Book Review: Vagabond

So yes it's been a very deep dive into medieval history lately as I have read two books simultaneously; The Decameron and The Vagabond (actually 3 if I count the biblical Book of Psalms). The Vagabond by Bernard Cromwell is book 2 in the Grail Quest series. The lead hero Thomas continues his quest as an English archer to aid in Edward III's military campaign while searching for the holy grail. In the previous book, Harlequin he played a crucial role in the English victories at the Battle of Caen and the Battle of Crecy in 1346. He had succeeded in recovering his father's relic, the lance of St. George, but now it opened up a bigger objective. He discovers it is in his family destiny to recover and preserve the holiest of relics, the cup of Jesus Christ. 

This book actually dives into some Scottish history at the beginning of the book, which was a refreshing surprise. I learned quite a bit about the Second Scottish War of Independence War (1332-1357) at the famous Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346. Here David the Bruce (son of Robert) had created an alliance with France to strike at England's northern territory while King Philip of France fought the English armies of Edward III in Normandy. Naturally this brought about a mini Scottish phase for me in watching one of my all time favorite movies Braveheart, following by the Outlaw King (which I've really come to like). The Outlaw King is basically a sequel to Braveheart pertaining to Robert the Bruce's First Scottish War of Independence. I also learned a bit about the Scottish Douglas family, with legendary warriors such as James Douglas (companion of Robert) and William Douglas who fought at the Battle of Neville's Cross. In both the book and the film Outlaw King they are portrayed as always yelling "Douglas!" during battle.

The Douglas family was renown and feared all throughout England, and this book demonstrates how Scotland had really made a mark on England. So although England was making advances into Northern France during the Hundred Years War they were also losing to the Scottish. That is until the Battle of Neville's Cross where they took David the Bruce hostage. From this point on the story returns to France, where Thomas regroups with English army in Normandy. Just like in his first book, Cornwell really knows how to describe a battle with graphic and tactical detail. I think I did enjoy the first book a little better, but I was still hooked for the most part. I love a historical fiction that can really take the reader into an epoch, and this book certainly does so. 

The Premise

At the end of book 1, Thomas was assigned by the Earl of Northampton to find medical aid for their commander Will Skeat. His mentor Will Skeat had taking a near fatal blow at the Battle of Crecy and needed the medical skills of Mordecai. Thomas was to be joined by the French knight Sir Guillaume, Father Hobbe, and his pregnant wife Eleanor. However book 2 seemed to completely skip past that quest. Instead Will Skeat and Sir Guillaume were dropped off at Caen, while Thomas journeyed to the far north of Durham, England with his wife and Father Hobbe. Thomas is continuing the quest for the grail by seeking an old monk who was friends with his deceased father. This first chapter was honestly quite confusing and took me a little bit to understand what all was happening. There's about 3 or 4 things happening at once. 

So basically Thomas peels away from northern France to travel to the Cathedral of Durham in Northern England to meet this monk. However a new enemy is also hot in pursuit of the grail, the French Inquisition priest Bernard de Taillebourg. This wicked Dominican priest is accompanied by the main antagonist from the previous book, the Harlequin (aka Guy Vexille- the cousin of Thomas). They arrive first to the cathedral to begin their investigation of this monk. Meanwhile as Thomas and his group get closer, this also happens to be the site of the historical Battle of Neville's Cross. So now Scotland is drawn into the conflict with England, led by their fierce warriors David the Bruce and William Douglas. Being the soldier that he is, Thomas decides to temporarily postpone his quest so as to join the English archers. He sends his wife and Father Hobbe into the cathedral to wait for him (unbeknownst that the evil Taillebourg is already there). 

Cornwell describes The Battle of Neville's Cross as a game of cat-and-mouse where both sides are hesitant to begin the first attack. This is because the Scottish fear the notorious English longbowmen.  Eventually they are baited into a charge, and hence the slaughter begins. The Scottish are eventually defeated and both David the Bruce and William Douglas are taken as prisoners. During the moments leading up to the battle Thomas makes enemies with an English noble, Sir Geoffrey Carr. But he also finds a new ally in the Scottish prisoner Robbie Douglas. Both are intent to find and kill Guy Vexilles. Meanwhile in the cathedral Taillebourg questions, tortures, and kills both Father Hobbe and Eleanor. Thomas is grief-stricken and returns to his hometown of Hookton for a while with Robbie Douglass. 

While in Hookton, Thomas casually stumbles upon a new lead on the grail quest when he converses with his father's old friend. Sir Giles Marriott presents an old book that belonged to Thomas father, that serves as a codex for the grail (just like in Indiana Jones III). Before Thomas can really dive into the book he is diverted to aid his French friend Sir Guillaume who is under siege by the French army (for betraying them). Robbie joins Thomas on a sabotage mission, where they rain arrows from the woods to disrupt the French raid. They eventually explode the camp's gunpowder supply which really infuriates the French army who send more soldiers. Sir Guillaume decides to escape and regroups with Thomas and Robbie on a ship to Calais. However on the boat trip they are ambushed by French soldiers, so they turn around to La Roche-Derrien (where he met his former lover Jeanette in the 1st book). 

When they arrive to La Roche-Derrien, eager to impress Jeanette, Thomas decides to organize a raiding party to help recover her son. However during this raid, several of his newly recruited members turn on Thomas and hand him over to the inquisitor, Taillebourg and Guy Vexille. Thomas is locked up in a tower and tortured to reveal everything he knows about the holy grail. Thomas tries to resist, but is eventually scolded with a fire-rod and tells the truth about his father's codex. Taillebourg then offers Thomas as a ransom for the book, which Guillame and Robbie agree to. Thomas is returned to La Roche-Derrien in poor condition, but once again the Jewish medic Mordecai attends to his wounds.    

While recovering at La Roche-Derrien, the French noble Charles of Blois (who kidnapped Jeanette's son) mounts a massive assault on the fortress. Equipped with nine trebuchets Blois carefully plans to not expose his army to the English bowmen on the ramparts. The battle appears to be lost at first, when Sir Dagworth falls into a French trap and is captured. However as the French let down their guard the English bowmen begin to press their advantage led by pinpoint precise accuracy. Thomas and Robbie are able to locate the inquisitor Taillebourg, and both kill him in vengeance. Guy Vexille however is able to escape the battlefield once again. Thomas' mentor Will Skeat dies in the battle. The English win the Battle of La Roche-Derrien and Thomas buries his friend while still intent to continue his quest for the grail and Vexille. 

The Historical Setting

So the book is good, and I didn't catch any particular historical blunders like I did in the first book with Charles IV of Bohemia). There are two major historical battles in the book to review here. The first is the Scottish Battle of Neville's Cross (1346). I found it quite surprising for Cornwell to somehow pivot the character's story from northern France to northern England. The whole quest of the Durham Cathedral just seemed like an excuse to put Thomas in the midst of this major battle. The Second War of Scottish Independence had resumed in 1333 when Edward III invaded Scottish territory and achieved significant victories at Halidon Hill. During this time David the Bruce was sent to exile in France, but he later returned to lead them thru some resurgence under the Auld Alliance. However the Scots received a crushing blow at the Battle of Neville's Cross when David the Bruce was captured. Eventually the war turned into one of attrition and guerilla raids, by which the English fully withdrew by 1357 due to their ongoing conflicts with France. 

Now after this battle I really thought Cornwell was going to take the reader to the historical siege of Calais (in northern France). This essentially would have been the final decisive English victory of the Crecy campaign under King Edward III and his famous son, The Black Prince Edward. However Cornwell makes a surprising pivot by boat. Thomas and his band are actually headed to regroup at Calais, but then turn around to La Roche Derrien. I really thought this was going to be a brief visit leading up to the penultimate Battle at Calais, however this is where the book hit it's climax. Thomas once again played a crucial role in leading the English garrison defenses at the historical Battle of La-Roche Derrien (1347).

It's worth noting that this Battle of La Roche Derrien was almost an entirely separate conflict in Northern Brittany referred to as the War of the Breton Succession (however it was still a dispute between England and France). One of the book's antagonists Charles of Blois was the main driver of this conflict and was later captured at the battle. While this battle was much smaller then the Siege of Calais, it was arguably the most defining moment of the war of the Breton Succession since Blois was captured. That particular conflict would go on for many more years (1341-1365) as an additional layer or theater of the much grander Hundred Years War. And all of this is still just a part of the first phase known as the Edwardian Phase (1337-1360). I'll eventually have a full post diving deep into the complete war, and not just the glorified English version from Cornwell.