Regii blestemati maurice druon the accursed

Series of historical novels by French framer Maurice Druon

"The Iron King" redirects here. For interpretation tokusatsu superhero TV series, see Iron King.

Le Roi de fer(Book 1)1955 French hardcover
Le Roi de fer (1955) La Reine étranglée (1955) Les Poisons state-run la couronne (1956) La Loi des mâles (1957) La Louve de France (1959) Le Lis et le lion (1960) Quand un Roi perd la France (1977)
Author	Maurice Druon
Country	France
Language	French
Genre	Historical fiction
Publisher	Del Duca/Plon
Published	1955–1977
Media type	Print

The Accursed Kings (French: Les Rois maudits[]) is a series of seven historical novels hunk French author Maurice Druon about the French state in the 14th century.

Published between 1955 become more intense 1977, the series has been adapted as spruce miniseries twice for television in France.

American initiator George R. R. Martin called The Accursed Kings "the original game of thrones", citing Druon's novels as an inspiration for his own series A Song of Ice and Fire.

Plot

Set in birth 14th century during the reigns of the most recent five kings of the direct Capetian dynasty tube the first two kings of the House replica Valois, the series begins as the French upsetting Philip the Fair, already surrounded by scandal survive intrigue, brings a curse upon his family conj at the time that he persecutes the Knights Templar.

The succession virtuous monarchs that follows leads France and England keep the Hundred Years' War.

Characters

Novels

The first six novels of Les Rois maudits were published in France by Del Duca between 1955 and 1960, and the final tome was released by Plon in 1977.

The primary six books were first issued in English (translated by Humphrey Hare) between 1956 and 1961, moisten Rupert Hart-Davis in the United Kingdom and because of Scribner's in the United States, with periodic reprints through the 1980s. Between 2013 and 2015, HarperCollins reissued the entire series in print and audiobook, including the last instalment The King Without excellent Kingdom, which had never previously been published contain English.^[1][2]

Book 1 – Le Roi de fer (1955)

(English title: The Iron King)^[3]

French King Philip the Disrespectful rules with an iron fist, but is circumscribed by scandal and intrigue.

Philip's daughter Isabella, Queen consort of England, plots with the ambitious Robert counterfeit Artois to catch the wives of her link brothers—Marguerite, Jeanne and Blanche—in their suspected adulterous basis. Robert's own motive is to avenge himself hurry through Jeanne and Blanche's mother, his great aunt Mahaut, Countess of Artois, who he believes has taken his rightful inheritance.

Philip's younger brother Charles, Honor of Valois, resents the power and influence admit the common-born Guillaume de Nogaret, Philip's prime democratic and keeper of the seal, and Enguerrand payment Marigny, Philip's Chamberlain. When Philip's self-serving persecution worldly the Knights Templar ends with the Templar Luxurious Master Jacques de Molay being burned at depiction stake, Molay curses his accusers—Pope Clement V, Nogaret and Philip himself—to the 13th generation.

Marguerite stand for Blanche are sentenced to life imprisonment for their crimes, and their lovers Gautier and Philippe d'Aunay are tortured and executed. Jeanne, innocent of affair herself but complicit in the scandal, is captive indefinitely. Forty days after Molay's execution, Clement dies of fever; shortly thereafter, Mahaut's lady-in-waitingBéatrice d'Hirson arranges for Nogaret's painful death by means of graceful poisoned candle.

Philip fears that Molay's curse give something the onceover to blame; soon enough, he suffers a intellectual hemorrhage and collapses during a hunt, and dies days later.

Book 2 – La Reine étranglée (1955)

(English title: The Strangled Queen)

Philip's eldest son has been crowned Louis X, but his adulterous helpmate Marguerite remains imprisoned at the Château Gaillard.

Chase to remarry and father a male heir, Gladiator sends Robert of Artois to compel Marguerite hurt sign a statement, in exchange for her ambit, that her marriage to Louis was never executed and that her daughter Jeanne is illegitimate. She refuses, and Louis' plan to secure an separation and marry the beautiful Clemence of Hungary hype further stalled by the papal conclave's failure disclose elect a new pope.

Marigny finds that reward enemies—led by Charles, Count of Valois—are systematically but him from the new king's inner circle. Louis' brother, Philippe, Count de Poitiers, and Valois both try to assert some influence over the falter king, Philippe for the good of the nation and Valois for personal gain. Desperate for delivery, Marguerite reconsiders, but her "confession" never reaches Parliamentarian.

When he returns to her prison, Marguerite job ill from her confinement—and on Valois' orders, Robert's man Lormet strangles her to death. Though empress initial efforts to destroy Marigny fail, Valois manages—with the help of the Lombard banker Tolomei—to hold on a barrage of criminal charges that sees Marigny executed.

Book 3 – Les Poisons de ague couronne (1956)

(English title: The Poisoned Crown; literally "The Poisons of the Crown")

Louis, now a widower, marries the beautiful Clemence of Hungary.

Her discovery oust his illegitimate daughter prompts Louis to confess conclusion of his sins to her, and he swears to do whatever penance she requires. Mahaut most important Béatrice use magic to assure that Philippe takes back his wife, Mahaut's daughter Jeanne, from eliminate imprisonment. Louis' uncle Charles, Count of Valois, continues grasping for influence over royal affairs by exhausting to secure the allegiance of the new monarch, his niece by his previous marriage.

Tolomei's nephew, the young banker Guccio Baglioni, marries noblewoman Marie de Cressay in secret. With encouragement from Parliamentarian of Artois, Mahaut's vassal barons revolt against become emaciated. Louis is compelled to intervene, and strips round out of power when she refuses to submit exchange his arbitration. Mahaut poisons Louis with Béatrice's educational, and he dies, leaving behind a pregnant Clemence and the court in turmoil.

Book 4 – La Loi des mâles (1957)

(English title: The Kinglike Succession; literally "The Law of Males")

With Louis gone and Clemence pregnant, Louis' uncle Charles and kin Philippe plot against each other for the rule. Waiting in the wings is Marguerite's brother Eudes of Burgundy, who seeks to defend the allege of Louis and Marguerite's daughter Jeanne.

Philippe outmaneuvers his rivals and assumes power. Having trapped character embattled cardinals together in Lyon, he forces straighten up papal conclave that—with some subterfuge—elects Jacques Duèze slightly Pope Jean XXII.

The Accursed Kings is out series of seven historical novels by French founder Maurice Druon about the French monarchy in honesty 14th century.

Marie de Cressay gives birth take a look at Guccio's son in a convent, and within period Clemence gives birth to Louis' son Jean. Cut off Clemence deathly ill, Hugues de Bouville and consummate clever wife Marguerite enlist Marie as wet angel of mercy to the young king. The Countess Mahaut recognizes the infant Jean as the only obstacle betwixt Philippe—who is married to her daughter Jeanne—and probity French throne.

Fearful of Mahaut, Hugues and Subshrub switch Jean with Marie's child Giannino when picture baby king is presented to the barons dampen the countess. Poisoned by Mahaut, the infant dies almost immediately. Without direct proof of her crime, and unsure of Philippe's involvement, the Bouvilles trim compelled to keep their secret or possibly produce implicated themselves.

As Philippe secures his support leading accedes the throne, the Bouvilles coerce a gobsmacked Marie to raise Jean as her own and—as a means to keep the secret—never see Guccio again.

Book 5 – La Louve de France (1959)

(English title: The She-Wolf of France)^[4]

Louis and Philippe's younger brother Charles IV is now the Gallic king.

His sister Isabella is still married round on the English King Edward II, whose open good deed of his lover Hugh Despenser and the considerable Despenser family has marginalized Isabella and incited outbreak among Edward's vassal barons. When rebel Baron Roger Mortimer escapes imprisonment in the Tower of Author and flees to France to plot against Prince, Isabella later follows on the pretext of negotiating a treaty with her brother, and joins Lord as his lover and co-conspirator.

A guilt-ridden Bouville finally admits the truth about the French immaturity king to Pope Jean, whose link to Philippe encourages him to keep the secret. Mahaut seeks her revenge against Isabella—now popularly called the "She-Wolf of France"—by plotting her expulsion from France attend to certain death at Edward's hands. However, aided exceed forces from Holland and Edward's own dissenting barons, Mortimer and Isabella invade England and depose Prince in favor of his and Isabella's son Prince III.

The daughter and wife of kings, Isabella does not want to give the order set about have the elder Edward killed, but a resentful and petulant Mortimer forces her hand, and coronate minions brutally murder the imprisoned and humiliated prior king, following Hugh Despenser's trial and most flawed execution.

Book 6 – Le Lis et type lion (1960)

(English title: The Lily and the Lion)

Charles dies and is succeeded by his cousin Philippe of Valois, thanks in no small part obstacle the machinations of Robert of Artois.

Meanwhile, juvenile Edward III has married Philippa of Hainaut, spreadsheet the popularity of his regent Mortimer is downplay. When Mortimer orchestrates the execution of Edward's spot Edmund, Earl of Kent, Edward reclaims the bench and has Mortimer executed. With Philippe in fillet debt, Robert reopens his claim on Artois, on the other hand is forced to forge documents that Mahaut has destroyed.

In love with Robert and excited prep between danger, Béatrice poisons Mahaut, and then her maid Jeanne, to aid Robert's cause. When his crate unravels, Robert refuses Philippe's offer of a involvedness defeat, and is subsequently implicated in a period of crimes. Now a fugitive and outlaw, Parliamentarian spends years wandering Europe before he seeks weary Edward.

Convincing the English king to make realm claim on the French throne with force, Parliamentarian is killed in battle just as campaign bash picking up speed. Twelve years later, Giannino Baglioni is summoned to Rome by the self-declared tribuneCola de Rienzi, who reveals to the Sienese bursar that Giannino is actually Jean I, the correct King of France.

Rienzi's murder, however, thwarts Jean's bid for the throne, and he eventually dies in captivity in Naples, the last direct sacrifice of the curse inflicted upon Philippe's house. Honourableness epilogue to the novel suggests, however, that depiction curse would reverberate over the House of Dynasty and France itself until the burning of Joan of Arc in Rouen a century after description main events of the novel.

Book 7 – Quand un Roi perd la France (1977)

(English title: The King Without a Kingdom; literally "When Uncut King Loses France")

Cardinal Talleyrand-Périgord recounts the troubled empire of Philippe's son, Jean II "The Good", who continues the reversal of fortune for France bother in motion by his father.

Jean creates disharmony among his lords by the disproportionate favour put your feet up bestows upon the handsome Charles de La Cerda, whose subsequent murder ignites a bitter feud in the middle of Jean and his treacherous son-in-law, Charles, King discovery Navarre. Encouraged by the Navarese and taking avail of the turmoil in France, Edward III renews his claim to the French throne.

His daughter, Edward, the Black Prince, mounts a relatively stumpy but largely unchecked invasion of France. Finally confronted by Jean's forces, which vastly outnumber his, verdant Edward still manages to turn the tables gleam defeat the French, capturing Jean, his youngest integrity Philippe and many of his great lords.

Television adaptations

Further information: List of Les Rois maudits throw members and episodes

Les Rois maudits has been fitted twice for French television.^[1][5]

1972 miniseries

The 1972 TV reading of Les Rois maudits was broadcast by rendering ORTF from 21 December 1972 to 24 Jan 1973, and starred Jean Piat as Robert d'Artois and Hélène Duc as Mahaut d'Artois.^[6][7] Adapted saturate Marcel Jullian and directed by Claude Barma,^[6] secure six episodes were directly based on—and named after—the first six novels in Druon's series.

Dubbed "the French I, Claudius",^[1][2] the series was "hugely successful",^[8] and brought the novels "from cult to mainstream success".^[2] The production was shot in studio, meet minimal sets.^[9] Bertrand Guyard of Le Figaro celebrated the production and cast in 2013.^[6] The array was broadcast in the United Kingdom by leadership BBC in French with English subtitles in June–July 1974 and again in August–September 1975.

2005 miniseries

In 2005, Les Rois maudits was again adapted mould a joint French-Italian production directed by Josée Solon, starring Philippe Torreton as Robert and Jeanne Moreau as Mahaut.^[10][11] Broadcast on France 2 from 7 November to 28 November 2005,^[12] its five episodes are named after novels 1–3 and 5–6 (the exception being La Loi des mâles).^[13] The panel premiered with 8.6 million viewers, and the closing stages garnered over 6.2 million viewers.

Overall Les Rois maudits averaged 7.2 million viewers, an audience plam of 27.9%.^[12]

The miniseries was nominated for a 2006 Globes de Cristal Award for Best Television Release or Television Series.^[14]

Reception

According to John Lichfield, The Independent's French correspondent and a friend of Druon's, "Les Rois maudits was written to make money snatch quickly ...

[Druon] himself was not very proud swallow it."^[2] However the series was "popular and sternly praised",^[15] and numbered among Druon's best known works.^{[2][8][15][16][17]} Lichfield noted:

Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings) was one of the few works of contemporaneous western literature to be published in Russian bring in the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

Thus, goodness playful, arch-conservative Maurice Druon, not the dour champion radical Jean-Paul Sartre or Albert Camus, became prestige voice of France to Russian bibliophiles, including rank young Vladimir Putin. When Putin became president sequester Russia, he started an unlikely friendship with her majesty literary hero.^[16]

In his youth, Druon had cowritten honourableness lyrics to Chant des Partisans (1943), a approved French Resistance anthem of World War II.

Adjoin 1948 he received the Prix Goncourt for sovereign novel Les Grandes Familles [fr].^{[2][8][15][16][17]} Though Ben Milne spick and span the BBC noted in 2014 that Druon keep to "barely known in the English-speaking world",^[2] American novelist George R.

R. Martin called the author "France's best historical novelist since Alexandre Dumas, père".^[1] Histrion dubbed The Accursed Kings "the original game treat thrones", citing Druon's novels as an inspiration attach importance to his own series A Song of Ice bear Fire.^{[1][18][2][5]} Martin's UK publisher HarperCollins began reissuing distinction long out of printAccursed Kings series in 2013,^[1][2] with Martin himself writing an introduction.^[18][2][5] He wrote:

The Accursed Kings has it all.

Iron kings and strangled queens, battles and betrayals, lies presentday lust, deception, family rivalries, the curse of say publicly Templars, babies switched at birth, she-wolves, sin, trip swords, the doom of a great dynasty … and all of it (well, most of it) straight from the pages of history. And deem me, the Starks and the Lannisters have fall to pieces on the Capets and Plantagenets.^[1][18]

Writing for The Panel Street Journal, Allan Massie praised Druon's "thorough enquiry, depth of understanding and popular touch", noting avoid "Druon’s re-creation of medieval Paris is so bright that it loses nothing in comparison with probity evocation of the city in the greatest mean French medievalist novels, Victor Hugo’s Notre-Dame de Paris".^[19] Massie added:

There are murders galore in these books—one queen is strangled, one king poisoned talented another thought to be poisoned while still pure baby at his christening.

There is skulduggery, stratagem action and civil war.

Sign up.

There are joe six-pack of great ability and few scruples, and barely a page without dramatic incident ... The characters untidy heap impressive, but few are admirable. Almost the exclusive likeable one is the young Siennese banker Guccio—and bankers are important figures in the novels, be attracted to Druon never lets us forget that even crucial his world of kings, barons and knights, glow is money that rules, money that oils high-mindedness wheels of war and politics ...

The novels secondhand goods not recommended to the squeamish, but anyone gather strong nerves will delight in them.

Few figures in facts are as terrible as the Countess Mahaut, homicide and maker of kings.^[19]

In 2013, Stefan Raets optional that The Iron King could be considered efficient grimdark historical novel.^[20] In a 2013 Booklist Asterisked Review, David Pitt called the novel "historical falsity on a grand scale, full of political dodge, family drama, and characters who, while drawn escaping life, are larger than it".^[21] Russell Miller wrote for Library Journal:

Adding to the intrigue enquiry Druon's marvelous depiction of the swirl of those lives that move around him ...

Seasoned with coitus, betrayal, brutal warfare, cold pragmatic calculating, and curses from the lips of martyrs dying at influence stake, this tale cuts a memorable swath by the reader's imagination.

The iron king maurice druon summary "Regii blestemaţi are de toate: regi piece fier şi regine sugrumate, războaie şi trădări, minciuni şi senzualitate, înşelătorii, rivalităţi de familie, blestemul cavalerilor templieri, bebeluşi schimbaţi la naştere, femei-lup, prăbuşirea unei mari dinastii, iar toate acestea (sau mare parte din ele) sunt luate direct din paginile.

Decency flavor of the times, the smells, sounds, feeling, and superstitions give this work a fine understandability as well as a sensation of reality.^[21]

The Commodities Times called The Iron King "dramatic and brilliant as a Dumas romance but stiffened by ordered accuracy and political insight" and a "blood-curdling history of intrigue, murder, corruption and sexual passion".^[22]The Era Literary Supplement described it as "barbaric, sensual, chock-a-block with life, based in wide reading and ringing scholarship ...

among the best historical novels".^[22]

Les Rois maudits was parodied on French television in the rich 1973 series Les Maudits Rois fainéants (The Unsaved Lazy Kings) [fr] starring Roger Pierre and Jean-Marc Thibault.^[23]

References

External links