Tranter's Latest -- Courting Favour
John Cospatrick, the younger son of the ninth Earl of Dunbar and March, didn't expect to inherit either his father's title or estate. But when his mother, the formidable 'Black Agnes, bequeathed him the earldom of Moray in the north of Scotland he unexpectedly became Lord Lieutenant to David II, King of Scots, the royal arbiter in those unruly parts of the Highlands. With the clans forever feuding over land and privileges, King David hoped that the new earl, acting as his royal representative, could impose some sort of order there. At the age of twenty two and with no experience in such matters John of Moray was to prove himself a skilled diplomat.

John married Majory Stewart, daughter of Robert, Earl of Strathearn, High Steward of Scotland, and son of Robert the Bruce's daughter. In due course King David was succeeded by John's father-in-law who became Robert II in 1371 thus beginning the long tenure of the House of Stewart on the Scottish throne.

John was to face his face his greatest test as an envoy and negotiator when the new king sent him to England to win over John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster to end the years of damaging cross-border warfare by entering into a formal treaty of peace with England. Lancaster was an uncle of the King of England, Richard II, and the real power behind the throne during this period when England was engaged in the costly Hundred Years' War with France.

In this meticulously researched and absorbing novel Nigel Tranter vividly recreates the life and dangerous times of John, Earl of Moray, a most able and worthy representative who greatly aided Scotland's cause. It is the third of Tranter's quadrilogy dealing with the Cospatrick Earls of Dunbar and March. The preceding titles are: Sword of State and Envoy Extraordinary which focus on the friendship and service of Patrick, Seventh Earl of Dunbar and March with King Alexander the Second and his son, Alexander the Third. The second of these two titles deals with that momentous period of Scottish History in which victory was achieved over the invading Norse at the Battle of Largs in 1263 and the tragic death of Alexander the Third in 1286 that lead to Scotland being usurped and occupied by King Edward the Second of England and the valient struggle for independence initiated by William Wallace and brought to fruition by King Robert the Bruce.

The time period of Courting Favour spans that of three of Tranteržs earlier novels -- Flowers of Chivalry, Lords of Misrule and A Folly of Princes. It is the first of his novels to appear since his death in January 2000. The final title of this quadrilogy is End of the Line and is scheduled to appear in December 2000. It is the story of George, the tenth Earl and his son George, the eleventh and how they came to be the last of the Cospatrick Earls of Dunbar and

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