philip ii augustus, 1180-1223

"Conflict between England and France was a fact of life for centuries, but few realize that its origins date from the time of the Vikings, when a Norse chieftain named Rollo established himself and his progeny in Normandy. In this compelling and entertaining history, Mary McAuliffe takes the reader back to those dark and turbulent times when Rollo's descendants, the dukes of Normandy, asserted their dominance over the weak French monarchy--a dominance that became especially threatening after Duke William conquered England in 1066, giving him a royal crown"--Provided by publisher.

Follows the adventures of Pagan, squire to Lord Roland, through the years 1188 to 1189, as he accompanies his master, now determined to be a monk, to the French monastery of St. Martin and uncovers a dangerous blackmail plot.

In France in 1209, Pagan, now an archdeacon, takes on a new scribe named Isidore, a fifteen-year-old epileptic and an orphan, and together they try to survive the siege of Carcassonne.

In the Middle Ages, young squire Tristan of the Knights Templar, King's Archer Robard, and Muslim assassin Maryam work together to protect the Holy Grail as they travel across France toward England, a journey that takes them to the Cathar fortress of Monts?gur.

In the winter of 1208 while the dispute between the Pope and the Cathars intensifies, thirteen-year-old Lady Elinor, secretely in love with the troubadour Bertran de Miramont and determined to avoid her imminent marriage to an older man, runs away from her family's castle disguised as an apprentice troubadour, unaware of the dangers ahead as the Albigensian Crusade begins its onslaught on her native Languedoc.

Etienne, acting on a vision of St. Nicholas, joins with two other young people, Abel and Blanche, to lead a crusade of children of different faiths to Jerusalem in 1212, at the height of the religious wars.

Follows the adventures of Pagan, squire to Lord Roland, through the years 1188 to 1189, as he accompanies his master, now determined to be a monk, to the French monastery of St. Martin and uncovers a dangerous blackmail plot.

In France in 1209, Pagan, now an archdeacon, takes on a new scribe named Isidore, a fifteen-year-old epileptic and an orphan, and together they try to survive the siege of Carcassonne.