Supremely Abominable Crimes: The Trial of the Knights Templar by Edward Burman

Supremely Abominable Crimes: The Trial of the Knights Templar by Edward Burman lands on the shelves of my shop.

Allison & Busby, 1994, Hardback in dust wrapper.

From the cover: SUDDENLY, AT DAWN ON Friday 13 October 1307, King Philip IV of Frances officials arrested the Knights Templar throughout his kingdom. They were charged by the Inquisition with 127 abominable crimes ranging from spitting on the cross to devil-worship, sodomy and idolatry.

It took seven years for the royal courts to interrogate them and sift the evidence, after which this greatest of the crusading orders was abolished, its enormous wealth sequestered, and its Grand Master burned at the stake. From that moment the Order of the Knights Templar entered the realm of myth and legend, stimulating treasure-hunters and provoking endless conspiracy theories over the centuries.

Who were the Knights Templar? How was it that these powerful and wealthy warriors, blessed by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux two hundred years before, found themselves vilified and accused of the most depraved crimes? To answer these questions and to unravel the mystery that has shrouded the Order ever since, Edward Burman narrates the story of the trial within the context of the time, including the depositions of the Knights themselves. He provides a detailed account of the three-month trial in Pans in 1310, which stunned contemporary observers, and reflects on the background to the myths surrounding the Order which led to their arrest.

Burman uses contemporary sources including transcripts made by Papal notaries. He outlines the sensational nature of the trial, surprisingly similar to twentieth-century scandals, and provides illuminating truths behind the myth and tragedy of one of the greatest warrior orders in history.

Very Good in Good+ Dust Wrapper. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper with a small puncture to the lower pane, nicks to both corner of the upper. Text complete, clean and tight.

Black boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. [XIV] 290 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9½” x 6¼”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

The Riddle and the Knight: In Search of Sir John Mandeville by Giles Milton

The Riddle and the Knight: In Search of Sir John Mandeville by Giles Milton lands on the shelves of my shop.

Allison & Busby, 1996, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Illustrated by way of: Black & White Drawings;

From the cover: On St Michaels Day 1322, Sir John Mandeville, a knight from St Albans, left England with the intention of making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Thirty-four years later he returned claiming to have visited not only Jerusalem but India, China, Java, Sumatra and Borneo as well. His book about that voyage a slim volume known as The Travels was heralded as the most important book of the Middle Ages. Its influence lay not so much in its descriptions of far-away lands as in a single yet startling passage which set the book apart from all other medieval travelogues. Mandeville claimed that his voyage proved it was possible to circumnavigate the globe.

For centuries none doubted Sir John, many regarding him, not Chaucer, as the father of English literature. In the nineteenth century sceptics questioned his voyage, pouring scorn on his revelations about fantastic people and animals in the Far East. They even doubted he had left England let alone voyaged for thirty-four years. Whilst The Travels are still in print, six centuries later, Sir Johns reputation and importance have dwindled.

The Riddle and the Knight sets out to discover whether Mandeville really could have made his voyage or whether, as is claimed, The Travels was a work of imaginative fiction. Beginning in Istanbul, Giles Milton unearths clues about the journey and reveals that The Travels is built upon a series of riddles which have, until now, remained unsolved. Milton encounters the last Byzantines living in their ancient capital descendants of those Sir John claims to have met; in Syria he finds a dying community of Nestorian Christians whom Mandeville described; in Jerusalem, he meets the Keyholder to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre a Muslim whose ancestor opened the door to Mandeville in the fourteenth century. After piecing together clues about his pilgrimage, Milton turns his attention to Sir Johns time in the Far East and discovers, in the chapter on Tibet, the answer to the riddle of The Travels an answer that has eluded readers for over 600 years.

Whatever the nineteenth-century sceptics may have thought about the veracity of Sir Johns account, there is no doubt that it became the beacon which lit the way for the great explorations of the Renaissance. It inspired Columbuss historic voyage in 1492, while Sir Walter Raleigh studied The Travels and pronounced every word to be true. Not only was he the father of English literature but, Milton, declares, Sir John Mandeville was the unsung father of exploration.

Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. A little rubbing to the edges of the dust wrapper, slight sunning to the spine.

Burgundy boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 230 pages. Index. Bibliography. 9½” x 6¼”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!

The Bone-Pedlar by Sylvian Hamilton

The Bone-Pedlar by Sylvian Hamilton lands on the shelves of my shop.

Ted Smart, 2000, Hardback in dust wrapper.

From the cover: Sir Richard Straccan, ex-crusader, makes his living dealing in these divine body-parts. Being a bone-pedlar, he leads a dangerous but profitable life retrieving stolen relics, negotiating deals and locating new artefacts. But when he is asked by the Prioress of Holystone to help solve a mystery, he takes on a job more dangerous than ever before. A dying man has been brought to the Priory carrying with him a rare and precious icon but nobody knows what it is or where the man was taking it.

Straccan soon becomes embroiled in a web of treason, espionage and evil. His young daughter is kidnapped and following her takes him and his company down a path beset with danger and risk. On their journey they meet monks, lunatics, pilgrims, whores, saints and thieves but it is when they come up against Rainard, Lord Soulis, on the eve of the Summer Solstice, that Straccan must face his biggest challenge yet.

Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Edges of the text block lightly tanned. Pages lightly age-tanned at the margins.

Burgundy boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 264 pages. 9½” x 6¼”.

Of course, if you don’t like this one there are plenty more available here!