The Lute Player by Norah Lofts - PDF - Historical, Historical Fiction, Medieval, Plantagenet, British Literature

Historical, Historical Fiction, Medieval, Plantagenet, British Literature, Fiction, 12th Century

 

A King, A Princess and a Poet…

Legend has long told the story of Blondel the Lute Player who found the lost soldier-king Richard Coeur-de-Lion—kidnapped on the way back from the great crusade to the Holy Land.

Blondel found his king by travelling for months across Europe singing the first part of a love-song which Richard and he had composed together. One day, from behind castle walls, the voice of Richard responded to the strain.

But why would a minstrel embark on such a risky pilgrimage to find his king? Norah Lofts weaves a fascinating back-story to the tale of the Lionheart who strode out of the courts of twelfth-century Europe to lead his knights onto the Saracen battlefield—inspired by a vision of the Holy Land.

The Lute Player tells of the courageous Richard and his ill-fated union with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre—of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine and her possessive love—and, above all, it tells of Blondel whose life was woven in with all of them and who set out on his mission as an act of great love—but not a love for the King…