How do we write about controversial Catholic historical characters? I think that the key to dealing with controversial characters and situations in Catholic historical fiction is to be faithful to the facts. The more research you do, the more information you will have, and the clearer your picture of the past will be. Stay away from caricatures of good and evil. Remember that everyone has potential for redemption and very few situations are black and white. And many Catholic characters, such as Marie-Antoinette, Mary Queen of Scots, Isabella of Castile and Catherine de Medici are only “controversial” because they have been misrepresented in the Whig version of history.
As I said in one of my previous presentations, the Church has always been a hospital for sinners. The so-called “bad Catholics” have always been with us, and probably will be until the end of time. A genuine portrayal of the past will reflect that fact. One of the challenges of my latest book The Night’s Dark Shade is that it shows Catholics Behaving Badly. Should we gloss over historical truth? I think that if we stay faithful to the truths of our faith as well as being faithful to historical accuracy, the faith will shine through. In the darkest times, there were always saints, there were martyrs. As I wrote in the preface of Trianon: “The darkness of the night makes the stars shine with an ever greater resplendence.” But prayer and research must accompany our journey, thorough prayer and thorough research.
I write about controversial characters. There are few people more controversial than Marie-Antoinette and her family. Similarly, there are few eras as controversial as that of the French Revolution the Albigensian crusade. Trianon, my first novel, published in 1997, is now in its third edition. People frequently ask me why I wrote Trianon. “Why would you ever want to write about Marie-Antoinette?” one of my cousins once asked me. One of the reasons is that I kept encountering educated people who really thought that Marie-Antoinette said “Let them eat cake.” I kept running into Catholics who thought that Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were killed as punishment for some egregious wickedness or, at least, for unforgivable stupidity.
Having read books about Louis and Antoinette since I was nine years old, I knew that not to be true; it was only after a great deal more research that I came to see how completely false the common belief about the king and queen is. But the demonization of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette in the popular mind is necessary in order to justify the excesses of the French Revolution. When people have a false and distorted view of history, then it is difficult for them to grasp the present, and almost impossible to meet the future with any kind of preparedness.
I started writing the novel Trianon about twenty-five years ago, while finishing graduate school. It was put aside for a long time, but after a trip to Vienna in 1995 the inspiration came to take it up again. It was never my intention to write Marie-Antoinette’s complete life story but rather a series of vignettes from various points of view. The spiritual struggle in the lives of Louis and Antoinette became the focus. They were ordinary, flawed human beings who showed great fidelity and courage in a way that should never be forgotten. Where did they find strength and courage? Where does any Christian find it? It is such questions that I sought to explore in Trianon.
An underlying theme in all my novels is that the trials of this world are nothing to the supernal joys of union with God. Nevertheless, we are called to carry the cross with Christ, which can be excruciating. While I was writing my first novel Trianon, I had to write about a case of child abuse. It was so disturbing to me that making the Stations of the Cross everyday was the only I could get through it.
Madame Royale is the sequel to Trianon. It is about Marie-Thérèse-Charlotte of France, and her search for the lost dauphin—a tale of mystery and political intrigue. I wanted to show how hard it can be for someone to be the sole survivor of violence in which one’s entire immediate family was killed. How does a person with such sorrows go on? Marie-Thérèse does go on because of her strong faith and sense of Christian mission.
My third novel, The Night’s Dark Shade, published in November 2009, takes place in medieval France and is about the infamous, highly controversial Albigensian crusade. I was told by an agent in New York that if I wrote a romance novel, instead of my usual historical fiction about the French Revolution, than she could make a lot of money for me. So about nine years ago I decided to try my hand at a romance novel, based on a story that came to mind when I was in Lourdes in 1994. However, as the story grew and the characters took life, and as I delved into the theological conflicts and liturgical aberrations of the time, then I knew there were too many important issues at stake to water it down into a rabid romance just for the sake of profit. I think Our Lady had her hand on me and wanted me to write something that would contain solid spirituality, while exploring the ravages of heresy in both society and individuals. The days of the Cathars were times that mirrored our own. In that way, history becomes relevant to the present. I hope that my novel helps people not only to understand the past but to gain insight into the issues of our own time.  
A Catholic novel should help people see the truth, but this can only happen if we ourselves are faithful to the truth of history and the truth of our holy Faith.

Elena Maria Vidal is the author of the historical novels Trianon, Madame Royale, and The Night’s Dark Shade. Please visit Elena at her Tea at Trianon blog and on Facebook and Twitter

Elena Maria Vidal grew up in Frederick, Maryland and is the author of the historical novels TRIANON, MADAME ROYALE and THE NIGHT'S DARK SHADE: A NOVEL OF THE CATHARS. Elena has been a contributor to Canticle Magazine, Touchstone Magazine, The American Conservative and The National Observer. In April 2009 she was a speaker at the Eucharistic Convention in Auckland, New Zealand. She is a member of the Catholic Writers Guild and the Eastern Shore Writers Association. She currently lives in Maryland with her family and is working on a historical novel about her Irish ancestors. Elena blogs at http://teaattrianon.blogspot.com/.

3 Replies to “Controversial Historical Characters”

  1. I want to show my disagrement with the inclusion of Catherine of Medici in the list of catholic. This woman conspirate with the calvinist and catholic and he disturb the action of Philip the second. He avoid the batle of Lepanto.

  2. ……oh make me chaste Lord, but not just yet! Augustine, Doctor of the Church!

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