The Dorothy Dunnett Companion

569 Pages·2007·5.6 MB·English

by  Morrison

Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Foreword
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MAPS
FORWARD TO THE FAMILY TREES
About the Author
Copyright Page
In Memory of Dorothy Dunnett
1923–2001
What brought us both here? A joyous adventure.
The Unicorn Hunt, Chapter 23
AUTHOR’S NOTE
THE purpose of this Companion is to enhance the reader’s appreciation and
enjoyment of the novels of Dorothy Dunnett. Arranged alphabetically, it aims to
provide an easily accessible but solidly researched background to the historical
characters, allusions and references which underpin the fiction of the Lymond
Chronicles and the House of Niccolò series. As with Volume I, the Companion
does not attempt to analyse aspects of the Renaissance which are outwith the
novels.
What has been most rewarding has been the opportunity to follow events and
individuals from the latter half of the fifteenth century to the mid-sixteenth and
to see how closely woven are the bloodlines of the major families. Historic
characters who make an appearance in the House of Niccolò often turn out to
have descendants who interact with the fictional Crawford of Lymond. In
addition to new maps, this volume includes select genealogies of the important
families who feature in both series. Dorothy Dunnett’s novels are unlike
anything else I have ever read, and her characters are as vibrant and alive as the
descriptions of the period they inhabit. The reason is undoubtedly the extensive
and meticulous research which has gone into their creation. There has not been
time to trace every reference and allusion, but for the first time what has been
created, in consultation with Dorothy Dunnett, is a bibliography of the sources
consulted for both the Lymond and Niccolò series. From general histories to the
most exacting of primary sources, those readers who wish to understand more
about the politics, economics, literature or music of the novels than can be
distilled within these pages may be encouraged to do research of their own,
knowing that in the calendars of state papers, or the collections of poetry, they
may find one of Lymond’s allusions or quotes, or one of Niccolò’s schemes,
which Dorothy had plucked from obscurity, and which has been hanging in the
air ever since.
The layout and style of the Companion is similar to that of Volume I. Cross
references to other items within the book are emboldened; cross references to
items appearing in Volume I are asterisked, and the two volumes are best kept
side by side. Quotations and phrases in foreign languages are indexed under their
first words as they appear in the novels; references and allusions are indexed
under their main subject. The names of characters who appear in the dramatis
personae of the novels are capitalised at the head of their biographies, but
historic or mythic individuals who are only alluded to are given in lower case.
As with its predecessor, one-word titles have been allocated to each of the
novels, and a key to these abbreviations has been included. Two new
abbreviations, HN and LC, indicate that the subject of the entry may be of
importance throughout both series of novels, rather than the entry referring to a
comment or event in a particular chapter of a particular novel. Again as before,
part and chapter numbers are given with the book references, rather than page
numbers. Where the subject of an entry appears several times, then the book
reference only is given. When characters or subjects appear in more than one
book, the one in which they are first mentioned is listed. Unless otherwise
indicated, all translations are by Dorothy Dunnett. Biographies and other entries
contributed by Dorothy Dunnett are indicated by her initials.
This Companion has been hard work, but tremendous fun to research and
compile. However, the project would not have been possible had it not been for
the full co-operation and participation of Dorothy Dunnett, who has allowed me
unlimited access to her library and research notes. She has contributed many of
the biographies, representing the formulation of decades of research; and in
addition to these, her light touch on other entries from Herpestes Ichneumon to
puffins has made this book what it is.
Sadly, Dorothy fell ill shortly after completing work on this volume, and she
died on 9 November 2001.
She is sorely missed.
ELSPETH MORRISON
Edinburgh, January 2002

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THANKS, first and foremost, must go to Dorothy,
whose intelligence, humour and generous spirit
have made this book a labour of love.
Thanks also to Richenda, who has
helped make sense of it all.
FOREWORD
THIS, like the first Companion, is a treasure chest of historical facts. There is no
fiction in it. It deals with jokes and paintings and poetry, with wars and sea
battles and tournaments, with flamboyant rogues and explorers, with pioneers in
trade and invention, with men of faith and women of power and character, all of
whom lived within the span of one hundred years– from the middle of the
fifteenth to the middle of the sixteenth century– while Europe and the lands on
its fringes were experiencing the great explosion of art and culture and learning
known as the Renaissance. They all have a place here because they make up the
worlds of Lymond and Niccolò, the two fictitious men whose story, after forty
years, has just drawn to a close.
The character of Francis Crawford of Lymond, an international mercenary
leader and a Scot, was created in 1960, and his life over ten years was detailed in
six long, linked novels. The next series, by contrast, dealt with Nicholas vander
Poele or de Fleury, a dyeyard apprentice in Flemish Burgundy, and eight
consecutive volumes followed his developing merchant career in countries
ranging from Cyprus to Iceland to Persia. Fictionally and historically, the two
series are connected and form a cycle of fourteen books.
Elspeth Morrison devised the initial Companion to satisfy the curiosity of all
those who wished to trace or have translated the quotations and allusions in the
novels, and to affirm the real historical base for the story. She dealt with the six
books of the Lymond Chronicles and those five House of Niccolò novels then
published, avoiding, with tact, any historical fact that might give away the line of
the plot, and the final resolution of the entire work.
The intention was to confine this second Companion to the final three Niccolò
novels, which are substantial. Then it seemed only fair to provide some of the
historical links between the two series: to show how Lymond’s Ivan the Terrible
was the grandson of Nicholas’s Ivan the Great, how Nostradamus in one was the
grandsire of Nostradamus the prophet in the other; how the family of Lennox
and Aubigny descended through the missing years between the two tales.