Niccolo Rising - Dorothy Dunnett [2]
Sir Alexander Napier of Merchiston, controller of King James II’s household
Richard Wylie, archdeacon of Brechin and procurator at the Curia
John de Kinloch, chaplain of the Scots in Bruges
John Reid of Boston, Scots merchant trading in England and Calais
Muriella, sister of John Reid
French and Franco-Scots
Louis, Dauphin and heir to King Charles VII of France
Charlotte, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, and 2nd wife of the Dauphin
Gaston du Lyon, chamberlain and equerry to the Dauphin Louis
Raymond du Lyon, brother of Gaston and man-at-arms in the Dauphin’s guard
Isabelle, sister of King James II and widow of the Duke of Brittany
Antoinette de Maignélais, mistress of the rulers of France and Brittany
Sir William Monypenny, seigneur de Concressault, adviser to King Charles
Jordan de St Pol, vicomte de Ribérac, financial adviser to King Charles
Patrick Flockhart, captain of King Charles’ men-at-arms
Andro Wodman, archer serving under Flockhart in France
Lionetto, a French mercenary captain serving in Italy
Flanders galleys: Venetians
Alvise Duodo of Venice, commander 1459
Piero Zorzi of Venice, commander 1460
Quilico, ship’s surgeon to Alvise Duodo
Loppe (Lopez), Guinea slave from Alvise Duodo’s galley
Piero Bembo, agent of Venice
Milan and Genoa
Cicco Simonetta of Calabria, secretary to Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan
Alessandro Sforza, lord of Pesaro, brother of the Duke of Milan
Prosper Schiaffino de Camulio de’ Medici, envoy of the Duke of Milan
Francesco Coppini, Bishop of Terni, papal legate and secret envoy of Milan
Federigo da Montefeltro, Count of Urbino, captain of the Duke of Milan
Giammatteo Ferrari da Grado, professor and physician to the Duke of Milan
Tobias Beventini of Grado, his nephew, physician to captain Lionetto’s band
Count Jacopo Piccinino, mercenary captain, son of Milan army leader Nicholas
Prosper Adorno, future Doge of Genoa and kin to Anselm Adorne
Tomà Adorno of Chios, kinsman of Prosper Adorno
Naples
Ferrante, King of Naples, bastard son of Alfonso V of Aragon
John Duke of Calabria, son of King René of Sicily and claimant to Naples
Margaret of Anjou, sister of Duke John and wife of Henry VI, King of England
René, King of Sicily and Duke of Anjou, father of above and uncle of the Dauphin Louis
Greeks and Levantines
Nicholai Giorgio de’ Acciajuoli (“the Greek with the wooden leg”)
Bartolomeo Giorgio/Zorzi, alum farmer and silk merchant of Constantinople
Agnolo Acciajuoli, banker, grandson of Donato, Prince of Athens
Laudomia Acciajuoli, sister of Agnolo and wife of Pierfrancesco Medici
Giovanni da Castro, godson of Pope Pius and ex-dyer at Constantinople
Caterino Zeno, merchant of Venice with Levantine connections
Violante, wife of Zeno and granddaughter of Emperor John of Trebizond
Chapter 1
FROM VENICE to Cathay, from Seville to the Gold Coast of Africa, men anchored their ships and opened their ledgers and weighed one thing against another as if nothing would ever change. Or as if there existed no sort of fool, of either sex, who might one day treat trade (trade!) as an amusement.
It began mildly enough, the awkward chain of events that was to upset the bankers so much. It began with sea, and September sunlight, and three young men lying stripped to their doublets in the Duke of Burgundy’s bath.
Of the three, Claes and Felix were watching the canal bank for girls. Julius, his instincts blunted by an extra decade, was content to sink back, agreeably fortified, and forget he was anyone’s tutor. A good astrologer would have told him to get out at once.
The sun warmed the bath, and the water bore it along on the last stage of its meandering journey. From the leadfounder’s in England it had crossed the narrow sea to the Low Countries in a serviceable wind-battered caravel. It had been unloaded with some trouble in the crowded harbour at Sluys, and strapped with some trouble athwart a canal boat with a scratch crew of oarsmen.
And now, here it was. Lumped with cherubs: a bath