The thirteenth village
The thirteenth village is a historical novel by the French writer Romain Sardou . The story of a conspiracy in the High Middle Ages is the author's debut. The original edition in French was published in 2002 by XO éditions under the title Pardonnez nos Offenses . The German translation was first published by Blanvalet in 2004.
action
When the girls Chrétionnotte and Guillemine discover three bodies in the winter of 1284, eerie events begin in the French diocese of Draguan. During the investigation, information about a forgotten thirteenth village called Heurteloup emerges. The mysterious and feared Bishop Haquin is murdered. A courageous pastor in Heurteloup, a detective vicar and a former crusader are involved in a conspiracy.
After arriving in Draguan, the new pastor Henno Gui decides to travel to Heurteloup to explore the village, despite clear concerns from his community. He is accompanied by the reluctant sexton Premierfait, the young Floris and the giant Mardi-Gras. The villagers give them an unfriendly welcome and fatally injure Premierfait. With the help of a kidnapped boy, Gui discovers that the people speak a strange mixture of Latin and Occitan . He observes ritual ceremonies and discovers a worldview with a large fire at its center.
At the same time the vicar Chuquet traveling with the remains of his master, and later of which he can only bones left over after Paris . Corentin Tau shows great interest in Draguan in the archive there. The old Alcher de Mozat entrusts Chuquet with his correspondence with Haquin, including a letter from Rome . Chuquet travels to Troyes , where he speaks to the sister of the late bishop, the secluded Esclarmonde, in a women's convent. In Troyes he is followed by the spy Denis Lenfant. After the severe winter, he sets off for Rome.
Enguerran du Grand-Cellier was also present at the Caput Mundi to ask Artemidore, Chancellor of Pope Martin IV, for mercy for his son. Aymard has massively damaged the family's reputation with orgies in the Order of the Pious Brothers. The soldier Gilbert Lorris brings Aymard to Rome, where he is sentenced to a "purification" in the monastery of Abbot Profuturus.
It turns out that Haquin was part of a secret group engaged in Aristotle and other anti-church research. Enguerran buys land to increase the church's sphere of influence. His cleansed son was selected to lead a campaign to Heurteloup after participating in a fraudulent apparition of the Virgin Mary. There was a spectacular theater performance there many years ago. A group of jugglers staged the apocalypse according to Johannes .
After the secret researchers had realized that the end of the world was imminent not on the thousandth anniversary of Christ's death, but a thousand years after the Constantinian donation of 325 , they wanted to test people's reactions. After the theater, the residents of Heurteloup were led to a new faith. Now the attack, under Aymard's leadership, destroys the thirteenth village with a conflagration and a pyre.
background
Many people in this novel have meaningful names . Henno Gui is a reference to Bernardo Gui , the inquisitor from Umberto Eco's novel The Name of the Rose . Mardi Gras (fat Tuesday) commemorates Carnival, Lenfant is the French word for “the child” and Profuturus is a play on words with the Latin “for the future”.
Reviews
Michael Drewniok from krimi-couch.de recognizes a mixture of an “auspicious setting for a historical novel” in combination with “elements of the mystery and horror thriller”. He criticizes “the sheer illogic with which the plot knot is supposed to be tied up” and the superficiality of many characters: “The author has to juggle too many balls at the same time. He rarely has the time to carve protagonists with strong contours for his game. "
Elke Röhrig from histo-couch.de, on the other hand, praises the depiction of the scenery and the diversity of the people: “Romain Sardou describes the social life of the rural population of France in the late 13th century very vividly [...] The individual people are very diverse World views and confessions, ideas and researched knowledge to wear and the reader is able to catch a little of the mood that must have prevailed during this time. "
literature
- Romain Sardou: Pardonnez nos Offenses . XO éditions, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84563-076-X , (original edition).
- Romain Sardou: The thirteenth village . Blessing, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-89667-239-8 , (German translation).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Drewniok: The thirteenth village Romain Sardou. krimi-couch.de, accessed on April 12, 2010 .
- ↑ Elke Röhrig: The thirteenth village Romain Sardou. histo-couch.de, accessed on April 12, 2010 .