It's 1229, the year of the Christian 'Reconquest' of Mallorca from the Moors, a Muslim people of Afro-Arabic origin who have ruled Spain in cultural splendour for five hundred years. Heading the Christian invasion is King Jaume I, the dashing 21-year-old ruler of the northern Spanish kingdom of Aragon, who sets out for Mallorca with a mighty armada of one hundred and fifty ships carrying some fifteen thousand foot soldiers and fifteen hundred cavalry. The helmsman of the royal galley is Pedrito Blanes, a strapping Mallorcan peasant of the same age as King Jaume. This is his story. Pedrito has spent five years as a slave of Moorish pirates and is now eager to return to his family on the island. Despite their disparate backgrounds, a firm friendship develops between the two young men, a bond fortified by the perils of the sea voyage and destined to survive the disapproval of the youthful king's...
Visa mer
Recensioner
Bli först med att recensera denna bok
