Sign-In
Cart
The Marienburg Fracture
Paperback
Publisher: Jeremy Bufford
Published: Jul 6 2026
Pages: 376
Weight: 1.11
Height: 0.84 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
What happens when the fortress stands but the treasury is hollow? In the summer of 1410 the Teutonic Order survives Grunwald and holds Malbork, yet the indemnity demanded by Poland threatens to break the monastic state from within. Inside the red-brick castle on the Nogat, five lives at different altitudes discover the same rot: Bruder Reinhard, the knight-brother collecting ruinous levies from villages already crushed by corvée; Meister Jost, the clerk whose amber ledgers record fortunes as lost at sea; Tomas of Nadrauen, the converted interpreter who translates weakness at the heart of the treasury; Meister Claus, the mason ordered to build walls that hide what brothers will not name; and Greta, the refectory servant who learns that words spoken over the long tables are more dangerous than silver.
As the Peace of Thorn fixes a crushing debt in installments and a senior Gebietiger skims the indemnity chest, the five must choose: expose the fraud and risk the Order's collapse, remain silent while the countryside starves, or fracture the white mantle carefully-leaking enough truth to force one resignation, cancel the worst taxes, and preserve the fortress that still defines their world.
Also from
Bufford, Jeremy
Also in
Historical Fiction
Anniversaries, Volume 2: From a Year in the Life of Gesine Cresspahl, April 1968-August 1968
Johnson, Uwe
Paperback
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River (Large Print Edition)
Lawhon, Ariel
Paperback
The Moonlight Runner: A Gripping Historical Novel of Survival, Bravery, and Romance
Robards, Karen
Hardcover
The Amalfi Curse: A Bewitching Tale of Sunken Treasure, Forbidden Love, and Ancient Magic on the Amalfi Coast
Penner, Sarah
Paperback
Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition
Christie, Agatha
Paperback
A Pair of Aces: Reese's Book Club (Large Print Edition)
Benedict, Marie
Murray, Victoria Christopher
Paperback