The Death Spell that Started the Hundred
Years War
His confessor, a monk named Sagebran, revealed the secret
to the King, whose blundering wrath only served to inflame Robert's
hate. He worked hard at urging the King of England, Edward III,
to take the title of King of France, and this little-known occult
episode was one of the determining causes of the Hundred Years
War (116 yrs of war, 1337 to 1453).
Robert of Artois and three assistants are
shown about to cast a spell. On the left
a servant is carrying a bowl of warm wax used to make
the figures. Robert of Artois, the spell caster, is holding
a waxen image representing the King in Court costume, and is preparing
to prick it with a needle which he holds in his other clenched
hand. He is apparently pronouncing the words of conjuration, which
he reads from a black book one of his assistants is holding open
in front of him. Two other wax figures are seen on the table;
images of the Queen and Prince.
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