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  THe Legions of Pestilence

  Virginia DeMarce

  The Legions of Pestilence Copyright © 2019 by Virginia DeMarce. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Laura Givens

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Virginia DeMarce

  Visit my website at www.AuthorName.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: Apr 2019

  Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire Press

  ebook ISBN-13 978-1-948818-34-6

  Trade Paperback ISBN-13 978-1-948818-35-3

  Dedication

  To Daddy

  William Henry Easley

  (1899-1982)

  who taught me to love poetry

  and thereby to love language.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  Acknowledgments

  Cast List

  SECTION I AN UNEASY KIND OF PEACE

  Chapter 1 By God’s Grace, Bernhard, etc.

  Chapter 2 Dukes, Heirs, and Princesses

  Chapter 3 Legions of Pestilence

  Chapter 4 All Sorts of Inconvenience Here

  Chapter 5 Out, Out, Out!

  Chapter 6 One for the Manuals

  Chapter 7 By Way of a Demonstration

  Chapter 8 I Don’t Have Enough Time and There Is Way Too Much to Do

  Chapter 9 Not Doubting that the Most High Will Grant His Grace and Provide Suitable Means

  Chapter 10 Too Much Going On to Write Regularly

  Chapter 11 Wedding Bells

  Chapter 12 Everyone is Feeling so Cooperative and Enthusiastic

  Chapter 13 Worth More than Rubies

  Chapter 14 I Never, Ever, Watched Soap Operas

  Chapter 15 A Plague upon Your Houses

  Chapter 16 Thrown into Confusion

  Chapter 17 Two of the Four Horsemen

  Chapter 18 May God Be with Us

  Chapter 19 No Time to Write, for So Many Reasons

  Chapter 20 So Much Disease and Death

  Chapter 21 Everything Head over Heels

  Chapter 22 A Misfortune so Ghastly that it Couldn’t Be Worse

  Chapter 23 Slipped Beyond Control

  Chapter 24 For the Benefit of the Hard-Pressed Protestant Church

  Chapter 25 Against All Reasonable Expectations

  Chapter 26 Hindered by My Discomforts

  Chapter 27 Of Plague and Pestilence

  Chapter 28 My Lady’s True Friend and Servant at All Times

  Chapter 29 Now that All the Inquiries Have Come Back

  Chapter 30 My Well-Born, Especially Well-Beloved, Lady and Friend

  SECTION II Situation Normal

  Chapter 31

  HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  SECTION III

  PEACE IN OUR TIME

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  SECTION IV For Certain Values of Normal

  Chapter 51

  CALLS THE TUNE

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  AFTERWORD

  Foreword

  In regard to the efforts of the inhabitants of Eric Flint’s 1632-verse to combat disease, please see generally the following book published by the Ring of Fire Press, comprising a series of essays from the Grantville Gazette:

  Flint, Eric, ed., Medicine and Disease after the Ring of Fire (East Chicago, IL: Ring of Fire Press, 2013).

  In regard to bubonic plague, please see specifically:

  Cooper, Iver, “Infectious Pestilence: Part 1: Coping with Plague in Early Modern Europe,” Grantville Gazette 50, 1 November 2013, “Infectious Pestilence Part 2: Fighting the Plague After the Ring of Fire,” Grantville Gazette 51, 1 January 2014.

  Acknowledgments

  The major acknowledgement, of course, is to Eric Flint for writing 1632, which spawned this fictional universe, and for inviting me to be a part of it.

  Specifically, I would like to acknowledge Sean Little, a participant in the 1632 Tech Forum at Baen’s Bar, for his assistance in understanding how people transferred from one ship to another when on the water in the 1630s.

  I am profoundly grateful to all the historians and researchers who spend time in early modern European archives and publish their results.

  Cast List

  Does not include people who are mentioned but who don’t appear in person in the stories; for the most important of those, see the second list at the end.

  This is alphabetized according to the name by which the character is usually called in the stories; e.g. “Bernhard” rather than “Burgundy, Bernhard, Grand Duke of the County of.” The many subject cards that I typed when I was working at the University of Missouri Library as an undergraduate would be ashamed of me.

  Ableidinger, Constantin (fi d-t), prominent member of the Fourth of July Party

  Abrabanel, Balthasar (fi d-t), father-in-law of Mike Stearns

  Abrabanel, Rebecca (fi d-t), wife of Mike Stearns

  Abruzzo, Marcie (fi u-t), employed by Claudia de’ Medici, married to Matt Trelli

  Adducci, Tony (fi u-t), the younger, son of SoTF Secretary of the Treasury, Diane Jackson’s aide de camp

  Aldringen, Johann (hi d-t), imperial (HRE) general

  Allegretti, Susanna (fi d-t), court seamstress, fiancee of Marc Cavriani

  Amelie Elisabeth, landgravine regent. See: Hesse-Kassel and Hanau-Münzenberg.

  Anhalt-Zerbst, Eleonore Dorothea von (hi d-t), wife of Wilhelm Wettin, did not renounce her noble status

  Anhalt-Zerbst, Kunigunde Juliane von (hi d-t), Eleonore Dorothea’s unmarried sister

  Anhalt-Zerbst-Dessau, Anna Sofie von (hi d-t), dowager countess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; political hostess

  Apremont, Joffroy (fi d-t), ferryman in Lorraine; local informant for Grand Duke Bernhard

  Arpajon, François de (fi d-t), colonel in Monsieur Gaston’s troops serving in Lorraine

  Aston, Arthur (hi d-t), English-born adviser to the king and queen in the Low Countries

  Barnes, Bob (fi u-t), military medic involved in anti-plague campaign

  Baden-Durlach, Friedrich margrave of (hi d-t), heir of Georg Friedrich, running his father’s government-in-exile from Basel because GIIA assigned part of the lands to the Province of Swabia and Grand Duke Bernhard has occupied part of them

  Baden-Durlach, Georg Friedrich margrave of (hi d-t), USE administrator of the Province of Swabia

  Barthin, Martha (hi d-t), Friedrich Hortleder’s
wife

  Beattie, Orville (fi u-t), SoTF personnel at Fulda

  Bell, Dominique (fi u-t), lady-in-waiting for Marguerite Rohan; daughter of Carey Calagna

  Beringhen, Henri de, comte de Châteauneuf (hi d-t), French nobleman; former supporter of Monsieur Gaston as of 1635

  Bernhard, Grand Duke of the County of Burgundy (hi d-t), formerly Bernhard, duke of Saxe-Weimar; brother of Wilhelm Wettin, Albrecht, and Ernst; husband of Claudia de’ Medici

  Bienner, Wilhelm (hi d-t), chancellor of Tyrol

  Bismarck, August von (hi d-t), military officer, captain in the service of Grand Duke Bernhard

  Blackwood, Joseph Dean “J.D.” (fi u-t), USE military medical officer assigned to Burgundy

  Blandin, Jean [aka Giovanni Blandini] (hi d-t), one of Bernhard’s personal physicians, from Geneva

  Bodendorf, Wilcke von (hi d-t). member of Der Kloster and one of Grand Duke Bernhard’s main advisers/officers

  Bonifacius (fi d-t), monk at Schwarzach, helping Claudia de’ Medici with thank-you notes

  Burgundy, Ernst Wilhelm of (fi d-t), infant son of Bernhard and Claudia, first-born

  Burgundy, Dorothea Maria of (fi d-t), infant daughter of Bernhard and Claudia, second-born

  Burgundy, Grand Duke of. See Bernhard.

  Calagna, Carey (fi u-t), employed by Grand Duke Bernhard; former clerk of the Probate Court in Grantville, friend of Kamala Dunn; divorced from Norman Bell

  Caldenbach, Moritz Pensen von (hi d-t), member of Der Kloster and one of Grand Duke Bernhard’s main advisers/officers

  Cavriani, Alis [nee t'’ser Haag] (fi d-t), Calvinist, widow of Leopold Cavriani’s younger brother, manager of a branch of Cavriani Frères, bankers, formerly in Rotterdam, now Brussels

  Cavriani, Leopold (fi d-t), Calvinist from Geneva; general free-lance fixer

  Cavriani, Marc (fi d-t), son of Leopold Cavriani

  Cavriani, Potentiana [nee Turettini] (fi d-t), Italian Calvinist in Geneva, wife of Leopold Cavriani; mother of Marc Cavriani

  Cayel, Barbeline (fi d-t), child in Lorraine, life saved by Jeffie Garand, later adopted by Harry Lefferts and Eva Katherine of Anhalt-Dessau

  Christian IV (hi d-t), king of Denmark, subordinate to Gustavus II Adolphus in the revived Union of Kalmar; father of (among many others) Ulrik, Anne Cathrine, Sophia, Leonora Christina, and Waldemar

  Claudia de’ Medici (hi d-t), widow of Leopold von Habsburg, count of Tyrol; regent of Tyrol for her sons; wife of Bernhard, Grand Duke of Burgundy

  Clicquot, Vincent de (fi d-t), courtier, adviser to Monsieur Gaston

  Clinchamp, Rémi de (fi d-t), colonel in the service of Charles IV duc de Lorraine

  Crawford, Lawrence (hi d-t), Englishman on the staff of Grand Duke Bernhard’s

  Davidson, Kenny (fi u-t), military medic involved in anti-plague campaign

  Dorothea Sophia, duchess of Saxe-Altenburg – see Quedlinburg, abbess of

  Dunn, Kamala (fi u-t), employed by Grand Duke Bernhard; nurse; widow of Johnny Lee Horton

  Erlach Johann Ludwig von (hi d-t), member of Der Kloster and one of Grand Duke Bernhard’s main advisers/officers

  Emilie countess of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst (hi d-t), wife of count Ludwig Guenther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt; USE politician

  Fabert, Abraham (hi d-t), French military commander in Metz

  Feret, [missing a first name], (hi d-t), Grand Duke Bernhard’s secretary for French correspondence

  Fernando, Infante of Spain (hi d-t), “Don Fernando,” now Fernando I, king in the Low Countries, formerly the Cardinal Infante; brother of King Philip IV of Spain

  Forstenhauser, [missing a first name] (hi d-t), lawyer; dr. utriusque jur., general counsel for Grand Duke Bernhard

  Frederik Hendrik (hi d-t), Stadhouder in the northern Netherlands, “second gentleman” of the Low Countries under Don Fernando

  Fürstenberg, Egon count von (hi d-t), conservative Catholic opponent of the USE organization of Swabia

  Gabourat, Charles de (fi d-t), captain in Monsieur Gaston’s troops

  Gage, Henry (hi d-t), English-born adviser to the king and queen in the Low Countries

  Garand, Jeffie (fi u-t), SoTF personnel at Fulda

  Gaston duc d’Orleans (hi d-t), Bourbon; “Monsieur Gaston,” brother of King Louis XIII of France; after May 1636, self-proclaimed king of France; married to Marguerite de Lorraine, his second wife

  Gatterer, Christoph (hi d-t), plague doctor in the employ of Claudia de’ Medici

  Georgius (fi d-t), OSB, abbott of Schwarzach

  Gerhard, Johann (hi d-t), dean of the theological faculty, University of Jena

  Guarinonius, Hyppolitus (hi d-t), plague doctor in the employ of Claudia de’ Medici

  Gustavus II Adolphus [Vasa] (hi d-t), emperor of the USE, king of Sweden, high king of the Union of Kalmar

  Hallier, Jean (fi d-t), private soldier, new recruit in Grand Duke Bernhard’s troops

  Hamilton, James (hi d-t), Scots-Irish nobleman, heir of Lord Clanboye

  Haraucourt, Jean Jacques d’, seigneur de St-Baslemont (hi d-t), officer in the regiments of Charles IV duc de Lorraine

  Hartke, Gertrud (fi d-t), widow of Jeffie Garand

  Hartke, Helmuth (fi d-t), Sergeant, Fulda Barracks Regiment; father-in-law of Jeffie Garand

  Herrick, Robert (hi d-t), poet; temporary Episcopalian/Church of England minister in Grantville

  Hersbach, Hans Georg Bertram von (hi d-t), captain in Schaffelitzky’s cavalry regiment

  Hesse-Kassel, Amalie Elisabeth [nee countess of Hanau-Münzenberg] (hi d-t), Calvinist; regent landgravine for her son after the death of Landgrave Wilhelm V in November 1636; USE political leader

  Hesse-Rotenburg, Hermann landgrave of (hi d-t), USE Secretary of State under Stearns and Wettin 1635; brother-in-law of landgravine Amalie Elisabeth

  Hill, Andrea (fi u-t), mother-in-law of Fred Pence; SoTF personnel at Fulda

  Horn, Gustav (hi d-t), Swedish general, commander in Swabia

  Hortleder, Anna Catharina (hi d-t), Friedrich Hortleder’s daughter; Gary Lambert’s fiancee and subsequently wife

  Hortleder, Friedrich (hi d-t), former tutor to the dukes of Saxe-Weimar

  Horton, Shae (fi u-t), lady-in-waiting to Marguerite de Rohan; daughter of Kamala Dunn

  Huygens, Constantijn (hi d-t), diplomat in the service of Frederik Hendrik in the Netherlands

  Isabella Clara Eugenia, Infanta of Spain (hi d-t), daughter of King Philip II of Spain; holds the Spanish Netherlands as an appanage; supporter of her great-nephew, Don Fernando

  Jackson, Diane (fi u-t), wife of Frank Jackson, USE ambassador in Basel

  Jackson, Frank (fi u-t), USE military officer

  Johann Friedrich count Palatine of Pfalz-Veldenz (hi d-t), heir to the duke and his mother is Gustavus II Adolphus’ first cousin; GIIA thinks he should marry Henriette de Lorraine, princesse de Phalsbourg

  Johann Moritz count Palatine of Nassau-Siegen (hi d-t), b. 1604; overburdened deputy administrator of the USE Province of the Upper Rhine [the titular administrator, Wilhelm Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken, being in Augsburg helping his father-in-law]; political co-conspirator with Henriette of Lorraine, princesse de Phalsbourg

  John, Michael (hi d-t), private secretary to Grand Duke Bernhard Friedrich Ludwig Kanoffski

  Jones, Miranda (fi u-t), daughter of Marsha Jones

  Jones, Marsha (fi u-t), clerk at Stephenson’s Groceries in Grantville; sister of Hank Jones who was an early supporter of Mike Stearns after the RoF; mother of Jeffie Garand; granddaughter of the late Alberta “Bertie” O’Donnell who was the original owner of the Siamese kitten given to Richelieu

  Juliane. See: Sofia Juliana

  Kanoffski von Langendorff, Friedrich Ludwig (hi d-t), member of Der Kloster and one of Grand Duke Bernhard’s main advisers/officers

  Karpff, Joachim (fi d-t), private soldier loyal to Grand Duke Bernhard

  Klumpe, Caspar (fi d-t), corporal in Grand Duke Bernhard’s troops
r />   Knöringen, Heinrich von (hi d-t), Catholic bishop, formerly the prince-bishop, of Augsburg

  Knorr, Hans (hi d-t), chancery secretary to Grand Duke Bernhard

  Lambert, Gary (fi u-t), administrator of Leahy Medical Center in Grantville; marries Hortleder’s daughter in Sept. 1635)

  LeBon, Tancrède (hi d-t), illegitimate son of Marguerite de Bethune-Sully who is the wife of Henri de Rohan

  Lemercier, Denis (fi d-t); young member of the immense extended family of builders and stonemasons related to Jacques Lemercier (hi d-t), the architect of the Palais-Cardinal

  Leonora Christina (hi d-t), “king’s daughter,” morganatic child of Christian IV of Denmark, sister of Anne Cathrine who married Eddie Cantrell and Sophia who marries Henri de Ruvigny

  Leslie, George (fi d-t), Scots private soldier in Grand Duke Bernhard’s troops

  Lorraine, ruling house

  Charles IV duc de Lorraine et de Bar (hi d-t), brother of Henriette, Marguerite, and Nicholas François; married to his cousin Nicole

  Claude de Lorraine, duchesse de Lorraine-Bar (hi d-t), sister of Nicole; wife and cousin of Nicolas, with whom she eloped during the French invasion of Lorraine

  Henriette de Lorraine, duchesse de Lorraine-Vaudémont and princesse de Phalsbourg (hi d-t), ruler of Pfalzburg in her own right; sister of Marguerite, Charles IV, and Nicolas François of Lorraine; married to Johann-Moritz of Nassau-Siegen

  Marguerite de Lorraine duchesse de Lorraine-Vaudémont (hi d-t), Monsieur Gaston’s wife, sister of Charles IV duc de Lorraine, after May 1636, queen of France

  Nicole de Lorraine, duchesse de Lorraine-Bar (hi d-t), wife and cousin of Charles IV, who cheated her out of her inheritance; sister of Claude; married to Johann Aldringen

  Nicolas François duc de Lorraine (hi d-t), brother of Charles IV, Henriette, and Marguerite; formerly Cardinal de Lorraine; dispensed himself from his vows and married his cousin Nicole, with whom he eloped during the French invasion

  Louis, Charles (hi d-t), pseudonym of Karl Ludvig von Pfalz-Veldenz; aide to Diane Jackson

  Ludwig Guenther. See: Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

  Lund, Lisa (fi u-t), employed in mechanical support by Grand Duke Bernhard; married to Thomas Wedekind (fi d-t)