Brian Lilley is the creator of the character Ximene and the stories about her adventures as she fights against oppression in Occitan.
Germaine is an anglicised version of the name, but in Catalan and Occitan it is pronounced ‘Sheamaine”.
Brian has always been an avid student of history, and can still remember the feeling of fascination when history dealt with people rather than events.
he has treasured memories of the lessons where he was introduced to “Joan, Fair Maid of Kent” and “Edward The Black Prince”.
History lessons displayed the attitudes prevailing at the time. Joan was sidelined as “beautiful” whilst the Prince was “the embodiment of chivalr.y”
The Prince’s chivalry seemed to have a strange foundation in that he stole the coat of arms of the King of Luxembourg, whom he found dead on the battlefield after the battle of Crecy At the time however, Brian found this perfectly sensible.
He is now most interested in powerful women, particularly in 14th century England, This certainly includes Joan of Kent. However it is the book about Ximene Trencavel which has lead him back to this area of study.
Brian has always been an avid student of history, and can still remember the feeling of fascination when history dealt with people rather than events.