‘I was so enflamed with anger I thought to creep in after her, but instead I waited. Almost immediately she came out again unarmed and made her way out into the bushes at the back of the camp and then she pulled her braies down and squatted to make water and … and I killed her.’
‘Derwent!’ Admiration, relief, astonishment, guilt, envy, satisfaction, galloped through Richart’s mind. Why had the rascal not told him this before? ‘Friend, what can I say?’ He watched the stubby fingers clasp and tense.
‘I closed her eyes, dragged her to a tree trunk and propped her there with her knees up as though she slept or sought some private moment. My lord, I know it was foolhardy to have slain her. I realise if there had been a hue and cry, we three would have been discovered.’
Adela crouched and held out her arms to the dwarf. ‘Oh, Derwent, you brave fellow, think how many lives you may have saved.’
‘It wasn’t the only reason.’ He pulled back from Adela’s embrace. ‘You see, when I was still a lad, my family were dragged out of their smallholding by Girard d’Athée and his men. It was just before L’Aiguille left to start her own company of routiers and she was with them. They slew my father, found me hiding in the byre, and made me watch while they raped and slaughtered my mother and sisters. Then Girard’s kin kept me in their household, forced me to become their entertainment until finally he gave me to the king.’
‘Oh, Derwent.’ She enfolded him again, close to tears.
Richart held out a hand. ‘My thanks, Derwent. You did what I as a knight could not do, what Adela had not the combat skill to do, and your courage avenges my sister as well. God willing, the tidings of this may help to heal her soul.’
‘Tell him what we’ve decided, my dearest lord.’
‘My lady needs a chamberlain. We were thinking you might be the right man.’
Derwent closed his eyes for a moment as though he could not believe it. ‘It would be my pleasure,’ he said with great delight. ‘Proper, honest work at last!’ And he bowed over Richart’s hand.
‘Yes, indeed,’ murmured Adela, rising to entwine her arm lovingly with Richart’s and hold out her other hand to Derwent. ‘May our love and friendship together endure, come what may.’
The future might be short, but their lives held purpose and it had not been wrong to dream, to hope. Nor was it wrong now.
‘Amen to that, my lady and my love.’ Richart lifted her fingers to his lips.
‘Beats peeling onions,’ murmured Derwent over his shoulder, as he skipped down the steps.
The End
Glossary
aiguille—needle or bodkin
ambler—quality horse for normal travelling
arbour—sheltered garden nook
aumory—large cupboard
bailey—courtyard between a castle’s keep and its walls
baladas—dance song
barbican—gated ramp or bridge
bèl—(colloquial) ‘That’s great!’
bona domna or ma domna—‘my lady’, form of address in Occitan
bonne robe—(colloquial) ‘nice bit of skirt’
Bordelais—inhabitants of Bordeaux
braies—fabric wrapped round to form breeches with a flap drawn up between the legs and over the genitals to form a sort of primitive breeches. The material was rolled over a cord to secure it at the waist.
cala, fols!—‘be silent, fool!’
cappa magna—a bishop’s ceremonial cape
castellan—French equivalent of constable or governor of a castle
Cathars—heretical sect, also known as the Albigensians. Their preachers were called ‘Good Men’ or ‘Perfects’.
chareta—chariot, coach
chasuble—an ecclesiastical robe, often highly embroidered.
chalumele—kind of early oboe
chausses—men’s lower leggings or stockings
coif—snug-fitting cap for men or women. A metal coif was like a tight hood of chainmail.
crusade—an army authorised by the pope against non-Christians or heretics
couvre-chef—woman’s headcover
cup board—like a dresser
destrier—warhorse
domicella—woman servant of good birth
dun—pale greyish-brown colour
écorcheurs—bands of brigands, sometimes former soldiers
excommunication—the pope used this to put pressure on uncooperative monarchs like King John of England and King Philippe-Augustus of France. It involved a sort of ‘work-to rule’ by the clergy. No funeral masses were permitted, no burial in holy ground. Baptism of newborn infants was permitted.
fas cagar—Occitan for ‘go defecate’
fiefdom—the south of France was made up of fiefdoms, like English baronies but more compact. The noblemen who held these fiefdoms owed two allegiances, to their overlord, such as the Comte de Foix or Comte de Toulouse, but also to the King of France. Sometimes it was difficult, a matter of political expediency, to decide who to obey.
fille de joie—prostitute
fols—‘fool’ in Occitan, also spelt ‘folh’ and ‘ fòl’
gambeson—cote or coat
gloriet or gloriette—a separate building from a castle keep
gonfalcon—a military banner
gorget—a garment covering the shoulders of a tunic. It might be part of a hood.
haubergeon or hauberk—chainmail armour made of countless metal rings
herber—medieval garden
hedge-whore—easy woman
holà—‘hey!’ in French
hypocras—spiced wine
jacks—ale cups
jakes—communal toilets
jongleur—itinerant all-round entertainer
knight-service—forty days a year of military service owed to the king. However, knights could pay others to take their place.
langue d’oc—a form of French spoken in the southern part of France
langue d’oeuil—a form of French spoken in northern France
malpolon—snake found in the Montpellier region
Marie-Madeleine—French form of Mary Magdalene
mazer—wide-rimmed drinking vessel
mercenaries—companies of soldiers who were not bound by knight-service. See also routiers.
midden—household rubbish tip
orphrey—embroidered panel
overlord—the feudal system was a hierarchy headed by the king. Barons swore fealty to the king and in turn expected fealty from their knights. The pope could exempt barons from owing fealty to a king or overlord.
palliasse—medieval bedding
pard—leopard
peleton—platoon
Perfect—another term for a Cathar heretic
ribauds—riff-raff, vagabonds
rouncey—sturdy horse, packhorse
routiers—professional soldiers, companies of mercenaries
seneschal—a chief bailiff for a lord
souterrain—underground room
sparrow fart—dawn, early morning
surcote—sleeveless tunic over chainmail
tabor—small drum
Templars—wealthy order of knights
thwart—seat or crossboard of a boat
troubadour—poet, songwriter and musician
troubaritz/troubairitz—woman troubadour
trouvères—minstrels
vicomte—a lord lesser in rank than a comte
vieles—forerunner of a fiddle
volpil bastart!—‘cowardly bastard!’
Author’s Note
A few days after this story ends, the crusading army besieged Carcassonne and played dirty, capturing Vicomte Rogièr during negotiations and then forcing all the people to leave the city without any of their possessions. The vicomte perished in prison a few months later. Simon de Montfort became the new lord and used the city as a base to terrorise the region. Raymon, Comte de Toulouse, continued to oppose de Montfort and, after years of fighting, died in 1222
. He was denied burial by the Church and his coffin lay disintegrating above ground for four hundred years.
De Montfort died two years after Raymon, while besieging Toulouse. He was struck down by a missile hurled from a mangonel, which was being handled by a group of women (maybe my fictional Adela could have been among them).
The last stand of the Cathars was at the fortress of Montségur in 1244, but inquisitions continued wherever heresy was suspected and the records of the interrogation of the villagers at Montaillou in 1308 have survived to give a wonderful insight into community life at that time.
It’s impossible to name all the printed and online sources but here are some:
For the politics and general chronology of the era—God’s Heretics: The Albigensian Crusade by Aubrey Burl; The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade: A Sourcebook by Catherine Léglu, Rebecca Rist and Claire Taylor; A Most Holy War: The Albigensian Crusade and the Battle for Christendom by Mark Gregory Pegg (which includes a layout of Béziers in 1209); A Military and Political History of the Albigensian Crusade by Lawrence W. Marvin; The Southern French Nobility and the Albigensian Crusade by Elaine Graham-Leigh; The Perfect Heresy: The Revolutionary Life and Death of the Medieval Cathars by Stephen O’Shea; King John by W.L. Warren; and two PhD theses: ‘The Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: the culture and practice of crusading in Medieval Iberia’ by Miguel Dolan Gomez, University of Tennessee, 2011; and ‘Girard d’Athée and the Men from the Touraine: their roles under King John’ by Margaret Caroline Rickaby, Durham University, 2011.
For everyday life—Daily Living in the Twelfth Century: based on the observations of Alexander Neckham in London and Paris by Urban Tigner Homes, Jr. and Montaillou: The promised Land of Error by Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (translation Barbara Bray). For armour and weapons, I browsed the illustrations of the Maciejowski Bible, and I’m indebted to Christian G. Cameron and to the members of the Historical Novel Society of Australasia for a wonderful online discussion on chainmail; to sailing historians Robert Mundy and John H. Andela for kindly answering my queries; Dr Jörg Feldman of the University of Aberdeen who generously sent me his paper on arsenic; John P. Bryson QC of Sydney for answering my questions on medieval inheritance laws; Walter Eufinger in Frankfurt for letting me browse his books on medieval hunting; and Don Rowley for loaning me his copies of troubadour poetry.
Lexic occitan medieval at http://lengadoc.chez.com/lexic_medieval.htm was a brilliant resource when I was translating snatches of troubadour poems. Incidentally, for music lovers especially, there are crusader anthems and troubadour songs, rich and exquisite, on YouTube. These really help this era come to life and it’s worthwhile having a browse. For anyone who wants to learn more about the poetry techniques, however, have a look at Cansas of Raimon de Miravel by Margaret Louise Switten.
It was a privilege to interview Ammie, a member of the Short Statured People of Australia (SSPA), and I thank her for her kindness in talking with me about a small person’s perspective and sensitivities. Her comments assisted me a great deal with the character of Derwent.
Others who helped with this novel were: Roswitha Gerhardt, my German agent; Sally Martyn, my sleuthing companion as we explored Corfe Castle (and, yes, there was building work in 1208); Anne Berriman, for being a delightful hostess when we stayed with her at La Salvetat-sur-Agoût; Babs Creamer of the Richard III Society Group in Poole, Dorset, for her talk on Corfe Castle; Kandy Shepherd and Christine Stinson for reading the earliest draft of this story; Jenny Savage and Felicity Pulman for reading the pre-edit ms.
Merci bien to the great team at Mira for their belief in this story.
Finally, a big hug for my husband, John. He was a wonderful companion on the walks through the forests of Languedoc.
Last word: authors are often asked where their ideas for a novel stem from. In this instance, I can assure you the answer is geographic. The Cathar region of France is a fabulous place for inspiration, especially the village of Minerve and the restored medieval city of Carcassonne. However, our own times can offer insights as we try to bring the past to our readers. While I was writing this novel, there were TV news reports that could have been depicting the events of 1209. It is so tragic that 800 years later, acts of savagery like the terror at Béziers are still being committed in the name of religion.
Isolde Martyn
www.isoldemartyn.com
About the Author
Isolde Martyn is originally from England and has an Honours degree in History, with a specialisation in the Wars of the Roses.
She ended up in Australia after meeting a rather nice geologist at a bus stop. Since then she has worked as a university tutor, an archivist and for six years as a researcher at Macquarie University. She spent a year investigating sedition in early colonial Australia and then became heavily involved in the Bicentenary History project and researched all the towns in Australia for the Bicentenary volume Events and Places.
Her more recent career was as a senior book editor with a major international publisher before taking up writing full time.
Isolde enjoys using turbulent historical events as the backdrop of her books. Her debut novel was the first book by an Australian writer to win the prestigious RITA award in the USA and her first two novels won the ‘Romantic Book of the Year Award’ in Australia. Her most recent book was The Golden Widows (Harlequin, 2014). She is a former chairperson of the Sydney branch of the Richard III Society and vice-chair of the Plantagenet History Society of Australia, which she co-founded with five other enthusiasts eighteen years ago.
Troubadour is her eighth novel and Bus Stop Day is still a celebration.
For information on her earlier books, please enjoy a browse at www.isoldemartyn.com.
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ISBN: 9781489220615
TITLE: Troubadour
First Australian Publication 2017
Copyright © 2017 Isolde Martyn
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher:
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