Justin Cartwright: Literary homage to the true lion king

South African-born, Oxford-educated author Justin Cartwright’s latest novel is about a great English monarch. Bernard Ginns spoke to him.
Justin CartwrightJustin Cartwright
Justin Cartwright

Richard the Lionheart is probably the most famous English king.

But he spent as little time as possible in England and spoke only Occitan and Old French.

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And yet the 12th Century monarch came to represent essentially English values in his battles with Philip of France and his own brother, John.

The acclaimed novelist Justin Cartwright borrows the king’s name for his new book, Lion Heart, which tells of a quest by Richie Cathar, a listless thirtysomething, to find the True Cross of Jesus Christ and learn about his late father along the way. Richard I is at the heart of the book, says Cartwright, as an influence on Richie’s archeologist father and as a subject himself.

The author describes the novel as part thriller and part love story. It is about both history and the process of writing. “It is metafiction,” says Cartwright.

“Richard the Lionheart is the only British monarch, apart from King Arthur, who has entered mythology. The three lions on his chest was his symbol and it’s still the royal coat of arms.”

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Richard was known as an incredibly bellicose character; he was 6ft 5in tall and had red hair and loved battle. “He was completely fearless in battle,” says Cartwright. “He had a reputation for absolute ruthlessness. From the age of 15 until he died he fought a battle a day. He was always in a war against his brother or Philip, the king of France.”

Richard was a practitioner of genocide who at the same time had immense charm and an advanced sense of chivalry, adds Cartwright.

“The interesting thing is how he has been appropriated as a symbol of Englishness, but there is nothing English about him. I don’t think he saw London as the centre of things. Rouen, in north-western France, was the centre of his empire. It was huge. It stretched from Scotland to the Pyrenees.”

Richard’s great historical counterpart was Saladin, who led the Islamic opposition against European Crusaders in the eastern Mediterranean. The two men admired each other and the book details their relationship through correspondence. Saladin sent peaches and melted snow to comfort Richard on hearing he had been ill.

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In Cartwright’s book, Richie, who has never had a proper job despite getting a first-class degree at Oxford, receives a study grant which allows him to follow in his father’s footsteps.

He travels to the Holy Land to research the Art of the Medieval Latin Kingdom and in Jerusalem meets and falls deeply in love with a mysterious Arab journalist. But she is kidnapped on assignment in Cairo and a world of intrigue opens. As details of her capture emerge, Richie discovers an important document that could rewrite the history of the Crusades and his own family history.

Cartwright finds Richard’s death incredibly interesting. It happened during the siege of a small castle in France.

A lone defender on the parapet was taking potshots at the besiegers with a crossbow. Using a frying pan for a shield, he took aim at Richard who found it amusing and applauded before ducking behind his own shield but was struck in the left shoulder by the bolt. Richard went to his tent, fell ill and died in his mother’s arms from an infection at the age of 42.

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“The most powerful king in the world was killed by a man with a frying pan,” says Cartwright. “It was a comical end to a career. If that man with the frying pan had not been there the destiny of Europe would have been totally different.”

Cartwright writes: “Richard was widely admired for his contempt of danger and his generosity of spirit.

“These two qualities came to be seen as English virtues, despite the fact that Richard spent so little of his life in England, where, he said, it was cold and it rained all the time.”

NOVELIST’S CV SPEAKS VOLUMES

Justin Cartwright’s novels include the Booker-shortlisted Every Face I Meet, the Whitbread Novel Award winner Leading the Cheers and the acclaimed White Lightning, shortlisted for the 2002 Whitbread Novel Award.

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He also wrote The Promise of Happiness, selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club and winner of the 2005 Hawthornden Prize.

Asked if he thought Richard had any modern contemporaries, Cartwright says: “Prince Harry, in a strange way. He might well be directly descended with his red hair.”

Lion Heart is published this month by Bloomsbury, priced £18.99.

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