A King's Ransom

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Authors: Sharon Kay Penman

Tags: #Fiction, #Historical

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Also by Sharon Kay Penman

THE HISTORICAL NOVELS

The Sunne in Splendour

Here Be Dragons

Falls the Shadow

The Reckoning

When Christ and His Saints Slept

Time and Chance

Devil’s Brood

Lionheart

THE MEDIEVAL MYSTERIES

The Queen’s Man

Cruel as the Grave

Dragon’s Lair

Prince of Darkness

A MARIAN WOOD BOOK

Published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons

Publishers Since 1838

Published by the Penguin Group

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Copyright © 2014 by Sharon Kay Penman

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Penman, Sharon Kay,

A King’s Ransom/Sharon Kay Penman.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-698-16717-9

1. Richard I, King of England, 1157–1199—Fiction. 2. Great Britain—History—Richard I, 1189–1199—Fiction. 3. Historical fiction. 4. Biographical fiction. I. Title.

PS3566.E474K56 2014 2013042663

813'.54—dc23

Maps by John Burgoyne

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Version_1

To Dr. John Phillips

CONTENTS

Also by Sharon Kay Penman
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Cast of Characters as of 1192
Maps
 
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
 
Epilogue
Afterword
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments

CAST OF CHARACTERS

As of 1192

ROYAL HOUSE OF ENGLAND

R
ICHARD
(b. September 1157), King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Poitou and Anjou
E
LEANOR
(b. 1124), his mother, Dowager Queen of England, widow of King Henry II, Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right
B
ERENGARIA
(b. c. 1170), Richard’s queen, wed in Cyprus in 1191, daughter of Sancho VI, King of Navarre
J
OHN
(b. December 1166), Richard’s youngest brother, Count of Mortain
J
OANNA
(b. October 1165), Richard’s youngest sister, widowed Queen of Sicily
L
EONORA
(b. 1161), Richard’s younger sister, Queen of Castile
H
ENRY
(Hal) (1155–1183), Richard’s deceased elder brother
G
EOFFREY
(1158–1186), Richard’s deceased younger brother, Duke of Brittany by his marriage to Constance of Brittany
M
ATILDA
(Tilda) (1156–1189), Richard’s deceased older sister, Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria by her marriage to Heinrich der Löwe, mother of Richenza, Henrik, Otto, and Wilhelm
R
ICHENZA
(b. 1171), Richard’s niece, wife of Jaufre, Count of Perche
O
TTO
(b. 1177), Richard’s nephew
W
ILHELM
(b. 1184), Richard’s nephew
P
HILIP
(b. 1181), Richard’s illegitimate son

ENGLAND, NORMANDY, POITOU

G
EOFFREY
(Geoff), Richard’s older half brother, Henry’s illegitimate son, Archbishop of York
W
ILLIAM
M
ARSHAL,
one of Richard’s justiciars, wed to Isabel de Clare, Countess of Pembroke
H
UBERT
W
ALTER,
Bishop of Salisbury, accompanied Richard on crusade
G
UILLAUME DE
L
ONGCHAMP,
Bishop of Ely, Richard’s chancellor
G
AUTIER DE
C
OUTANCES,
Archbishop of Rouen
R
OBERT
B
EAUMONT,
Earl of Leicester, accompanied Richard on crusade
R
ANDOLPH DE
B
LUNDEVILLE,
Earl of Chester, second husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany
A
NDRÉ DE
C
HAUVIGNY,
Lord of Châteauroux, Richard’s cousin, accompanied him on crusade; wed to heiress Denise de Deols
M
ERCADIER,
Richard’s notorious mercenary captain

BRITTANY

C
ONSTANCE,
Duchess of Brittany, widow of Geoffrey, now wed to the Earl of Chester
Her children by Geoffrey:
A
RTHUR
and E
LEANOR
(Aenor)

ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE

P
HILIPPE
C
APET
(b. 1165), King of France
L
OUIS
C
APET,
Philippe’s father, first husband of Eleanor, deceased
M
ARGUERITE
C
APET,
Philippe’s half sister, widow of Richard’s brother Hal, now wed to Bela, King of Hungary
M
ARIE,
Countess of Champagne, half sister to Philippe and Richard, Eleanor’s daughter by Louis Capet, mother of Henri of Champagne
H
ENRI,
Count of Champagne, Marie’s son, Richard’s nephew, now wed to Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem
A
LYS
C
APET,
Philippe’s half sister, betrothed to Richard in childhood
P
HILIP DE
D
REUX,
Bishop of Beauvais, Philippe’s cousin

ROYAL HOUSE OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

H
EINRICH VON
H
OHENSTAUFEN
(b. 1165), Holy Roman Emperor
C
ONSTANCE DE
H
AUTEVILLE,
his empress, daughter of a Sicilian king
K
ONRAD VON
H
OHENSTAUFEN,
Count of the Palatine, Heinrich’s uncle
C
ONRAD,
Duke of S
WABIA,
Heinrich’s younger brother
O
TTO,
Count of B
URGUNDY,
Heinrich’s younger brother
P
HILIP,
briefly the Bishop of Würzburg, later the Duke of Tuscany, Heinrich’s youngest brother

GERMANY

H
EINRICH “DER
L
ÖWE,”
former Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, wed to Richard’s deceased sister, Matilda
H
ENRIK,
his eldest son
O
TTO,
R
ICHENZA,
and W
ILHELM,
his other children, raised in England
B
ONIFACE,
Marquis of Montferrat, brother to the slain Conrad of Montferrat
M
ARKWARD VON
A
NNWEILER,
Heinrich’s seneschal
C
OUNT
D
IETRICH VON
H
OCHSTADEN,
Heinrich’s vassal
L
UDWIG,
current Duke of Bavaria
A
LBERT,
Bishop of Liege, assassinated that November
S
OON
to be in rebellion against Heinrich:
B
RUNO,
Archbishop of Cologne
A
DOLF VON
A
LTENA,
his nephew, Provost of Cologne Cathedral
K
ONRAD VON
W
ITTELSBACH,
Archbishop of Mainz
H
EINRICH,
Duke of Brabant
H
EINRICH,
Duke of Limburg
O
TTOKAR,
Duke of Bohemia

AUSTRIA

L
EOPOLD VON
B
ABENBERG,
Duke of Austria
H
ELENA,
his duchess
F
RIEDRICH,
his eldest son
L
EOPOLD,
his youngest son
H
ADMAR VON
K
UENRING,
Leopold’s
ministerialis
, castellan of Durnstein Castle

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