In a medieval manuscript, a professor discovers references to an immortality ritual and, in the solitude of a Mecklenburg village, reconstructs the medieval journey of a monk and a knight to destroy the most dangerous book in the world. Thus begins the framework of the novel "The Temptation of Immortality". Immortality as the goal of a quest, but also as the source of temptation. A brilliant idea for a thrilling mystery novel set in the Middle Ages!
The framework
In the framing story, historian Lukas Bellstedt of the University of Hamburg (Department of Late Middle Ages) finds a medieval manuscript in the foundations of Riddagshausen Monastery near Braunschweig. He recognizes the handwriting and takes the manuscript for himself.
This book is one of the most dangerous books in the world, he has to keep his discovery secret, he even steals the memory card from the local chronicler's camera.
With the manuscript, he retreats to the safety of the isolated village of Tüwkow-Ausbau, deep in the forest of the Mecklenburg hinterland. There he intends to examine the manuscript and search for the clues to the Book of Eternal Life within it.
In the old rectory of Tüwkow-Ausbau, Bellstedt begins studying the manuscript containing the travel records of the monk Mamertus from 1189. Visits to a fresh produce market in the main town of Tüwkow yield mysterious hints and predictions from the cashier, Nora. His housekeeper, Mrs. Winkler, is superstitious and hopes to use them to cure his headache and a cut. At night, he hears the Wild Hunt over the forest; in the attic, he finds fresh footprints in the dust; in the forest, he finds horse hoof and chicken foot prints; someone draws chalk marks and burns an upside-down cross on his doorstep; and finally, a dead fish wrapped in newspaper is placed on his doorstep.
In addition to working on the manuscript, he is preoccupied with the beautiful daughter of his neighbor, whom he observes sunbathing half-naked. This develops into an unhappy tale of longing: an old man desires a young woman, but the young woman is only visiting Tüwkow-Ausbau.
Behind the reenactments with the chalk drawings, the arson attack, the fish, etc., is the chronicler from Riddagshausen, who has been following the historian since the theft of the memory card and senses a sensation. The historian is able to fend him off with a promising account of a planned assassination attempt by the Knights Templar, in which the Riddagshausen Monastery plays a role.
His progress in studying the manuscript is woven into the framework. This second plot depicts the journey of the monk Mamertus and his search for the Book of Eternal Life, the liber vitae aeternam. This plot follows the medieval quest: a group must reach a goal.
Two searches for eternal life
The scenes of the two storylines, the framework story and the quest, alternate.
The quest begins with a consultation at Walkenried Monastery in the Harz Mountains, where the monk Mamertus reports on his research into the Book of Eternal Life. This book, which came to the West from the Orient after the First Crusade, contains a description of a ritual through which one can attain eternal life.
In addition to the monk Mamertus, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Walkenried, a prince, a knight in the prince's fiefdom, a representative of the Benedictines, and an old learned monk from Walkenried are present. For the prince, the Book of Eternal Life is of military importance; he would rather destroy it than have it in the hands of unbelievers. The Benedictine wants to see the book destroyed because human immortality would be a sacrilege against God, and the old Cistercian monk warns of overpopulation on Earth if humans become immortal. Thus, there are three different motives for finding the book and destroying it for the good of Christianity.
A monk and a knight on a quest
It is decided that the monk Mamertus, along with the knight Utz von Bärklingen, his squire Kilian, and two armed men, should search for the book. The book was briefly in Walkenried, but was not recognized and, during a book exchange, accidentally ended up as the cover of a book package at the Cistercian monastery of Dargun in the land of the Circipans (in the heart of Mecklenburg). Mamertus and Utz are to travel there, find the book, and destroy it.
The night after the consultation, Mamertus witnesses a conversation between the prince and the knight Utz, in which the knight is given a secret agenda: He is to save the book and bring it to the prince, so that he, in turn, can present it to Emperor Barbarossa in preparation for the Third Crusade. This weapon will ensure Christianity's final victory over the infidels in the Holy Land.
The small group, supplemented by Svante, a serf of the prince who is to serve as guide and interpreter, travels from Walkenried through the Harz Mountains and various stations via Magdeburg to Dargun. Along the way, Knight Utz presses the monk for details of the ritual, and it becomes clear that he himself is striving for immortality. In keeping with the nature of the quest, they experience several adventures along the way: they are ambushed, meet lepers, travel part of the way along the Elbe, and are ambushed again. One of the two armed men is killed, and Mamertus is injured. The serf Svante proves himself in the ambush, but then flees into the wilderness. Shortly afterward, they find his body by a pond, for a hostile Slavic tribe is scouting in the area.
The ritual is performed…
The squire Kilian and Mamertus become friends on the journey; the young Kilian is also the group's cook and bombards the monk with questions.
Their arrival at Dargun Monastery is a disappointment. Instead of a proud monastery with warm rooms and a well-stocked table, they find only a few wooden huts and cold porridge. The monks in Dargun are about to leave the place; they have been unable to maintain their position there. The Liber Vitae Aeternam has found its way into the neighboring camp of the Slavs from the Circipan tribe. There, Mamertus and Knight Utz encounter hostility; the leader, Dalibor, is unwilling to hand over the book to them.
In the village of the Circipans lives a hostage, the young princess Milica from the enemy tribe of the Redarians, who was exchanged for Dalibor's son to maintain peace. Knight Utz falls in love with Milica, and she helps them find the book.
Mamertus begins deciphering the book, and Knight Utz pressures him to perform the ritual on him right there. Then, in the distant Redarian camp, Dalibor's son is killed, putting the life of the Redarian woman Milica in danger among the Circipans. Before the Circipans can kill her in retaliation, the Redarians attack to free their princess from hostage. The second armed man is killed in the process.
During this attack, Mamertus performed the ritual on Knight Utz on Easter Sunday 1189…
The book "The Temptation of Immortality" is available in bookstores and from our publishing house, as a printed book (ISBN 978-3-910347-67-0) and as an EPUB (ISBN: 978-3-910347-68-7).
Read the exciting novel in full now!
March 2025.
Machine translated from German.
