Dispensation of Death: (Knights Templar 23) Read online

  DISPENSATION OF DEATH

  Michael Jecks

  Copyright © 2007 Michael Jecks

  The right of Michael Jecks to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  First published as an Ebook by

  Headline Publishing Group in 2014

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  eISBN: 978 1 4722 1984 8

  HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP

  An Hachette UK Company

  338 Euston Road

  London NW1 3BH

  www.headline.co.uk

  www.hachette.co.uk

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  About the Author

  Also by Michael Jecks

  Praise

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Maps

  Cast of Characters

  Glossary

  Author’s Note

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  About the Author

  Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry to concentrate on his writing. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, has been Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association, and helped create the Historical Writers’ Association. Keen to help new writers, for some years he organised the Debut Dagger competition, and is now organising the Aspara Writing festival for new writers at Evesham. He has judged many prizes, including the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. Michael is an international speaker on writing and for business. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor.

  Michael can be contacted through his website: www.michaeljecks.co.uk.

  He can be followed on twitter (@MichaelJecks) or on Facebook.com/Michael.Jecks.author.

  His photos of Devon and locations for his books can be found at: Flickr.com/photos/Michael_Jecks.

  Also by Michael Jecks

  The Last Templar

  The Merchant’s Partner

  A Moorland Hanging

  The Crediton Killings

  The Abbot’s Gibbet

  The Leper’s Return

  Squire Throwleigh’s Heir

  Belladonna at Belstone

  The Traitor of St Giles

  The Boy-Bishop’s Glovemaker

  The Tournament of Blood

  The Sticklepath Strangler

  The Devil’s Acolyte

  The Mad Monk of Gidleigh

  The Templar’s Penance

  The Outlaws of Ennor

  The Tolls of Death

  The Chapel of Bones

  The Butcher of St Peter’s

  A Friar’s Bloodfeud

  The Death Ship of Dartmouth

  Malice of Unnatural Death

  Dispensation of Death

  The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover

  The Prophecy of Death

  The King of Thieves

  No Law in the Land

  The Bishop Must Die

  The Oath

  King’s Gold

  City of Fiends

  Templar’s Acre

  Praise

  ‘Michael Jecks is the master of the medieval whodunnit’ Robert Low

  ‘Captivating … If you care for a well-researched visit to medieval England, don’t pass this series’ Historical Novels Review

  ‘Michael Jecks has a way of dipping into the past and giving it that immediacy of a present-day newspaper article … He writes … with such convincing charm that you expect to walk round a corner in Tavistock and meet some of the characters’ Oxford Times

  ‘Great characterisation, a detailed sense of place, and a finely honed plot make this a superb medieval historical’ Library Journal

  ‘Stirring intrigue and a compelling cast of characters will continue to draw accolades’ Publishers Weekly

  ‘A tortuous and exciting plot … The construction of the story and the sense of period are excellent’ Shots

  ‘This fascinating portrayal of medieval life and the corruption of the Church will not disappoint. With convincing characters whose treacherous acts perfectly combine with a devilishly masterful plot, Jecks transports readers back to this wicked world with ease’ Good Book Guide

  About the Book

  The twenty-third novel in Michael Jecks’s medieval Knights Templar series.

  1325: England is a hotbed of paranoia under the reign of the increasingly unpredictable Edward II and his lover, Sir Hugh le Despenser. When the Queen’s lady-in-waiting is slaughtered and a man’s body, hideously mutilated, is discovered behind the throne, King Edward demands to be avenged.

  Sir Baldwin de Furnshill is appointed to track down the killer, aided by his friend, Simon Puttock. But in an age of corruption, the knight and bailiff must fight to stay alive. And Baldwin and Simon soon learn that while their failure to find the murderer will carry its own peril, uncovering the truth may also be fatal.

  This book is for Quintin Jardine and Eileen.

  The best company.

  West London and Thorney Island

  Thorney Island 1325

  Cast of Characters

  Sir Baldwin de Furnshill – the keeper of the King’s Peace in Devon, and occasional investigator of crimes, Baldwin has become a Member of Parliament

  Jeanne – Sir Baldwin’s wife and only recently mother of his son

  Simon Puttock – the first friend Sir Baldwin made when he returned to his old manor at Furnshill, Simon was Bailiff to the old Abbot of Tavistock

  Margaret – Simon’s wife

  Rob – for the last few months Simon has been the Keeper of the Port of Dartmouth under the Abbot, and Rob is his servant from that town

  In London

  King Edward II – the feeble and feckless King of England from 8 July 1307 to 20 January 1327

  Queen Isabella – wife to King Edw
ard II

  Peter of Oxford – Chaplain to the Queen

  Earl Edmund of Kent – also known as Edmund of Woodstock, the Earl was the King’s youngest half-brother

  Piers de Wrotham – Earl Edmund’s adviser and spy

  Sir Hugh le Despenser – the King’s best friend and reputed lover, Sir Hugh became a tyrant in all but name

  Ellis Brooke – Sir Hugh’s most trusted henchman, Ellis has been with him for many years

  William Pilk – a loyal servant to Sir Hugh, William detests Ellis and looks forward to taking his post

  Jack atte Hedge – Jack has known Sir Hugh for many years and is now used as a specialist – an assassin

  Lady Eleanor de Clare – niece to King Edward II, Eleanor is wife to the Despenser

  Alicia – one of Lady Eleanor’s companions, Alicia has become a lady-in-waiting to the Queen

  Mabilla – sister to Ellis, Mabilla is one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting

  Richard Blaket – a known and trusted guard from inside the palace complex

  Arch – the guard from the southeast corner of the palace walls

  Bishop Walter de Stapledon – hated by much of the country, the Lord High Treasurer has long been a friend of Simon and Baldwin

  Bishop John Drokensford – Bishop of Bath and Wells, John is one of many who is sure that the tyranny of Despenser must soon be ended – by any means

  Bishop Roger Martival – the Bishop of Salisbury, and another important and powerful cleric in the politics of the day

  Glossary

  Alaunt – a form of hunting dog. There were many types, but some were noted for their unthinking ferocity. Quite large, similar generally to a greyhound (but much larger than modern ones), with strong, short jaws and squarer heads

  Corrody – when a loyal servant wished to retire, sometimes his master would win him a pension, or ‘corrody’

  Familia – the term given to a household. In a religious household, it would mean all those who slept under the Bishop’s roof i.e. all the clerics, the cook, the servants, etc

  Gipon – a close-fitting tunic, reaching to the knees, with tight-fitting sleeves

  Rounsey – a type of horse, popular for being strong and hardy, that was ideal for a richer man’s general use

  Author’s Note

  It is quite common for an author like me to begin his or her series in a specific location. After all, it makes life a lot easier generally, because the author only needs to research one area – be it a town or city – but there are also sound logistical reasons for doing so, because many types of book need the stability of the single location. They wouldn’t work accurately over a broader sweep.

  Modern police procedurals are a perfect example: if you have a detective working for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, it’s OK to have him working in Exeter and, at a pinch, migrate him to Plymouth. However, there are many practical and political problems about moving the same poor devil to the depths of Greater Manchester (where his life expectancy could also be significantly reduced).

  For medieval stories there is a greater tendency to stick to a specific and well-bounded location – people didn’t tend to travel far. The average freeman, for instance, would rarely travel farther than twenty miles from home. Many did indeed go on lengthy pilgrimages, but for a medieval murder writer like me, I have to bear in mind the strict boundaries of authority, from those between the Church and secular world, from one Lord’s manor to another’s, from county to county, among many others. It is more realistic to stay in one area.

  The trouble is, my characters are living in ‘real time’, for want of a better description. Each murder they investigate has been set in a specific month and year, and the two fellows and their wives are growing older year by year. And now historical events are beginning to overtake them. It is because I want to be able to explain the politics of the time that I have been forced to make poor Sir Baldwin a Member of Parliament, a post which is uniquely unsuited to him, bearing in mind that he is honest, decent, and a man of integrity.

  It was necessary, though. Sir Baldwin has to be involved in the great debates of the time, and the first of these was the discussion about the French territories, King Edward II’s requirement to pay homage to the French King, Charles IV, and the matter of who should be sent to negotiate with the French on Edward’s behalf.

  There were many eminent diplomats at this time, but for any of them to untangle the dreadful situation was asking rather too much. For those who are interested, there are many books on this period which go into the affairs in more detail, but for the majority who want a taster, here goes!

  There were several spark-points. The first was that the French King was angling to take over the remaining English possessions in France.

  This can be a little confusing, but suffice it to say that the English had retained some French assets. These areas operated under the English King’s laws, and he was the supreme judge, so if there was a dispute, litigants could plead in his courts. However, they were French territories which were held by the English King under the rules of feudal law. That meant he must go to his master, the French King, and pay homage for them.

  In 1325 King Edward II did not want to.

  There were some pretty good reasons why he didn’t. One was the journey. Travelling over the English Channel was not like climbing into a ferry and listening to massive diesels thundering deep below you and pushing you across. Men and women died on the crossings. When there was bad weather, or when the wind turned, a ship could be left bobbing about like a cork for days. And sometimes ships were thrown against rocks.

  Now the King accepted his feudal duties, but even so, he had already paid homage several times during his reign – to the French King’s father, Philip the Fair, and to his brothers (I think) Louis X and Philip V. It was not his fault that the French kings kept dying with monotonous regularity – and he did complain about having to go yet again. However, it’s clear that much of his refusal was prevarication because he didn’t really want to swear fealty. To do so could have imposed restrictions upon his powers, and would have forced him to accept his subservience to the French. That would have been insufferable.

  His reluctance was not helped by the fact that King Charles had recently overrun and confiscated the English possessions. The reason for this, the War of Saint-Sardos, is fairly convoluted, but can be simply explained.

  I mentioned that the English courts held sway in the English territories. Charles IV needed a pretext to invade. One line of attack was to undermine the English legal system. So petitioners dissatisfied with losing their cases before the English courts were persuaded to take their cases to the French courts for a more sympathetic hearing. And the French King took to telling his English vassal, King Edward II, to overturn decisions already declared in King Edward’s courts. This was intolerable for the English, but didn’t directly cause the war.

  The second line was much more problematic. In Saint-Sardos there was a priory which was a dependent house of the Abbey of Sarlat. The enterprising Abbot of Sarlat was content that his dependency was an indivisible part of his Abbey, and as such it was responsible only to the French Crown. It couldn’t be detached and held liable under any other laws. That was problematic, but then the Abbot decided to build a bastide, a fortified town, on his lands in Saint-Sardos, and the foundations were laid for the war.

  It was clearly a deliberate provocation. To put up a castle in the midst of the King of England’s duchy without permission was tweaking his nose unmercifully – but worse than that, the locals considered themselves to be English too, and didn’t like the high-handed efforts of the Abbot. So the English reacted as they have done through centuries. A mob stormed the works, destroyed them, and when a French official remonstrated, he was hanged.

  This was the ‘riot’ that caused the invasion of the Agenais. The town of Montpezat held out for some little while, as did La Réole, but soon it grew obvious that they couldn’t survive, and King Edwar
d II’s brother, Edmund, who was in charge of the army for the King, was forced to surrender. Shortly afterwards the castle at Montpezat was razed to the ground in punishment for holding out.

  And as all this was going on, the English King and his wife were going through what may charitably be described as ‘a difficult time’, owing to the fact that she was the French King’s sister – oh, and the English King was having a homosexual affair with his chief adviser, Sir Hugh le Despenser, one of the most repellent and thieving politicians we have ever seen in our country.

  Sir Hugh did not so much bend the rules as ignore them: he took what he wanted, by threatening the owners with murder if they refused; he stole from widows shortly after their men had died in the King’s service; he used torture to extort lands from the recalcitrant. In an age when many nobles and knights were little better than felons (look at the Folvilles, the Coterells, and the deplorable Sir Gilbert Middleton) Sir Hugh le Despenser stands out as a particularly nasty piece of work.

  There is one more aspect of research which has given me some headaches – the layout and use of Westminster’s halls.

  The Great Hall was already old by the time of this story. Built by the Conqueror’s son, William Rufus, it is the largest surviving stone hall in Europe. Now it is the only relic of the ancient palaces of Westminster. The other buildings were destroyed by fire in the nineteenth century, which is why the current palace was built. However, the others must have been extraordinary.

  South of the Great Hall was the Lesser Hall, which was where early on the monarch performed his legal and administrative duties, as well as eating. Possibly built by Edward the Confessor, it would have been a single-storey hall until the time of Henry II, when a second was added. At the eastern wall was another hall, pointing towards the river. This was the Painted Hall, noted at the time for the magnificent quality of the pictures set about the walls, and also for its wooden ceiling with decorative peterae, flat panels with shields or rosettes carved into them. The chamber had to be redecorated after a fire in 1263, and in Baldwin and Simon’s time, this was the state bedchamber.