Showing results for "Knights" in War & Military

This first instalment in the Chronicles tells of Rodrigo’s rise to prominence when he became the champion of Prince Sancho of Castile. This is but the beginning of a tale which still stirs the blood a millennium after it began. The legend that was El Cid began more than 1,000 years ago, and time has meant that reality and fiction are intertwined like the threads of a spider’s web.

Sir Thomas and his new bride, Lady Margaret, have been forced to leave the Baltic. They cannot go to England and so he heads for Anjou where he hopes to take over the old manor of Sir Leofric. Upon his arrival, he finds himself thrown into a world of intrigue. Prince Arthur had been the chosen heir of King Richard but King John had taken not only the throne but also claimed the lands of Normandy, Maine and Anjou. Even before he has taken charge of his new manor, he finds threats from the French as well as King John.

When his father is killed at Arsuf protecting King Richard, Thomas is knighted. His hopes of inheriting his family's manor are dashed when Prince John takes power in his brother's absence. With a handful of men, Sir Thomas is forced to travel to Sweden where he joins the Jarl Birger Brosa fighting the Estonians, Karelians and Slavs. Fighting in the harsh environment of a Baltic winter makes Sir Thomas and his men stronger. There he learns of further treachery and dishonour among Bishops, Kings and Princes who value thrones more than men.

July 1241. Christendom cowers in terror before the threat of a Mongol invasion. The swift-moving, invincible cavalry of Genghis Khan has smashed the proud, steel-clad knights of Russia, Poland and Hungary – and now Austria lies directly in their path. At a skirmish outside the walls of Vienna, German knights capture a squad of Mongol scouts, and are astonished to discover one of their number is an Englishman – a Templar knight – who has been riding with these Devil’s horsemen for more than 20 years.

King Henry is not a good king. His son, The Lord Edward, promises strength but the Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort seeks the throne and the crown. When civil war erupts there is only one place for the knights of the valley, now led by the Warlord’s heir, Sir Henry Samuel, and that is by the side of the king. For good or ill they will do as they have always done and support the king. Their fate is entwined with the Plantagenets.

When Sir Henry Samuel’s nephew, Sir Matthew, has to go to the crusades with Henry of Almain he does so reluctantly. The crusade that was almost a disaster did not begin well. With an aging king and aging regent left to rule England, it is left to lords like the Earl of Cleveland to put out the last lingering embers of the de Montfort rebellion.

King Henry has need of a sword to help him recover land taken by the Prince of Wales! And he looks to the north and the border knights who have served him so well. Now that Sir Thomas is becoming too old for war, Sir William is chosen to lead the knights of the Tees south to the wild lands of Gwynedd.

Sir Michael of Weedon might think that his service to the crown ended when the Queen died and he was no longer required as her knight. He is wrong, for his qualities as a true and loyal warrior mean that he can be trusted. King Henry and the Earl of Suffolk send him to France to recover a pyx. Before he can complete his task, he is conscripted back into the army and finds himself, once more, fighting alongside Sir John Talbot.

Sir William Strongstaff is dead, and the defender of England and its kings is no longer there to battle the French. His chosen knight, Sir Michael of Weedon, is removed as the new king’s bodyguard, and he is sent to France, where the king’s uncles are trying to finish the job begun by King Henry V. From the outset, Sir Michael and his men are beset by treachery and intrigue. The line between ally and enemy appears to be almost invisible. The struggle is not only for England’s crown, but also the French one!

The battle for France is almost over but the Plantagenets do not know it. They cling to the hope that by throwing more and more men at a lost cause, they will regain the land lost. Sir Michael of Weedon knows that is not true and is tired of the waste. He has fulfilled his promise to a dead king, as well as his mentor, but it is a savage attack on his new family's home that makes him return to England. It is there that Fate catches up with him. He is summoned by Queen Catherine, King Henry's widow, and she entrusts him with her most valuable treasure and makes him, the Queen's Knight.

The warlord, his son and even his grandchildren are all dead. Sacrificed by kings who used them. Now King Henry asks the great-grandsons of the Warlord to help his son, The Lord Edward, learn how to rule. Sent with too few men and too many enemies, Sir Henry Samuel, Sir Alfred and the newly knighted Sir Thomas must learn how to use their skills, not in the familiar borderlands but in Gascony where insurrection and treason have reared their heads.

When Prince Arthur is murdered and the French begin to take Normandy, Sir Thomas finds himself isolated and alone. The Norman barons conspire against King John and the English knight has a dilemma. Does he join the rebels or stay true to his beliefs? Undefeated he and one of his knights leave Anjou and sail to a new life in England but it is not a life without trouble and death. He finds himself, in the midst of conspiracies and plots, forced to defend his land against bandits, brigands and the Scots.

When Sir William and his father, Sir Thomas of Stockton, the grandson of the Warlord, return from the crusade, they have to fight a new enemy: The Scots. Now that Queen Joan has died then King Alexander of Scotland is under the influence of the French. Sir William has to defend a perilously under protected border.

England has a new King. Henry is the young son of King John. Guided by a Council of regents and the Earl Marshal he has a divided England to heal. When William Marshal gives Sir Thomas, Earl of Cleveland, the responsibility of making the young King a warrior, he sets in motion a series of events which, although they might begin to heal the kingdom will bring pain to the Earl and his family.

Alfraed of Norton is given the task of protecting the Empress Matilda back to the emperor, her husband. He and his men have to fight enemies, bandits and treachery from within as they battle thorough an empire that is a nest of treachery and political ambition. While princes play for thrones, Alfraed must keep the empress safe.

King Henry III rules England but it is an England controlled by barons who wish to usurp his crown. When a new Pope demands unpaid monies owed to him then Sir Henry Samuel is dispatched to Rome to buy time for the beleaguered king. Once in France then treachery abounds. The dangers of sailing in a sea controlled by Moorish pirates adds to the problems Sir Henry and his new squire face. Back in England the king faces threats from all quarters and soon the knights of Cleveland are once more placed in danger.

Kings make treaties but it is men who keep or break them. When Sir Thomas of Cleveland is given the task of policing the northern border, he is given a poisoned chalice. His son is given the northern manor of Elsdon and there he is on the front line. He has to fight bandits, enemy lords and traitors from within. Set in the harsh lands of the Scottish borders Sir William comes of age. He becomes a warrior who has the blood of the Warlord.

Sir Thomas, Hero of Arsuf, rides to war again! When a king asks a baron to go on crusade it is an order not a request and, as such, is not to be ignored. The Earl of Cleveland has done his duty for his King and for the Pope many times over but he and his son, William,are chosen as token gesture to placate an unhappy Pope. Leaving England with a handful of men and untried and young knights, the old campaigner travels across Europe to join a crusade which is going nowhere. In a land riven with conspiracies and plots on both sides, Sir Thomas is beset by enemies.

The Emperor Henry of the Holy Roman Empire is dying, and his wife, the Empress Matilda, is in danger from those who would use her to gain the title and the power. King Henry of England sends Alfraed of Norton to rescue her and avoid a war. With enemies from France, Flanders and the empire, as well as Norman traitors, the handful of Northern Knights have to fight across Europe and back. A fast-moving novel that moves from Germany to the Scottish borders in the turbulent times of the early 12th century, when friends could become foes overnight.

'Brilliantly evoked' SUNDAY TIMES Discover the first medieval adventure in the action-packed Chivalry series! Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow and Conn Iggulden. September, 1356. Poitiers. The greatest knights of the age were ready to give battle. On the English side, Edward...