Review: The Last True Templar by Boyd and Beth Morrison

Synopsis: A Perilous Quest. A Deadly Legacy.

Italy, 1351. English knight Gerard Fox and the resourceful Willa have come through a death-defying journey across war-torn Europe. Now looking towards their future together, they must first find a way to reconcile with their difficult pasts.

In a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa are caught up in a deadly ambush. After rescuing the enigmatic woman who is the target of the attack, they take refuge in her opulent villa and learn her heartbreaking story – a tale of loss, deception... and a burning desire for freedom.

Soon, Fox and Willa are involved in a perilous quest to save her family's legacy... and to do so, they will have to solve a mystery that points the way to the fabled lost treasure of the Knights Templar.

~ ~ ~

This second book follows on from the first - The Lawless Land - with ex-communicated Templar and English knight Gerard Fox and his companion, the ever resourceful Willa, now in Italy and on the trail of the hidden Templar treasure.

There is a bit of back and forth between the final days of the Templars in Paris (1314) and the "contemporary" storyline (1351) as the backstory and characters are introduced to and fleshed out for, the reader. There is the usual "cat and mouse" scenario as the details of the secret as slowly teased out, before the final stand-off, and a new adventure for our dynamic duo.

Its a fun, medieval action adventure to while away a couple of lazy days!

The Langobards before the Frankish Conquest

The Langobards or Lombards were the last Germanic group to invade the Roman Mediterranean, crossing the Alps into Italy in 568-9. They were nonetheless one of the longest-lasting, for their state survived Charlemagne's conquest in 774, and was the core of the medieval kingdom of Italy. The incompleteness of their conquest of Italy was also one of the root causes of Italian division for over 1300 years after their arrival. 

But they present a challenge to the historian, for most of the evidence for them dates to the last half-century of their independence, up to 774, a period in which Langobard Italy was a coherent and apparently tightly-governed state by early medieval standards. How they reached this from the incoherent and disorganised situation visible in late sixth-century Italy is still a matter of debate.

The historians and archaeologists who contribute to this volume discuss Langobard archaeology and material culture both before and after their invasion, Langobard language, political organisation, the church, social structures, family structures, and urban economy. It is thus an important and up to date starting point for future research on early medieval Italy.

Editors: Giorgio Ausenda, Paolo Delogu and Chris Wickham

Review: The Cellars of Notre Dame by Barbara Frale

Synopsis: Paris, 1298. Disguised as an outlaw, a personage of the highest rank sneaks through the cellars of Notre Dame. The maze of secret tunnels hides a laboratory. Here, occult studies are conducted under the guidance of the renowned scientist, Arnaldo da Villanova. Studies which remain a secret.

Rome, 1301. Denounced for impiety by mysterious informers in Paris, Villanova seeks refuge in Italy and becomes Pope Boniface VIII's personal physician. Yet Villanova knows a secret, one capable of discrediting and overthrowing the French monarchy. He's not safe. It's clear someone wants to silence him forever.  Will he pay the price for the secret he keeps with his life?

Two things attracted me to this book - the subject matter and the author, whose book on the Templars I had read in the past.

Medieval politics is a difficult path to navigate at the best of times. Throw in some papal discord, political and religious machinations, mysterious cabals, superstition, rumour and inuendo, and two political giants in Philip the Fair of France and Pope Boniface VIII (described as two pillars holding up the world), and you have the makings of a very good historical fiction thriller. 

Barely four years into his papal reign, Boniface VIII often involved himself in the foreign affairs of many nations, including in France, Sicily, Italy and Scotland. These chronic and oft unwelcome interventions were the cause of many bitter quarrels. France, at this time, was a war with England over Gascony, and Philip was constantly putting his hands into the coffers to fund these military actions. It was Philip's taxing of the clergy that also brought him into conflict with the papacy.

Frale is a noted historian and paleographer at the Vatican Secret Archives, and her previous works have been in the non-fiction genre. This is her first novel as far as I am aware. The amount of research that has gone into this book is (at times, painfully) evident.

I would strongly suggest that having some interest in this particular period would be a good thing as there are a plethora of characters (real and fictional) that walk across the pages; some add to the story, others are not so critical, leaving me wondering if they were necessary in the first place (mayhap a short list of essential characters at the very start might have been an idea).

The character of Arnoldo de Villanova intrigued me greatly. Was he real or one of those fictional characters that are there to drive the storyline. But no,Arnoldo is real and his exile is documented. I was pleased to see another side to Philip's chief minister, Guillaume de Nogaret. There are many more real-life characters worthy of further research. Truly a cast that would make Cecil B deMille envious.

In additional, there are also a number of themes running through the narrative - some evident; others not so; and these are not cleared up until towards the end. At times, the reader could be left wondering which narrative it is that they should be following and what should be discarded. Much of what is covered off here sets the scene of some more well known historical events that were to tragically play out in the years to come.

" ... you cannot escape the past .... 

 the past always returns and sets before us 

the mistakes we have made ..."

Despite this being an area of interest for me (ie: medieval history and politics), the dearth of information provided sometimes felt oppressive - at page 50 I felt like I was at page 500! So I will stress that this undertaking is not for the faint-hearted.

However, once you get past all of this, the story itself posits a rather  interesting premise, which will have some rushing to their history books or google in search of answers. I will most likely be reading this again.