| The Grail Quest | |
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First volume Harlequin first edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Bernard Cornwell |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Grail Quest |
| Genre(s) | Historical Novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
The Grail Quest is a historical fiction novel series written by Bernard Cornwell dealing with a 14th Century search for the Holy Grail, around the time of the Hundred Years' War. They follow the adventures of Thomas of Hookton as he leaves Dorset after the murder of his father and joins the English Army under Edward III as an archer. In Harlequin he is involved in battle in Brittany and subsequently at the Battle of Crécy.
It is after this battle that Thomas's family links to the Grail come to the attention of the King and in Vagabond he is sent back to England to discover its whereabouts and becomes involved in the Scottish invasion of 1347. He soon discovers that his cousin, Guy Vexille, is working with powerful figures within the Catholic Church in France to discover the Grail for their own ends. The novel ends with fierce fighting at La Roche-Derrien back in Brittany.
Heretic finds Thomas still in France, this time during a time of supposed peace with the French following the fall of Calais. Thomas leads a small band of men into southern France to find the Grail. He becomes the centre of a bitter local war with those also seeking the Grail as well as by the Black Death.
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The second novel starts almost as soon as the earlier book ends, carrying on Thomas of Hookton's story. He has been sent back to England to pursue his father's mysterious legacy which hints that the Holy Grail might exist and gets tangled with the Scottish invasion of 1347. While participating in the fight, Eleanor is frustrated by Thomas' willingness to fight and goes on to the monastery with Father Hobbe. There Eleanor and Father Hobbe come across the old monk they are looking for who is talking with a Dominican and Vexille. Both are killed by Vexille. Meanwhile the Scots lose the battle and David II is captured. Thomas is devastated when he finds out the fate of Eleanor and again vows to kill Guy Vexille. He continues back to Hookton with Robbie, a captured Scottish noble. Thomas and Robbie travel to Hookton and find that the Dominican has also been to Hookton. Thomas meets with his old friend Sir Giles Marriott who gives him a book that his father wrote about the Grail. Thomas also receives a letter from Sir Guillaume that he has been outlawed by France and his castle is under siege.
Winter Siege
Thomas and Robbie go to Sir Guillaume's aid, but cannot do much for there are only two of them. Thomas uses his cunning and preys on small French parties and blowing up French cannon's gun powder. The two then rescue Sir Guillaume and travel back to La Rochen where he rediscovers Jeanette.
Jeanette convinces Thomas to retrieve her son and Thomas agrees. Thomas then leads a small raiding party to where small Charles is being held. However, he is betrayed and ends up in the Dominicans' captivity. Thomas is questioned and tortured by the Domicans. Eventually Thomas is let go and rehabilitated by his friends.
La Roche-Derrien
Meanwhile a large army marches on La Roche-Derrien and lays siege to it hoping to lure the nearby English army out and defeat the only remaining army that is not in one of the garrisons. It works and after a long battle which results in English victory but at a terrible cost to Thomas for his commander and friend, Sir William Skeat dies.
At the end Thomas decides to continue searching for the Grail and kill Guy Vexille on the way.
This is the third in the 'Grail Quest' series, and it takes Thomas of Hookton south into Gascony and to a final confrontation with his cousin, Guy Vexille. The novel begins with the fall of Calais, and most of the events occur in the subsequent truce, but for Thomas and his companions there can be no truce, only a vicious small war which ends with them being besieged, not just by enemies intent on finding the grail, but by the Black Death. (ISBN 0-00-714988-3)
Thomas of Hookton is later briefly mentioned in Cornwell's novel Azincourt, set around the events leading up to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 as having "died as a lord of a thousand acres."
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