The Royal Succession
A Novel
Description:... "This is the fourth volume of the series of historical novels called the Accursed Kings. Though each book is an entity unto itself, still there is a central theme running through them all--namely the curse that Jaques DeMolay hurled at the Iron King (Philip IV) and his descendants--while being burned at the stake in the year 1313. Within a year Philip IV was dead. Hardly had the Iron King died, when his son, Louis X, followed him to the grave. The population could not help but see in these two deaths, Kings struck down in their prime, one following so quickly on the other, the finger of fate. Louis X, the Hutin, had reigned eighteen months, six days and ten hours. During this short period of time, this pitiful monarch had destroyed the greater part of his father's achievement. His reign had seen the murder of his Queen and the hanging of his first Minister; famine had ravaged France; two provinces had rebelled; and an army had been engulfed in the Flanders' mud. The great nobles were infringing on the royal prerogatives once more; reaction was all-powerful; and the Treasury empty. Louis X had ascended the throne at a moment when the world lacked a pope; he died before a pontiff had been elected and Christendom trembled on the verge of schism. And now France was without a king. Thus is the scene set as this novel concerning the struggle for the crown opens. Many factions are openly and covertly attempting to seize power. There is plot and counter plot--rape, pillage and murder. At Lyons the eldest surviving brother of Louis X is vainly attempting to force the Conclave of Cardinals to elect a new Pope. Against this background of unrest, civil war and the threat of outside attack, it was no wonder that the people recalled the anathema pronounced two years before by the Grand Master of the Templars from the faggots of his pyre. This is heady, exciting historical fiction at its best."--Dust jacket.
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