On St. Bartholomew’s Day, a royal wedding, becomes the subject of treacherous plots and causes the streets of Paris and the River Seine to run red with Huguenot blood. Catholic mobs spark an orgy of Protestant blood-letting across France.
In recognition of this cleansing act of religious purity, the Pope commissions a depictive commemorative painting. Then, on behalf of her son, King Charles IX of France, the Queen Regent, Catherine de’ Medici, sends Pope Gregory XIII a trophy - the severed head of the Huguenot leader. In return, the Pope sends King Charles an elaborate ceremonial helmet.
Meanwhile, Hugh O’Neill, Baron of Dungannon advances an ambition to acquire his family’s lost Earldom of Tyrone by drawing attention to his acts of loyalty to the Crown. Hugh rides with the Earl of Essex, who then executes Hugh’s father-in-law for treason.
Hugh’s wife Fenella is unforgiving of his stand and their marriage is dissolved on the basis of it being within the forbidden degree of consanguinity. Hugh then forges a new alliance by marrying Siobhan O’Donnell, aged 14 – the daughter of Ineen Dubh MacDonnell O’Donnell - a powerful Scots-Irish matriarch in western Ulster. As Siobhan is not yet of age, Hugh takes a mistress in the person of Fiona - the daughter of his arch rival Tirlough Luineach O’Neill.
Pope Gregory XIII now agrees to send a Papal army to southern Ireland in answer to the request for assistance against the English Privateers. The force is to be made up of Irish emigres and Italians. However, the commander of the advance division, an Englishman, has other ideas, and so do the King of Portugal and King Philip of Spain who plot to divert it to fight the Ottoman Empire in Africa. King Philip, having a claim to the English throne, believes that if an army is to land in Ireland or England, it must be his – not the Pope’s.
But King Philip becomes angered after learning that the privateer, Francis Drake has set out with five ships and the support of Queen Elizabeth to discover Spain’s secret passage to the Pacific Ocean. If Drake can reach the undefended Spanish settlements on the Pacific Coast of South America, where the gold and silver mines that finance Philip’s empire are situated, then Spain may fall bankrupt.
Drake’s voyage is cause for great anxiety and Philip considers launching an Armada to seize England and depose Elizabeth.
A Desolate Peace is the first broad account of the epic clash between the Elizabethan and Gaelic Worlds. Have a look at a complete list of volumes for this epic 10 volume set. The list also includes release dates for all volumes and links to their summaries.