Eunuchs, Sleuths and Otherwise

Today I'm playing host to guest bloggers Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, the authors of the John the Eunuch mysteries set in sixth-century Constantinople. Seven for a Secret recently hit bookstore and library shelves. It's the latest installment of a series which Booklist calls "One of the best little known secrets." Mary and Eric's books and mine have two things in common: the same publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, and main characters who happen to be eunuchs. I asked Mary and Eric to make some comments about historical eunuchs who serve as inspiration for their work.

"How long will power remain in the hands of eunuchs, with effeminate minds, perverse by natural propensity, liable to think up all sorts of misfortunes and carry them out, beings of lustful minds, instruments of turpitude, guides in illicit acts and receptacles of vices." Writing during the 12th century, the poet and chronicler Constantine Manasses (quoted by Rodolphe Guilland in Eunuchs In The Byzantine Empire) summed up the feelings of many, then and now, towards eunuchs.

Which is, perhaps, why it has only been whispered that our mutual publisher Poisoned Pen Press could well change its name to The Eunuch Press, given the protagonists of two of its series are in that condition. Beverle's is one and our Lord Chamberlain mysteries, set in and around the sixth century Constantinople court of Emperor Justinian I, is the other.

A common difficulty we have experienced in talking about our work are misconceptions about the nature of eunuchs and the role they have played throughout history and indeed continue to play to this day. Eunuchs have been an important part of many cultures, and not all eunuchs are the stereotypical simpering, treacherous creatures intent on acquiring wealth by any and all means, including corruption, bribery, and fraud.

John and Tito's kindred have been the servants of royal households and held high administrative and military posts in cultures ranging from Rome to China for centuries. Indeed, it is probably only since the end of the British Raj that eunuchs have ceased to be found in the courts of maharajahs. Even so, eunuchs are still to be found in India, often forming their own families to work as dancers and singers and as bringers of good luck or bad, depending on how well they are rewarded to go away when they show up at a wedding or similar family celebration. Then too, Beverle's Tito is among those whose international fame as ethereal-voiced singers riveted the l8th century.

Eunuchs of the Byzantine period were, like the rest of humanity, a mixed lot. More than a century before the time of Justinian the eunuch consul Eutropius became notorious for his power over the emperor Arcadius. When his vice, cruelty, and greed finally earned him too many enemies, he took refuge in the Great Church at Constantinople and was protected, for a time, by St John Chrysostom, who later used the consul's downfall as a
subject for his writings. Alas, since Poisoned Pen Press had not yet been founded, rather than a mystery Chrysostom had to write a homily which takes as its theme "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

Justinian I's predecessor, his uncle Justin, ascended to the throne from his position as Captain of the Palace Guards thanks to the unwitting assistance of another powerful and ambitious eunuch. Amantius, the Lord Chamberlain, bribed Justin to support Amantius' hand-picked choice for the emperorship. Justin, however, used the payment to buy support for himself, and then had Amantius and his protege put to death.

Justinian I was even better served by his "real" (for those who believe history rather than mystery novels) Lord Chamberlain Narses. Not only did Narses assist in quelling the Nika riots during which Justinian was nearly dethroned, he also did several stints as a general, helping to reconquer Italy when he was 75. Eunuchs made up a large percentage of the administration in the Byzantine Empire. And many other eunuchs were affiliated with the church, including more than one Patriarch.

More recently, it is only about a decade since the death in Beijing of Sun Yaoting, the last eunuch of the Chinese imperial court. He was in his early 90s and had undergone the operation only a few months before the fall of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911. The deposed and last emperor, Pu-Yi, continued to live in the Forbidden City palace complex and Mr. Sun remained his servant for some time.

Chinese eunuchs preserved that which they had lost for burial with them, believing that in the afterlife this custom would enable them to become whole again. Sadly, Mr. Sun could not anticipate this reunion for during the Cultural Revolution, his family destroyed what were called his "precious" for fear of punishment if the remains were found.

It is true that we tend to hear more about stereotypically evil eunuchs than about good eunuchs but that might be because evil is often more interesting. (How interesting would mysteries be without murders?) In fact, for centuries eunuchs have also been associated with heaven. In the later periods of the Byzantine Empire the heavenly court found an earthbound reflection in the imperial court. The eunuchs who surrounded the emperor—who was considered God's representative—with their brilliant white clothing, and glowing beardless faces served as the equivalent of angels. And it is no secret that the ethereal voices of castrato singers have often been likened to the voices of angels.

Now there's a stereotype we and our publisher can live with.