Belle's Song
Page 22
1370
Chaucer runs royal errands to France
1376
Chaucer in France on royal mission to negotiate peace
1378
Edward III dies. Richard II, aged ten, succeeds the throne
1380
The case against Chaucer for raptus (which might mean rape, kidnapping, or seizure) is dropped; Chaucer begins to write The Parliament of Fowls
1381
The Peasants’ Revolt: Richard II bravely meets the mob, promises them much, saying, “I’ll never go back on my word.” He does not keep this promise
1386
The Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Arundel complain of Richard’s extravagance and his policy of peace with France. A controlling council—the commission—is imposed on the king, much to his humiliation
Chaucer begins to write The Canterbury Tales
1387
Chaucer’s wife dies
1393
Richard II gives Chaucer £10 for “services rendered”
1394
Richard II grants Chaucer an annuity of £20 for life
1397
Richard II takes his revenge on the commission but his position is very shaky
1398
Richard II grants Chaucer a “tonel” (252 gallons) of wine, to be delivered every year for the rest of Chaucer’s life
1399
Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) lands in England and claims the crown of England
1400
Richard is taken prisoner and dies in Pontefract Castle, probably murdered
Chaucer signs a receipt for his tonel of wine and probably dies soon after
ALSO BY K. M. GRANT
The de Granville Trilogy
Blood Red Horse
Green Jasper
Blaze of Silver
How the Hangman Lost His Heart
The Perfect Fire Trilogy
Blue Flame
White Heat
Paradise Red
Copyright © 2010 by K. M. Grant
Electronic edition published in November 2011
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Originally published in Great Britain by Quercus Books in 2010
First published in the United States of America in November 2011
by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc.
www.bloomsburyteens.com
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grant, K. M. (Katie M.)
Belle’s song / by K.M. Grant.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: In 1387, fifteen-year-old Belle joins Geoffrey Chaucer, his scribe Luke, squire
Walter, and others on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury to atone and pray for a cure
for her father’s crippling injury, but political intrigue threatens them all.
ISBN 9780802722768
[1. Pilgrims and pilgrimages—Fiction. 2. Voyages and travels—Fiction. 3. Knights and
knighthood—Fiction. 4. Chaucer, Geoffrey, d. 1400—Fiction. 5. Middle Ages—Fiction.
6. Great Britain—History—Richard II, 1377–1399—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.G7667755Bel 2011 [Fic]—dc22 2010038026
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Contents
Dedication
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Author’s Note
Selected Timeline
Also By K. M. Grant
Imprint