the Rites of Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987), and Fire Down Below (1989), describes sea voyages in the early 19th century. Anthony Burgess also wrote several historical novels; his last novel, A Dead Man in Deptford , is about the murder of Christopher Marlowe in the 16th century. Though
20608-482: The definitive portrayal and adaptation. In 1923, Fred Terry and Julia Nelson bought the sole performance right to a stageplay based on The Scarlet Pimpernel . Orczy sued the two in an attempt to claim a separate right of performance for films, but was unsuccessful. As a result of the case, people who controlled a stage performance right under the English Copyright Act were entitled to create films with
20792-483: The direct sequels about Sir Percy and his league, Orczy's related books include The Laughing Cavalier (1914) and The First Sir Percy (1921), about an ancestor of the Pimpernel's; Pimpernel and Rosemary (1924), about a descendant; and The Scarlet Pimpernel Looks at the World (1933), a depiction of the 1930s world from the point of view of Sir Percy. Some of her non-related Revolutionary-period novels reference
20976-422: The early 20th century included cotton and silk goods, coal, iron and steel, petroleum, timber, raw wool, cotton yarn and cork. During the five years 1901–1905 the average annual value of exports was £8,388,000 (£6,363,000 in the years 1896–1900), of imports £4,145,000 (£3,759,000 in 1896–1900). As a fishing port, Calais has several notable fishing markets including Les Délices de la Mer and Huîtrière Calaisenne on
21160-811: The eighteenth century, as well as historical novels written primarily in exile in France and California, including most prominently the Josephus trilogy set in Ancient Rome (1932 / 1935 / 1942), Goya (1951), and his novel Raquel: The Jewess of Toledo - set in Medieval Spain. Robert Graves of Britain wrote several popular historical novels, including I, Claudius , King Jesus , The Golden Fleece and Count Belisarius . John Cowper Powys wrote two historical novels set in Wales, Owen Glendower (1941) and Porius (1951). The first deals with
21344-546: The embarkation." The population in 1847 was 12,580, many of whom were English. It was one of the main ports for British travellers to Europe. In World War I the British Expeditionary Force or BEF arrived in Calais on its way to the nearby frontline cutting through Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Flanders . Calais was a key port for the supply of arms and reinforcements to the Western Front . In
21528-582: The existence of this community is the town charter granted by Mathieu d'Alsace , Count of Boulogne , in 1181 to Gerard de Guelders ; Calais thus became part of the county of Boulogne. In 1189, Richard the Lionheart is documented to have landed at Calais on his journey to the Third Crusade . English wool trade interests and King Edward III 's claims to be heir to the Kingdom of France led to
21712-428: The familiar biblical stories of Genesis , from Jacob to Joseph (chapters 27–50), setting it in the historical context of the reign of Akhenaten (1353–1336 BC) in ancient Egypt . In the same era, Lion Feuchtwanger was one of the most popular and accomplished writers of historical novels, with publications between the 1920s and 1950s. His reputation began with the bestselling work, Jud Süß (1925), set in
21896-506: The feud between Burgundy and France: both sides coveted the town, but preferred to see England control it rather than their domestic rivals. The stalemate was broken by the victory of the French crown over Burgundy following Joan of Arc 's final battle in the siege of Compiègne in 1430, and the later incorporation of the duchy into France. In 1532, the English King Henry VIII visited Calais and his men calculated that
22080-537: The film was amazing. When we got up from our seats, Raoul said, 'that is the kind of thing I would like to do ' ". Wallenberg issued false passports identifying the Jews as Swedish nationals, and is credited with rescuing at least 15,000 Jews. He disappeared in Eastern Europe after the war, and is believed to have died in a Soviet prison camp. "Behind the scenes, Mandela worked very closely with Walter Sisulu , who
22264-509: The films were fantasy-based, however. Many featured actual historical personalities such as Julius Caesar , Cleopatra , and Hannibal , although great liberties were taken with the storylines. Gladiators, pirates, knights, Vikings, and slaves rebelling against tyrannical kings were also popular subjects. There are also films based on Medieval narratives like Ridley Scott 's historical epics Robin Hood (2010) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005) and
22448-415: The following is an approximate chronological listing of Orczy's Scarlet Pimpernel novels and short stories: Hollywood took to the Pimpernel early and often, although most of the Pimpernel movies have been based on a melange of the original book and another Orczy novel, Eldorado . The best known of the Pimpernel movies is the 1934 The Scarlet Pimpernel starring Leslie Howard , which is often considered
22632-520: The form of oral and folk traditions (see mythology and folklore ), which produced epics , novels, plays and other fictional works describing history for contemporary audiences. Definitions differ as to what constitutes a historical novel. On the one hand the Historical Novel Society defines the genre as works "written at least fifty years after the events described", while critic Sarah Johnson delineates such novels as "set before
22816-401: The fortifications of Calais, it is one of the oldest monuments of Calais, although the oldest remaining traces date to 1302. It has a height of 35–39 metres (sources differ). An earthquake in 1580 split the tower in two, and at one time it threatened to collapse completely. The tower was repaired in 1606, and then had the purpose of serving as a hall to accommodate the merchants of Calais. It
23000-404: The fulfillment of my destiny." Orczy wrote numerous sequels, none of which became as famous as The Scarlet Pimpernel . Many of the sequels revolve around French characters whom Sir Percy has met and is attempting to rescue. His followers, such as Lord Tony Dewhurst, Sir Andrew Ffoulkes, Lord Hastings, and Armand St. Just (Marguerite's brother), also take their turn in major roles. In addition to
23184-497: The genre has evolved since its inception, the historical novel remains popular with authors and readers to this day and bestsellers include Patrick O'Brian 's Aubrey–Maturin series , Ken Follett 's Pillars of the Earth and Dorothy Dunnett 's Lymond Chronicles . A development in British and Irish writing in the past 25 years has been a renewed interest in the First World War . Works include William Boyd 's An Ice-Cream War ; Sebastian Faulks ' Birdsong and The Girl at
23368-515: The haven behind it developed into fen , as the estuary progressively filled with silt and peat. Afterwards, canals were cut between Saint-Omer , the trading centre formerly at the head of the estuary, and three places to the west, centre and east on the newly formed coast: respectively Calais, Gravelines and Dunkirk . Calais was improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224. The first document mentioning
23552-737: The historical record late in the twelfth century AD in a mention by Count Gerard of Guelders of a charter by his father Matthew of Alsace , Some references mention the Latin name Calesium being used as early as the ninth century but without providing sources for the claim. Medieval Latin Calesium derives ultimately from Latin Caletum , in turn from Caletes , a Belgic or Gallic tribe dwelling in Pays de Caux , in present-day Normandy. The Gaulish ethnonym Caletoi literally means "the hard ones", that
23736-421: The line between fiction and history, in order to get closer to the truth. The novel is set 60 years before it was composed, and alongside researching the war through primary and secondary sources, he spoke with people who had lived through war during the French invasion of Russia in 1812; thus, the book is also, in part, ethnography fictionalized. The Charterhouse of Parma by Marie-Henri Beyle (Stendhal)
23920-504: The mayor was a member of the French Communist Party (PCF): Jean-Jacques Barthe (1971–2000) and Jacky Hénin (2000–2008). Place d'Armes is one of the largest squares in the city of Calais. It adjoins the watchtower, and during medieval times was once the heart of the city. While Calais was a territory of England (1347–1558), it became known as Market Square (place du Marché). Only at the end of English rule did it take
24104-498: The middle of the last [20th] century ... in which the author is writing from research rather than personal experience." Then again Lynda Adamson, in her preface to the bibliographic reference work World Historical Fiction , states that while a "generally accepted definition" for the historical novel is a novel "about a time period at least 25 years before it was written", she also suggests that some people read novels written in
24288-477: The most prominent. Sigrid Undset 's Kristin Lavransdatter fulfilled a similar function for Norwegian history ; Undset later won a Nobel Prize for Literature (1928). Many early historical novels played an important role in the rise of European popular interest in the history of the Middle Ages . Victor Hugo 's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame often receives credit for fueling the movement to preserve
24472-455: The name 'Monte Cristo' into their titles." Tolstoy's War and Peace offers an example of 19th-century historical fiction used to critique contemporary history. Tolstoy read the standard histories available in Russian and French about the Napoleonic Wars , and used the novel to challenge those historical approaches. At the start of the novel's third volume, he describes his work as blurring
24656-421: The name of Place d'Armes. After the reconquest of Calais in 1558 by Francis, Duke of Guise, Francis II gave Calais the right to hold a fair twice a year on the square, which still exists today, as well as a bustling Wednesday and Saturday market. The town centre, which has seen significant regeneration over the past decade, is dominated by its distinctive town hall ( Hôtel de Ville ) at Place du Soldat Inconnu. It
24840-470: The name of the city was most commonly spelt Cales , and this spelling survived well into the modern period, but Shakespeare for example used the spelling Callice . Confusingly, the name Cales found in the sarcastic rhyme beginning "A gentleman of Wales, a knight of Cales" and the ballad "The Winning of Cales" collected by Thomas Percy refers not to Calais, but to Cadiz in Spain. The Cales spelling
25024-530: The novel was popular across the former British Empire and translated into 16 languages. Subsequently, the story has been adapted for television, film, a musical and other media. The commercial success of The Scarlet Pimpernel allowed Orczy and her husband to live out their lives in luxury. Over the years, they lived on an estate in Kent , a bustling London home and an opulent villa in Monte Carlo . Conceiving
25208-559: The novels The Sot-Weed Factor (1960) and Mason & Dixon (1997) respectively. A few writers create historical fiction without fictional characters. One example is the series Masters of Rome by Colleen McCullough . Historical prose fiction has a long tradition in world literature. Three of the Four Classics of Chinese novels were set in the distant past: Shi Nai'an 's 14th-century Water Margin concerns 12th-century outlaws; Luo Guanzhong 's 14th-century Romance of
25392-522: The old city walls, and the younger suburbs of St. Pierre, which are connected by a boulevard. Calais is part of the Côte d'Opale (Opal Coast), a cliff-lined section of northern French coast that parallels the white cliffs on the British coast and is part of the same geological formation . It is known for its scenic cliffs such as Cape Blanc Nez and Cape Gris Nez and for its wide area of dunes. Many artists have been inspired by its landscapes, among them
25576-553: The original manuscript for The Scarlet Pimpernel in five weeks during what she described as "The happiest time of her life". It was rejected by most publishing houses in London, despite her previous successes with her armchair detective stories, primarily The Old Man in the Corner which first appeared in The Royal Magazine in 1901 in a series of six "Mysteries of London". Eventually a friend put Orczy in contact with
25760-440: The past". The Iliad has been described as historic fiction, since it treats historic events, although its genre is generally considered epic poetry . Pierre Vidal-Naquet has suggested that Plato laid the foundations for the historical novel through the myth of Atlantis contained in his dialogues Timaeus and Critias . The Tale of Genji (written before 1021) is a fictionalized account of Japanese court life about
25944-410: The past, like those of Jane Austen (1775–1817), as if they were historical novels. Historical fiction sometimes encouraged movements of romantic nationalism . Walter Scott's Waverley novels created interest in Scottish history and still illuminate it. A series of novels by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski on the history of Poland popularized the country's history after it had lost its independence in
26128-444: The patriotic passion, and their novels, full of rhetoric and melodramatic excesses, are today barely readable as historical documents. A significant exception is The Confessions of an Italian by Ippolito Nievo , an epic about the Venetian republic 's fall and the Napoleonic age , told with satiric irony and youthful brio (Nievo wrote it when he was 26 years old). In Arabic literature, the Lebanese writer Jurji Zaydan (1861–1914)
26312-490: The penchant for disguise, use of a signature weapon (sword), ability to out-think and outwit his adversaries, and a calling card (he leaves behind a scarlet pimpernel at each of his interventions). By drawing attention to his alter ego , Blakeney hides behind his public face as a slow-thinking, foppish playboy, and he also establishes a network of supporters, The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, that aids his endeavours. A plot technique from Pimpernel also used by some superheroes
26496-457: The publication of the 2nd edition in 1903, Buddenbrooks became a major literary success. The work led to a Nobel Prize in Literature for Mann in 1929; although the Nobel award generally recognizes an author's body of work, the Swedish Academy's citation for Mann identified "his great novel Buddenbrooks " as the principal reason for his prize. Mann also wrote, between 1926 and 1943, a four-part novel Joseph and His Brothers . In it Mann retells
26680-420: The rebellion of the Welsh Prince Owain Glyndŵr (AD 1400–16), while Porius takes place during the Dark Ages, in AD 499, just before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. Powys suggests parallels with these historical periods and Britain in the late 1930s and during World War II . Other significant British novelists include Georgette Heyer , Naomi Mitchison and Mary Renault . Heyer essentially established
26864-425: The romantic-historical novel. Victor Hugo began writing The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in 1829, largely to make his contemporaries more aware of the value of the Gothic architecture , which was neglected and often destroyed to be replaced by new buildings, or defaced by replacement of parts of buildings in a newer style. The action takes place in 1482 and the title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which
27048-474: The same right. The novel has been parodied or used as source material in a variety of media, such as films, TV, stage works, literature, and games: Inspired by the title Scarlet Pimpernel , the Tartan Pimpernel was a nickname given to the Reverend Donald Caskie (1902–1983), formerly minister of the Paris congregation of the Church of Scotland , for aiding over 2,000 Allied service personnel to escape from occupied France during World War II . Varian Fry
27232-400: The settings of the books in their publication sequence may vary forward or backward in time by months or centuries . While some readers enjoy following the author's development of the Pimpernel character as it was realised, others prefer to read the stories in historical sequence. Taking into account occasional discrepancies in the dates of events (real and fictional) referred to in the stories,
27416-432: The sieges of Cawnpore and Lucknow , the book details the siege of a fictional Indian town, Krishnapur, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 from the perspective of the town's British residents . The main characters find themselves subject to the increasing strictures and deprivation of the siege, and the absurdity of maintaining the British class system in a town no one can leave becomes a source of comic invention, though
27600-453: The sluice gates, which could have flooded the attackers, remained unopened. The loss was regarded by Queen Mary I of England as a dreadful misfortune. When she heard the news, she reportedly said, "When I am dead and opened, you shall find ' Philip ' [her husband] and 'Calais' lying in my heart." The region around Calais, then-known as the Calaisis , was renamed the Pays Reconquis ("Reconquered Country") in commemoration of its recovery by
27784-545: The south and south-east. In the centre of the old town is the Place d'Armes, in which stands the Tour du Guet, or watch-tower, a structure built in the 13th century, which was used as a lighthouse until 1848 when a new lighthouse was built by the port. South east of the Place is the church of Notre-Dame , built during the English occupancy of Calais. Arguably, it is the only church built in the English perpendicular style in all of France. In this church, former French President Charles de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux . South of
27968-421: The south-eastern corner of England. In 1943 they built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on the southeast of England. Despite heavy preparations for defence against an amphibious assault, the Allied invasion took place well to the west in Normandy on D-Day . Calais was very heavily bombed and shelled in a successful effort to disrupt German communications and persuade them that
28152-629: The story is centered. Alexandre Dumas also wrote several popular historical fiction novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers . George Saintsbury stated: " Monte Cristo is said to have been at its first appearance, and for some time subsequently, the most popular book in Europe." This popularity has extended into modern times as well. The book was "translated into virtually all modern languages and has never been out of print in most of them. There have been at least twenty-nine motion pictures based on it ... as well as several television series, and many movies [have] worked
28336-534: The story itself is fiction, many of the persona and events are not. The book is based on research by Monaldi and Sorti, who researched information from 17th-century manuscripts and published works concerning the siege of Vienna , the plague and papacy of Pope Innocent XI . The genre of the historical novel has also permitted some authors, such as the Polish novelist Bolesław Prus in his sole historical novel, Pharaoh , to distance themselves from their own time and place to gain perspective on society and on
28520-617: The strength of it. The Finnish writer Mika Waltari is known for the historical novel The Egyptian (1945). Faroes–Danish writer William Heinesen wrote several historical novels, most notably Det gode håb (1964, "Fair Hope") set in the Faroe Islands in 17th century. Historical fiction has long been a popular genre in Sweden, especially since the 1960s a huge number of historical novels has been written. Nobel laureates Eyvind Johnson and Pär Lagerkvist wrote acclaimed historical novels such as Return to Ithaca (1946) and Barabbas (1950). Vilhelm Moberg 's Ride This Night (1941)
28704-435: The subgenred films based on the Arthurian legend such as Pendragon: Sword of His Father (2008) and King Arthur (2004). Calais Calais ( UK : / ˈ k æ l eɪ / KAL -ay , US : / k æ ˈ l eɪ / kal- AY , traditionally / ˈ k æ l ɪ s / KAL -iss , French: [kalɛ] ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department , of which it
28888-462: The subtitles ("The Threat" and "The Violence") by 1987 by the director Lyudmil Staykov. In June 2015, " Time of Violence " was chosen as the most beloved film of Bulgarian viewers in "Laced Shoes of Bulgarian Cinema", a large-scale consultation with the audience of Bulgarian National Television . One of the best known Scandinavian historical novels is Sigrid Undset 's Kristin Lavransdatter (1920–1922) set in medieval Norway. For this trilogy Undset
29072-404: The summer of 2015. The UK blamed France for not doing enough to stop migrants from entering the Channel Tunnel or attempting to scale fences built along the border. The British Prime Minister David Cameron released a statement saying that illegal immigrants would be removed from the UK even if they reached the island. To discourage migrants and refugees from jumping on train shuttles at Calais,
29256-560: The text is serious in intent and tone. In Welsh literature, the major contributor to the genre in Welsh is William Owen Roberts (b. 1960). His historical novels include Y Pla (1987), set at the time of the Black Death; Paradwys (2001), 18th century, concerning the slave trade; and Petrograd (2008) and Paris (2013), concerning the Russian revolution and its aftermath. Y Pla has been much translated, appearing in English as Pestilence , and Petrograd and Paris have also appeared in English. A contemporary of Roberts' working in English
29440-412: The town had about 2400 beds and stabling to keep some 2000 horses. Following the royal visit, the town's governance was reformed in 1536, aiming to strengthen ties with England. As part of this move, Calais became a parliamentary borough sending burgesses to the House of Commons of the Parliament of England . In September 1552, the English adventurer Thomas Stukley , who had been for some time in
29624-404: The town lacked any natural defences. Maintaining Calais was a costly business that was frequently tested by the forces of France and the Duchy of Burgundy , with the Franco-Burgundian border running nearby. The British historian Geoffrey Elton once remarked "Calais—expensive and useless—was better lost than kept". The duration of the English hold over Calais was, to a large extent, the result of
29808-406: The town was then anxious about the possibility of invasion by Napoleon. In the United States, the first historical novelist was Samuel Woodworth , who wrote The Champions of American Freedom in 1816. James Fenimore Cooper was better known for his historical novels and was influenced by Scott. His most famous novel is The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757 (1826), the second book of
29992-416: The town was virtually razed to the ground: in May 1940, it was a strategic bombing target of the invading German forces who took it during the siege of Calais . The Germans built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles at England. The old part of the town, Calais-Nord, is on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to
30176-467: The war there was little rebuilding of the historic city and most buildings were modern ones. Since 1999 or earlier, an increasingly large number of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers started to arrive in the vicinity of Calais, living in the Calais jungle , the nickname given to a series of makeshift camps . The people lived there while attempting to enter the United Kingdom by stowing away on lorries, ferries, cars, or trains travelling through
30360-407: The wily new French envoy to England: Chauvelin's agents have stolen a letter proving that her beloved brother Armand is in league with the Pimpernel. Chauvelin offers to trade Armand's life for her help against the Pimpernel. Contemptuous of her seemingly witless and unloving husband, Marguerite does not go to him for help or advice. Instead, she passes along information which enables Chauvelin to learn
30544-407: The winters are cool with unstable weather. It rains on average about 700 to 800 mm (28 to 31 in) per year. The commune of Calais is divided into 13 quartier s : Changes in the number of inhabitants is known throughout the population censuses conducted since 1793 in Calais. Note the massive growth in population from 13,529 in 1881 to 58,969 in 1886, a growth of 335.9%; this is because
30728-473: Was a 32-year-old Harvard -educated classicist and editor from New York City who helped save thousands of endangered refugees who were caught in Vichy France , helping them to escape from Nazi terror during World War II. His story is told in American Pimpernel: The Man Who Saved the Artists on Hitler's Death List . Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty was an Irish priest who saved thousands of people, British and American servicemen and Jews, during World War II while in
30912-411: Was a Bulgarian author who is considered by many to have been the best-selling Bulgarian historical fiction author ever. Her books sold in record numbers in the 1930s and the early 1940s. However, she was eventually sentenced to seven years of imprisonment by the Bulgarian communist regime because of some of her writings celebrating Hitler , and though released after only eleven months for health reasons,
31096-419: Was a lucrative and highly prized public office; the famous Dick Whittington was simultaneously Lord Mayor of the City of London and Mayor of the Staple in 1407. Calais was regarded for many years as being an integral part of the Kingdom of England , with its representatives sitting in the English Parliament . The continued English hold on Calais however depended on expensively maintained fortifications, as
31280-438: Was added to the church under orders by Vauban . The church is dedicated to the Virgin, and built in the form of a cross, consisting of a nave and four aisles— The old grand altar dated to 1628 and was built from Carrara marble wrecked on the coast, during its transit from Genoa to Antwerp . It contained eighteen figures, the two standing on either side of the altar-piece—representing St. Louis and Charlemagne . The organ—of
31464-439: Was also used in other European languages at the time, including Spanish, Italian and German and it is reflected in the city's name in the local Ch'ti language, Calés . Other archaic names for the city are Portuguese Calêsio and German Kalen . Kales , the city's historic name in Dutch and West Flemish (once spoken in the area) was retained until more recently in the name for the Strait of Dover , Nauw van Kales , and
31648-422: Was an English outpost for many centuries while it was an island surrounded by marshes, and difficult to attack from the mainland. At some time before the 10th century, it would have been a Dutch -speaking fishing village on a sandy beach backed by pebbles and a creek, with a natural harbour at the west edge of the early medieval estuary of the river Aa . As the pebble and sand ridge extended eastward from Calais,
31832-541: Was as background detail to set the period, and did not usually play a key role in the narrative. Heyer's characters often contained more modern-day sensibilities, and more conventional characters in the novels would point out the heroine's eccentricities, such as wanting to marry for love. Some historical novels explore life at sea, including C. S. Forester 's Hornblower series , Patrick O'Brian 's Aubrey–Maturin series , Alexander Kent 's The Bolitho novels , Dudley Pope 's Lord Ramage 's series, all of which all deal with
32016-430: Was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1928. Johannes V. Jensen 's trilogy Kongens fald (1900–1901, "The Fall of the King"), set in 16th century Denmark, has been called "the finest historical novel in Danish literature". The epic historical novel series Den lange rejse (1908–1921, "The Long Journey") is generally regarded as Jensen's masterpiece and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1944 partly on
32200-442: Was built in the Flemish Renaissance style between 1911 and 1925 to commemorate the unification of the cities of Calais and Saint Pierre in 1885. An extra terrace had been erected at the previous town hall in 1818. One of the most elegant landmarks in the city, its ornate 74-metre (246 ft) high clock tower and belfry can be seen from out to sea and chimes throughout the day and has been protected by UNESCO since 2005 as part of
32384-406: Was damaged in 1658 when a young stable boy set fire to it, while it was temporarily being used as royal stables during a visit of King Louis XIV . It was not repaired for some 30 years. In 1770, a bell identical to the original bell of 1348 was cast. Due to its height, from the late 17th century it became an important watchout post for the city for centuries until 1905; the last keeper of the tower
32568-423: Was directly inspired by "Pimpernel" Smith , a 1941 British anti-Nazi propaganda thriller, to begin rescuing Hungarian Jews during World War II. The film had been banned in Sweden, but Wallenberg and his sister Nina were invited to a private screening at the British Embassy in Stockholm . Enthralled by Professor Smith (played by Leslie Howard ), who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis, Nina stated, "We thought
32752-474: Was forbidden to publish anything between 1943 and 1972. Stoyan Zagorchinov (1889–1969) also a Bulgarian writer, author of "Last Day, God's Day" trilogy and " Ivaylo ", continuing the tradition in the Bulgarian historical novel, led by Ivan Vazov . Yana Yazova (1912–1974) also has several novels that can be considered historical as " Alexander of Macedon ", her only novel on non-Bulgarian thematic, as well as her trilogy " Balkani ". Vera Mutafchieva (1929–2009)
32936-417: Was forced to leave in 1926. Abraham Chappe (a brother of Ignace Chappe ) installed a telegraph office in the tower in 1816 and operated for 32 years. It was this office which announced the death of Napoleon I to the French public in 1821. It also had the dual function as lighthouse with a rotating beacon fuelled by oil from 1818. The lantern was finally replaced by a new lighthouse on 15 October 1848. During
33120-402: Was inspired by Walter Scott's Ivanhoe but, compared to its model, shows some innovations (two members of the lower class as principal characters, the past described without romantic idealization, an explicitly Christian message), somehow forerunning the realistic novel of the following decades. Set in northern Italy in 1628, during the oppressive years under Spanish rule, it is sometimes seen as
33304-426: Was now being pursued by the police. Z.K. Matthews told the Cape ANC in June that Sisulu was operating behind the ' Iron Curtain ' of the Transkei as a Scarlet Pimpernel (before Mandela inherited the title): 'They sought him here, they sought him there, they sought him everywhere. ' " Quote cites: Karis & Carter, Vol.3, op. cit., p.128 Historical fiction An essential element of historical fiction
33488-445: Was quite popular in 20th century Latin American literature , including works such as The Kingdom of This World (1949) by Alejo Carpentier , I, the Supreme (1974) by Augusto Roa Bastos , Terra Nostra (1975) by Carlos Fuentes , News from the Empire (1987) by Fernando del Paso , The Lightning of August (1964) by Jorge Ibargüengoitia , The War of the End of the World (1981) by Mario Vargas Llosa and The Autumn of
33672-589: Was returned to France under the Treaty of Vervins in May 1598. Calais remained an important maritime city and smuggling centre throughout the 17th century. However, during the next century, the port of Calais began to stagnate gradually, as the nearby ports of Boulogne and Dunkirk began to rise and compete. The French revolution at the end of the 18th century did not disturb Calais and no executions took place. In 1805, Calais hosted part of Napoleon's army and invasion fleet for several months before his aborted invasion of Britain . From October to December 1818,
33856-454: Was the most prolific novelist of this genre. He wrote 23 historical novels between 1889 and 1914. His novels played an important in shaping the collective consciousness of modern Arabs during the Nahda period and educated them about their history. The Fleeing Mamluk (1891), The Captive of the Mahdi Pretender (1892), and Virgin of Quraish (1899) are some of his nineteenth-century historical novels. A major 20th-century example of this genre
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