‘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
‘She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs, That tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate …’
THOMAS GRAY
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Epigraph
Foreword
The Characters in this Book
Family Tree
The She-Wolf of France
Prologue
Part One: From the Thames to the Garonne
1. ‘No One ever Escapes from the Tower of London’
2. The Harassed Queen
3. Messer Tolomei has a New Customer
4. The False Crusade
5. A Time of Waiting
6. The Bombards
Part Two: Isabella in Love
1. Dinner with Pope John
2. The Holy Father’s Penance
3. The Road to Paris
4. King Charles
5. The Cross of Blood
6. The Happy Year of 1325
7. Each Prince who Dies …
Part Three: The Disinherited King
1. The Hostile Spouses
2. The Return to Neauphle
3. The Queen in the Temple
4. The Council at Chaâlis
Part Four: The Cruel Invasion
1. Harwich
2. The Shining Hour
3. Hereford
4. Vox Populi
5. Kenilworth
6. The Camp-kettle War
7. The Grass Crown
8. ‘Bonum Est’
9. The Red-hot Poker
Historical Notes
Footnotes
A Note for English Readers
Author’s Acknowledgements
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 KING OF FRANCE:
CHARLES IV, called the Fair, fourteenth successor to Hugues Capet, great-grandson of Saint Louis, third and last son of Philip IV, the Fair, and Jeanne of Navarre, formerly husband of Blanche of Burgundy and Count de la Marche, aged 29.
THE QUEENS OF FRANCE:
MARIE OF LUXEMBURG, eldest daughter of Henry VII, Emperor of Germany, and of Marguerite of Brabant, aged 19.
JEANNE OF ÉVREUX, daughter of Louis of France, Count of Évreux, brother of Philip the Fair, and of Marguerite of Artois, aged about 18.
