Blood on the Sand

Also by Michael Jecks

The Last Templar

The Merchant’s Partner

A Moorland Hanging

The Crediton Killings

The Abbot’s Gibbet

The Leper’s Return

Squire Throwleigh’s Heir

Belladonna at Belstone

The Traitor of St Giles

The Boy Bishop’s Glovemaker

The Tournament of Blood

The Sticklepath Strangler

The Devil’s Acolyte

The Mad Monk of Gidleigh

The Templar’s Penance

The Outlaws of Ennor

The Tolls of Death

The Chapel of Bones

The Butcher of St Peter’s

A Friar’s Bloodfeud

The Death Ship of Dartmouth

The Malice of Unnatural Death

Dispensation of Death

The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover

The Prophecy of Death

The King of Thieves

The Bishop Must Die

The Oath

King’s Gold

City of Fiends

Templar’s Acre

Fields of Glory

First published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd, 2015
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Copyright © Michael Jecks 2015

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TPB ISBN: 978-1-47111-111-2
EBOOK ISBN: 978-1-47111-113-6

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
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This book is for Paul Moreton, an agent in a million, for his undying enthusiasm, faith, and support. Thanks, Paul.

And in fond memory of Shelagh Palmer and Roger Paul. Two friends who will always be remembered whenever Tinners dance Morris.

This book is the second in my Hundred Years’ War trilogy, and covers almost a year of great courage and valour, as well as shocking brutality, while the English laid siege
to Calais.

Calais: it was a name that resonated with English kings and queens for centuries, a proud foothold on the mainland of France, captured in late 1347 and held for two hundred years by the English
Crown; a cause of shame and humiliation to the French until 1558, when the Duke of Guise retook it for France.

But what was Calais like for those who were besieging it in 1346? Thousands were encamped outside Calais in Villeneuve-la-Hardie, the bustling town of wooden sheds built by Edward III to house
his army. Preparations for the town had been going on for some time, because he had a definite plan to take Calais, I believe. His Crécy campaign was well thought through, and while his
first objective was to destroy the French army, his second was to take the port. That way he had a crucial jumping-off point whenever he wanted to re-enter France.

However, fascinating though the siege was, when I set out to write this book, I did not want it to be about the siege alone. There was too much else going on at this time. The ‘Auld
Alliance’ with Scotland led to the sudden invasion of King David, with his rampage as far as the terrible battle of Neville’s Cross, while at the same time the French were suffering
from treachery at home as barons and knights tried to gauge which way the winds of power were blowing. There were many, like Sir Peter of Bromley and Sir Jean de Vervins, who sought new
alliances.