The White Company by Doyle

by Arthur Conan Doyle

Overview

The White Company is a historical adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle set during the Hundred Years' War.[1] The story is set in England, France, and Spain, in the years 1366 and 1367, against the background of the campaign of Edward, the Black Prince to restore Peter of Castile to the throne of the Kingdom of Castile. The climax of the book occurs before the Battle of Nájera. Doyle became inspired to write the novel after attending a lecture on the middle ages in 1889. After extensive research, The White Company was published in serialized form in 1891 in Cornhill Magazine.

The novel is relatively unknown today, though it was very popular up through the Second World War. In fact, Doyle himself regarded this and his other historical novels more highly than the Sherlock Holmes adventures for which he is mainly remembered.

The "White Company" of the title is a free company of archers, led by one of the main characters. The name is taken from a real-life 14th-Century Italian mercenary company, led by John Hawkwood.



Contents
[hide] 1 Plot
2 Characters 2.1 Main characters
2.2 Other characters
2.3 Historical figures who appear as characters in the novel

3 Influence
4 References
5 External links


[edit] Plot

At the age of twenty, the young Alleyne, son of Edric, intelligent, skilled, and well-liked, though sheltered and naïve, leaves the Catholic abbey where he has been raised and goes out to see the world, in accordance with the terms of his father's will. The same day, the abbot banishes John of Hordle, for worldly behavior: great appetite, teasing, and flirting. At the Pied Merlin inn, they make friends with veteran archer Sam Aylward. He has returned to England from France to recruit for the White Company of mercenaries, and brings an request for Sir Nigel Loring of Christchurch to take command. Aylward and John continue to Christchurch, while Alleyne detours to visit his older brother, the "socman" or landlord of Minstead, whose fierce reputation has grown to wickedness.

As the brothers meet for the first time since Alleyne was an infant, the socman is threatening a lovely maiden, and still furious their father gave three hides of land (80–120 acres) to the monastery for the boy's support. Maude escapes the socman with Alleyne's aid, and they flee on foot to find her squire and horse. Maude makes a striking impression on the abbey-raised young man, and she laughs when Alleyne states that his intention to rejoin his friends will lead to Sir Nigel Loring. Alleyne meets up again with Aylward and Hordle John, and the three friends meet Sir Nigel and his formidable wife Mary. Alleyne is taken on as squire to Sir Nigel and tutor to his daughter, who Alleyne discovers is the same Maude he saved from his evil brother. When the men eventually depart for France, the young couple admit their love, but only to each other. En route to Gascony, our heroes destroy pirates, then report to the court of the Prince of Wales in Bordeaux.

After adventures fearful and funny, the valiant fighters lead the White Company to join the Prince. The Spanish and French attack them in a narrow ravine, where the mighty warriors are almost all destroyed and the Company must disband. John and Alleyne, badly wounded, survive, but Sir Nigel and Aylward are missing and presumed dead. The English go on to win the Battle of Nájera, fulfilling the mission. The Prince knights Alleyne in his sick bed, and the former socman has died. Sir Alleyne Edricson, new socman, returns victorious, John his squire, to snatch Maude from the doors of the nunnery, for marriage. En route back to rescue their friends, all reunite for a happy ever after.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940016436074
Publisher:	Romeo Publications
Publication date:	04/29/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	978 KB

About the Author

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, DL (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a Scottish author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and the adventures of Professor Challenger. He was a prolific writer whose other works include science fiction stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction. Conan was originally a given name, but Doyle used it as part of his surname in his later years.

Date of Birth:

May 22, 1859

Date of Death:

July 7, 1930

Place of Birth:

Edinburgh, Scotland

Place of Death:

Crowborough, Sussex, England

Education:

Edinburgh University, B.M., 1881; M.D., 1885