A Girl of Many Crowns By D.H. Morris

MAGICAL, BEAUTIFUL BRUGES by D. H. Morris

The Girl of Many Crowns begins and ends in Bruges, an exquisitely beautiful Belgian city and UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, the ninth-century Bruges, where the novel begins, was a far cry from what it has now become. When the book begins, Bruges is part of Flanders, a province of Francia. A once-thriving Roman center of trade, Bruges with easy access to the North Sea, had been overrun by Vikings so often that it was only a shell of its former glory. The fortress within the town was but a ruin and there were very few residents within its boundaries. Curiosity took me to Bruges in 2005 as I was researching the story of Baldwin Iron Arm and Judith of Francia, which is the basis for The Girl of Many Crowns. I wished to see if there was anything from the ninth century remaining in the city. At the end of the book, Baldwin and Judith plan to rebuild the town and settle at the site of the former fortress where the river Reie encounters the North Sea. That spot is now the impressive Burg Square. Canals have since been built to transport people and goods, and the architecture of the ninth century has long been replaced by thirteenth-century buildings. However, the city still retains its charming medieval personality which makes it a perfect movie set. In fact, PK, the first Bollywood movie filmed in Belgium was set in Bruges. Riding leisurely in a boat along its pristine canals, I wondered if the first Count and Countess of Flanders, Baldwin and Judith, envisioned the stunning transformation of their city. I also wondered if the city still remembered them. As I walked along a cobblestone path, peering into quaint shops featuring decadent Belgian chocolates and baked goods, I spotted a chocolate bear that transported me to the story that had happened more than one thousand years earlier. Here was my first evidence that Bruges still valued their early medieval history. The chocolatiers of Bruges had honored Baldwin’s slaying of the bear that tried to attack Judith on their wild flight from a French castle. That first revelation was not the only nod to their story. The brewers of Bruges also paid homage in their Bear of Bruges beer. And I spotted small monuments or plaques related to Baldwin and Judith here and there within the city. A magical story deserves a magical setting. I did not write The Girl of Many Crowns until many years later, but the memory of this beautiful city still warms my heart. I truly fell in love with the city that begins and ends my story on that magical visit to Bruges.