‘History is a novel that has been lived’
E. & J. DE GONCOURT
‘It is terrifying to think how much research is needed to determine the truth of even the most unimportant fact’
STENDHAL
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Epigraph
Foreword
The Characters in this Book
Family Tree
The Royal Succession
Prologue
Part One: Philippe and the Closed Gates
1. The White Queen
2. The Cardinal who Did not Believe in Hell
3. The Gates of Lyons
4. Let us Dry our Tears
5. The Gates of the Conclave
6. From Neauphle to Saint-Marcel
7. The Gates of the Palace
8. The Count of Poitiers’s Visits
9. Friday’s Child
10. The Assembly of the Three Dynasties
11. The Betrothed Play Tag
Part Two: Artois and the Conclave
1. The Arrival of Count Robert
2. The Pope’s Lombard
3. The Wages of Sin
4. We Must Go to War
5. The Regent’s Army Takes a Prisoner
Part Three: From Mourning to Coronation
1. A Wet-nurse for the King
2. Leave it to God
3. Bouville’s Trick
4. My Lords, Look on the King
5. A Lombard in Saint-Denis
6. France in Firm Hands
7. Shattered Dreams
8. Departures
9. The Eve of the Coronation
10. The Bells of Rheims
Historical Notes
Footnotes
Author’s Acknowledgments
By Maurice Druon
Copyright
About the Publisher
Foreword
GEORGE R.R. MARTIN
Over the years, more than one reviewer has described my fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, as historical fiction about history that never happened, flavoured with a dash of sorcery and spiced with dragons. I take that as a compliment. I have always regarded historical fiction and fantasy as sisters under the skin, two genres separated at birth. My own series draws on both traditions … and while I undoubtedly drew much of my inspiration from Tolkien, Vance, Howard, and the other fantasists who came before me, A Game of Thrones and its sequels were also influenced by the works of great historical novelists like Thomas B. Costain, Mika Waltari, Howard Pyle … and Maurice Druon, the amazing French writer who gave us the The Accursed Kings, seven splendid novels that chronicle the downfall of the Capetian kings and the beginnings of the Hundred Years War.
Druon’s novels have not been easy to find, especially in English translation (and the seventh and final volume was never translated into English at all). The series has twice been made into a television series in France, and both versions are available on DVD … but only in French, undubbed, and without English subtitles. Very frustrating for English-speaking Druon fans like me.
The Accursed Kings has it all. Iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies and lust, deception, family rivalries, the curse of the Templars, babies switched at birth, she-wolves, sin, and swords, the doom of a great dynasty … and all of it (well, most of it) straight from the pages of history. And believe me, the Starks and the Lannisters have nothing on the Capets and Plantagenets.
Whether you’re a history buff or a fantasy fan, Druon’s epic will keep you turning pages. This was the original game of thrones. If you like A Song of Ice and Fire, you will love The Accursed Kings.
George R.R. Martin
The Characters in this Book
THE QUEEN OF FRANCE:
CLÉMENCE OF HUNGARY, grand-daughter of Charles II of Anjou-Sicily and of Marie of Hungary, second wife and widow of Louis X, the Hutin, King of France and Navarre, aged 23.
LOUIS X’S CHILDREN:
JEANNE OF NAVARRE, daughter of Louis X and his first wife, Marguerite of Burgundy, aged 5. JEAN I, called THE POSTHUMOUS, son of Louis X and Clémence of Hungary, King of France.
THE REGENT:
PHILIPPE, second son of Philip IV, the Fair, and brother to Louis X, Count of Poitiers, Peer of the Kingdom, Count Palatine of Burgundy, Lord of Salins, Regent, then Philippe V, the Long, aged 23.
HIS BROTHER:
CHARLES, third son of Philip the Fair, Count de La Marche and future King Charles IV, the Fair, aged 22.
