The Unholy Pilgrim

by R.F. Tapsell

Sweeping across the turbulent Europe of the thirteenth century, R. F. Tapsell's new novel follows the adventures of Tancred of Varville, a young Norman knight on pilgrimage to Jerusalem not for the salvation of his soul but for the recovery of his honor and his inheritance.

Across flaming seas — as the war galleys of the Venetians, the Genoese, and the Saracens fight for control of the Aegean in the wake of the Fourth Crusade — Tancred sets sail for the Holy Land. The Unholy Pilgrim traces his stormy progress through shipwreck off the Dalmatian coast, through near-fatal encounters with the enemies plotting against him, through bloody naval battles, through days of luxury and conspiracy on the sumptuous galley bearing Melinda of Ibelin, one of the noblest ladies of the Frankish East, through his tumultuous courtship of her handmaiden Eleanor, to the great and climactic siege of Metos, where — by his feats of ingenuity and courage —his knight`s honor is refurbished and his inheritance secured.

With its narrative excitement and its meticulous historical background, The Unholy Pilgrim makes vivid and immediate the violece, the intrigue, the life and spirit of the medieval world. It is a splendid successor to Mr. Tapsell`s brilliantly acclaimed first novel, The Year of the Horsetails.

Genres: Historical Fiction

244 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

R.F. Tapsell (Robert Frederick Tapsell) was an English author born in 1936, in Croydon, Surrey (now South London). Tapsell wrote three historical novels and was the editor (compiler) of a single non-fiction book on royal dynasties.

During his National Service in the Royal Air Force (RAF) he was trained as a Russian Language interpreter.Later, Tapsell worked in military intelligence, specializing in Eastern Europe.After he was demobilized he worked in an insurance company and as a shipping clerk, while preparing himself for college.

In 1960 he began studying at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at London University, graduating with a BA(Hons) in History in 1963. He also traveled extensively in Western Europe, the Balkans, Egypt and Iraq. Tapsell then moved into University administration, working at several British universities, including the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, before emigrating to Australia in 1974.

He returned to the United Kingdom in 1982 where he died in April, 1984. He was survived by his widow and two sons.