To give you a proper context: Dante Alighieri saw the love of his life, a woman named Beatrice, 4 times altogether (this is what you'll find in his biographies, however hard it is to ascertain the truth). With them, the ideals of court love, gallantry, poetry, tournaments, knights and dames and all the associated drama constitutes a backbone of this novel. Tigana had musicians, Sarantine duology a mosaicist as the main protagonist, in Arbonne, fashioned after the medieval Provence and Occitania, troubadours are in the middle of things (along with joglars and trobairitz, that is female performers). Intertwined is the tale of a young woman troubadour whose role suggests the sweep of the drama to come.Īrtisans, it seems, are very important for Kay. The revelation of Blaise's lineage and a claim for sanctuary by his sister-in-law sets the stage for a brutal clash between the two cultures. Into this cauldron of brewing disaster comes the mysterious Gorhaut mercenary Blaise, who takes service with Bertran and averts an attempt on his life. His chief advisor, the high priest of Corannos, is determined to eradicate the worship of a female deity, whose followers live to the south. To the north lies militaristic Gorhaut, whose inhabitants worship the militant god Corannos and are ruled by corrupt, womanizing King Ademar. The matriarchal, cultured land of Arbonne is rent by a feud between its two most powerful dukes, the noble troubador Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval, over long-dead Aelis, lover of one, wife of the other and once heir to the country's throne.

Based on the troubadour culture that rose in Provence during the High Middle Ages, this panoramic, absorbing novel beautifully creates an alternate version of the medieval world.

A song for arbonne