Randall Garrett started writing stories about Lord Darcy in the 1960s. In 1979 he was incapacitated by encephalitis, and died in 1987. His younger friend Michael Kurland, who knew the scenario well and was also a novelist, wrote a couple of Lord Darcy novels in the late 1980s, which are worthy continuations of the series.
Here is my modest attempt to draw up a timeline of the world of Lord Darcy, based on the various explicit and deducible dates in the stories and novels. Most of the dates are approximate but close enough. Note that Kurland's Lord Darcy seems to be about ten years younger than Garrett's original character; I guess this is because Kurland either didn't read 'The spell of war', or decided to ignore it for his own convenience. It's the only story in which Garrett revealed his hero's age, and it wasn't widely available for a long time.
| Date | Event | Source of information |
|---|---|---|
| 1199 | Richard the Lionheart is hit by a crossbow bolt at the Siege of Chaluz, but survives the infection and fever. | 'The spell of war', 'A case of identity' |
| 1215 | The last of the French kings, presumably Philip II, is killed by Richard the Lionheart. | 'The bitter end' |
| 1216 | Richard's brother John dies in exile. | 'The spell of war', 'A case of identity', Too many magicians (Chapter 8) |
| 1219 | Richard the Lionheart dies. His nephew Arthur (son of Geoffrey of Brittany) becomes king at the age of 32. | 'The spell of war', 'A case of identity', Too many magicians (Chapter 8) |
| 12?? | During Arthur's reign, Sir Hilary of Walsingham outlines the theory and mathematics of magic. | 'The spell of war' |
| 1420 | Harold I makes the last addition to the Angevin Empire in Europe. | 'The Ipswich phial' |
| 1569 | Anglo-French ships reach Mechicoe. | Too many magicians (Chapter 6) |
| 1917 | Casimir IX of Poland is born. | 'The Ipswich phial' |
| 1921 | Garrett's Lord Darcy is born. | 'The spell of war' |
| 1922 | Sigismund III becomes King of Poland. | 'The spell of war' |
| 1922-37 | Poland expands towards Russia (Minsk to Kiev). | 'The spell of war', 'The Ipswich phial' |
| 1931 approx | Kurland's Lord Darcy is born. | A study in sorcery: a few years older than King John |
| 1934 | John IV of the Angevin Empire is born. | 'The muddle of the woad': ten years older than Duke Richard |
| Probably before 1936 | Lady Mary de Beaufort is born, later Dowager Duchess of Cumberland. | Too many magicians (Chapter 6): widowed before she was 30 |
| 1937 | Casimir IX becomes King of Poland. | 'The spell of war', 'The Ipswich phial' |
| 1939 | 'The spell of war' | |
| 1944 | Duke Richard of Normandy is born. | 'The eyes have it' |
| 1954 | Kurland's Lord Darcy graduates from Magog College, Oxford (aged 23?). | A study in sorcery (Chapter 5) |
| 1958 | John IV becomes King/Emperor of the Angevin Empire, after the death of Charles III. | A study in sorcery (Chapter 12) |
| 1959 | Lady Irene Eagleson is born. | A study in sorcery |
| 1963 | 'The eyes have it' | Too many magicians (Chapter 2) |
| January 1964 | 'A case of identity' | |
| May 1964 | 'The muddle of the woad' | |
| October 1966 | Too many magicians | Chapter 22 |
| October 1972 | 'A stretch of the imagination' | |
| April 1974 | 'A matter of gravity' | |
| October 197? | 'The bitter end' | |
| June 197? | 'The Ipswich phial' | |
| May 197? | 'The sixteen keys', 'The Napoli express' | |
| March 1985 | A study in sorcery | Chapter 12 |
| April 1988 | Ten little wizards | Chapter 1 |