Good point. I'm told he worked assiduously on sources for the Joan book. On Mon, Aug 1, 2022 at 2:21 PM Bob Huddleston <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Remember Mark Twain was a novelist but not a historian. Check the various > critiques of his alleged civil war memoirs— he was a superb storyteller but > not worried about the historical accuracy of either the 6th century or even > 1861! > > On Mon, Aug 1, 2022 at 10:38 AM Dave Davis <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > In the novel, the period & setting are only notionally the 6th c. MT is > > riffing on Malory, and Malory's setting is churchified, and heavy plate > > armor is standard, tilting is a game, "Saracens" are a category of > > opponent, and so on. Mallory was also in on it (as was T H White) ,-- any > > Anglo-French fellow of any military experience who died in 1471 would > have > > known about cannon; he simply (and wisely, I think) opted not to speak of > > them in his Arthurian tale. > > > > If there is an extant printed solar calendar from Hank's time (MT's time) > > that indicated a total solar eclipse visible from the someone standing in > > any part of the British Isles at any time in the 6th c., well, that would > > be a cool thing. > > > > On Mon, Aug 1, 2022 at 8:43 AM Daniel P. B. Smith <[log in to unmask]> > > wrote: > > > > > In A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the narrator says "But > > all > > > of a sudden I stumbled on the very thing, just by luck. I knew that the > > > only total eclipse of the sun in the first half of the sixth century > > > occurred on the 21st of June, A.D. 528, O.S., and began at 3 minutes > > after > > > 12 noon.” > > > > > > When I read the book as a kid, I just took this at face value; and of > > > course Mark Twain didn’t have any problems using unlikely coincidences > in > > > his other books. > > > > > > But since then I’ve always wondered: are we really supposed to believe > > > this? Or was Mark Twain poking deadpan fun at unbelievable coincidences > > in > > > literature? > > > > > >