The Fallen Sword (The Hundred Years’ War 3)
While the English army besieges Calais, Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England, is in Bruges to broker a marriage between her daughter and the count of Flanders, currently a prisoner. The queen comes under attack, and five of her men are dead. The boatmen have been strangled, with catgut ligatures—probably by the musicians suspected to be connected to the secret society of Pilgrims, mercenaries for hire. Simon Merrivale the herald and Tiphaine de Tesson, the queen’s lady, seek information on the renewed conspiracy against the English crown. Three men are meeting in secret: an English courtier to King Edward and two courtiers to King Philippe, John of Hainault and Guy de Béthune. The Englishman, the ‘man from the north’, plans ‘to redraw the map of Europe’. In an ever-widening spiral of conspiracies, the French crown, the papal throne and the throne of the Romans are all under threat. The Knights of St John also have a role to play. Across war-torn Flanders, Merrivale and his allies dodge ambushes and conduct secret meetings in ruined castles. Neither Paris nor Bruges is safe from assassins’ knives. People betray their friends and switch allegiances, but in the end, the English take Calais, and the traitor’s identity is revealed.
The cast of characters is huge, mostly real historical figures, but a list at the front of the book helps to keep track. I was almost lost by chapter six and remained puzzled throughout. Right up to the dramatic conclusion, new characters are entering the picture. Even simply to know the identities, much less to understand the intricate political intrigues, of all these personages must have required prodigious research. The plot is as wonderfully complex as European history was at that time—and as difficult to follow.
