Bref, on cherche un livre de base en anglais, jamais traduit :
As Christians measure the years, it is 1450. Shadows reach across Europe like grim gnarled trees looming above a garden: the shadow from the past, the shadow of the Turk, and the shadow from beyond.
The shadow from the past is the Plague. Less than a century ago, it swept out of Asia. After a few dreadful years, a third of Europe's people are gone. Forests have grown where villages flourished. Fields go untilled for lack of hands. Those with labor to sell can earn a better price (or even their freedom) in return. With fewer mouths to feed, the fields provide plenty for all. But even the prosperous folk must live with the tales of the march of Death, of priests abandoning stricken flocks, of parents deserting dying children.
On the borders of God's land stand the Ottoman Turks. With the finest army in the world, they have already overrun most of East Europe. They have only to reach out their hands, and Constantinople, the ancient seat of Eastern Christianity, will be theirs. Will they halt there? In the heart of Iberia (Spain), Moorish infidels still stake their claim. Can the armies of Castile and Aragon unseat them? And if not, what does the future hold for the Iberian Church?
The Church itself reels in the grasp of greedy, faithless priests. For each true man or woman of the Lord, another abuses his office, stuffing his coffers with the peoples' bounty. Tithes — compulsory offerings — grow more onerous every year, and so-called "pardon-ers" sell relief from Purgatory. Tales of Papal excesses, of orgies in Rome and gold-lined altars, reach the common folk's ears. Who could doubt a man for losing his faith?
Beyond the material world, Hell and Satan await the sinner. Sometimes they do not wait, but reach out into the living world. Witches, ghosts, evil spirits and other menaces tempt the weak to damnation. The Church can drive them back (for a price), or so the priests say, but still the Black Masses thrive and the vampires feast. Night holds a chill, even in the warmest lands.
