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Leopards and Lilies
The scene is 13th Century Britain, a feudal landscape dotted with castles and walled towns, a portrait of imminent civil war. For the Magna Carta has been revoked by King John almost the moment he consented to it, and one question is on all minds; can the King defy the demands of his barons and still manage to retain his crown? Leopards and Lilies enter the distant land and time by following the adventures of Margaret, the 13 year old daughter of the King's Chamberlain.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
46 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Duggan
43 books45 followers"There have been few historical imaginations better informed or more gifted than Alfred Duggan’s" (The New Criterion).
Historian, archaeologist and novelist Alfred Leo Duggan wrote historical fiction and non-fiction about a wide range of subjects, in places and times as diverse as Julius Caesar’s Rome and the Medieval Europe of Thomas Becket.
Although he was born in Argentina, Duggan grew up in England, and was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. After Oxford, he travelled extensively through Greece and Turkey, visiting almost all the sites later mentioned in his books. In 1935 helped excavate Constantine’s palace in Istanbul.
Duggan came to writing fiction quite late in his life: his first novel about the First Crusade, Knight in Armour, was published in 1950, after which he published at least a book every year until his death in 1964. His fictional works were bestselling page-turners, but thoroughly grounded in meticulous research informed by Duggan’s experience as an archaeologist and historian.
Duggan has been favourably compared to Bernard Cornwell as well as being praised in his own right as "an extremely gifted writer who can move into an unknown period and give it life and immediacy" (New York Times).
Historian, archaeologist and novelist Alfred Leo Duggan wrote historical fiction and non-fiction about a wide range of subjects, in places and times as diverse as Julius Caesar’s Rome and the Medieval Europe of Thomas Becket.
Although he was born in Argentina, Duggan grew up in England, and was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. After Oxford, he travelled extensively through Greece and Turkey, visiting almost all the sites later mentioned in his books. In 1935 helped excavate Constantine’s palace in Istanbul.
Duggan came to writing fiction quite late in his life: his first novel about the First Crusade, Knight in Armour, was published in 1950, after which he published at least a book every year until his death in 1964. His fictional works were bestselling page-turners, but thoroughly grounded in meticulous research informed by Duggan’s experience as an archaeologist and historian.
Duggan has been favourably compared to Bernard Cornwell as well as being praised in his own right as "an extremely gifted writer who can move into an unknown period and give it life and immediacy" (New York Times).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 19, 2016
Another Duggan review. I’ve read all the ebook titles, now I’m working through the out-of-print second-hand paperbacks…
A real-life tale of Norman Britain set around the time of the demise of King John. Ostensibly the story follows the life of Margaret FitzGerold who was the daughter of King John’s Chamberlain, Lord Warin FitzGerold; however its main focus is on her husband, Falkes de Brealte, Captain of the King’s Crossbows.
Falkes was the bastard son of a Norman noble who first won fame by killing a knight who was trying to make off with his father’s horse. According to Duggan’s version, Falkes was stripped to the waist and armed only with a scythe, while his opponent was in full armour. The combat earned our hero (whose real name was ‘Fulk’) the nickname ‘Falkes’, based on the French word for ‘scythe’.
I’d never heard of Falkes till reading this book, but researching him afterwards I found that many sources accuse him of murdering someone with a scythe. However, he was obviously proud of his name and didn’t seem the type to take an insult lying down, so I think it’s more likely that Duggan’s telling is the truer one.
Aside from characters such as Margaret and Falkes, Leopards and Lilies also introduced me to the concept of the Norman diaspora that settled in England after Normandy was over-run by the French. Men like Falkes were eager to return and fight for their homeland while the English-bred Normans were keener on keeping what they had. This led to a situation where the English Normans tended to look down on men like Falkes as upstart foreigners, while Falkes and his like regarded their Anglicised brethren as cowards and traitors. Mentally, I’ve always lumped the Normans together as one group and this division was a surprise to me.
The book's title refers to the leopards of the Angevin Empire (which morphed into the three lions of the Royal Arms of England) and the lilies of the French monarchy, though the story only touches on international intrigues and concentrates instead on England’s attempt to pull itself together after the Baron’s Revolt, Magna Carta and the loss of Normandy. In particular its focus is on Falkes’ attempts to retain his lands and status after the death of King John, the man who raised him up from a common sergeant.
All this action and intrigue is told through the eyes of Margaret, and since she spends much of her time removed from the action we get to learn most of the plot second-hand. This is not an terribly exciting way to tell a story, but it’s useful when Falkes or some messenger visits Margaret to explain what’s going on because it’s really the only chance the reader has of understanding the labyrinthine machinations of the Court and the flock of legal and religious disputes that come to flap around Falkes’ head.
I would have liked Margaret’s character to have been more interesting and spirited, but Duggan is trying to paint us a picture of a real person and we can’t all be heroes. Instead our protagonist veers towards the snobbish and self-absorbed; though she’s barely fourteen when the story starts so we should make allowances. The following passage sums her up character nicely:
“The world was very unfair to her. She ought to have a beautiful mother, and a dashing elder brother whose gallant friends would play with her in the real rose garden which should surround her father’s castle. But here she was, a neglected orphan, living in a mere palisaded manor. Someone was very much to blame, though it was difficult to name the culprit.”
Over all it’s not one of Duggan’s best books. But I’m glad I read it and, as usual, Duggan introduced me to an obscure slice of history that I’d barely been aware of before. And if you’re into the history of names, think on this: Falkes built himself a large London manor that was known as Falkes’ Hall, which in turn became Fox Hall, then Vauxhall, the name of a central district of modern London, which became the home of the car makers ‘Vauxhall Motors’ (now part of General Motors) whose emblem is the gryphon-and-flag that was the heraldic badge used by Falkes himself. So the next time you see one their cars, or hear the name think back to a bare-chested Norman teenager fighting for his life in a sunny hay meadow.
A real-life tale of Norman Britain set around the time of the demise of King John. Ostensibly the story follows the life of Margaret FitzGerold who was the daughter of King John’s Chamberlain, Lord Warin FitzGerold; however its main focus is on her husband, Falkes de Brealte, Captain of the King’s Crossbows.
Falkes was the bastard son of a Norman noble who first won fame by killing a knight who was trying to make off with his father’s horse. According to Duggan’s version, Falkes was stripped to the waist and armed only with a scythe, while his opponent was in full armour. The combat earned our hero (whose real name was ‘Fulk’) the nickname ‘Falkes’, based on the French word for ‘scythe’.
I’d never heard of Falkes till reading this book, but researching him afterwards I found that many sources accuse him of murdering someone with a scythe. However, he was obviously proud of his name and didn’t seem the type to take an insult lying down, so I think it’s more likely that Duggan’s telling is the truer one.
Aside from characters such as Margaret and Falkes, Leopards and Lilies also introduced me to the concept of the Norman diaspora that settled in England after Normandy was over-run by the French. Men like Falkes were eager to return and fight for their homeland while the English-bred Normans were keener on keeping what they had. This led to a situation where the English Normans tended to look down on men like Falkes as upstart foreigners, while Falkes and his like regarded their Anglicised brethren as cowards and traitors. Mentally, I’ve always lumped the Normans together as one group and this division was a surprise to me.
The book's title refers to the leopards of the Angevin Empire (which morphed into the three lions of the Royal Arms of England) and the lilies of the French monarchy, though the story only touches on international intrigues and concentrates instead on England’s attempt to pull itself together after the Baron’s Revolt, Magna Carta and the loss of Normandy. In particular its focus is on Falkes’ attempts to retain his lands and status after the death of King John, the man who raised him up from a common sergeant.
All this action and intrigue is told through the eyes of Margaret, and since she spends much of her time removed from the action we get to learn most of the plot second-hand. This is not an terribly exciting way to tell a story, but it’s useful when Falkes or some messenger visits Margaret to explain what’s going on because it’s really the only chance the reader has of understanding the labyrinthine machinations of the Court and the flock of legal and religious disputes that come to flap around Falkes’ head.
I would have liked Margaret’s character to have been more interesting and spirited, but Duggan is trying to paint us a picture of a real person and we can’t all be heroes. Instead our protagonist veers towards the snobbish and self-absorbed; though she’s barely fourteen when the story starts so we should make allowances. The following passage sums her up character nicely:
“The world was very unfair to her. She ought to have a beautiful mother, and a dashing elder brother whose gallant friends would play with her in the real rose garden which should surround her father’s castle. But here she was, a neglected orphan, living in a mere palisaded manor. Someone was very much to blame, though it was difficult to name the culprit.”
Over all it’s not one of Duggan’s best books. But I’m glad I read it and, as usual, Duggan introduced me to an obscure slice of history that I’d barely been aware of before. And if you’re into the history of names, think on this: Falkes built himself a large London manor that was known as Falkes’ Hall, which in turn became Fox Hall, then Vauxhall, the name of a central district of modern London, which became the home of the car makers ‘Vauxhall Motors’ (now part of General Motors) whose emblem is the gryphon-and-flag that was the heraldic badge used by Falkes himself. So the next time you see one their cars, or hear the name think back to a bare-chested Norman teenager fighting for his life in a sunny hay meadow.
June 30, 2014
I read this many years ago, when a teen. I remember very little of it, other than that I enjoyed it.
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March 27, 2016I grew up reading Alfred Duggan, I loved all his books....without exception
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews