The Children of the Grail (novel series)

Peter Berling (1996), portrayed by Erling Mandelmann .

Under the title The Children of the Grail , alternatively also called the Grail Cycle or Grail Pentalogy , a five-volume book series from the genre of the historical novel by the German author Peter Berling , which was published between 1991 and 2005 by the publishing house Bastei Lübbe , is summarized is.

1. Volume, 1991: The Children of the Grail , ISBN 3-404-12060-4
2. Volume, 1993: The Blood of Kings , ISBN 3-404-12368-9
3. Volume, 1995: The Crown of the World , ISBN 3-404-12634-3
4. Volume, 1997: The Black Cup , ISBN 3-404-14262-4
5. Volume, 2005: The Princess Kilim , ISBN 3-7857-2193-5

Framework story

The eponymous children of the Grail are the boy Roç and the girl Yeza, who were both born in the Cathar community of Occitania in what is now southern France . Only a few are privy to their exact origin, and a secret has long been kept about their meaning. They live as siblings, but they do not necessarily have to have had the same parents. They are at the center of a "great plan" devised by the secret society of the Prieuré de Sion , according to which they are regarded as the salvation-bringing royal couple, under whose rule the Christian West and the Islamic East are to be reorganized into a kingdom united in peace.

By the inquisitorial representatives of the Catholic Church, however, they are regarded as the children of heretics and the offspring of the hated Staufer family and are therefore persecuted. Even as small children, the night before the surrender of Montségur in 1244, members of the Prieuré brought them to safety in order to protect them from access by church superiors. So to orphans become who takes their Franciscan monk William of Roebruk caring to. Together they have to flee from the zealous captors of the Church, always in secret, and are ended up in countless geographical and historical places in the Mediterranean world of the 13th century and beyond. Their paths cross with various princes, crusaders and assassins , Mamluks and Mongols . They have to defend themselves against their persecutors and the idealization of their supporters in order to be able to lead a self-determined life one day. But the children are always caught up with their fate as the royal couple of the Grail , the last of David's bloodline .

The volumes in detail

The children of the grail

The action period extends from autumn 1243 to autumn 1247.

The plot of the first volume begins with the siege of Montségur in the summer of 1243, in which the Franciscan monk William von Roebruk, who is more dedicated to secular idleness, takes part as field chaplain of the royal seneschal. Here, on the eve of the Cathar surrender, he involuntarily witnessed the evacuation of two small children by members of a secret circle to which both the Knights Templar and German lords as well as church dignitaries and unbelieving Saracens seem to belong. Instead of being killed by them as an unpleasant witness, William is entrusted with the care of the children and is now on the run with them from the zealous heretic hater Vitus of Viterbo.

After a hiding place was found for the children in the Apulian town of Otranto , the curia was to be lured on the wrong track by smuggling William and a fake pair of children into the entourage of Giovanni del Piano di Carpinis , who was about to leave for the Mongols . But on the way to southern Germany, from where the travel embassy was supposed to leave, William went missing in the valleys of the Alps and was held hostage by the Saratz. After preaching the gospel to these half-pagan people and falling in love with the daughter of his host, he is about to come to terms with a future as a priest of the Saratz congregation. But the thirst for adventure drives him back from the Alps to the children, on whose heels Vitus is still hanging. In order to escape him, the flight to Constantinople is continued, where Carpini's travel company is expected on their way back to the West. But various other powers are also here, each with their own interests in the children, who are to be revealed to the world as the coming peace kings.

The plot is partly told from Roebruk's first person perspective. These sections represent excerpts from a fictional chronicle of the monk (Roebruk's Chronicle) , which is said to have been written by him “in memory of the children of royal blood” (In memoriam infantium ex sanguine regali). Believed to have disappeared, the author only rediscovered this chronicle in fragments in Arabic libraries and translated it for the novel.

The foreword also consists of a fictitious letter from Roebruk to his brother Lorenz von Orta, supposedly part of the Starkenberg roles, which he is said to have written on the eve of his actual trip to the Mongol Empire in 1253.

The author translated the incipit of Giovanni del Piano di Carpinis's report about his trip to the Mongols (Ystoria Mongalorum quos nos Tartaros appellamus) into German especially for the novel . Carpini's travel companion Benedict of Poland is presented here as the ghostwriter of the work, although he is not able to write. However, William, compelled by the Priory to copy, does not note his name in the incipit as required (to maintain the claim about his and the children's participation in this trip), but, historically correct, that of his friar Benedict.

The blood of kings

Crusade scene from the oldest copy of Joinville's Vie de Saint Louis . French book illumination, early 14th century.

The action period extends from August 1248 to June 1251.

In the summer of 1248 a huge fleet crossed the Mediterranean from France to Cyprus. King Louis IX called for a crusade to liberate Jerusalem from the unbelievers and the knighthood of his kingdom heard him. Among them is Count Jean de Joinville , who promises to gain fame as a chronicler in the Orient after many hardships happened to him at the court of his imperial cousin Friedrich II in Sicily. But his ship is rammed and sunk in the Greek sea by the trireme of the notorious Countess of Otranto, so that a year after his first encounter in Constantinople, his path once more with that of the mysterious Children of the Grail and their most maternal caring guardians, the fat Franciscan monk William of Roebruk, crosses.

Joinville is now caught in the web of intrigues and conspiracies that surrounds the children. In addition to the ominous secret society of the Prieuré de Sion, other interested parties have entered the field of events. Some pursue a dynastic union with the Grail family, a cleanup of the usurpation of the throne of the Franks by the Capets , Prince Robert of Artois strives for the throne of Egypt with Yeza as his queen, while at the same time his brother Charles of Anjou , unscrupulously from the background acting, promises its own rule over the Mediterranean world. The cold-blooded and dangerous Breton Yves is chased by him to hunt down the children. But Roç and Yeza reveal themselves to their protectors and persecutors in an increasingly self-determined manner and, with their idiosyncratic actions, create additional chaos, while at the same time the battle between crusaders and Muslims rages on the Nile .

As in the previous volume, the story is followed in two perspectives in the second volume of the Grail Cycle. Apart from the personal perspective of this time occurs with Jean de Joinville, a new narrator in the first-person perspective in appearance, of a personal diary (diary) leads, in which he his experiences and impressions of the crusade and the events surrounding the children of the Grail holds on. In the course of the story, William von Roebruk joins him briefly as his alter ego of the writing. The diary turns out to be the original version of Joinville's royal vita ( Vie de Saint Louis ) , written many years later , which ultimately only represents a version of the diary edited for the crusade and the person of the king, while the story of the Grail Children is the will of the Prieuré according to a "strictest silence" has been agreed and they have therefore also fallen victim to the Damnatio memoriae in Joinville's tradition . Numerous anecdotes and named persons described in the vita were used for the novel plot, partly word for word and partly changed in details. The Egyptian chronicler Ibn Wasil continues to appear as a minor character , from whose story about the Ayyubid dynasty (Mufarriǧ al-kurūb fī aḫbār Banī Ayyūb) elements also flowed into the novel.

The crown of the world

The action period extends from June 1251 to the summer of 1256.

Representation and description of the capture of Alamut by the Mongols in an edition of the universal history of Raschid ad-Din . Persian book illumination, 15th century.

Alamut , the wondrous fortress of the Assassins in Persia under the rule of their mad and cruel Imam, does not turn out to be the hoped-for safe refuge for Roç and Yeza, where they escaped the stalking of Anjou. The mighty war power of the Mongols under the newly elected Khagan Möngke is preparing for a campaign against the Islamic world and threatens to wash away its empires and rulers under its storm. They are already demanding the surrender of the royal couple from the assassins, who allegedly promise world domination. The no less concerned Curia in Rome wants to prevent this and, under the guise of a missionary trip ordered by the French king, sends an agent on them. In order to thwart a new attack on her life, William von Roebruk volunteered to guide this new mission with his supposed wealth of experience from his first fictitious Mongol trip. So this time William actually sets off on the long journey to the vast Tartar country in the Far East, in the hope of being reunited with "his children" there.

In the third volume, the tried and tested narrative style is retained from dual perspectives. This time, the first person perspective is taken by several narrators. William continues his secret chronicle here, Roç and Yeza are in correspondence with him, in which they describe their experiences in Alamut and with the Mongols. Lorenz von Orta reports under his alias “Bartholomäus von Cremona” on the religious dispute on Karakoram in May 1254. Following the style of the previous volume, these reports now include anecdotes and people from Rubruk's historical travelogue (Itinerarium ad partes orientales) . Furthermore, taxiarchos are quoted from the ship's logbook of the Triere under its new helmsman, whereby the author once again drew on Joinville's work to describe the rescue of the King of France from his shipwreck on the coast of Cyprus. The secret agents of the chief judge of the Mongols, Bulgai, also report regularly.

Some elements of the plot, especially those of the Assassins of Alamut, are inspired by the contemporary "story of the world conqueror" ( Ta'rīch-i Jahānguschāy ) of Juwaini , who himself appears in the novel as the protagonist, as well as the travelogue of Marco Polo . The description of the fortress Alamut is clearly fantastic here.

The black chalice

The action period extends from the summer of 1257 to the beginning of the year 1260.

After their adventures in the Far East, Roç and Yeza have returned to their Occitan homeland, where they were welcomed by King Louis IX. received the Quéribus castle as a fief. But they do not come to rest here either, as they are considered figureheads of the Occitan resistance against the church and the crown, which again draws the attention of old opponents to them. At the same time she pursues the search for the essence of the Grail and thus the fulfillment of her fate, which imposes a difficult test on their love for one another and leads them on adventurous paths to Jerusalem .

In contrast to the previous volumes, this one is told almost completely from the personal perspective, which is only sporadically interrupted by a correspondence from Williams to the Grail Children.

To conclude the extensive appendix to this volume, the illustrator Enki Bilal made several portrait studies of Yeza.

The princess' kilim

The action period extends from spring 1260 to September 3, 1260.

After the destruction of Aleppo , the world of Outremer is in turmoil in the face of the seemingly unstoppable rise of the Mongols. The local rulers of Syria and Egypt, whether Christian or Muslim, try to ensure their survival in different ways. The Mongols, meanwhile, hope to use the royal couple of the Grail as their puppets to make the "rest of the world" submissive, but Roç and Yeza have disappeared from Jerusalem since Armageddon. They wander around in the Syrian desert in search of their place in this world, but this one cannot be found between Christian robber knights and Muslim emirs, dubious admirers and dervishes who have raptured the world. A kilim travels through this world , a gift from the Atabeg of Mosul for the Mongols, whose nodes are inhabited by a thousand jinn , who promise misfortune to everyone who steps on them. Finally, the paths of the children and the kilim cross paths with those of the armies of the Mongols and Mamlukes at the battle of ʿAin Jālūt .

In this final volume, William von Roebruk takes up his chronicle again and brings it to a close.

Dramatis personae

The names of the historical personalities appearing in the novel are written here in the way they are used accordingly.

Roç and Yeza

Roç (aka Roger Trencavel du Haut Ségur , actually Roger Ramon Bertrand ) and Yeza (aka Esclarmonde du Mont y Sion , actually Isabelle Constance Ramona ) are the children of the Grail, a couple who, from birth, were at the center of a secret power struggle to establish of a utopian, religion- and country-spanning peace kingdom. This goal stands in the way of the interests of the Catholic Church, from which they are persecuted as heretics because of their alleged descent, but influential secular powers are also among their opponents. The protecting hand over the children is represented by the Prieuré de Sion , a secret circle of people of the most diverse faiths, all of whom are united in the pursuit of a kingdom of peace. However, when it comes to the question of how this can be achieved, opinions differ, and the children's guardians reveal themselves to be idealists guided by different interests who find it difficult to recognize the developing individuality of their protégés. Their service to them is more like the search for a new idol , while others see them only as welcome puppets for selfish interests. After all, the children themselves are in search of their place in this world, whose need for a kingdom of peace is revealed as a dream of a few.

At the beginning of the novel, Roç and Yeza are a little over three years old and until then have spent their lives on Montségur under the care of the Cathar woman Esclarmonde de Pereille, the lord's daughter. On the eve of the castle's surrender, they are secretly evacuated down the Pog by supporters of the Prieuré, while Esclarmonde follows their Cathar community to their deaths at the stake. Subjected to persecution by the secret services of the Roman Curia, the children are now forced to lead a life on the run under the protection of their helpers. Among them, the fat Franciscan monk William von Roebruk proves to be their most important caregiver, who himself does not belong to the Priory and who only involuntarily stumbled into their adventurous life. Because William stands apart from the plans and goals of the Prieuré, he is the only one who can build a trust and compassionate relationship with the children, who loves and cares for them for their own sake. In her childhood he is her “surrogate mother”, and later her trusted companion and partner in her adventures.

As children, Roç and Yeza share a tendency to fearless curiosity, especially when it comes to exploring castles and palaces with all their secret passages and traps. Like their protectors, they too are convinced from an early age of their inseparable, initially still fraternal affection for one another, which, as they grow up, expands to include a sexual nature. Although both are of the same age, Yeza impresses with her premature maturity and Roç with a childlike naivety. Later on, Yeza tends more towards spiritual knowledge and the spiritual , while Roç is more practical and looks for logical answers. Having grown up to be man and woman, the couple, in keeping with their royal origins, took a position in the feudal society of the 13th century as a knight and lady in the center of a Minnehof .

In the novel, the exact origins of the Grail Children remain a mystery to most, including Roç and Yeza themselves. They all agree that the lines of the imperial house of the Hohenstaufen and the Trencavel come together in them. The first sex has been fought by the Roman Church since the reign of Emperor Frederick II (1220–1250) and the latter was considered the protector of the Cathars, who were persecuted obsessively and brutally by the Church during the Albigensian Crusade . For this reason alone, the Curia justifies its persecution of the alleged "heretic children", who are seen as a threat to the Pope's universal claim to rule. For the Pieuré de Sion, however, they are considered to be “children of the Grail”, that is, standing in the bloodline of Christ and thus predestined for rule over the beginning kingdom of peace. In the Orient or the Mongols, they are occasionally adopted as the children of a "King's Grail".

Roç and Yeza consider themselves half-siblings for a long time, with Esclarmonde de Pereille as their mother, with which they deliberately lead an incestuous relationship . Yeza considers the imprisoned emperor's son Enzio to be her biological father, while Ramon Roger III. Trencavel (X 1240) is the father of Roç.

From the appointed mouth of various participants, however, the actual descent of the children is also made clear in the novel, according to which they are actually aunt and nephew. Yeza herself is an illegitimate daughter of Emperor Frederick II, as her characteristic "Hohenstaufen wrinkle" testifies, who seduced her mother Esclarmonde de Pereille in Sicily. Esclarmonde died with the child in 1240 on the Montségur. Roç's mother, on the other hand, is Blanchefleur, another bastard child of the emperor and thus half-sister of Yeza, whose mother is none other than the Grand Master of the Prieuré de Sion. Marie de Saint-Clair sought an affair with the emperor in Ferentino in 1223 (but others speak of rape) in order to conceive a child from him. She raised her daughter Blanchefleur in France, where as a young lady she had an unhappy liaison with Ramon Roger III. Trencavel entered. Before he found death in the revolt against the crown in 1240, he fathered a son with her, whom she gave birth to on the Montségur that same year. Blanchefleur then placed little Roç in the care of Esclarmonde, who had just become a mother, in order to retire to a monastery, where she soon died.

William of Roebruk

The historical Wilhelm von Rubruk is only known for his trip to the Great Khan of the Mongols in Karakorum , which lasted from 1253 to 1254 , and which he gave to King Louis IX. described by France in a report in letter form. In this report, his focus is on his mission, while personal information is scarce. According to this, he was of Flemish origin ( Rubrouck in today's France) and a monk in the "Order of the Minor Brothers" ( Franciscans, OFM ). He knew the market and the monastery of Saint-Denis and the breadth of the Seine near Paris , which he described as four times as narrow as that of the Volga . He was a connoisseur of French wines and stout , which is why he was always careful to get only strong and persistent horses from the Mongols. He also had friends in France whom he wanted to see again after his long absence, since his superiors in the Holy Land would only allow him to return to France. He was also familiar with the travel reports of Johannes de Plano Carpini and Andreas von Longjumeau . Author Peter Berling used this information to construct a fictional biography about this protagonist for his novel.

In the novel, the young William studied theology at the University of Paris and subsequently got a job at the court as the king's Arabic teacher. However, he feels at home with the common servants in the palace kitchen and interacts with common people in taprooms and dodgy houses . He only finds his way back to the strict rules of his order when circumstances require him to do so. Finally, in 1243, he was commissioned by the king to give this report on the siege of Montségur, for which he had to travel to the Albigensian region , deprived of his usual idleness , not knowing that from now on he would face a life full of adventure and danger . Perseverance and peasant shrewdness, impertinence and occasional courage are the character traits with which he faces even the most difficult trials at the side of the Children of the Grail. From a (fictional) dialogue conducted with the Francis biographer Thomas von Celano in 1251 , it can be inferred that William was thirty years old at the time, that is, his year of birth was dated around 1220/21 and that he was twenty-two at the beginning of the novel. He calls himself in his English idiom because he was called that by Roger Bacon , who came from England, when he was a student .

Rubruk's travelogue was actually known to Roger Bacon, and a personal encounter between the two is even suspected in Paris around 1257. But whether, as indicated in the novel, both knew each other before 1243 cannot be determined with certainty. Furthermore, William's path in the novel crosses with that of his friars Johannes de Plano Carpini and Benedict of Poland on their return from the Mongols in 1247 in Constantinople, but they never actually stopped there. But since the historical Rubruk knew the travelogue of his Italian confrere, at least one personal encounter between them can be assumed. In 1247 the embassy of Plano Carpini returned directly to Lyon to the papal court, where only a year later King Louis IX. and with him Rubruk probably also stopped on the way to Aigues-Mortes to board the crusade. Rubruk must also have known the other Mongolian traveler, Andreas von Longjumeau , personally, as he was also a member of the crusade. The king's return from the Mongols to Caesarea Maritima in 1251 was the occasion for a new expedition, which was now entrusted to the management of Rubruk, who referred several times in his report to the experiences of "Brother Andrew". In the second volume of the series, William places himself as Secretarius in the service of Jean de Joinville . A personal encounter between them is historically not guaranteed, but also cannot be completely ruled out, as both of them belonged to the royal crusade succession in Cyprus from the winter of 1248 at the latest. Joinville mentioned the return of Longjumeau's embassy in Caesarea in 1251, but had nothing to report about Rubruk's subsequent expedition.

In the novel, William begins his Mongolian journey in Ostia , Italy , but in fact he is likely to have set off directly from the Holy Land to Constantinople (where his travelogue begins). Because that from King Ludwig IX. He had the credentials that came with him translated into Arabic and Syriac while still in Acre . In Karakorum he and his companions were interrogated in April 1254 by the chief secretary and judge of the khagan, Bulgai, because it was rumored that four hundred assassins (hacsasini) in disguise had been sent to assassinate the ruler. Rubruk described his relationship with the Great Khan Möngke as positive and understanding, also because he refrained from overly offensive missionary activity towards the Mongols, who were rather indifferent to religious questions. However, it can be doubted whether this was the truth. For Rubruk still reported on the convocation of the chapter of his order province in the Levant at Tripoli in the same month of his return in August 1255. The monk Iacobus de Iseo who took part in it has come down to us as a complaint by the Armenian King Hethum I against her at this meeting “Brother Wilhelm” came up. The king had traveled personally to Karakorum, where he had arrived in August 1254 a few weeks after Rubruk's departure and had an audience with the Great Khan Möngke. The Great Khan took this opportunity to address the missionary zeal of the monk Wilhelm who had previously stayed with him, whom he found extremely bold and intrusive, which is why King Hethum passed this complaint on to the Franciscans after his return in July 1255, because the future of his little one hung Empire as well as the Christians of the Orient from the benevolence of the mighty Mongols. In any case, in the novel, William became a drinking friend of the Great Khan, who even wanted to make him patriarch of a new Mongolian imperial church based on the true rules of St. Francis (of which Bishop Guido of Assisi made a copy, see Francis ... , 1990) . Only influenced by intrigues, Möngke reluctantly has to order his friend back to his king.

The news about the historical Rubruk ends in 1255 with his return to the Holy Land in Tripoli. Here he was forbidden to return to France by his superiors, instead he had received a teaching assignment in Acre, which is why he was unable to give his travel report orally to the king, who had already returned to France the year before, and was therefore able to send it to him by letter had to leave. A return to France is only suspected around 1257 (see above). In the novel, however, William joins the entourage of Hulagu Khan to storm Alamut in late 1256 and remains with him until the conquest of Baghdad in 1258 . He then tried to travel to southern France to be there to join in the courtyard of the Gralskinder, the project must still by an intrigue in Nicaea give up though. Eventually he was reunited with Roç and Yeza in Jerusalem and was an eyewitness to the battle of Ain Djalud in 1260 .

Other main characters

Crean de Bourvian - As a child, once called Raoul (* 1201), son of John Turnbull and the Alazais d'Estrombèzes, who was burned as a Cathar at the stake in Lavaur in 1211 . After the violent death of his wife, he converted to Islam and became a “victim maker” ( fidāʾī ) of the Ismaili sect of Alamut. He leads the evacuation of the children from Montségur and later takes part in William's Mongolian journey under the false identity of Priest Gosset.

Constance of Selinunt - actually Fassr ed-Din Octay (* 1215, called "the red falcon"), son of the Kurdish vizier Fachr ad-Din and a Christian slave. Often traveling as an envoy for the Sultan in the Christian West, he feels connected to both worlds. Emperor Friedrich II knighted him and also impregnated his half-sister on the “Brindisi Bride's Night” (November 9, 1225). After the end of the Ayyubids , he becomes an opponent of Baibar at the court in Cairo .

Motifs from the biographies of the Mamluks Faris ad-Din Aktay (X 1254) and Fachr ad-Din Yusuf (X 1250) have been incorporated into this figure . The latter was actually a friend of the emperor and was knighted by him.

Sigbert von Öxfeld - Commander of the Teutonic Order of Starkenberg . A later son (* 1195) of the von Oebisfelde family . A grumpy German oak that once took part in the children's crusade out of love as a young knight . But after his love died as a harem slave in childbed, he joined the Teutonic Knights and became a fatherly friend of the child Constance. Both evacuate the children of the Grail from Montségur in 1244.

“The devil above the entrance” of the Sainte-Madeleine church in Rennes-le-Château.

Gavin Montbard de Béthune - Influential Templar preceptor with a tendency towards hubris from an old Burgundian house (* 1191), who would like to establish a religious state in Occitania . Under his commandery ( Sainte-Madeleine ) in Rennes-le-Château, he hoards enormous material and scientific treasures that are far ahead of the worldview of his time.

Laurence de Belgrave - A former pirate (* 1191, called "the abbess") of Norman descent, red-haired and domineering, who, with a few exceptions, disregards men. Countess of Otranto, plagued with old age. Her castle and her armed ship (a trireme ) are a safe refuge for the children. The father of her own neglected son Hamo L'Estrange (* 1229) is officially the imperial admiral Heinrich of Malta , but is actually a missing Genghisid prince . Her foster daughter Clarion (* 1226), another imperial bastard and niece of Konstanz, on the other hand, is possessive. In the end you both escape.

Madulain - The “Princess of Saratz” is a cousin of Rüesch-Savoign, William's fiancé during his stay with this Alpine people. She leaves the community with her first husband Firouz and together they go after detours in the service of the Countess of Otranto. During the crusade, she is separated from Firouz and initially the favorite of the Sultan Turanschah . Finally she falls in love with Konstanz, whose wife she eventually becomes.

Lorenz von Orta - Franciscan monk and follower of the Prieuré de Sion. As "Barzo" accompanies his friend William on his Mongolian journey, under the false identity of Bartholomew of Cremona .

This figure is based on the historic Franciscan Lorenz of Portugal . On March 5, 1245 in Lyon, at the same time as Plano Carpini, he received a letter of credentials from Pope Innocent IV, which should identify him as papal envoy to the Great Khan of the Mongols. However, it is questionable that the historical Lorenz actually carried out a Mongolian trip, as no further information has been passed on about this or about himself.

Gosset - secular priest , the king called to be ambassador for Williams Mongols travel, then confessor of Gralskinder.

In the novel, the “false gosset” (alias Crean de Bourvian) finally reached the Karakoram. In August 1253, however, the historic Gosset had to remain in the camp of his son Sartaq on the instructions of Batu Khan, while Rubruk was able to continue the journey with Bartholomew. In the house of a German in a town built on a Volga island, he was able to spend the winter of 1254 under miserable conditions, always in fear of falling into slavery if Rubruk did not return. After all, according to the guiding language of the passing king of Armenia from Sartaq, he received better treatment. When Sartaq set out for Karakoram himself in the summer of 1254, Gosset rejoined the Batus camp on the upper Volga. It was here that Rubruk, who was on his way back, met him again on September 16, 1254, whereupon they were able to retreat to the Holy Land together. After all, Gosset was the bearer (lator presentium) of Rubruk's travelogue to King Louis IX. in France.

Taxiarchos der Penikrat - The beggar king of Constantinople and third helmsman of the trireme. On behalf of Gavin, he undertakes secret expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean to the distant islands ("La Merica").

Yves the Breton - A former priest who first became a manslaughter, then the bodyguard of King Louis IX. of France has become. His desire for higher recognition makes him the deadly tool of the Angevin.

This figure represents a combination of two historical personalities who are mentioned in the royal vita of Joinville. The Dominican monk Yves le Breton was appointed diplomatic envoy to King Louis IX, who was in the Holy Land, in 1251. of France with the Sultan of Damascus and with the head of the Ismailites (Assassins) of Syria, the "old man of the mountains". Shortly before the king set out on his crusade in the Orient in 1248, he was presiding over a trial in Paris in which a priest was charged with manslaughter of three royal sergeants who had previously harassed the civilian population. Found guilty of manslaughter, the priest had lost all spiritual dignity, but was accepted by the king in his personal crusade suite because of his courage, giving the condemned the chance to indulge his sins.

Jean de Joinville - A loyal lieutenant to his king and, by good fortune, a chronicler with high standards.

Contrary to the characterization drawn in the novel, the historical Seneschal of Champagne did not become impotent as a result of a duel injury, which is the basis for his efforts to become the most glorious chronicler of his time. He has never been to Constantinople or Sicily. The lords of Joinville also did not have the title of count.

Other minor characters

Friends and protectors0

Rüesch-Savoign - the daughter of Xaver, cousin of Madulain and fiancee of William

Guiscard (called "the Amalfitaner") - first helmsman of the trireme. A Norman warrior.

Firouz - second helmsman of the trireme.

the squire Philip; the lady in waiting Mafalda de Levis; the troubadour Jordi Marvel; the maid Geraude; the Toltec princess Potkaxl; the vizier Kefir Alhakim and his son Kadr ibn Kefir Benedictus (called "Beni the cat") - the court entourage of the Grail children.

Raoul de Belgrave, Pons de Levis and Mas de Morency - an Occitan trio infernal.

Simon de Cadet - Commander of the Templars of Linosa.

the knight Terèz de Foix, his wife Berenice de Tarascon and their brother Pons de Tarascon, the former inquisitor Guy de Muret

Ingolinde and Guillaume Buchier - a traveling whore from Metz and a master blacksmith from Paris.

Tarik ibn-Nasr - the Chancellor of the Assassins of Masyaf .

John Turnbull, alias Conde du Mont Sion - the father of Crean and spiritual father of the "Great Plan".

Ezer Melchsedek and Jakov Ben Mordechai - Kabbalist one and scribe the other.

Mauri En Raimon - a catharic perfectus.

the Kabbalist Joshua (called "Josh the carpenter"), the one-armed Templar David von Borsa and the dervish Jalal al-Sufi - the regulars' table "to the last nail".

Abu Bassiht - a Sufi.

Loba, alias Roxalba de Cab'Aret (called "the she-wolf") - the witch of Corret .

Guillem de Gisors - Templar, the grandmaster's stepson.

Marie de Saint-Clair (called "La Grande Maitresse") - the Grand Master of the Prieuré de Sion.

In the service of the Curia0

Vitus von Viterbo - OP , the bastard of the gray cardinal. An inquisitor.

Rainer von Capoccio (called "the gray cardinal") - OCist , the head of the secret services of the Curia.

Rainaldo di Jenna, alias Alexander IV. - Cardinal Archbishop of Ostia, head of the secret services and then also Pope.

Oktavian degli Ubaldini - his successor as head of the secret services.

Jacob Pantaleon - Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Elia of Cortona (called "the Bombarone") - OFM, Minister General of the Franciscan Brotherhood .

Giovanni del Piano di Carpinis (called “Pian”) and Benedict of Poland - OFM, Mongolian travelers.

Andreas von Longjumeau , Anselm von Longjumeau (called "Fra 'Ascelin") and Simon von Saint-Quentin - OP, other Mongolian travelers.

Bartholomäus von Cremona (called "Barth", or "the grotto newch") - OFM, an agent of the secret services.

Bezù de la Trinité (called "the fat Trini") - Inquisitor of Carcassonne.

Nicola della Porta - the Latin bishop of Constantinople.

also: Bishop Durand of Albi; Patriarch Alberto of Antioch and Bishop of Sidon; the priest Niklas of Acre; Patriarch Robert of Jerusalem ; the papal crusade legacy ; the chronicler Thomas von Celano ; the painter Cimabue

The Christs0

Xacbert de Barbaira , Wolf von Foix and Oliver von Termes - Occitan faydits , some more, some less.

Grand Master Guillaume de Sonnac ; Marshal Renaud de Vichiers ; Commander Etienne d'Otricourt; Botho von Saint-Omer - officers of the Knights Templar .

Georges Morosin (called "the Doge") - the Templar Commander of Askalon.

Master Guillaume de Chateauneuf ; Runner-up Jean de Ronay ; Marshal Leonardo di Peixa-Rollo; Commander Jean-Luc de Granson - officers of the Order of St. John .

Bohemond of Antioch (called "Bo") and his mother Lucienne di Segni - the princely family of Antioch.

King Louis IX and its Queen Margaret , Robert d'Artois , Alphonse de Poitiers , Charles d'Anjou - the royal brothers of France.

the chaplain Robert von Sorbon , the connoisseur Gilles le Brun , the equipment master Jean the Armenians - the royal entourage.

Rinat Le Pulcin - a master painter and agent from Venice.

Manfred and Enzio - two more imperial bastards.

John of Procida and Maletta - Chancellor one and Chamberlain the other of King Manfred.

Oberto Pallavicini - Vicar of the Hohenstaufen in Imperial Italy.

Dietrich von Röpkenstein - the manslaughter of the empire and fourth helmsman of the trireme.

Brancaleone - Popular Leader and Senator of Rome.

Alekos - Greek patron saint of a tavern in the port of Palermo.

Hethum I of Armenia and Sempad the Konnetable - the royal brothers of Armenia.

Hugues d'Arcis and Pier de Voisins - Seneschalle of Carcassonne .

Beccalaria - a catapult builder .

Count Johannes von Sarrebruck and his brother Count Gobert d'Aprémont ; Count Peter "Mauclerc" from Brittany ; Baron Philipp de Montfort ; Earl William of Salisbury ; the Count of Flanders and many others - the royal suite of crusades.

The Muslims0

el-Mustasim - the ruler of all believers.

Sultan Ayub ; his son Sultan Turanshah ; the Sultana Shadjar ad-Durr ; the little Sultan Musa - the ruling family of Egypt ...

Sultan an-Nasir Yusuf , his son El-Aziz, his uncle Turanshah ibn az-Zahir , as well as the emir of Homs al-Ashraf Musa (called "cross-eyed") - ... and their Syrian cousins.

Baibars (called "the archer"), his sister Shirat and his son Mahmoud (called "the fire devil") - the mighty Mameluk and his family.

Aibeg and Qutuz - two emirs of the Mamelukes and putschists.

Ali - the son of Aibeg.

Fakhr ed-Din - Grand Vizier of the Ayyubids; the father of Konstanz

the Chamberlain of Damascus Abu Al-Amlak (called "father of the giant"); the governor of Cairo, Husam ibn abi 'Ali; the chief eunuch of the harem Gamal ed-Din Mohsen; the court chronicler Ibn Wasil ; the court poet Baha ad-Din Zuhair ; the interpreting convert Raschid al-Kabir - the court camarilla of the Ayyubids.

Muhammad III. and his son Khurshah (called "the calf") - the rulers of the Ismailis of Alamut

Zev Ibrahim (called "Zev on Wheels") and Herlin - engineer one and librarian the other from Alamut.

Kasda and Pola - one astrologer and the head of paradise the other of Alamut, the daughters of Crean.

Hasan Mazandari - the commander of Alamut.

Taj al-Din - the Gran Da'i of Masyaf.

Omar - a fida'i.

el-Din Tusi - a learned exile in Alamut.

Naiman - an agent, first of the caliph, later of the Mameluks.

Badr ed-Din Lulu - the Atabeg of Mosul.

El-Kamil - Lord of Mayyafaraqin Castle.

Jalaluddin Rumi "Mevlana" - the father of Sufism.

Abdal the Hafside - a slave trader from Tunisia.

With the Mongols0

Möngke Khan , Kubilai , Hulagu and Ariqboga - the sons of Toluy .

Batu and his son Sartaq - the rulers of the Golden Horde .

Bulgai - the chief judge of the Mongols.

Ata el-Mulk Juveni - the chamberlain of the Hulagu.

Kitbogha and his sons Kito and Baitschu - the general of the Hulagu.

Arslan - a shaman.

Aibeg and Seriks - two Mongolian emissaries.

Theodolus - Williams' secretary in Karakoram.

Sergius - a scheming Armenian monk.

u. v. a.

backgrounds

The processing of modern legends and myths on the subject of the Holy Grail plays an important role in all of Berling's works. As the basis and source of inspiration for his general interest in the Grail, he cites the theses put forward by Otto Rahn († 1939) in his 1933 work Crusade Against the Grail, the history of the Albigensians , to identify the Grail Castle Munsalvaesche with the Montségur in southern France The 13th century socialized the Cathar (Albigensian) religious community as guardians of the Grail. Furthermore, he makes use of the conspiracy theories circulated by Pierre Plantard († 2000) around the secret society of the Prieuré de Sion and the pseudoscientific findings of Henry Lincoln , Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh ( The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail , 1982) based on it a hidden bloodline of the Grail.

The Grail Spentalogy is part of a narrative universe that encompasses all of Berling's historical novels. In particular, those novels whose plot takes place in the 13th century share a common pantheon of figures. These include the following works by Berling with reference to the Children of the Grail:

• The Knights to the Holy Sepulcher. List, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-471-79571-2 (The founding of the Templar Order)
• Francis or The Second Memorandum . Goldmann, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-442-09456-9 (Bishop Guido in Assisi is the brother of Laurence de Belgrave)
• The heretic . Bastei-Verl. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2001, ISBN 978-3-404-14627-7 (The story of Laurence de Belgrave)

Remarks and historical inaccuracies

• The novel mentions that Andreas von Longjumeau made three trips to the Mongols, but in fact there were only two (1245–1247 and 1248–1251). In addition, Fra 'Ascelin was not his biological brother and did not accompany him on the second trip.
• The fact that the historical monk Simon of Saint-Quentin took part in the crusade to Egypt and died on it is an invention of the novel.
• Williams' cheerful wandering whore Ingolinde is based on the woman “Pascha from Metz in Lorraine”, who Rubruk met in January 1254 in the yurt camp of Möngke Khan near Karakorum. In 1241 she was abducted by the Mongols in Hungary to the Tatar country, where she became the servant of a Genghisid princess and married a Russian yurt maker.

Master Buchier's silver drinking tree as a modern fountain replica in the complex of the Hotel Mongolia (Монгол Шилтгээн) east of Ulaanbaatar .

• The fact that the historical blacksmith Buchier came to the Mongols in 1248 as a member of the entourage of Andreas von Longjumeau is an invention of the novel, as is his presence at the Assassin's castle Masyaf in 1251. In fact, he too fell into Mongolian captivity in Hungary in 1241 and in Karakorum became a slave of Ariqboga , as whom Rubruk met him in 1254. The silver drinking tree created by the master for the palace of the great khan also plays a useful role in the novel.
• The gifted historical Benedict of Poland wrote, among other things, his own short report on his trip with Plano Carpini. He was still alive in 1252 when he was one of the witnesses in the canonization process for Stanislaus of Cracow .
• The historical patriarch of Constantinople did not reside there at the time of the novel. Nor was he the bastard son of Bishop Guido of Assisi.
• The omniscient master forger of the Curia Matthäus von Paris, who briefly appears in the novel, is a reference to the English chronicler Matthäus Paris , whose Chronica majora was another source used by the author for the novel.
• The runner-up of the Johanniter Jean de Ronay actually fell in Egypt in April 1250.
• Oliver of Termes did not take part in the trip of the king of Armenia to Karakoram (1254–55). In addition, he did not die in the Holy Land until 1275, just like the historical Seneschal Pierre de Voisins only died at a later date (approx. 1267) than in the novel.
• That the slave guard Baibars had a sister named Shirat is in the world of the folkloric biography ( Arabic سيرة, DMG Sīrat ). The son Mahmoud is also fictional.
• The royal brothers of France were all married at the time of the crusade. With the exception of Queen Margarete, the wives of the other brothers play no role in the novel and are not otherwise mentioned. Robert d'Artois even intends to make Yeza his "Queen of Egypt". That Charles d'Anjou would have striven for the Crown of Sicily at the time of the novel is an interpretation of the novel.
• The surrender of Damiette and the simultaneous release of the king and his entourage took place on May 6, 1250 and not four days later as in the novel. Neither the king nor any of his crusaders ever got as far as the pyramids of Giza , not even while in captivity.
• The Magister Robert de Sorbon did not take part in the crusade. During this period he founded his theological college ( Collegium Sorbonicum ) in Paris .
• The historical Count of Saarbrücken (iure uxoris) was actually called Gottfried, but Joinville, who was related to him, already called him Jehan for unknown reasons , which is retained in the novel as "Johannes". Unlike his brother, Gobert d'Apremont had survived the crusade.
• The historical poet Baha ad-Din Zuhair actually only died in 1258 of an epidemic that broke out in Cairo.
• In the novel, the defender of Aleppo Turanshah is referred to as an uncle of the Ayyubid sultans an-Nasir of Damascus, which is underlined by a patronymic ( ibn az-Zahir ). In fact, however, he was his great-uncle, the son of the famous founder of the Ayyubid dynasty Saladin .
• The story of Theodolus has been completely rewritten for the novel. In fact, Rubruk described him as a deceiver who pretended to be a false envoy to the Mongols and ended up in Nikea in the dungeon of Emperor John III. Vatatzes has landed.

The ruins of the historic Alamut Castle.

• In the novel, after the fall of Alamut , the Imam Khurshah is handed over to the retribution of the female family members of Chagatai Khan († 1242) because he was once murdered by assassins. In fact, it wasn't until the summer of 1257 that the imam was massacred with many other family members near the yurt camp of Möngke Khan in retaliation for the misdeeds of his forefathers. Three of his relatives had previously been handed over to the retribution of a Mongolian prince, whose father Chagatai had been murdered by assassins. However, this was not identical with the son of the same name of Genghis Khan .
• The Assassin's "eagle flight" is based on the tradition of the Italian chronicler Francesco Pipino († approx. 1330), according to which the followers of the old man from the mountains jumped blindly from the walls of their castle as a demonstration of their absolute loyalty on his instructions.
• The atabeg of Mosul, Badr ed-Din Lulu , died in 1259.
• The Saratz Alpine people, who loyally guard the "Punt'razena" (Saracen Bridge) for the emperor, are inspired by the presumption that has been disproved about an invasion and the settling down of Saracens in the Graubünden valleys in the 10th century.
• When William and his companions spent a night in the Castel del Monte , fleeing from the papal captors , he remembers a "brother Umberto" from whom he was revealed during his student days in Paris that eight was the number of perfection . This is a reference to Umberto Eco's first novel The Name of the Rose (1980), in which the protagonist Adson von Melk describes the architecture of the abbey and notes that in the floor plan of their aedificium, which is borrowed from the Castel del Monte, all holy numbers come together in a glorious unity. Below the eight as "the number of completion of each square". Author Peter Berling played a minor role in the 1986 film adaptation of the novel of the same name .

swell

• Jean de Joinville : Histoire de Saint Louis , in: Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France , Vol. 20 (1840), pp. 190-308 (online).
• Johannes de Plano Carpini : Ystoria Mongalorum quos nos Tartaros appellamus , ed. by Raymond Beazley, The texts and versions of John de Plano Carpini and William de Rubruquis. London, 1903, pp. 43-106 (online).
  • For the above-mentioned papal letter Cum non solum of March 13, 1245 which Plano Carpini was given, see: Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Epp. saec. XIII 2, No. 105, p. 74f (online).
• Wilhelm von Rubruk : Itinerarium ad partes orientales, ed. by Francisque Michel, Theodor Wright, Voyage en orient du frère Guillaume de Rubruk, de l'ordre des frères mineurs, l'an de grace M. CC. LIII., In: Recueil de voyages et de mémoires publié par la société de geographie, Vol. 4 (1839), pp. 205-396 (online).
• Ata al-Mulk Dschuwaini : "History of the World Conqueror" ( Ta'rīkh-i Jahāngushāy ) , ed. as a translation into English by John Andrew Boyle, Genghis Khan, the history of the world conqueror. Manchester University Press, 1958.

International editions

As a translation into French by Jacques Say and Olivier Mannoni :

• 1996: Les Enfants du Graal.
• 1997: Le Sang des rois.
• 1998: La Couronne du monde.
• 1999: Le Calice noir.
• 2006: La Princesse et le Kilim.

As a translation into Spanish, made by Helga Pawlowsky:

• 1996: Los hijos del Grial.
• 1995: Sangre de Reyes.
• 1996: La Corona del Mundo.
• 1999: El Cáliz Negro.
• 2005: El Kilim de la Princesa.

Remarks

1. ↑ The Starkenberg Scroll (or Starkenberger Rotulus) , which was only compiled in the early 15th century, is in the Tyrolean State Archives in Innsbruck (Urk. I 5761) and contains text documents from the Lords of Starkenberg .
2. ↑ See Joinville, pp. 282–285. Queen Margarete had vowed to donate a “boat made of five marks of silver” (une nef dargent de v. Mars) to the abbey of St. Nicholas of Varangéville ( Saint-Nicolas-de-Port ) for her rescue from the distress at sea . In French, however , nef also refers to a nave , which in the novel becomes a "chapel made of silver".
3. ↑ On the history of the Péreille family, see Michel Roquebert: Raymond de Péreille, seigneur de Montségur, et sa famille, in: Cahiers d'Études cathares, Vol. 90 (1981), pp. 25-46; 91: 39-52 (1981).
4. ↑ The existence of the Emperor's daughter Blanchefleur is only attested by her grave decorated with a relief portrait in the Dominican abbey of Montargis , where she probably spent most of her life and died on June 20, 1279. Her mother and her year of birth, however, remain unknown. Compare Roland Vouette: Blanchefleur, princesse impériale, dominicaine à Montargis, in: Bulletin. Société d'Emulation de l'arrondissement de Montargis, vol. 146 (2010), p. 3ff. For the epitaph, see Gallia Christiana , Vol. 12, Col. 257.
5. ↑ The historical model for Roç's father was simply called Trencavel and did not fall as in the novel 1240. He is documented for the year 1263 with his wife Saurina and their sons Roger and Ramon-Roger. See Histoire générale de Languedoc , vol. 8 (1879), no.504 - CCCXLIV, col. 1509.
6. ↑ Cf. Roger Bacon: Opus majus, ed. by John Henry Bridges (1897), pp. 268, 303, 306, 400 (online). See Jarl Charpentier: William of Rubruck and Roger Bacon, in: Geografiska Annaler, Vol. 17 (1935), pp. 255-267.
7. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 268.
8. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 261, 265, 279, 353, 363.
9. ↑ See Joinville, p. 265.
10. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 256.
11. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 346.
12. ↑ See Analecta Franciscana sive chronica aliaque varia documenta ad historiam fratrum minorum, Vol. 1 (1885), pp. 416f.
13. ↑ King Hethum's travel route to Karakorum was along the route that Rubruk took on his return journey, but both were wrong. However, Rubruk learned of the king's journey from a third party. See Rubruk, p. 375.
14. ↑ The Armenian historian Kirakos von Ganjak († 1271) provides detailed information on King Hethum's journey to Karakorum in chapters §58 and §59 of his "History of Armenia", ed. as a translation into French by Marie Felicité Brosset : Deux historiens arméniens: Oukhtanès et Kiracos (1870), pp. 175–181. See also John Andrew Boyle: Kirakos of Ganjak on the Mongols, in: Central Asiatic Journal, Vol. 8 (1963), pp. 199-214.
15. ↑ See Joinville, p. 221.
16. ↑ In his first work Franziskus or The Second Memorandum , Berling indicated the year of birth for Laurence de Belgrave as 1186, but corrected this by five years for the following first volume of the Grail Pentalogy.
17. ↑ See Martiniano Roncaglia: Frère Laurent de Portugal OFM et sa légation en Orient (1245-1248 env.), In: Bolletino della Badia greca di Grottaferrata, Vol. 7 (1953), pp. 33ff.
18. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 271.
19. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 377-379.
20. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 218f.
21. ↑ See Joinville, pp. 258-260.
22. ↑ See Joinville, p. 209.
23. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 309, 364.
24. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 347.
25. ↑ Cf. De itinere fratrum minorum ad Tartaros quæ frater Benedictus Polonus viva voce retulit, ed. by Armand d'Avezac in: Relation des Mongols ou Tartares par le frère Jean du Plan de Carpin (1838), pp. 378–383 (online).
26. ↑ See Miracula sancti Stanislai, ed. in: Monumenta Poloniae Historica, Vol. 4 (1884), p. 301.
27. ↑ Cf. Leo Santifaller: Contributions to the history of the Latin Patriarchate of Constantinople (1204–1261), and the Venetian document (1938), pp. 38–42.
28. ↑ See: Sīrat al-Ẓāhir Baybars, ed. by Mustafa al-Saba. Cairo, 1923.
29. ↑ See Joinville, p. 208.
30. ↑ Cf. Ibn Challikan : "The Death of Eminent Personalities and the News of the Sons of Time" (Wafayāt al-aʿyān wa-Anbāʾ abnāʾ az-zamān) , ed. by William Mac Guckin de Slane : Ibn Khallikan's biographical dictionary, Vol. 1 (1843), pp. 542-545.
31. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 310-313.
32. ↑ See Dschuwaini, p. 723 f, note 4.
33. ↑ Cf. Francesco Pipino, Chronicon, ed. by Ludovico Antonio Muratori in: Rerum Italicarum scriptores, Vol. 9 (1726), Col. 705-707.