Matthew Gourney

BRETON NOBILITY AND COMMANDERS

John de Montfort: English-backed claimant to the Duchy of Brittany

Charles de Blois: French-backed claimant to the Duchy of Brittany

Lord of Mayenne: Breton regional lord

Bertrand du Guesclin: Breton commander

Olivier de Mauny: nobleman and Bertrand du Guesclin’s cousin

Jean de Beaumanoir: lord and ally of Charles de Blois

ENGLISH ROYALTY

Edward of Woodstock: Prince of Wales and Aquitaine

ENGLISH OFFICIALS

Sir John Chandos: Constable of Aquitaine

Sir Nigel Loring: the Prince’s chamberlain

FRENCH ROYALTY

Charles V: King of France

FRENCH OFFICIALS, NOBLEMEN, MERCENARIES AND MEN-AT-ARMS

Jean de Grailly, Captal de Buch: Gascon lord

Lord de Graumont: French regional lord

*Godfrey de Claville: captain of Villaines

Simon Bucy: counsellor to the French King

Gontier de Bagneaux: confidential secretary to the French King

Jean de Bourbon: Count de la Marche

Le Bègue de Villaines: French nobleman

Arnoul d’Audrehem: Marshal of France

Eustache d’Aubricourt: Hainault mercenary

SPANISH ROYALTY

Charles, King of Navarre: claimant to the French throne

Don Pedro I: King of Castile and León

Blanche de Bourbon: Queen of Castile and León

Henry of Trastámara: Don Pedro’s half-brother and claimant to his throne

SPANISH OFFICIALS

Iñigo Ortiz de Estúñiga: guard commander for Blanche de Bourbon

*High Steward to King Don Pedro

Gutier de Toledo: commander of the royal bodyguard

SPANISH MEN-AT-ARMS, VILLEINS, SERVANTS, MERCHANTS, SURGEON AND CLERICS

*Garindo: heretic priest

*Velasquita Alcón de Lugo

*Lázaro: Queen of Castile’s servant

*Halif ben Josef: Jewish surgeon

*Ariz: man-at-arms

*Saustin: man-at-arms

*Tibalt: man-at-arms

*Elias Navarette and Salamon Bonisac: Jewish merchants

*Andrés: guide

*Santos: guide

*Pérez of Burgos: merchant

*Álvaraz: Castilian army commander

Gil Boccanegra: Genoese Admiral of the Castilian Fleet

Suero Gómez: Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela

Peralvarez: dean of Santiago cathedral

*Gontrán: fisherman and pilgrim

NASRID MOORS

*Sayyid al-Hakam

*Abid al-Hakam

*Najih bin Wālid

*Indicates fictional characters

Map

Epigraph

A noble man must either live a good life or die a noble death.

Sophocles

PROLOGUE

King Pedro’s Palace Burgos, Castile, Spain

The darkened room bore no sign of evil incantation, even though some deemed the practice of astrology to be against Divine Law. Garindo knew the risks he took if he edged closer to the abyss of necromancy and witchcraft – and it was easily done: the thirst for greater knowledge of the universe could lead a man to embrace the dark arts. However, his own religious convictions kept him on the side of righteousness, even though he had been charged with heresy by the Pope for practising astrology.

The heretic priest blinked in the near darkness. He had been studying for hours and the candles had burnt low. His predictions had come to fruition and he now feared another whose powers were greater than his own. She was Satan’s mistress.