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Okay. I have not watched the Game of Thrones series, and most likely I will not do it in the future, either - even if or despite the communication message posted on the cover of “The Accursed Kings�� series (which I am presently tackling with a beginner's passionate enthusiasm) that this served as inspiration for the epic of Game of Thrones. I feel comfortable enough with the reading only and for the rest to use my own imagination of how to make this expand in a larger horizon or universe. So, nothing bad or sad for not being myself a fan of Game of Thrones.
Here, in ‘The Iron King�� we learn about Philip IV (or Philip the Fair, although I cannot understand why he was called as such based on the pictures I saw) that reigns in the early fourteenth century as the absolute master of France. Of a legendary beauty (let's not forget that 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'), with an icy look in which contempt is read (or a faint smile, when he plays with his nephew), this king, whose main character trait is the iron will (so we know why he was blessed with the sub-title of 'the iron king'), opposes the papal supremacy, installing his own pope at Avignon, reduces the turbulent lords to silence, defeats his enemies (far too many to count them here), and works methodically to consolidate a centralized state (France was grand and glorious under his reign, but French people were unhappy, with few exceptions, certainly).
As both the history and this story tell us, the only ones who manage to oppose him are the Knights Templar, a strong (too strong) organization from a military, religious and financial point of view. As it happens, they disturbed Philip through their independence, and their riches aroused his greed (as would have done to any other king in his place). In a logical sequence of facts, the leaders of the Order of Templars are imprisoned and, with the help of the royal counsellor who gathers false incriminating evidence (plus some Inquisition style approach to provoke the needed 'truth' confessions), they are staged a trial at the ecclesiastical court which condemns them to 'prison for life', but soon to be changed by the king and his counsellors into 'to be burned at the stake'. Under the grand master of the Knights Templar, subjected as prey to the flames, places a dreadful curse on some names, and as history shows us later, one step in a row, or slightly two steps, it seems it was all eventually fulfilled as per uttered words. The rest is in the book, of course.
I was anxious to read some light, easy to go historical novels, and as good fortune helped it, the 7 books of the series "The Accursed Kings" are all available in my home library. I am glad that the first book is appetizing enough to make me want to dig into the remaining ones, too. The writing style, the prose, its development reminds me of the novels of Alexandre Dumas (though we cannot put equality sign between the two writers), and I think this is a major reason why I want to keep reading the next books. So, happy reading to me! :D