Book Spotlight: The Falconer’s Apprentice by Malve von Hassell

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THE FALCONER'S APPRENTICE is a story of adventure and intrigue set in the intense social and political unrest of the Holy Roman Empire in the thirteenth century.

“That bird should be destroyed!”

Andreas stared at Ethelbert in shock. Blood from an angry-looking gash on the young lord’s cheek dripped onto his embroidered tunic. Andreas clutched the handles of the basket containing the young peregrine. Perhaps this was a dream—

Andreas, an apprentice falconer at Castle Kragenberg, cannot bear the thought of killing the young female falcon and smuggles her out of the castle. Soon he realizes that his own time there has come to an end, and he stows away, with the bird, in the cart of an itinerant trader, Richard of Brugge.

So begins a series of adventures that lead him from an obscure castle in northern Germany to the farthest reaches of Frederick von Hohenstaufen’s Holy Roman Empire, following a path dictated by the wily trader’s mysterious mission. Andreas continues to improve his falconry skills, but he also learns to pay attention to what is happening around him as he travels through areas fraught with political unrest.

Eventually, Richard confides in Andreas, and they conspire to free Enzio, the eldest of the emperor’s illegitimate sons, from imprisonment in Bologna.

  

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Malve von Hassell is a freelance writer, researcher, and translator. She holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the New School for Social Research. Working as an independent scholar, she published The Struggle for Eden: Community Gardens in New York City (Bergin & Garvey 2002) and Homesteading in New York City 1978-1993: The Divided Heart of Loisaida (Bergin & Garvey 1996). She has also edited her grandfather Ulrich von Hassell's memoirs written in prison in 1944, Der Kreis schließt sich - Aufzeichnungen aus der Haft 1944 (Propylaen Verlag 1994).

She has taught at Queens College, Baruch College, Pace University, and Suffolk County Community College, while continuing her work as a translator and writer.

Malve has published two children’s picture books, Tooth Fairy (Amazon KDP 2012/2020), and Turtle Crossing (Amazon KDP 2023), and her translation and annotation of a German children’s classic by Tamara Ramsay, Rennefarre: Dott’s Wonderful Travels and Adventures (Two Harbors Press, 2012).

The Falconer’s Apprentice (2015/KDP 2024) was her first historical fiction novel for young adults. She has published Alina: A Song for the Telling (BHC Press, 2020), set in Jerusalem in the time of the crusades, and The Amber Crane (Odyssey Books, 2021), set in Germany in 1645 and 1945, as well as a biographical work about a woman coming of age in Nazi Germany, Tapestry of My Mother’s Life: Stories, Fragments, and Silences (Next Chapter Publishing, 2021), also available in German, Bildteppich Eines Lebens: Erzählungen Meiner Mutter, Fragmente Und Schweigen (Next Chapter Publishing, 2022), and is working on a historical fiction trilogy featuring Adela of Blois.

 

Author Links:

Website: https://www.malvevonhassell.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MvonHassell

Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/malvevonhassellauthor/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malve-von-hassell-02b61517/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mvonhassell/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/malvevonhassell.bsky.social

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/471746.Malve_von_Hassell

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/malve-von-hassell

Amazon author link: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Malve-von-Hassell/author/B0CTGLDQ7P/

In a nutshell: the Holy Roman Empire

History Extra

Stained-glass window depicting Charlemagne, who was made Roman Emperor

What was it?

The Holy Roman Empire was a notional realm in central Europe, which lasted for around 1,000 years, until 1806. Its name, however is rather misleading: the French philosopher Voltaire once decried the realm as “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire”.

So why did it have that name?

It was not until 1254 that the title of Holy Roman Empire was applied, but the origins of the name date back to AD 800, more than 300 years after the western half of the Roman Empire had collapsed. The Pope at that time, Leo III, was forced to flee Rome and, in desperation, he turned for help to Charlemagne, the powerful King of the Franks, who then ruled what is now roughly France and Germany. Charlemagne came to Leo’s aid. In AD 800, the grateful Pope crowned him as Roman Emperor as a gift.

How did the Empire develop after that?

After Charlemagne’s death in AD 814, his squabbling heirs broke up the Empire and the title of Roman Emperor became fairly meaningless for over a century. It was revived by Otto I, King of the Eastern Franks (who ruled an area approximately equating to modern-day Germany), who had himself been crowned by Pope John XII in AD 962.
As with Charlemagne, Otto was crowned as a reward for having helped Pope John deal with his enemies in Italy. From that point, the Empire was chiefly centred on Germany, though it retained lands in Italy and elsewhere in central Europe.

This octagonal crown of the Holy Roman Empire was possibly made during Otto’s reign

What relationship did these latter Roman Emperors have with the Popes?

The Empire, having been created and reinforced by the papacy at times of trouble, enjoyed a complex and frequently difficult relationship with the bishops of Rome. The years after Otto’s reign were a high point for the Empire – at that time the most powerful in Europe – and a low one for the papacy.
A series of Roman Emperors took their title seriously and sought to dominate the Popes, even deposing those they didn’t approve of. By the mid 11-th century, however, the papacy was recovering and gaining power. In 1075, a lengthy battle for dominance between the Popes and Emperors, known as the Investiture Conflict, began.
The death in 1250 of Emperor Frederick II, following a failed campaign in Italy, marked the final defeat of the Empire in this clash. From then on, the link between the Popes and Emperors was largely broken. Though the Empire kept its title, it was greatly weakened, particularly as it took 23 years to settle the decision of who should succeed Frederick – the most extraordinary, intelligent and ambitious of the Emperors.
No longer seeking European domination, the Empire settled into a loose confederation of mainly German states, with the Emperor often marginalised.

How did the Empire come to an end?

It was the French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte who oversaw the events that brought about the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Having declared himself heir to Charlemagne, Bonaparte aimed to add German lands to his growing empire. Seeing the writing on the wall, the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, disbanded his realm in 1806.

The states of the Holy Roman Empire on a woodcut, c1510

How was the Empire able to survive for so long?

This may perhaps be because it didn’t have much power as a single, authoritative domain. It eventually came to comprise hundreds of territories, each of which enjoyed plenty of autonomy. For the rulers of many of these lands, the Empire offered a welcome alternative to a dominant or even tyrannical central power.

Moreover, until the 19th century, concepts of nationalism were far less prevalent that they would go on to become, so there was little drive to unify the various German territories into one nation state.

What was the legacy of the Holy Roman Empire?

When the German territories were unified as one country in 1871, it became known as the Reich (‘empire’ or ‘realm’). From 1933 to 1945, the Nazis sought to continue the Empire’s legacy by presiding over the Third Reich, which Hitler claimed would last 1,000 years. More recently, the idea of the later Holy Roman Empire has been reflected in the European union where, once again, a group of disparate countries has been brought together under a loose umbrella.

Submitted by: Jonny Wilkes

History Trivia - Birth of Wenceslas of Bohemia, Holy Roman Catholic German emperor

February 26

 1361  Wenceslas of Bohemia, Holy Roman Catholic German emperor (1378-1400 was born. Not to be confused with the "Good" King of the same name, Wenceslas, son of Holy Roman Empeeror Charles IV, was a peace-loving but incompetent ruler who was unable to prevent the frequent conflicts in Germany.  His power as King of Bohemia and Germany fluctuated until he was little more than a figurehead.  He died, childless, in 1419, whereupon the crown passed to his half-brother Sigismund.

History Trivia - Birth of Valdemar I of Denmark

January 14

1131 King Valdemar I of Denmark was born. In addition to winning independence from the Holy Roman Empire, he also gained the approval of the church for the dynastic rule of his family, the Valdemars. 

History Trivia - temple of Castor and Pollux, the Heavenly Twins, dedicated

January 27

484 BC, the temple of Castor and Pollux, the Heavenly Twins, was dedicated.

98 Trajan became Roman Emperor after the death of Nerva.

1186 Henry VI, the son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, married Constance of Sicily.

1302 Dante became a Florentine political exile because of his political activities that included the banishment of several rivals. 

1606 Gunpowder Plot: The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators began, ending with their execution on January 31.

History Trivia - Cicero executed on the orders of Mark Antony

December 7,

43 BC Roman orator and advocate Cicero was executed on the orders of Mark Antony.

983 German King Otto III took the throne after his father's death in Italy. He was the fourth ruler of the Saxon (Ottonian) dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, being crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 997.

1254 Pope Innocent IV died. The pontificate of Innocent was marked by a long struggle with Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, characteristic of the conflict between empire and papacy.

History Trivia - Spanish and German troops sack Rome

May 6

973 Henry II (the Saint), the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, was born.

1527 Spanish and German troops sacked Rome, ending the Renaissance.

 1536 King Henry VIII ordered English language Bibles to be placed in every church.

History Trivia - Constantinople falls

April 13

 1111 Henry V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

1204 Constantinople fell to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.

1250 The Seventh Crusade was defeated in Egypt; Louis IX of France was captured.

1256 The Grand Union of the Augustinian order formed when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.

1598 Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, allowing freedom of religion to the Huguenots. (Edict repealed in 1685.)

1640 Charles I's eleven years of personal rule end with the calling of the 'Short Parliament' at Westminster.