Simon Fairfax’s 1413 – Sir James Betrayed?

Book number 36 of 2024

In 1413, the fourth in Simon Fairfax’s A Knight and a Spy series, Sir Jamie de Grispere is thrust into some of the most dangerous situations yet. King Henry IV has died, and as his son, Henry V, assumes the throne, there are all kinds of threats to the stability of England.

In Part I, Jamie travels undercover to Scotland to see if a man claiming to be Richard II is truly that monarch. If he is, then Henry V’s claim to the throne is in jeopardy, and Isabella – wife of France’s King Charles – would be a bigamist, making her child illegitimate. Jamie has to get close enough to this supposed Richard II to see who he really is. He and Mark of Cornwall pose as cloth merchants to infiltrate the Scottish court and discover the truth.

Meanwhile, Cristo and his beloved wife, Alessandria, decide that their true home is in England, where they have friends and family. They embark on the dangerous journey from Florence to London. In London itself, Bishop Beaufort, Henry V’s uncle, schemes to oust Henry.

In Part II, Jamie and Cristo travel to Paris at the behest of Sir Richard Whittington. They must warn the Armagnacs and the royal family of the Duke of Burgundy’s plans to start a riot using the working classes of Paris – the Cabochiens. They get there in time, but neither the Armagnacs nor Charles’ family believe the uprising will actually occur. What follows are hellish scenes of violence and depravity as the mob attacks and kills anyone thought to be connected to the Armagnacs. Jamie and Cristo are effectively prisoners in the Armagnac compound, until they manage a daring escape down the Seine.

Part III is the darkest chapter yet in Jamie’s saga. He has married Lady Alice, but their honeymoon is short-lived, as Sir Richard and Henry V decide to sacrifice him and his good name to see how widespread the Lollardy heresy has spread in England. As soon as he and Cristo arrive in London from Paris, Jamie is arrested for treason and taken to the Tower of London. Cristo breaks into Sir Richard’s home and learns that Jamie is to be a pawn in a power struggle. If Jamie can infiltrate Sir John Oldcastle’s forces and provide information on the planned revolt, Henry can crush the Lollardy uprising.

Through Sir Richard’s behind the scenes maneuvering, Jamie is transferred out of the Tower to a low-security castle in the country. From there, he escapes and joins Oldcastle’s crew. They are planning a violent revolution similar to the one that happened in Paris, using guild members and other adherents to the Lollard heresy.

Simon Fairfax has hewed closely to the actual historical events of 1413 in this novel, proving that real life is plenty exciting enough! Even though Jamie, Cristo, and Mark are fictional, they participate in well-documented battles and intrigues. The political maneuvering in the British and French courts is incredibly complicated, but it boils down to two things: Henry’s two uncles are continually fomenting unrest to undermine Henry’s authority, and England wants France divided – and thus weakened – between the Armagnacs and Burgundians. The pursuit of these ends leads to high stakes intrigue, where innocent and loyal subjects like Jamie de Grispere can be sacrificed like pawns in a chess game.

1413 is the fourth of six novels in the series, and I am definitely hooked. Look for a post reviewing 1414 soon!

Simon Fairfax’s 1411 – The Plot Thickens

Book # 27 of 2024!

1411 is the second book in Simon Fairfax’s A Knight and a Spy series. (I wrote about 1410 here.) It continues the saga of Sir James (Jamie) de Grispere and his comrades as they foil various plots to unseat King Henry IV. But where 1410 was primarily full of battle scenes and vicious cloak and dagger activities, 1411 dials back the blood and guts to bring courtly intrigue to the fore. There’s still plenty of swashbuckling and swordplay, but as Jamie matures and takes on more responsibilities, he inevitably finds himself in situations where discretion and diplomacy serve him better than brute force.

1411 is divided into four sections: The Midlands (Winter/Spring), The English Channel (Spring/Summer), The English Court (Summer/Autumn), and Lincolnshire and London (Autumn/Winter). In The Midlands, Jamie poses – under orders from Sir Richard Whittington, his spymaster – as a mercenary to join Sir Richard Stanhope’s gang of renegade knights and spy on them. He soon uncovers a plot to wrest control of the region from Henry IV. He is found out, but fortunately, his loyal friend, the Italian Christoforo Corio shows up in the nick of time to rescue him. However, Jamie has now made himself an enemy of Stanhope’s fellow noble conspirators, and his position in the English court is perilous.

In The English Channel, Jamie’s other good comrade Mark of Cornwall joins a shipload of men to learn who is behind all the piracy in the English Channel. Their attacks on trading vessels have endangered the English economy, which depends on safe passage of wool to Calais. As fate would have it, Mark’s ship attacks a royal boat that has Jamie aboard. They manage to extricate themselves from a very tricky position.

It is the third and fourth sections where things get very interesting. While at the court of Henry IV, Jamie soon realizes that he is in a very difficult position. He is steadfastly loyal to Henry IV, but it was Prince Henry who knighted him, and Jamie must walk a fine line between the king and his ambitious son. It’s never clear how much of the political maneuvering is the result of the Prince’s stratagems or his uncles’ – Lord Thomas Beaufort and Bishop Henry Beaufort. The Beauforts both covet the crown and will do everything in their power to drive a wedge between Henry IV and his son.

Jamie, Christo, and Mark manage to turn the tables on a suicide mission they are sent on, and then foil a plot to assassinate Henry IV. Sir Richard Whittington is out of London on business, so Jamie is left to his own wits. As he begins to understand the cynicism and hypocrisy of those who operate in the English court, he is able to discern better who is trustworthy, and who is duplicitous.

As a backdrop to all this, there is still the troubled situation in France, as the Armagnac faction battles the Burgundians for control of the country. Henry IV, who was on death’s door in 1410, has rallied and is much more active in 1411. At the end of the book, Sir Richard Whittington warns Jamie that he has made powerful enemies, and he must be very careful of whom he gives allegiance to. “By his actions, he [Prince Henry] praises and warns you to stay faithful under his protection, and not to go against him on a personal level by siding with his father. Stay true to him, James, and spend as  little time in the king’s company as you can, for that way lies your ruin.”

Now that I’ve read the first two installments in the series, I’m hooked, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in 1412!