The Strangled Queen (The Accursed Kings, Book 2)

I am having trouble finishing this book. Give it a 3.5. I know what will happen. I appreciate the work that went into writing and researching for the American market.

With the glowing recommendation of GRR Martin, the Accursed Kings series is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. I loved the first book, The Iron King, and only waited this long to read the second installment due to my aversion to Kindle books that cost more than a couple of dollars.The Strangled Queen begins where the Iron King ends, with the death of Phillip the Fair of France. His inept son becomes Louis X, and the fighting ensues over who will have the real power in France. Will it be the young king's uncle, the ever-plotting Charles of Valois, or the capable if cold-hearted Enguerrand de Marigny, who had kept the country operating smoothly for Phillip? The answer to this question drives the action of this book and is only answered in its final pagesThe eventual downfall of the Capet's is forecast throughout this novel as Louis proves time and again that he is not his father or even the sainted grandfather he claims to emulate. Valois sees his opportunity and is ambitious to get a crown upon his head before his days are through.Marguerite, who should be enthroned at Louis's side, continues to waste away in prison. Her sister and partner in crime, Blanche, shares in her misery. Though she is the titular character, very little of the scenes revolve around Marguerite. Her fate, however, is intertwined with that of the men who grasp at power.The series continues to follow the sub-plot of Guiccio Baglioni, a young banker who fell in love in book one with a woman whose family he was supposed to be collecting debt from. Guiccio seems to enjoy his place in the sun as he is sent on special missions, but at the same time struggles with the injustice that causes starvation to some while others hoard supplies.While this was a captivating stand-alone story, I can't help but feel that it is simply a stepping stone to get the reader to greater action that will follow. It was not quite as fast-paced as Iron King, but kept my interest and left me wishing that I had book three, The Poisoned Crown, waiting in the wings.

Like the cover art that entices and is absolutely striking so is The Strangled Queen by Maurice Druon. This is the second installment of The Accursed Kings series that launched over 50 years ago and still finds an eager audience today. A refined collection of works that combines meticulous research with believable dialogue and dynastic manoeuvres that transports the reader into 14th-century Europe courts centering in France then departing for England all heralding the Hundred Years War. If the interested reader has been searching for a series that leaves a haunting version of history with enthralling situations and splendid writing about a select assemblage of European royalty in seven novels, search no further because you just have to try The Accursed Kings series by Maurice Druon. Whether the reader has a passing curiosity in history or just loves a great story with intrigue, betrayal, characters of different classes and nobility, unpredictable spins on the wheel of fate, a curse and even a few fleeting moments of tender love and romance this series has it all and more. Beginning with The Iron King the reader is strongly encouraged to embark on their journey into the saga of the House of Capet, however each novel does have a summation of the previous novel in the pages as the story builds each time so the decision is yours to make.The Strangled Queen begins in November 1314 and ends May 1315. More than seven months have passed since a curse from a blazing pyre has been laid at the feet at the House of Capet and before the end a grisly pact will be made that will spin the wheel of fate yet another cruel round. Madness and desperation reign in this novel as the premature death of one king drives the succession and court into the frenzy of petty jealousy and lust for revenge that begins the machinations of disposal of the undesirable. And yet outside the palace walls the country is ravished by famine and poverty but who is to blame for all the misery? Is anyone really considered blameless in this game of power? In the 14th-century France The Strangled Queen opens and closes with vital notes exchanged with England and a journey to Naples to recover a portrait and a message that will decide the future of France. Details are shared with the reader that seamlessly blends history, peerless writing and imagination to fashion a story that begs the question, is 12 feet of wall enough to deter madness and evil? There is only one way to find out so enjoy!

The Strangled Queen is a solid read but a somewhat less impressive than The Iron King. The author is in some ways, victim of his own success. By opening the first installment 7 years into the trial of the Knights Templar, Maurice Druon created a narrative that seemed like history on steroids. The second installment ties up a few loose ends and continues story lines but it is tame by comparison to earlier events.That said, the best historical fiction hews closely to known facts. If The Strangled Queen isn’t as sensational, it is as impressive and as plausible. Druon’s characters are believable—royals, arriviste ministers, bankers, etc. are all convincing. Each has flaws and imperfections, and there are no romantic “heroes”. Ironically, the “reformers” are as appalling as reactionary barons; to the overwhelming majority of the population, either camp intends to squeeze every last denier out of the hapless masses. Both are deplorable.The Strangled Queen reminded me of I Claudius in that often the villains are far more interesting and enjoyable than the decent sort. Robert III, Count of Artois is particularly appalling and appealing. Enguerrand Marigny is a marvelous paradox. I did miss Isabelle, wife of Edward II of England. Her venom and bile are a real treat. Some have complained the very title is a spoiler and I see their point. However, the why and who were much more important than the actual deed.Though I liked Iron King more I’m rating its sequel as highly. With fewer sensational events, the author is just as impressive, just as engaging. There are extremely helpful footnotes that helpfully flesh out the story Well done.

Philip the Fair is dead, and his feeble, sadistic son Louis X is King of France. Even though France is in the grip of Famine, and divided between warring factions at court, Louis is obsessed with the state of his marriage. His first wife cuckolded him and has been confined to a monastery, he cannot have the marriage annulled as there is no Pope, and he lacks the political and financial power to install a new Pope. Will victory for this weak-minded King be the beginning of the end for France?Druon is both a fabulous historian and writer, and this book reads just as well as the first in the Accursed Kings series. It does, however, face a particular problem: the reader already knows the outcome. You do not need to know anything of the history of France to be aware that if a King wants rid of one wife to replace with another, he is going to get his way. Plus, there is the title of the book.Druon’s clever solution is to tell you straight away. He is totally up front about how things are going to work out for Louis (in this regard), and the long-term consequences for France. This lets him concentrate on the ancillaries, the nobles and clergymen and bankers, fighting one another to be the one to realise or defy the Kings wishes, and whether or not they will survive them. It makes for compelling reading – almost like wondering who will get off the Titanic. This is a time when life is precarious and power fleeting, and I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns on the way to the strangling of the Queen.

This picks up immediately after The Iron King: Philip The Fair is dead and his throne is inherited by his weak son, Louis X. In this installment of Druon's 7-book series we witness the machinations of Philip's old guard, especially the Machiavellian struggle between his brother Charles de Valois and his minister Enguerrand de Marigny; we find out the fate of Louis' wife Marguerite, and follow the intrigues around the nomination of the new pope, preferably one sympathetic to Louis.This was written in the 1950s and really underlines the extent to which the historical fiction genre has moved from something sober, well-researched and serious to predominantly girly romance, all pounding hearts, jewelled gowns and witchy women from the Philippa Gregory/Alison Weir school of fiction. It's also worth pointing out that despite the blurb this is nothing like Game Of Thrones and traces the dynastic struggles of the Capet monarchy of France in the fourteenth century.Druon is primarily a straight-faced writer with only a few moments of dry sarcasm, and reminds me a little of Dumas but without the swashbuckling, fun and overt drama. The intricate unravelling of French politics, though, especially in the later Musketeers books or La Reine Margot must have served as a model for this series.Recommended if you like your historical fiction dense and realistic.

This is the second volume of the Accursed Kings series which was initially published in French between 1955 and 1960. The previous volume dealt with the last year of the reign of Philip IV, known as the Fair (Philippe le Bel in French), King of France between 1285 and 1314. This one follows his death with more murders and intrigues, and with the reversal of most of his reforms as his over-ambitious but vain brother Charles de Valois asserts his influence on Louis X "Le Hutin", his weak, sick and cowardly nephew.A number of reviewers have focused on the intrigues that culminated in the murder of Louis' first wife Marguerite of Burgundy, who was found strangled in her prison of Château-Gaillard. This, however, is only one of the four part complex intrigue and power fight that erupted after the death of Philip the Fair, the Iron King, once this strong character was no longer there to hold things together.Another major part of the intrigue if the fight between Charles de Valois and the powerful Enguerrand de Marigny who had been Philip's main minister and had governed France for sixteen years for his king. The third component, which runs through the whole series, is the implacable hate and rivalry between Mahaut, countess of Artois and peer of the Kingdom and her nephew Robert III of Artois, which lasted for over twenty years. Both were cousins to the King, being descendants of one of Louis IX's (Saint Louis) younger brothers. Both were fighting, by fair means or (very!) foul to secure the very rich county of Artois that Mahaut had been granted by Philip the Fair and that Robert was attempting to recover.A fourth component is the international context, and in particular the international influence of France, then the most powerful kingdom in Europe, largely thanks to King Philip, very ably seconded by Marigny. The main element here was the King's ability to secure a French pope who would owe his election to the French King, would reside in Avignon and would therefore be under French influence and do what the King wanted him to do.As very well shown by the late Maurice Druon in what is a rather superb historical novel, the four components are entangled and closely related.The weak and sickly Louis X needed to remarry and have an heir, preferably a son, whose legitimacy would be unquestionable since his paternity of his daughter by his adulterous and imprisoned wife could be (and was) doubted, including by himself. For this to happen, he needed a complying pope who would annul his marriage on the grounds that it had not been consummated, implying that Marguerite's daughter was illegitimate and bearing in mind that infidelity was not a cause for annulation. The book shows rather excellently how difficult it was to get such a pope elected as Valois and Marigny opposed each other at every turn, with the later delaying the election that he alone was able to secure.The second component was this bitter rivalry between Charles of Valois, the first among the nobles and the head of the feudal lords' faction, and Enguerrand de Marigny and the prototypes of what would become "civil servants" drawn from the middle class. Marigny was not originally noble and, as shown in the book, he arose through his own merits and the protection and favour of Philip the Fair who had used his competences to curb the powers of the feudal lords. As also shown, however, and after having exercised power for so long, he tended to believe that the good of the realm was paramount and was what he (and his dead master King Philip) decided it to be. He survived a first accusation of embezzlement by Valois but fell and was executed when it was proved that he had deliberately blocked the election of a pope and made it impossible to secure the annulation of the King's marriage in time to remarry with Clemence of Hungary, Charles of Valois' niece. This only left one option to free the King from his previous engagement in time to remarry...This second volume very much displays the same superb qualities as the first one. The historical events are reconstituted and told with skill and a minute attention to details. Almost all of the characters are historical and their personalities are at the very least plausible and believable. One difference from the previous volume, however, is the presence of a narrator (the author) and a few allusions to modern times and to what Maurice Druon depicts as the destruction of the Capetian dynasty through a succession of over-ambitious, mediocre and/or vain and arrogant Kings from Louis X le Hutin right up to John II "the Good" (which meant "the brave" at the time), with the sole exception of Philip V, the second son of the Iron King.This book is easily worth five stars, even if a couple of little typos seem to have crept into this generally well translated English version.

This is the second book in The Accursed Kings series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon set in the early 14th century, cited by George R R Martin as one of the inspirations for Game of Thrones. I read the first in Druon's series immediately after reading the first Game of Thrones book two years ago, and at the time I thought I would be reading the second of Druon's before the second of Martin's, but having read book 4 of Martin's before this, it hasn't quite turned out that way. This novel opens with the death of the Iron King, Philip IV, and the accession of his son Louis X le Hutin in late 1314, a much weaker King, whose wife Marguerite of Burgundy, the titular queen, was imprisoned in the first book for committing adultery (as was the wife of Louis's younger brother). The plot turns around the scheming of factions of nobles against Enguerrand de Marigny, Philip IV's chief Minister, and plans for Louis to obtain an end to his marriage and find a new wife to give him an heir (given the title of the novel, no prizes for guessing how that marriage ending is ultimately obtained). This is the kind of colourful history that I sometimes think makes fantasy novels almost irrelevant (great though series like Game of Thrones are); when historical reality reads as so unlikely in some respects, why have fantasy novels that try to emulate aspects of that reality? Great stuff, and my only minor criticism is that the translation from the French is rather stilted in places.

I bought this after devouring the Iron King a day before release and finished it on the same day. It picks up following the death of Philip IV and explores the relationships between three key characters - the new king, Louis X, Marigny and Charles de Valois - and a large cast of other players shaping the conflict. It's in this novel that Martin's comment in the Forward to the books that 'The Accursed Kings is the real Game of Thrones' really becomes apparent. Duron is master at quickly creating excellent, deep characters you root for, even if you know what might happen to some of them, having studied the period.The book flows incredibly well and Druon comes into his own interjecting into the narrative his own observations , recognising that the reader may be familiar with the events and taking a moment to dwell on a shared sigh at a tragic period of national history. The English nobles take a back seat in this book and the focus is entirely on events in France amid the Marigny-Valois power struggle. You will pick your own side in this, albeit with the support or condemnation of a tutting Druon.If you've read The Iron King and liked it, buy this immediately. If you haven't yet read The Iron King, go buy it and read it. If you didn't at all like The Iron King, then you're probably a little mad but you might still want to give this a chance. This is an essential addition to any historical fiction collection.