Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry to concentrate on writing and the study of medieval history. A regular speaker at library and literary events, he is a past Chairman of the Crime Writers’Association. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor.
Also by Michael Jecks
The Last Templar
The Merchant’s Partner
A Moorland Hanging
The Crediton Killings
The Abbot’s Gibbet
The Leper’s Return
Squire Throwleigh’s Heir
Belladonna at Belstone
The Traitor of St Giles
The Boy Bishop’s Glovemaker
The Tournament of Blood
The Sticklepath Strangler
The Devil’s Acolyte
The Mad Monk of Gidleigh
The Templar’s Penance
The Outlaws of Ennor
The Tolls of Death
The Chapel of Bones
The Butcher of St Peter’s
A Friar’s Bloodfeud
The Death Ship of Dartmouth
The Malice of Unnatural Death
Dispensation of Death
The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover
The Prophecy of Death
The King of Thieves
The Bishop Must Die
First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2010
A CBS COMPANY
Copyright © Michael Jecks, 2010
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.
No reproduction without permission.
® and © 1997 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.
The right of Michael Jecks to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Hardback ISBN: 978-1-84737-900-9
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-85720-034-1
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84737-901-6
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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For
Beryl and Peter
The best parents possible!
With much love
GLOSSARY
Aketon
| a thick tunic, originally padded or quilted, that was worn over the shirt but underneath a man-at-arms’
hauberk
.
|
Alaunt
| a hunting dog, like a greyhound but larger, with a broad head and shorter snout. Known for their ferocity, these dogs were used to hunt big game, even bears.
|
Ambler
| horses for gentle riding were trained to ‘amble’, swinging both left legs together, then both right legs.
|
Amerce
| a financial penalty that was a type of bond. For example, a man would be ‘amerced’ to attend court, and if he failed to appear, the sum was his fine.
|
Attach
| to secure a man’s attendance at court by means of sureties.
|
Berner
| the attendant in charge of hounds.
|
Centaine
| a unit of men-at-arms in the King’s host: a hundred men.
|
Chevauchée
| a technical military term, generally meaning to ride out and pillage an area.
|
Deodand
| a tax, based on the value of a murder weapon, payable as a fine. This tax remained in force until the nineteenth century, when railway companies complained at the value of entire trains being levied for accidental homicides!
|
Fosser
| the sexton, a gravedigger.
|
Garbage
| animal offal used for food.
|
Guyenne
| that part of France still ruled by the British King: Aquitaine, Anjou, etc.
|
Hainaulter
| man from Hainault in Flanders.
|
Hauberk
| the mail shirt that was worn over the
aketon
but beneath the
pair of plates
.
|
Heriot
| a fine of the best beast, rendered to a serf’s lord when the serf died.
|
Hobelar
| armed man who rode upon a ‘hobby’, a small riding horse.
|
Kennel
| the central gulley or gutter in a medieval street.
|
Leyrwite
| this was the fine imposed on women for adultery or sexual incontinence.
|
Lurdan
| a term of opprobrium – a sluggard, a laggard, a dimwit.
|
Mastiff
| a large dog, used as a guard and sometimes for baiting.
|
Murdrum
| the fine imposed on a
vill
when none could prove ‘Englishry’ for a corpse. It had been a means of fining the English rebels after the Norman invasion, and was imposed when a body was thought to be Norman, as a way of punishing the community.
|
Pair of Plates
| a form of body armour made by fixing overlapping plates of steel to the inside of a cloth or leather tunic. It was worn over the mail
hauberk
.
|
Palfrey
| a small to medium-sized horse noted for its comfort.
|
Posse Comitatus
| the force of the county, available to keep the peace or help hunt down felons.
|
Rache
| a running dog, which we would probably call a greyhound today.
|
Rounsey
| the common horse for general use: also used as a warhorse by men-at-arms, and as a packhorse.
|
Schiltrom
| troops drawn up in battle order.
|
Vill
| a territorial unit, comprising a number of houses and the land adjacent, which was the basic unit of administration under feudal law.
|
Vingtaine
| a military unit of twenty men.
|
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Sir Baldwin de Furnshill
| Keeper of the King’s Peace, Baldwin was once a Templar, but now seeks a quiet life in Devon.
|
Simon Puttock
| Baldwin’s closest friend, Simon has worked with him on many murder investigations.
|
Margaret (Meg)
| Simon’s wife.
|
Peterkin (Perkin)
| Simon and Margaret’s son.
|
Hugh
| Simon’s long-suffering servant.
|
Rob
| son of a prostitute in Dartmouth, Rob has become Simon’s servant too.
|
Jack
| a young fellow accompanying Baldwin.
|
Nobles
|
|
King Edward II
| King of England.
|
Edward, Duke of Aquitaine, (also Earl of Chester)
| the King’s eldest son, the future Edward III, who was never made a prince.
|
Sir Hugh le Despenser
| Sir Hugh ‘The Younger’, the closest adviser to the King, his best friend, and alleged lover. Known for his outrageous greed and ambition.
|
Earl Hugh of Winchester
| Sir Hugh’s father, known as ‘The Elder’, a loyal servant of King Edward I, but a man keen to enrich himself.
|
Queen Isabella
| wife to the King, and figurehead of the rebellion against him.
|
Sir Roger Mortimer
| lover to Queen Isabella and, with her, leader of the rebels.
|
Sir Ralph of Evesham
| a knight in the service of the King.
|
Sir Charles of Lancaster
| formerly a loyal servant of Earl Thomas of Lancaster, now he is in the service of the King.
|
Bristol
|
|
Arthur Capon
| a wealthy burgess in Bristol.
|
Madame Capon
| wife to Arthur.
|
Petronilla
| Arthur’s daughter.
|
Cecily
| maidservant to the Capon family.
|
Squire William de Bar
| husband of Petronilla.
|
Father Paul
| priest who became Petronilla’s lover.
|
Emma Wrey
| widow of a successful merchant in Bristol.
|
Sir Stephen Siward
| Coroner in Bristol.
|
Sir Laurence Ashby
| the Constable of Bristol Castle.
|
Thomas Redcliffe
| a merchant of Bristol ruined by pirates.
|
Roisea Redcliffe
| Thomas’s wife.
|
Soldiers
|
|
Robert Vyke
| a serf brought into the King’s host.
|
Otho
| Sergeant from Vyke’s vill.
|
Herv Tyrel
| a friend to Vyke.
|
Walerand of Guildford
| also Walerand the Tranter, a carter pressed into the King’s service to help transport goods for the troops.
|
