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| Cover of The Relic Master, by Christopher Buckley, 2015. |
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| Christopher Buckley, 2015. |
Christopher Buckley is most well-known for his satirical
novels that poke fun at contemporary politics. His latest novel, The Relic Master, released in December
of 2015, is set in the Holy Roman Empire of the 16th century. So,
yes, it’s a bit of a change of pace for Buckley. But The Relic Master is a very successful change of pace, and the
erudite wit that readers expect from Buckley is still to be found in generous
quantities.
The relic master in question is named Dismas, and he works
for two different patrons, Frederick the Wise of Saxony, and Albrecht, the
Archbishop of Mainz. Dismas travels far and wide searching for holy relics,
which can be anything associated with saints or early Christian martyrs. And I
do mean anything. The novel opens in 1517, with Dismas attending a relic fair
in Basel. One vendor offers, “…the tongue (entire) of St. Anthony of Padua; an
ampulla of the Virgin’s breast milk; a stone from the scala santa, the steps of Pilate’s palace; a few pieces of straw
from the sacra incunabulum, the holy
manger in Bethlehem; and shavings from the chains of St. Peter. A suspiciously
vast array of goods.” (p.7)
People paid money to venerate these relics, and in return,
they received time off from their time spent in purgatory after death. One of
the funnier scenes in The Relic Master is
when Albrecht and Friar Tetzel figure out how many years in purgatory each of
the relics is worth. This practice was known as selling indulgences, and it was
one of the main reasons why Martin Luther split from the Catholic Church.
(Luther is a cause of much consternation throughout The Relic Master.)
After losing all of his savings, Dismas decides to take
advantage of the Archbishop of Mainz’s ravenous desire to own the burial shroud
of Christ, and he enlists his good friend, the artist Albrecht Durer, to help
him create a fake shroud. To say more about the plot would give too much away,
and you probably know by this point in the review if the book sounds interesting
or not.
Buckley creates many vivid characters in The Relic Master, some of them based in
history, others not. Dismas’ love interest in the book is Magda, a beautiful
woman who has a strong background in apothecary, which comes in handy many
times. My favorite minor character in the book was Rostang, a chamberlain with
a verbal tic who has many funny lines. And in Dismas, Buckley has created a
compelling lead character to follow through the story. Dismas has two of my
favorite lines from the book:
“Witches cannot bear the touch of the crucified Jesus. Thank
God for science.” (p.151)
“Let me explain Christianity to you. Pilgrims make
pilgrimages to atone. Do you think people walk hundreds of miles to grovel
before relics because they feel wonderful about themselves? No. They do it
because they think otherwise they will go to Hell.” (p.221, Dismas to Durer)
Throughout The Relic
Master Buckley does an excellent job of giving the reader the necessary
historical context, but it never feels dry or dull. The Relic Master is another highly entertaining work from one of
our funniest writers.
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