The Lute Player

Legend has long told the story of Blondel the Lute Player who foundthe lost soldier-king Richard Coeur-de-Lion-kidnapped on the wayback from the great crusade to the Holy Land.Blondel found his king by travelling for months across Europesinging the first part of a love-song which Richard and he hadcomposed together. One day, from behind castle walls, the voice ofRichard responded to the strain.But why would a minstrel embark on such a risky pilgrimage tofind his king? Norah Lofts weaves a fascinating back-story to the taleof the Lionheart who strode out of the courts of twelfth-centuryEurope to lead his knights onto the Saracen battlefield-inspired bya vision of the Holy Land.The Lute Player tells of the courageous Richard and his ill-fatedunion with Berengaria, Princess of Navarre-of his mother, Eleanorof Aquitaine and her possessive love-and, above all, it tells ofBlondel whose life was woven in with all of them and who set outon his mission as an act of great love-but not a love for the King...