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Count Hannibal: A Romance of the Court of France
""Count A Romance Of The Court Of France"" is a historical fiction novel written by Stanley J. Weyman and published in 1922. The story is set in the 16th century at the court of King Francis I of France and follows the adventures of the protagonist, Count Hannibal de Coconnas, a brave and loyal soldier who falls in love with the beautiful and intelligent Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of the king. As Coconnas becomes more involved in the political intrigues of the court, he finds himself caught up in a dangerous plot to overthrow the king, led by the treacherous Duke of Guise. With the help of his friends and allies, including the legendary swordsman, La Mole, Coconnas must navigate the complex web of loyalties and betrayals that threaten to tear the kingdom apart.""Count Hannibal"" is a thrilling tale of love, loyalty, and adventure set against the backdrop of one of the most fascinating periods in French history. With its vivid characters, richly detailed setting, and gripping plot, this book is sure to captivate readers of all ages and interests.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
376 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1901
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About the author
Stanley J. Weyman
202 books22 followersAdmired by renowned authors such as Stevenson, Wilde, and Rafael Sabatini, Stanley John Weyman is today a forgotten literary giant of the late 19th century. While for years his best-selling historical romances enchanted thousands of readers, today his books are mostly neglected.
Stanley Weyman (pronounced Wyman) was the second of three sons born to solicitor Thomas Weyman and his wife Mary Maria Black on August 7, 1855, at 54 Broad Street, Ludlow, Shropshire. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Shrewsbury School (after age 16) and obtained a second class degree in Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford in 1877. As History Master at King's School, Chester, he served under his future brother-in-law, Rev'd. George Preston.
In Ludlow in 1879 he read for the Bar and was called in 1881, to begin a disappointing law career with Weyman, Weyman and Weyman, the family law firm. He has been described as nervous, shy, short in height and a poor cross-examiner and was said to have angered a judge because of these shortcomings. It is to our blessing that Weyman's law career was unsatisfactory. As a result, he was able to devote his ample spare time to writing. James Payn, editor of Cornhill Magazine, encouraged him to tackle larger literary works. The House of the Wolf was serialized in the English Illustrated Magazine in 1888/89 and was published in 1890 after Weyman contacted literary agent, A. P. Watt. This first book received no less than six rejections by publishers. Two additional books, The New Rector and The Story of Francis Cludde, were published in 1891 and these allowed him to become a full-time novelist.
Beginning his professional literary career in middle age, Weyman had a lifetime of experience to share including the insights gained from his extensive travels. On one notable vacation in the south of France in 1886, for a "weakness in the lungs" in the company of his younger brother Arthur, both were arrested as spies for sketching and crossing the border into Spain. They were detained for 24 hours until the British Ambassador helped them.
Experiences such as these are reflected in his novels. Stanley Weyman was a man of few words but those that were given were meant to be savoured. As an author, he had an uncanny way of using precisely the correct phrase. With his eloquent and extraordinary use of language, he painted a vivid picture of life and human emotion. His work is finely honed by a razor sharp mind that combines the skill of a great storyteller and an Oxford scholar's love of history.
Weyman's fame stands on the foundation of his historical, romantic fiction. The 15 novels written between 1890 and 1904 are set amidst the turmoil of 16th and 17th century France. Weyman was one of the first authors to 'cast the romance of adventure' in the historical framework. He was able to resurrect the great heroes and bring them to life by his loving hand. This author claimed: "The graves of our heroes--the real heroes--move us; the doors through which the famous dead have passed are sacred to us." Stanley Weyman regarded himself as fortunate that the timing of his early novels followed closely the popular historical fiction of Alexandre Dumas in France.
Stanley Weyman (pronounced Wyman) was the second of three sons born to solicitor Thomas Weyman and his wife Mary Maria Black on August 7, 1855, at 54 Broad Street, Ludlow, Shropshire. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Shrewsbury School (after age 16) and obtained a second class degree in Modern History at Christ Church, Oxford in 1877. As History Master at King's School, Chester, he served under his future brother-in-law, Rev'd. George Preston.
In Ludlow in 1879 he read for the Bar and was called in 1881, to begin a disappointing law career with Weyman, Weyman and Weyman, the family law firm. He has been described as nervous, shy, short in height and a poor cross-examiner and was said to have angered a judge because of these shortcomings. It is to our blessing that Weyman's law career was unsatisfactory. As a result, he was able to devote his ample spare time to writing. James Payn, editor of Cornhill Magazine, encouraged him to tackle larger literary works. The House of the Wolf was serialized in the English Illustrated Magazine in 1888/89 and was published in 1890 after Weyman contacted literary agent, A. P. Watt. This first book received no less than six rejections by publishers. Two additional books, The New Rector and The Story of Francis Cludde, were published in 1891 and these allowed him to become a full-time novelist.
Beginning his professional literary career in middle age, Weyman had a lifetime of experience to share including the insights gained from his extensive travels. On one notable vacation in the south of France in 1886, for a "weakness in the lungs" in the company of his younger brother Arthur, both were arrested as spies for sketching and crossing the border into Spain. They were detained for 24 hours until the British Ambassador helped them.
Experiences such as these are reflected in his novels. Stanley Weyman was a man of few words but those that were given were meant to be savoured. As an author, he had an uncanny way of using precisely the correct phrase. With his eloquent and extraordinary use of language, he painted a vivid picture of life and human emotion. His work is finely honed by a razor sharp mind that combines the skill of a great storyteller and an Oxford scholar's love of history.
Weyman's fame stands on the foundation of his historical, romantic fiction. The 15 novels written between 1890 and 1904 are set amidst the turmoil of 16th and 17th century France. Weyman was one of the first authors to 'cast the romance of adventure' in the historical framework. He was able to resurrect the great heroes and bring them to life by his loving hand. This author claimed: "The graves of our heroes--the real heroes--move us; the doors through which the famous dead have passed are sacred to us." Stanley Weyman regarded himself as fortunate that the timing of his early novels followed closely the popular historical fiction of Alexandre Dumas in France.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 26, 2017
This guy really knew how to write historical fiction.
Count Hannibal de Tavannes is a delicious anti-hero, a prominent and dreaded aristocrat of Charles' IX inner circle, a merciless hatchetman with a icy cool demeanour taken to sneering with a 'look of smiling possession'.
Mademoiselle Vrillac is a young Huguenot woman from the country come to Paris with her less than faithful lover, the foppish yet courageous Tignonville. Tavannes takes a liking to her and together they play out a deadly game of honour and wills against the backdrop of one of the darkest days in French history, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572.
Weyman recreates that violent and shameful episode with all the bloodthirsty glee of Alexander Dumas at his best, revelling in all the bloodthirsty details such as in the following passage:
'Near the Rue des Lombards he saw a dead child, stripped stark and hanged on the hook of a cobbler’s shutter. A little farther on in the same street he stepped over the body of a handsome young woman ... To obtain her bracelets, her captors had cut off her hands; afterwards—but God knows how long afterwards—a passer-by, more pitiful than his fellows, had put her out of her misery with a spit, which still remained plunged in her body.'
Tavannes ignores his orders from Charles - the highly strung young monarch himself puts in a memorable cameo - to play his game of cat and mouse with the woman he craves, she for the lives of various Huguenots he promises to spare, he for her promise to be his, body and soul.
Considering that Tavannes is a bad man who could simply have taken what he wanted at anytime, I have to admit that once or twice the fine balance of their personal duel threatened to lose credibility, only for Weyman to rescue the situation with a subtle twist or a clever line.
He still could have lost me to some degree even up to the last chapter, but the ending could not have been staged any better.
Count Hannibal de Tavannes is a delicious anti-hero, a prominent and dreaded aristocrat of Charles' IX inner circle, a merciless hatchetman with a icy cool demeanour taken to sneering with a 'look of smiling possession'.
Mademoiselle Vrillac is a young Huguenot woman from the country come to Paris with her less than faithful lover, the foppish yet courageous Tignonville. Tavannes takes a liking to her and together they play out a deadly game of honour and wills against the backdrop of one of the darkest days in French history, the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572.
Weyman recreates that violent and shameful episode with all the bloodthirsty glee of Alexander Dumas at his best, revelling in all the bloodthirsty details such as in the following passage:
'Near the Rue des Lombards he saw a dead child, stripped stark and hanged on the hook of a cobbler’s shutter. A little farther on in the same street he stepped over the body of a handsome young woman ... To obtain her bracelets, her captors had cut off her hands; afterwards—but God knows how long afterwards—a passer-by, more pitiful than his fellows, had put her out of her misery with a spit, which still remained plunged in her body.'
Tavannes ignores his orders from Charles - the highly strung young monarch himself puts in a memorable cameo - to play his game of cat and mouse with the woman he craves, she for the lives of various Huguenots he promises to spare, he for her promise to be his, body and soul.
Considering that Tavannes is a bad man who could simply have taken what he wanted at anytime, I have to admit that once or twice the fine balance of their personal duel threatened to lose credibility, only for Weyman to rescue the situation with a subtle twist or a clever line.
He still could have lost me to some degree even up to the last chapter, but the ending could not have been staged any better.
December 28, 2012
Weyman really knew how to tell a story. This book has the kind of depiction that makes you feel like you're watching it instead of reading about it. Highly recommended, especially if you like historical fiction.
September 28, 2008
more twists and turns than... a windy banister going around a spiral slide.
February 23, 2020
I'm not sure where I saw a reference to this, but I downloaded it from Project Gutenberg a while ago.
The novel begins with one of the darkest episodes in French history, the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre during the reign of Charles IX. Mademoiselle de Vrillac and her betrothed M. De Tignonville are young Hugenots visiting Paris as part of celebrations for the marriage of Henry of Navarre (a Hugenot) with the king's sister (a Catholic). The king uses the unusual concentration of protestants in the catholic capitol for launching a bloody massacre little different from the modern bloodshed in Serbia or Rwanda.
Mme. is offered protection for herself and her servants by the menacing Count Hannibal, in return for agreeing to marry him. At first the Count is portrayed in classic villainous terms, but as the novel proceeds, you gradually recognize his strength, determination and intelligence as he plays a dangerous double game trying to protect her. There is a very impressive scene where the resourceful count escapes from a tower cell in a manner that Jackie Chan might have attempted.
In contrast, M. De Tignonville is an inconstant lover, untrue to his word but repeatedly trying to press his former betrothed into reneging on her oath to Count Hannibal and running away with him.
There are many twists and turns as they travel away from the dangers of Paris into fresh danger. The ending managed to surprise and move me, unexpected for what I thought would be a melodramatic pot boiler.
The novel is the source for a quote I've read in another novel (can't remember exactly but might be Lord Peter Wimsey). After she is reluctantly wed, the Count asks if his wife wants a kiss or a blow from him. She replies 'A thousand times a blow!'
The novel begins with one of the darkest episodes in French history, the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre during the reign of Charles IX. Mademoiselle de Vrillac and her betrothed M. De Tignonville are young Hugenots visiting Paris as part of celebrations for the marriage of Henry of Navarre (a Hugenot) with the king's sister (a Catholic). The king uses the unusual concentration of protestants in the catholic capitol for launching a bloody massacre little different from the modern bloodshed in Serbia or Rwanda.
Mme. is offered protection for herself and her servants by the menacing Count Hannibal, in return for agreeing to marry him. At first the Count is portrayed in classic villainous terms, but as the novel proceeds, you gradually recognize his strength, determination and intelligence as he plays a dangerous double game trying to protect her. There is a very impressive scene where the resourceful count escapes from a tower cell in a manner that Jackie Chan might have attempted.
In contrast, M. De Tignonville is an inconstant lover, untrue to his word but repeatedly trying to press his former betrothed into reneging on her oath to Count Hannibal and running away with him.
There are many twists and turns as they travel away from the dangers of Paris into fresh danger. The ending managed to surprise and move me, unexpected for what I thought would be a melodramatic pot boiler.
The novel is the source for a quote I've read in another novel (can't remember exactly but might be Lord Peter Wimsey). After she is reluctantly wed, the Count asks if his wife wants a kiss or a blow from him. She replies 'A thousand times a blow!'
September 3, 2013
A novel set at the time of the death of the Huguenots on St Bartholomew's Eve. Weyman writes a romantic novel, with a lot of historical accuracy and really involves the reader.
December 9, 2025
This is a historical romance (in the older sense) set in France during the Huguenot purges, written right around 1900. I found it very entertaining and engaging, as well as thought-provoking--in part because I can't agree with almost anyone in the novel. But I still liked them, sort of.
Count Hannibal--Monsieur de Tavannes, or just Tavannes, mostly--is veteran of many foreign wars, a devout Catholic, a servant of the crown, and a real bastard. In real life, he took a leading role in the murder of Huguenots in 1572, a crime probably instigated by Catherine de' Medici rather than her son the king, but enthusiastically endorsed by most noblemen in the north and most of the Catholic lower classes. However, he saves mademoiselle de Vrillac, a beautiful Huguenot woman he's been kinda hitting on, in a gross way, despite the fact that a she's intended for M. Tignonville. That man is not too brave, and in the moment his betrothed needs him most, when the mob is surging throughout Paris, looking for Huguenots, he's trying to find the woman he hopes will be his mistress. (She won't. She despises him.) Murderous Count Hannibal, though, protects her and her household from the crowd, and eventually Tignonville as well, but will continue to do so only if she marries him. If she remains principled, it means not just her death, but all those others, including Tignonville. Not much of a choice. It's the worst kind of extortion, though it's presented like a kind of mercy.
Her choice in that moment, and her even more crucial choice in the last few pages of the novel, are the center of plot. There's lots of travel across France and secret messages and ambushes and intrigue, very readable stuff, but the real story is the moral and ethical struggle of this one poor woman and the choices she has to make in the midst of incredible cruelty, mayhem, chaos, and murder. How can anyone be a good person, an ethical person, in a place and time where the rules of society are so perverse? Also, how black can the marks against you be before your redemption is impossible?
The one virtue that seems to be universally admired and adhered to is the sanctity of giving your word. The only exception I can think of in the novel is a moment of exceptionally high stakes--is it permissible to break your word to save half a city? I think the answer the book arrives at is yes, though it's a tussle.
There's a lot to think about, but it's hard to discuss it without giving up every spoiler. It's an old book and not many people are reading it, but if you like Dumas, you probably would like this, so I don't want to ruin it for those people.
Recommended.
Count Hannibal--Monsieur de Tavannes, or just Tavannes, mostly--is veteran of many foreign wars, a devout Catholic, a servant of the crown, and a real bastard. In real life, he took a leading role in the murder of Huguenots in 1572, a crime probably instigated by Catherine de' Medici rather than her son the king, but enthusiastically endorsed by most noblemen in the north and most of the Catholic lower classes. However, he saves mademoiselle de Vrillac, a beautiful Huguenot woman he's been kinda hitting on, in a gross way, despite the fact that a she's intended for M. Tignonville. That man is not too brave, and in the moment his betrothed needs him most, when the mob is surging throughout Paris, looking for Huguenots, he's trying to find the woman he hopes will be his mistress. (She won't. She despises him.) Murderous Count Hannibal, though, protects her and her household from the crowd, and eventually Tignonville as well, but will continue to do so only if she marries him. If she remains principled, it means not just her death, but all those others, including Tignonville. Not much of a choice. It's the worst kind of extortion, though it's presented like a kind of mercy.
Her choice in that moment, and her even more crucial choice in the last few pages of the novel, are the center of plot. There's lots of travel across France and secret messages and ambushes and intrigue, very readable stuff, but the real story is the moral and ethical struggle of this one poor woman and the choices she has to make in the midst of incredible cruelty, mayhem, chaos, and murder. How can anyone be a good person, an ethical person, in a place and time where the rules of society are so perverse? Also, how black can the marks against you be before your redemption is impossible?
The one virtue that seems to be universally admired and adhered to is the sanctity of giving your word. The only exception I can think of in the novel is a moment of exceptionally high stakes--is it permissible to break your word to save half a city? I think the answer the book arrives at is yes, though it's a tussle.
There's a lot to think about, but it's hard to discuss it without giving up every spoiler. It's an old book and not many people are reading it, but if you like Dumas, you probably would like this, so I don't want to ruin it for those people.
Recommended.
December 10, 2022
L'autore è stato definito il Dumas inglese; ma rispetto al più celebre collega cede ben poco al gusto della rappresentazione oleografica del passato: in questa storia, ambientata in Francia nelle giornate immediatamente precedenti e seguenti la strage di San Bartolomeo, le morti sono vere morti, gli odi e i fanatismi non sono attenuati dalla distanza storica.
Dopo tanti 'historical romances' imbevuti di melassa, questa lettura mi ha regalato emozioni ben più forti. Mi son chiesta se anche il 'collettivo' di Wu Ming non si sia lasciato sedurre da questo autore, fino a prenderne spunto per qualche sequenza narrativa.
Dopo tanti 'historical romances' imbevuti di melassa, questa lettura mi ha regalato emozioni ben più forti. Mi son chiesta se anche il 'collettivo' di Wu Ming non si sia lasciato sedurre da questo autore, fino a prenderne spunto per qualche sequenza narrativa.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews