Description |
xxx., 369 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps., portraits, geneolog. tables ; 24 cm |
Summary |
King Richard the Lionheart was shipwrecked and stranded near Venice, whilst on his way home to England, from the Crusades. He was arrested and imprisoned and effectively disappeared. He didn't return home for another fifteen months, and at great cost to England - a quarter of the entire wealth of the country was paid to win his release. 'Blondel's Song' tells the tale of one of the most peculiar incidents of medieval history, and provides the background to the real Blondel and his fellow troubadours, as well as the courts of love, the Holy Grail, the emergence of Gothic cathedrals like Notre-Dame and Chartres, and the unique moment of tolerance in the West - when Europe shared a language, and a new culture of music, romance and chivalry |
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This book retraces and rediscovers Richard's secret journey across the Alps in winter, and uncovers the real story of the arrest of Europe's most powerful king, two thousand miles from home, and the effects of his gigantic ransom. It explains for the first time the real meaning of the legend of Blondel, the song that revealed Richard's lonely cell, and the truth about who Blondel was |
Notes |
Includes index |
Bibliography |
Bibliography : pages [343]-351 |
Subject |
Richard I, King of England, 1157-1199.
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Troubadour songs.
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Middle Ages -- England.
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ISBN |
067091486X |
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