The Grail Quest Books 1-3: Harlequin, Vagabond, Heretic
Page 117
Only the opening and closing passages of Heretic are based on real history. The plague happened, as did the siege and capture of Calais, but everything in between is fictional. There is no town of Berat, nor a bastide called Castillon d’Arbizon. There is an Astarac, but whatever was built there now lies under the waters of a great reservoir. The fight which begins the book, the capture of Nieulay and its tower, did happen, but the victory gained the French no advantage for they were unable to cross the River Ham and engage the main English army. So the French withdrew, Calais fell and the port remained in English hands for another three centuries. The story of the six burghers of Calais being condemned to death, then reprieved, is well known and Rodin’s statue of the six, in front of the town’s hall, commemorates the event.
Thomas’s language difficulties in Gascony were real enough. The aristocracy there, as in England, used French, but the common folk had a variety of local languages, chiefly Occitan, from which the modern Languedoc comes. Languedoc simply means ‘the language of oc’, because oc was the word for yes, and it is closely related to Catalan, the language spoken just across the Pyrenees in northern Spain. The French, conquering the territory to their south, tried to suppress the language, but it is still spoken and is now enjoying something of a revival.
As for the Grail? Long gone, I suspect. Some say it was the cup Christ used at the Last Supper, and otheis that it was the bowl used to catch his blood from the ‘dolorous blow’, the lance wound given to His side during the crucifixion. Whatever it was, it has never been found, though rumours persist and some say it is hidden in Scotland. It was, nevertheless, the most prized relic of medieval Christendom, perhaps because it was so mysterious, or else because, when the Arthurian tales received their final form, all the old Celtic tales of magic cauldrons became confused with the Grail. It has also been a golden thread through centuries of stories, and will go on being that, which is why it is probably best if it remains undiscovered.
About the Author
BERNARD CORNWELL is a native of England, where he worked as a journalist in newspapers and television. In addition to Rebel, Copperhead, Battle Flag, and The Bloody Ground, the four novels in the Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles, he also wrote the bestselling Sharpe series, featuring the adventures of Captain Richard Sharpe of the British Army in the wars against Napoleon, which has been dramatized for television by Masterpiece Theatre; the Warlord Chronicles, about Arthurian England; Stonehenge: 2000 B.C., a Novel; and The Archer’s Tale. A resident of the United States for fifteen years, Bernard Cornwell now lives with his American wife on Cape Cod.
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BOOKS BY BERNARD CORNWELL
The Sharpe Novels
(in chronological order)
Sharpe’s Tiger
Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Seringapatam, 1799
Sharpe’s Triumph
Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Assaye, September 1803
Sharpe’s Fortress
Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Gawilghur, December 1803
Sharpe’s Trafalgar
Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805
Sharpe’s Rifles
Richard Sharpe and the French Invasion of Galicia, January 1809
Sharpe’s Eagle
Richard Sharpe and the Talavera Campaign, July 1809
Sharpe’s Gold
Richard Sharpe and the Destruction of Almeida, August 1810
Sharpe’s Battle
Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro, May 1811
Sharpe’s Company
Richard Sharpe and the Siege of Badajoz, January to April 1812
Sharpe’s Sword
Richard Sharpe and the Salamanca Campaign, June and July 1812
Sharpe’s Enemy
Richard Sharpe and the Defense of Portugal, Christmas 1812
Sharpe’s Honor
Richard Sharpe and the Vitoria Campaign, February to June 1813
Sharpe’s Regiment
Richard Sharpe and the Invasion of France, June to November 1813
Sharpe’s Siege
Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign, 1814
Sharpe’s Revenge
Richard Sharpe and the Peace of 1814
Sharpe’s Waterloo
Richard Sharpe and the Waterloo Campaign, 15 June to 18 June 1815
Sharpe’s Devil
Richard Sharpe and the Emperor, 1820-21
The Nathaniel Starbuck Chronicles
Rebel
(Book One)
Copperhead
(Book Two)
Battle Flag
(Book Three)
The Bloody Ground
(Book Four)
Other Novels
Stonehenge: 2000 B.C., a Novel
The Archer’s Tale
Redcoat
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