The White Company
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| The White Company | |
| Author | Arthur Conan Doyle |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical novel |
| Publication date | 1891 |
| Media type | print (hardback) |
| ISBN | NA |
The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle is a historical adventure set during the Hundred Years' War. The White Company is set in the late 14th century, mostly in England and France.
When Arthur Conan Doyle was young, his mother used to tell him tales about glorious knights and their chivalrous deeds. However, it was not until 1889 when he attended a lecture on medieval times that Doyle began to seriously think about the fourteenth century. He extensively researched, and The White Company was initially published in serialized form in 1891 in Cornhill Magazine.
Despite its lack of fame today, it was very popular at the time and throughout the Second World War. In fact, Doyle himself regarded this and his other historical novels higher than the Sherlock Holmes adventures for which he is mainly remembered.
The name seems to be taken from the famous 14th Century Italian mercenary company, led by John Hawkwood.
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The novel tells the many adventures of Alleyne Edricson and The White Company. It begins with the expulsion of John Hordle from the monastery of Beaulieau because of his excesses; he was gluttonous, quarrelsome and was seen in the company of a woman (albeit merely carrying her across a stream). As the abbot Berghersh orders him to be flogged, Hordle, an incredibly big and strong man, attacks the would be flogger and runs away from the monastery, whereby the abbot declares that he was expelled. Hordle, as it turns out, was not a God-fearing person and had joined the monastery in a fit of depression when his sweetheart had rejected him to marry another man.
Later, as the abbot is busy in prayer, Alleyne Edricson comes to ask leave from him. If Hordle was the renegade beast, Alleyne was his opposite in every way. He was young, skilled, and well- liked by everyone, though sheltered and naive. Twenty years ago, when Alleyne was still an infant, his father had gifted a lot of land for the monastery. In return, he had asked the abbot to care for and teach his son till he came of age, at which stage to let him out of the monastery for one year to let him see the world. After one year, Alleyne would be free to come back to the monastery to become a monk or choose any other career. Having come of age, he is to go out into the 'wicked' world today. The abbot prays for him and Alleyne says goodbye to the monastery with a heavy heart.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main characters
- Alleyne Edricson - through the wishes of his father, he has been raised by monks. Upon reaching the age of twenty he leaves the Abbey and goes into the world. During the next two years, Alleyne becomes a squire to Sir Nigel Loring. He then travels to France to join The White Company, a brave band of archers. When Alleyne performs a great feat of valor, he himself becomes a knight. Upon returning to England, as one of the sole survivors of the White Company, he weds Sir Nigel's beautiful daughter - the Lady Maude Loring.
- Sir Nigel Loring
- Samkin Aylward - An elite archer, he has spent much of his life as a soldier and eventually falls in with The White Company of Sir Nigel Loring, to whom he swears unswerving fealty. His excellent shooting skills, hardy constitution, sense of humour, and a hearty dose of luck have seen him through many battles, allowing him to pursue his chief pastime - wooing and flirting with women. Sam met up with Alleyne Edricson and Hordle John at the Pied Merlin and, after discussing his lucrative life as a soldier of fortune, managed to convince Hordle John to wager his allegiance to the White Company against a feather bed in a wrestling competition. Samkin won and claimed John's promise to join, to which John replied "I count it not a fly; for I had promised myself a good hour ago that I should go with thee, since the life seems to be a goodly and proper one. Yet I would fain have had the feather-bed." It is his valor that saves Sir Nigel's life on numerous occasions, and his wisdom that allows Hordle John and Alleyne Edricson to grow in strength and standing in The White Company.
- John Hordle - He is a former monk who was kicked out of the monastery for his unfitting behavior. He joins up with Alleyne Edricson, who has just left the monastery, and together they meet Samkin Aylward, an archer from the White Company. They travel together for most of the story, along with the knight Sir Nigel Loring, survive numerous military encounters, and eventually return to their homeland. Hordle John's wit, sarcasm, and straight-forward manner are several of the many things that make the story enjoyable. He manages to survive more than one encounter not only by his skill in archery, but also by his brute strength. More than once he won simply by overpowering the enemy.
[edit] Other characters
- Abbot Berghersh
- Sir Oliver Buttesthorn
- Simon Edricson, Socman of Minstead
- Walter Ford, esquire
- Goodwin Hawtayne
- Sir Claude Latour
- Lady Mary Loring
- Maude Loring
- Black Simon of Norwich
- Peter Terlake, esquire
- John Tranter
[edit] Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel
- James Audley, 2nd Baron Audley
- Bernard Brocas
- Hugh Calveley
- Henry II of Castile
- Pedro of Castile
- John Chandos
- Olivier de Clisson
- Edward III of England
- Thomas Felton
- William Felton
- John of Gaunt
- Jean III de Grailly, captal de Buch
- Bertrand du Guesclin
- Robert Knolles
- James IV of Majorca
- Charles II of Navarre
- Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester
- Sir Simon de Burley
(There was also a real knight named Sir Nigel Loring at the time the novel is set, but the historical record supplied only his name and he is otherwise Doyle's invention.)
[edit] Influence
Amory Blaine, the protagonist in F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise reads The White Company early in the book. Several of the characters in S.M. Stirling's Emberverse novels share names with characters from this book and are apparently descendants and/or reincarnations of the characters, and Stirling has acknowledged its influence on his own writing.
[edit] External links
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