User talk:Drachenfyre/Archives/2005/May

CJZ and Welsh
Hello, Drachenfyre,

Just saw that your attention was drawn to the same line in the Catherine Zeta Jones article as was mine. I've never seen or heard of her in Welsh-language projects. I'm not altogether sure that she is a Welsh-speaker, native or otherwise. Telsa 14:20, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The original source for the Welsh fluency was, I gather from Gabbe, from IMDb, but IMDb lists no Welsh-language projects in her filmography. I hadn't heard that about chatting with Hopkins -- indeed, I wasn't aware that he spoke it either -- but I am happy to be corrected. I have never heard/seen her on S4C/Radio Cymru, but I don't have them on 24 hours a day and only started learning the language long after she departed for Hollywood. You're quite right about the house, incidentally: there has been much coverage in the local paper. (I live in Swansea.) Anyway, I shall try to find out about this once and for all. For every reference I find claiming she speaks Welsh, I find another (often in Welsh) saying she doesn't. Baffling. It would be nice if Wikipedia had it right, whichever the answer is! Telsa 18:16, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

Kingdom of Heaven
I haven't figured anything more out about Isabella yet...I don't think there is a clear answer, there was just too much chaos at the time.

The movie was entertaining I suppose, but barely historical...the best part was Raynald's execution, I think. I can see where they have taken other things directly from William or Ernoul, and I can understand why some things are extremely simplified. But the reason you've never read that Balian was a blacksmith from France is because he wasn't :) And Ibelin wasn't a dusty piece of land either! My biggest problem was not with the characters, but with geography - Saladin crosses the Jordan and then goes to Kerak, for example. Oh well. Adam Bishop 22:42, 10 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Well, I was going by the claim - otherwise, there are two years where the kingship is vacant, essentially.  I suppose we could say in the box that Guy claimed it and Isabella was the eventual true heir.


 * By the way, where are you getting the info about the relationship between Balian and Sibylla? I am unfamiliar with that. Adam Bishop 04:27, 11 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Oh, I see...yeah I still have the Medieval Women book in the pile of books in my room, I just haven't looked at it yet! :) Thanks! I wish there was an English translation of Ernoul, but I'll look there too. Adam Bishop 05:18, 11 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Oooh, I see what's going on now...Baldwin of Ibelin wanted to marry Sibylla, not Balian. Balian's his younger brother, and the character in the movie. Balian actually married Sibylla's step-mother Maria Comnena. Adam Bishop 06:25, 11 May 2005 (UTC)


 * Ok, I changed the box to say "vacant" with Guy as claimant as Isabella as legal heir. Is that better? By the way, we don't necessarily have to take Bernard Hamilton's word for everything...there are plenty other crusade scholars out there :) As for Balian and Sibylla, sure, stranger relationships have happened or were claimed to have happened (Eleanor of Aquitaine and her uncle Raymond of Antioch, for example)...but Sibylla didn't seem to think Guy was detestable, despite what the movie says. She was scheming with him the whole time. Adam Bishop 15:13, 11 May 2005 (UTC)