Michael Jecks - The King of Thieves

‘My … my Lord, I would like to ask you about a man who was found dead while waiting to meet the Cardinal d’Anjou. I have heard he may have been seen here in the hall with you.’

‘With me? I don’t remember him.’

‘Are you sure? A couple of servants and a cook’s apprentice all agreed that they saw him talking to you that morning.’

‘Ah … you are correct. There was a stranger in here. He asked the way to the Cardinal’s rooms, and I sent him to the gate to ask for a servant who could direct him. But I didn’t know him. He was nothing to do with me.’

‘Did he make an impression upon you?’

‘Only that he was quite well-informed. He seemed educated. Not a felon and bully, but a man of letters and some intellect.’

‘I see. Well, I thank you,’ Jean said with a little bow. He could not bow lower, because he saw no reason to honour a man who had lied to him. The servants and the apprentice had all been firm on the fact that the castellan had taken the man by the hand and led him away.

‘So, Mon Sieur, why would you lie to me about that?’ he wondered aloud, then turned back to look at the castellan. It was interesting for him to see that the castellan had chosen that same moment to turn and gaze back at him.

Louvre, Paris

The King, Charles IV of France, stood tall. Even without his boots, he was almost five feet eleven inches, so he towered over most of his knights, let alone the general populace.

His eyes passed over the men who instantly dropped to their knees. The clique of cardinals and clerics all bowed their heads, but true to form wouldn’t bend their knees, and he stared at them stonily for a moment or two. They were unrepentant, he was sure, but that was a fact of life. He must try to accommodate them in public, while twisting their arms in private.

His father had been more successful than he. At times he had fallen out with the Pope and the whole malign, meddling coterie of priests. The Church wanted to dominate every aspect of life. That was its primary aim. After Pope Boniface VIII had announced his Bull, Unam Sanctam , there was little else the King could do other than defy him. The meaning of the Bull was, that all men and women on the planet owed their loyalty and fealty to the Pope before any other. Even Princes, Kings and Emperors must bow to the Pope, because he was the primary representative of God on earth. All who wished for their soul’s salvation must submit to the will of the Pontiff.

No other Pope had dared go so far. And few Kings worried themselves about it. After all, they had been anointed by God. All were chosen by God. The Pope did not intervene, and thus he had accepted tacitly that they were entitled to their positions, whether he now argued against them or not. So the secular Princes and Kings sat back and watched with interest.

Not so Philippe IV, Charles’s father. The French would never submit to a Pope whose position he owed, in some measure, to French diplomacy. The King ordered his leading lawyer, Guillaume de Nogaret, to make a case against the Pope, and he found it embarrassingly easy. The Pope, Boniface, had taken the position when the previous Pope was still alive. Celestine, the holy, the ever-pious, had fled the Papacy because he feared the corruption. Boniface had captured him and taken the Papacy as his own, and then had his predecessor murdered.

Thus he was guilty of two hideous crimes. While Celestine had been formally wedded to the Church, Boniface had adulterously taken the Church from him; and second, Boniface had been responsible for the slaying of his predecessor.

Infuriated, Boniface threatened dire consequences on the whole of France, but de Nogaret moved against him quickly, and neutralised the Pope.

King Charles beckoned the Cardinal, and Thomas d’Anjou crossed the beautifully tiled floor to join him.

‘Your Royal Highness?’

‘I understand that there are two men here from England to see me. I would be grateful for your company while speaking with them.’

‘I would be delighted to aid you.’

‘I am sure you would, Cardinal. However, if you do not feel able to demonstrate the correct degree of respect to me and to the Throne, it may be difficult.’

The Cardinal bowed low. ‘Your Highness, I apologise if my demeanour appeared to show too little respect. I honour you deeply, both as a man and as a King.’

‘I am glad to hear it. Where are these two?’

The men were soon brought in, and the King stood eyeing them with a chilly expression for some while without speaking. Then, when he did open his mouth, it was to say in a mildly annoyed tone: ‘I was expecting my brother, the King of England, and yet I find I have a Bishop and a cleric. What, has King Edward suddenly died? Has he fallen from his horse and broken his pate? Or is he, perchance, sitting with a terrible attack of the gout?’

‘Your Royal Highness, my King sends his humble apologies, and declares that he has been overwhelmed by a terrible affliction in his belly and lungs. The physicians are with him night and day, your Highness. Otherwise he would certainly have come here to attend to you.’

‘In truth? How the poor man must be suffering, then, to miss out on the opportunity of meeting me. I had thought he was simply avoiding the homage which was due to me so many months ago. But no matter. Perhaps it is better this way. I shall simply confiscate all the territories which were to have been returned after his homage.’

It was then that the envoys begged to explain that there was a new proposal. ‘If our King creates the Earl of Chester as the Duke of Aquitaine, and settles all his lands and titles on the Earl, the Earl himself can come and pay homage to you as his liege lord. Surely, that would settle the matter?’

The King stared down at the man. ‘This was my proposal many months ago. At the time, your King was reluctant to agree. What has made him compliant now?’

‘His desire not to prolong the difficult negotiations, nor to upset your Royal Highness.’

‘And the hope that I will marry my son to his daughter, I have no doubt.’

There was no answer to that. King Charles knew that King Edward wished to forge a stronger bond between their thrones by marrying his daughter Joan of the Tower to Charles’s son. Bishop Stratford had been bribing men in the court to support the proposal, but his success would be limited. Charles was too well aware of all to whom money had been paid.

It was some little while later when the audience had finished that the King turned to his most trusted adviser. ‘Well, Cardinal? And what do you think of this?’

‘It is remarkable that they have sent these men to make the proposal. I would think that by the time a response is sent, the boy will have his Ducal coronet. It makes the matter more interesting for you, of course.’

‘In what way?’

Cardinal Thomas gave him a look. If he could, he would have been ironic in response, but instead, he chose to set out the facts clearly. ‘If the boy comes here, you will have him, and his mother. The English can struggle and argue all they want, but the Queen of England, your sister, detests her husband’s friends and advisers. With the King’s heir under her control, you will have a stage ready for any number of stratagems.’

‘My thoughts precisely. I shall send to England to agree to the settlement of the English territories on the son, and then I shall welcome my nephew with open arms as soon as he arrives. However, you do miss one important aspect of all this, old friend.’

‘Such as?’

‘Once the boy is here, I also have a duty of care to him. I cannot allow any man to harm or threaten him. His person will be as inviolable as my own. For were anything to happen to him, the blame would immediately be put to my shoulders. And I do not wish for that, Cardinal. So there must be formal warnings to all, that I will not tolerate even any rudeness to my nephew.’