"Curse on your family up to the thirteenth generation!" - Grand Master of the Order of the Templars Jacques de Molay throws from the flames of the fire into the face of the King of France, Philip IV the Fair. This fiery prophecy will come true: from 1314, for more than half a century, kings will succeed each other on the throne, but no one will stay long. Palace intrigues, sudden deaths, dynastic upheavals and bloody wars will accompany this dark procession of damned kings. Creating his cycle about an incredible era that determined the future of beautiful France, Maurice Druon painstakingly worked in the National Archives, researching ancient documents. The Damned Kings, a unique series of grand historical frescoes, later inspired George R. R. Martin, a great admirer of Druon, when working on A Song of Ice and Fire. In the first three novels of the series, the king's daughters-in-law are accused of infidelity, one king dies, then another, rebellious barons sow chaos in the provinces, officials plunder the state treasury, and there is famine in the country. Personal rivalry, court intrigues, the inevitable dirt in politics - or maybe all these blows of fate are really just the consequences of a curse?..