Chapter 18 through 21 Summary and Analysis

With the death of the King, the commoners revolt. Workers are required to observe more than one hundred religious holidays annually and have no hope of improving their lives—which are a constant battle to subsist. The workers know of the King's deathbed promise that taxes will no longer be collected and they are anxious for the promise to be fulfilled. Meanwhile, there is a scramble for control of the throne which climaxes with a public argument between two uncles, the convening of the Council, selection of the person to serve as advisor to the underage king, and yet another scramble despite that decision. Anjou wins the seat and it is he who promises that taxes will be abolished. The mobs, apparently keyed up by their threats to the nobility, rush the Jewish quarters of the city, killing...