CALL THE ACTS CHAOS
Six years have passed since a fanatical friar had destroyed a unique ancient book seized outside Córdoba. It was a book which promised enormous wealth, but which also threatened to unleash a persuasive new heresy through Medieval Europe. It was a book which had claimed many lives. However was the destroyed book really the only copy, or was there another?
In the Languedoc, conquered by France, the latest fruitless rebellion is being brutally quelled and the cruel Inquisition to crush the Cathar heresy is again in full swing, despite bitter resistance. Things are relatively quiet in what is now Spain, following the conquest of Valencia by the Christian King of Aragon; but Italy is riven by war between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.
A dramatic rumour surfaces. A full copy of the ancient book, the one in which so many dreams had been invested, has appeared!
Amongst those who hear of the rumoured reappearance of the book, most are desperately interested. For some, the book offers a path to realise their most fervent dreams, whether through wealth, recognition or fame. For others the book threatens eternal damnation and must be destroyed at all costs. All want the book and will do whatever they can to win or destroy it.
A fierce contest for the rumoured book erupts, spreading through medieval Spain, France and Italy.
This historical fiction novel is a suspenseful mystery thriller, set in a colourfully depicted medieval Europe, with a full panoply of characters, from merchants, scholars, pilgrims and friars to knights and squires. This Europe of the High Middle Ages is beset with contradictions. On the one hand it is in the midst of an intellectual reawakening, with a hunger for new knowledge and burgeoning universities; and with flourishing international commerce, centred around massive fairs. On the other, Europe remains dogged by medieval bigotry, superstition, cruelty and conflict. Against this background, the story abounds with the timeless human passions of love, hate, idealism and greed.