A King's Ransom

A King's Ransom by Sharon Kay Penman

 

 

 

 

To Dr. John Phillips

 

 

 

 

 

 

CAST OF CHARACTERS

 

 

As of 1192

 

 

 

ROYAL HOUSE OF ENGLAND

 

 

RICHARD (b. September 1157), King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, Count of Poitou and Anjou

 

ELEANOR (b. 1124), his mother, Dowager Queen of England, widow of King Henry II, Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right

 

BERENGARIA (b. c. 1170), Richard’s queen, wed in Cyprus in 1191, daughter of Sancho VI, King of Navarre

 

JOHN (b. December 1166), Richard’s youngest brother, Count of Mortain

 

JOANNA (b. October 1165), Richard’s youngest sister, widowed Queen of Sicily

 

LEONORA (b. 1161), Richard’s younger sister, Queen of Castile

 

HENRY (Hal) (1155–1183), Richard’s deceased elder brother

 

GEOFFREY (1158–1186), Richard’s deceased younger brother, Duke of Brittany by his marriage to Constance of Brittany

 

MATILDA (Tilda) (1156–1189), Richard’s deceased older sister, Duchess of Saxony and Bavaria by her marriage to Heinrich der L?we, mother of Richenza, Henrik, Otto, and Wilhelm

 

RICHENZA (b. 1171), Richard’s niece, wife of Jaufre, Count of Perche

 

OTTO (b. 1177), Richard’s nephew

 

WILHELM (b. 1184), Richard’s nephew

 

PHILIP (b. 1181), Richard’s illegitimate son

 

ENGLAND, NORMANDY, POITOU

 

GEOFFREY (Geoff), Richard’s older half brother, Henry’s illegitimate son, Archbishop of York

 

WILLIAM MARSHAL, one of Richard’s justiciars, wed to Isabel de Clare, Countess of Pembroke

 

HUBERT WALTER, Bishop of Salisbury, accompanied Richard on crusade

 

GUILLAUME DE LONGCHAMP, Bishop of Ely, Richard’s chancellor

 

GAUTIER DE COUTANCES, Archbishop of Rouen

 

ROBERT BEAUMONT, Earl of Leicester, accompanied Richard on crusade

 

RANDOLPH DE BLUNDEVILLE, Earl of Chester, second husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany

 

ANDRé DE CHAUVIGNY, Lord of Chateauroux, Richard’s cousin, accompanied him on crusade; wed to heiress Denise de Deols

 

MERCADIER, Richard’s notorious mercenary captain

 

 

 

 

 

BRITTANY

 

 

CONSTANCE, Duchess of Brittany, widow of Geoffrey, now wed to the Earl of Chester

 

Her children by Geoffrey:

 

ARTHUR and ELEANOR (Aenor)

 

 

 

 

 

ROYAL HOUSE OF FRANCE

 

 

PHILIPPE CAPET (b. 1165), King of France

 

LOUIS CAPET, Philippe’s father, first husband of Eleanor, deceased

 

MARGUERITE CAPET, Philippe’s half sister, widow of Richard’s brother Hal, now wed to Bela, King of Hungary

 

MARIE, Countess of Champagne, half sister to Philippe and Richard, Eleanor’s daughter by Louis Capet, mother of Henri of Champagne

 

HENRI, Count of Champagne, Marie’s son, Richard’s nephew, now wed to Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem

 

ALYS CAPET, Philippe’s half sister, betrothed to Richard in childhood

 

PHILIP DE DREUX, Bishop of Beauvais, Philippe’s cousin

 

ROYAL HOUSE OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

 

HEINRICH VON HOHENSTAUFEN (b. 1165), Holy Roman Emperor

 

CONSTANCE DE HAUTEVILLE, his empress, daughter of a Sicilian king

 

KONRAD VON HOHENSTAUFEN, Count of the Palatine, Heinrich’s uncle

 

CONRAD, Duke of SWABIA, Heinrich’s younger brother

 

OTTO, Count of BURGUNDY, Heinrich’s younger brother

 

PHILIP, briefly the Bishop of Würzburg, later the Duke of Tuscany, Heinrich’s youngest brother

 

 

 

 

 

GERMANY

 

 

HEINRICH “DER L?WE,” former Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, wed to Richard’s deceased sister, Matilda

 

HENRIK, his eldest son

 

OTTO, RICHENZA, and WILHELM, his other children, raised in England

 

BONIFACE, Marquis of Montferrat, brother to the slain Conrad of Montferrat

 

MARKWARD VON ANNWEILER, Heinrich’s seneschal

 

COUNT DIETRICH VON HOCHSTADEN, Heinrich’s vassal

 

LUDWIG, current Duke of Bavaria

 

ALBERT, Bishop of Liege, assassinated that November

 

SOON to be in rebellion against Heinrich:

 

BRUNO, Archbishop of Cologne

 

ADOLF VON ALTENA, his nephew, Provost of Cologne Cathedral

 

KONRAD VON WITTELSBACH, Archbishop of Mainz

 

HEINRICH, Duke of Brabant

 

HEINRICH, Duke of Limburg

 

OTTOKAR, Duke of Bohemia

 

 

 

 

 

AUSTRIA

 

 

LEOPOLD VON BABENBERG, Duke of Austria

 

HELENA, his duchess

 

FRIEDRICH, his eldest son

 

LEOPOLD, his youngest son

 

HADMAR VON KUENRING, Leopold’s ministerialis, castellan of Durnstein Castle

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

 

 

 

NOVEMBER 1192

 

Off the Coast of Sicily

 

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