Louis IX paid 135,000 livres tournois for the Crown of Thorns — roughly half the kingdom’s annual income. He commissioned the Sainte-Chapelle to house the relics. Built in under seven years, the luminous chapel at the heart of the royal palace expressed both his faith and the power of the French crown.
In the novel
At Blois, a tournament is prepared for the king’s arrival. Knights clash before noble spectators; the royal presence makes the contest a chance to earn honour and recognition.
Horses, held in till now, surged toward one another.
Ruler of the ulus of Jochi† 1255
Batu Khan
The road to the white tent
In history
Batu was Genghis Khan’s grandson, but ancestry alone did not account for his power. He led armies into Eastern Europe and established himself on the lower Volga. His influence reached the summit of the empire: in 1251, his support helped Möngke become Great Khan.
In the novel
Chetger Yarig reaches Batu’s summer court. Tents, gifts, guards and a procession of petitioners make the approach to the khan a trial in itself.
A line of tents, adorned with colorful ribbons, stretched along a wide road to a snow-white tent on a hill.
Along the way, mighty warriors in red cloaks, armed with spears and bows, glared sternly at the long procession of people who had come to bow before the grandson of the great Chinggis Khan.
Genoese admiral and politicianXIII
Oberto Doria
When the laughter stops
In history
Before he commanded galleys, Oberto Doria traded. By 1251 he owned the Leopardo, with a crew of ninety; two years later, he sailed to Tunis with goods and money. The same man would later lead the Genoese fleet that defeated Pisa at Meloria in 1284.
In the novel
In the Savona episode, Brother Guillermo and Giovanni visit Doria. Their host greets them with a joke, but his visitors are not amused: their news is troubling.
“And how am I to help you?” Doria asked, striking a playful pose. “Till I saw you, I felt as sound as a bull—though now my legs seem to weaken.”
He laughed at his own jest. Brother Guillermo did not.
Arms of the House of Harcourt
Gules, two bars or.
De gueules à deux fasces d’or.
Baron d’HarcourtXIII
Philippe d’Harcourt
Courtesy with a wolf’s bearing
The House of Harcourt
Land, a fortress and access to the throne stood behind the Harcourt name. By the twelfth century, the family was building a stone castle in Normandy. Robert II d’Harcourt crusaded with Richard the Lionheart; the square keep and castle chapel are associated with him.
The family seat outlasted kings and wars. Its double moat, fortified enclosure and towers still show how fiercely power was defended here. During the Hundred Years’ War, the English captured the castle; the French later took it back.
In the novel
At his first appearance, Philippe wears black: an attractive, noble face contrasts with his watchful, predatory bearing. At the Blois tournament he appears in the family’s yellow and red; lilies on his right arm mark him as commander of the royal contingent.
The baron was comely; black clothing set off his noble face, yet his bearing reminded Agnes of a wolf—strong and pitiless, ready to destroy any foe with a predator’s lunge.
History gives us names. The novel brings an encounter.
