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The setting is Catalonia, Spain. The year: 1159. There is on-going tension between the Christian population and the economically powerful Jewish community in its midst-the former scorning the latter as ' infideles' - non-believers - and resentful of its financial success, which, through its aptitude for trade, far-reaching connections and tax-farming, keeps the State's treasury solvent. On the other hand, the Jews, while legally 'owned by' (that is, under the protection of) their ruler, live in constant fear that even his authority, though empowered by law, would be unable to contain a rioting mob when incited against them.
The main protagonists are Juana, illegitimate daughter of Count Berenguer IV, ruler of Catalonia, whose contrariness and free spirit make her defy the proprieties of life at Court, and Vidalon, scion of one of the wealthiest Jewish families in Barcelona, who is addicted to gambling and rebels against the strictures of religious conformity. They are no Romeo & Juliet from rival houses, however. Their 'affair' is born of lust and a shared impulse to flout convention, spiced by the inherent danger to them both.
Their adventures are set against and interwoven with the royal politickings and social life of the day and the internal life of the Jewish community.
The characters are a mix of real-life persons (Benjamin of Tudela, Count Berenguer, Queen Petronilla, Rabi Abad and Queen Melisende of Jerusalem) and fictional creations.
