The Leading Lady in "The Tale of the English Templar" - Felice de Preuthune of Najac
In my novel "The Tale of the English Templar", the hero, Percy de Lacy, falls into the hands of the King of France's troops -- and the Inquisition. He is tortured into a false confession, but he is rescued by a maiden. She is the subject of today's excerpt.
In this excerpt, Felice is a still a teenage girl attending the Convent of Saint Radegonde in Poitiers as a boarder. She is not a novice. It is the summer of 1307 -- before the arrest of the Templars and Felice is 16-years-old.
Notre-Dame-la-Grandewas filled to overflowing. Not only was the nave packed but the two narrow sideaisles were equally crowded and some of the nimbler students had managed toclimb on each other’s shoulders to reach the window sills, where they perchedprecariously.
Felicedetached herself from the twittering cluster of nuns and fellow boarders fromthe convent of Saint Radegonde and wormed her way forwards to a place betweentwo of the brightly painted columns opposite the pulpit. She was grateful thatthe Abbess had agreed to let them come to the service, but she had no desire tostay with the others. Most of them came only for the sake of getting out of theconvent and had no interest in the actual attraction: a sermon by Father Elion.
FatherElion’s reputation for inspiring rhetoric had preceded him to this universitytown housing the Pope, but so far Clement V had not appeared, although no oneelse of consequence in Poitiers was missing. Felice noted that the entirefaculty of the university had come en masse and secured the best placesdirectly under the pulpit. The Bishop was in his seat in the choir, and hisstaff of priests, deacons and monks clustered around him in the ambulatory,spilling into the side chapels. Although the Pope was absent, the red of ahalf-dozen cardinals stood out dramatically among the throng of black, brownand white habits. Almost equally noticeable amidst the sea of habits was acluster of Knights Templar, in their austere but striking armour.
Felice remembered the rumours which circulated at the university. It was whispered that the reason the Pope hadsummoned Master de Molay to Poitiers was not to discuss a new campaign to the Holy Landbut because he wanted the Templars and Hospitallers to merge into a singleOrder. Felice suspected that Molay feared he would be replaced as the head ofthe united Order by the more dynamic and charismatic Hospitaller Master, Fulkesde Villaret. Villaret had not answered the Pope’s summons because he was toobusy conquering the island of Rhodes, wresting it from the control of anotorious pirate captain.
TheTemplars were in the midst of a discussion while they awaited the start of theservice, and as they made no attempt to keep their voices down, Felice made noattempt not to listen. Master de Molay was declaring in an irritated andpetulant tone, “Of course, it’s astonishing that a man who was thought dead or,at best, a fugitive in Ireland has been able to defeat the English in a seriesof skirmishes, but a couple of mountain ambushes do not win a war!”
Aknight responded to the Grand Master in heavily accented French and a voicethat was far too loud for the environment. “Robert the Bruce is no’ winning awar — he’s winning a kingdom! You could be betting on the wrong horse, backingEdward II against Robert the Bruce.”
TheGrand Master frowned, passed his hand over his mouth and smoothed down hisbeard in short, nervous pats. Then he shook his head and announced, “I mustconsult Master de la More. He will know the new English King. I will seek hisadvice.”
Atthis moment Father Elion at last made his entry and a ripple of excitement spreadthrough the great church. Felice lost all interest in the banal conversation ofthe Templars and strained to get a glimpse of the famous Dominican. Standing ontiptoe and shifting first left and then right as the crowd in front of hershifted excitedly, she managed for an instant to get a clear view of theDominican friar. By chance, the priest had turned to look in her direction andshe saw him head on. He had a distinctive face — gaunt and hawk-like, butalthough tall, he hunched his shoulders like a vulture.
Sheforced herself to suppress her instant dislike as foolish. She admonishedherself to focus on his words as he began his sermon. He was indeed a giftedspeaker. He spoke with genuine intensity, and he used his voice adeptly,varying tone, pitch and volume. Still Felice was disappointed. He railedagainst wealth, reminding his audience that Christ had been born in a manger ofhumble parents and had abjured all wealth. Only those ready to cast off theirworldly possessions and renounce their inheritance were privileged to followChrist. How banal! She thought. She could have heard the same message from thevillage priest of Najac.
Felicewas glad when the service was over and the great throng started to shuffletheir way towards the portal. Around her, the students, monks and secularclerics were animatedly discussing the sermon. No one else seemed to share herdisappointment. Quite the contrary: from the enthusiasm of the reception, onemight have thought he had presented a brilliant new thesis. Had she been toostupid to hear it? Felice tried to listen more intently to the studentsdisputing behind her. They were repeating Father Elion’s phraseology,flattering by imitation, but she could still detect nothing particularlyoriginal in the words they praised so highly.
Thecrowd clogged the door and the impatient tried to elbow and shove their wayforwards. Felice hated crowds and drew back, letting the others go before her.It made no difference to her that the Abbess and the other girls had passed outof the portal well ahead of her. It was midday and she was not afraid to walkthe streets of Poitiers from Notre-Dame-la-Grande to the convent of SaintRadegonde alone. On the contrary, she was glad to be on her own and not have tolisten to the giggling gossip of the other girls and the nuns.
The Tale of the English Templar is available in paperback and ebook format from all major online retail platforms.
An escaped Templar,an intrepid, old crusader, and a discarded brideembark on a quest for justice inthe face of tyranny. Find out more at on my website Buy on amazon.com Buy on Barnes and Noble
