Things are gradually clicking into place for publication of Serpent’s Teeth, the fifth book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, on the 1st of November. Meanwhile Cade’s Point, the sixth book, is in first draft awaiting Claire’s scrutiny. Unfortunately not only has she had two family bereavements to deal with, and some complex lease issues as chair of the village hall committee, she also has a bad cold. We put that down to the over-enthusiastic air conditioning at Bristol Airport. We were awaiting a flight to Sicily, but Mount Etna erupted and our flight and holiday were cancelled.
Anyway, hopefully Claire will be back on form soon, and Cade’s Point may be out later this year. Meanwhile my mind is turning to Book 7. I have been impressed with David Olugosa’s Finding Britain’s Slave Traders on the BBC.
The slavery situation in Rome and Frascati was very different in Sir Anthony’s time. Slavery existed but the Italians dealt in enslaved Muslims from North Africa. In 1591 there were 153 Muslim slaves rowing Papal galleys. A decree of Pope Paul III in 1548 explicitly permitted people in Rome to keep male and female slaves, including slaves they might purchase subsequently.
The North Atlantic slave trade of Black Africans would almost certainly have caught the attention of Sir Anthony’s younger brother, Edmund, my 10th great-grandfather, who was a lawyer and clerk of the petty bag. Since I have had correspondence between Anthony and Edmund, I am considering a few chapters from Edmund’s point of view. He may even have been tempted to invest in the slave trade himself. Phew! I’ve just searched the register of British Slave Traders and he’s not on it.
In the third book, The Suggested Assassin, Anthony and Maria encountered Barbary Pirates who operated in the Mediterranean and the English Channel and dealt in White Slavery. So there are multiple angles to examine the theme of slavery from in Book 7.