Three lives are about to become entangled: a former Templar haunted by his past, his former squire now serving the Inquisition, and a young survivor fleeing the destruction of his family.
Beauvais, 1294. Barthel, captain of the Inquisition guard, has grown increasingly uneasy with the orders of the ruthless inquisitor Robert de Konrad. When an assault on the home of master blacksmith Jehan ends in bloodshed, Jehan’s son Gauvain escapes with his life.
Before disaster strikes, Gauvain’s mother sends the mute Traguerre south with a desperate message for her brother Hugo — a former Knight Templar living near Montségur. Hugo sets out to find his nephew, drawing both men into a dangerous journey across a kingdom where religious authority, political ambition and private vengeance are becoming impossible to separate.
As Barthel begins to question the forces he serves and Hugo confronts the consequences of his own past, two men once bound together as knight and squire move inexorably towards one another again.
The Templar’s Odyssey is set in a France where the authority of the Church remains immense, but the monarchy is becoming increasingly powerful and ambitious.
The story begins in 1294, against a background of religious persecution, political rivalry and the long aftermath of the Crusades. For men such as Hugo and Barthel, the ideals that shaped their youth no longer fit comfortably within the world in which they now live.
The historical setting is not merely a backdrop. It constantly shapes the choices the characters are forced to make.
An institution capable of inspiring obedience, fear and doubt — and the authority Barthel is expected to serve.
Philip the Fair is strengthening royal authority and pursuing ambitions that will reshape the kingdom.
For Hugo, the Order belongs to a former life — but its ideals, loyalties and memories have never entirely disappeared.
Gauvain grows up in Beauvais, the son of master blacksmith Jehan and Anna, Hugo’s sister. Strongly built but still inexperienced in the ways of war, he sees his world destroyed when the Inquisition descends upon his family.
His mother’s final instruction is to survive and find his uncle Hugo. Alone and pursued, Gauvain must learn quickly whom he can trust — while struggling with the anger left
by everything he has lost.
His escape sends Hugo back onto the road and confronts Barthel with an increasingly difficult choice between obedience and conscience.
What begins in Beauvais as a story of persecution, survival and divided
loyalties gradually expands into the larger political and religious
conflicts of medieval France, carrying its characters towards the
upheavals that will culminate in the fate of the Knights Templar.
Book One of The Templar’s Odyssey is available in a complete
English translation for representation and publishing consideration.
The original four-volume saga is complete and published in French.