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Sharon Bennett Connolly has been fascinated by history for over thirty years. She has a BA Honours degree in History, Business and Law and has worked as a tour guide at historical sites. She is is the best-selling author of several non-fiction history books, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Her blog, History … the Interesting Bits, concentrates on (but is not confined to) the medieval period and the lesser-known people and events of history. She also writes for The Review Blog, and co-hosts the podcast A Slice of Medieval , alongside historical novelist Derek Birks. I recently had the opportunity to interview Sharon and I’m excited to post the Q&A session here on my blog.

Q    Hi Sharon, thanks very much for taking the time to answer some questions about your career for me. Let’s start at the beginning, when did your interest in the medieval world start?

I honestly do not know. I have always had a love for history and grew up five miles from Conisbrough Castle. We used to picnic there a couple of times every summer, play in the grounds and climb to the top of the keep. I loved it. I also loved watching tv programmes such as Robin of Sherwood, and films like Ivanhoe. If there was anything historical on tv, I watched it – and still do (though I have never managed to get past the first few episodes of The Tudors).

Q    A lot of people have an interest in this period of history, but don’t go on to become successful authors of the period. What made you want to start writing books about this era?

I have always wanted to write, but never really had the courage to put my work out there. In 2014, I was given a blog by my husband, as a Christmas present, so I started writing articles, mainly on women in history. A few months later, I saw a competition from Amberley Publishing, to get your first book published. You had to send in a synopsis, a chapter plan and your author bio. And I wrote out the plan for Heroines of the Medieval World, not actually intending to enter the competition, but just to see if it might work as a book idea. Once I’d written it out, I realised that it might actually make a decent book and so, with just a couple of days to go to the closing date (the synopsis having sat on my computer for over a month), I closed my eyes and pressed ‘send’. A few months later, I got an email saying ‘Sharon, you entered this competition, I’m sorry to say you didn’t win.’ I’m so glad I didn’t stop reading at that point because the next paragraph started with ‘However, we would still like to publish Heroines of the Medieval World, if you are interested…’ I walked round with a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day, until I realised, I now had to write the book!

Q    Once you had decided to start writing, did you always know that it was the overlooked women you wanted to concentrate on?

Yes, definitely. I wanted to highlight that women have been a part of history throughout, just written out or overlooked, for the most part. If you don’t look at the women in history, you are only getting half the history – so by putting women back in the traditional historical narrative – for such as the Norman Conquest, or Magna Carta – you are finally telling the whole story.

Q    It was 8 years ago that your first book was published, Heroines of the Medieval World. Can you remember how it felt to get that first book published?

It was such an amazing feeling. I remember seeing the book cover for the first time and noticing that it was one of my  own photographs – of Roche Abbey – on the back and thinking – ‘wow! my photo is on a book cover!’ And then telling myself off, saying ‘what are you talking about, you wrote the book!’ It was a very surreal feeling and did not feel like reality until I held the book in my hands. It was incredible!

Q    Where did you give your first talk, and were you nervous?

My first talk was actually at Conisbrough Castle, a place I had visited as a child and volunteered at as a student, so it was the perfect place to do my first talk. It was an incredible day. The castle staff were amazing and there were about 50 people in the audience. Family and friends came, including some I hadn’t seen since school – we had a mini school reunion! There were several children there too, and I held a little competition for them – they had to count the number of people in my talk who met a grisly death. My talk was based on the women associated with Conisbrough Castle, including Isabel de Warenne, Joan of Bar and Isabel of Castile – all women who led incredible, and unconventional, lives.

Q    You seem to publish new books quite quickly. How long on average does it take you to write a book once your research is done?

It takes me about a year to write a book, with the first 9 months taken up with researching and the last 3 months writing. All my books build on research I have already done, so the new research is more in-depth and specific for the subject of the book – and yet, I still find I’ve missed areas when it comes to writing up the actual book.

Q    Have you visited some exciting places when conducting your research, or come across something so fascinating that it’s stayed with you?

I love visiting historical sites – it makes me feel closer to the past and to the people I’m writing about, Lincoln Cathedral is pretty special, having survived 800 years. What that building has seen! Lincoln Castle too, the home of my favourite medieval woman, Nicholaa de la Haye, always gives me the shivers. One that sticks in my mind above all others was Dover Castle – we visited when my son was about 8 and they had actors there, playing Henry II, Richard the Lionheart and John (when a prince). They did this whole mystery based on one of them spying for France – and you had to discover the spy. It was, of course, John, but we had to follow the actors around the castle as the story unfolded. It was fabulous, but the highlight was after the show ended and the chap playing Richard came up to Lewis and showed him how to play – and cheat – at dice. I was grinning from ear-to-ear – Richard the Lionheart was playing dice with my son!

Q    Your podcast A Slice of Medieval with Derek Birks has been running for some time now, how did that all come about?

We have just this morning recorded our 40^th episode. And it is such fun. Derek approached me – we have known each other quite a while and he said he had this idea for a podcast, discussing history and historical fiction and asked if I would like to do it with him. We have a similar outlook on history and historical research and work really well together. It’s like chatting with a friend over coffee – and I hope that comes across in the podcast. I often end up in fits of giggles, but, thankfully, Derek can edit that out. We have had some amazing guests, including Bernard Cornwell and Elizabeth Chadwick. But we also do investigative episodes, where it’s just the 2 of us and we pick a historical topic to go away and research – then discuss between us. These are such fun! I have learnt an awful lot from doing the podcast, and met some amazing authors and historians.

Q    Is there a guest you would love to have on your podcast who you haven’t managed to get there yet?

Yes, there are a few actually. Ian Mortimer is one, and Janina Ramirez – she has such a passion for history, and it would be great to talk to her about putting the women back in the story. 

Q    Is there one particular medieval woman you identify with more than other? Or who is your favourite, and why?

My favourite medieval woman is Nicholaa de la Haye. She was hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle, successfully defended it through 2 sieges – and through the whole Magna Carta crisis. She held off the English rebels and their French allies from the end of 1216 to mid-May 1217, long enough for William Marshal to gather an army and launch an attack on Lincoln, defeating the rebels and sending the French home. She was also the first woman to ever be made sheriff in her own right – by King John just hours before his death. She was formidable.

Q    You recently got your first review from the USA for Women of the Anarchy, would you like to tour the US with your books?

I would love to! Hopefully, one day. I do have a couple of genealogy societies in the US who keep asking me to and we have just this week said that we will look into making it happen, hopefully in 2026.

Q    What is your big ambition going forward in your career?

I don’t know if I have one. I just want to keep writing. I have the bug, and so many stories to tell. My next book, Heroines of the Tudor World comes out in June and then Scotland’s Medieval Queens will be out next January. 

Some of my career highlights have come from unexpected places, such as the Historical Association recommending my book, Silk and the Sword: the Women of the Norman Conquest, to schools so teach the Conquest from a new perspective, and Oxford Castle approaching me to offer to host the book launch of Women of the Anarchy, because it has such strong links to Empress Matilda.

I suppose it would be nice if someone approached me and asked me to do a documentary or series based on one of my books…

Sharon regularly gives talks on women’s history, for historical groups, festivals and in schools; her book Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest is a recommended text for teaching the Norman Conquest in the National Curriculum. She is a feature writer for All About History and Living Medieval magazines and her TV work includes Australian Television’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?‘

Her previous books include:

Heroines of the Medieval World

Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest

Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England

Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye

Women of the Anarchy

Heroines of the Tudor World

https://sharon-b-connolly.sumupstore.com/

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/conisbrough-castle/

https://www.amberley-books.com/

https://www.visitlincoln.com

https://www.visitlincoln.com/magnacarta

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