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Series
The Chivalry series follows William Gold from his beginnings as a London cook’s boy in the campaign of 1356 to a career as knight and professional captain. His path leads from Poitiers through the mercenary wars of Italy, crusading expeditions and the rivalries of France, Savoy, Venice, Genoa and Florence.
Across seven novels, battlefield skill brings William rank and responsibility but never resolves the moral contradiction at the centre of his life. The sequence examines the ideals of chivalry against plunder, contract warfare and political betrayal, showing how command transfers the cost of violence from the individual fighter to the households and soldiers who depend on him.
Reading order
In September 1356, London cook’s boy William Gold follows the army of Edward, the Black Prince, into France and finds himself among archers, knights and camp followers before the Battle of Poitiers. Branded a thief and placed at the bottom of the military world, he wants…
Pisa, 1364. Newly knighted after fighting outside Florence, William Gold expects to earn his living in the wars between Italy’s city-states. A summons from Father Pierre de Thomas instead recalls his obligations to the Order of St John and pulls him away from the profitable career…
After the violence of Alexandria, Sir William Gold hopes that a pilgrimage to Jerusalem will ease his conscience and give his relationship with Emile a future. Those plans are interrupted when the Roman emperor at Constantinople is taken hostage and the support of Emile’s cousin, the…
In 1367, Sir William Gold serves the Green Count of Savoy as expeditions and private ambitions carry armed companies across France, Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. Protecting his patron requires more than skill in battle: fortresses, ransoms and alliances can change hands before a sword is…
Sir William Gold has become an experienced captain, but service under John Hawkwood places him inside a military economy in which loyalty lasts only as long as contracts and pay. Campaigns across Italy, France and Spain force William to negotiate with princes who value his company’s…
William Gold returns to an Italy divided among papal forces, the Visconti, Florence and the great mercenary companies. His experience makes him valuable to rulers who need disciplined soldiers, but each commission also turns him into a piece in negotiations conducted through sieges, money and betrayal.…
After an unpaid papal campaign and service as a pawn in the rivalry between Venice and Genoa, William Gold considers abandoning military life. News of an Anglo-French truce and unrest in Florence, however, creates another market for experienced captains and offers him a command under a…