%%
%%
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_lymond_chronicles.jpg]]
A series of period novels by Dorothy Dunnett set in sixteenth century Europe centering on a family of landed gentry in from the Scottish lowlands. The central character is one Francis Crawford of Lymond, a Renaissance man and reluctant, but brilliant, player in the power politics of the time.
----
!! This series provides examples of:

%%* AlwaysSomeoneBetter
%%* AnyoneCanDie
* BadassBookworm: Lymond, to an almost absurd degree. Also St Mary's, his mercenary troop that consists of lawyers, architects and {{painters}}.
%%* BatheHerAndBringHerToMe: Philippa and Gabriel in ''Pawn in Frankincense''.
%%* BecomingTheMask: Lymond as [[spoiler:Thady Boy Ballagh]].
* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Crawford family tree may not be hugely long, but ''boy'' is it tangled.
%%* CainAndAbel: Lymond and Richard, initially.
* ChessMaster: Lymond and [[spoiler:Gabriel]]. The culmination of this is one of the most intense TabletopGame/{{chess}} games in literature. Also [[spoiler:Güzel]], one of the instigators of the chess game and arguably better at using people as pawns than anyone else in the series.
* ChessMotifs: The books are called ''The Game of Kings'', ''Queen's Play'', ''The Disorderly Knights'', ''Pawn in Frankincense'', ''The Ringed Castle'', and ''Checkmate''. In some cases, chapters are named after particular chess moves, and chess becomes a more important theme as the series continues.
%%* CloakAndDagger
%%* ClearMyName: the central plot of ''The Game of Kings''.
* DatingCatwoman: Lymond and [[spoiler:Güzel]], although he didn't so much date her as [[spoiler:was blackmailed into bed with her.]]
%%* DecadentCourt: Particularly of France and in Istanbul.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Lymond, Marte.
%%* DeathSeeker
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: a partial example, although it's much more complicated than that, occurs when Lymond beats Vishnevetsky in a wrestling match.
%%* EvenTheGuysWantHim
* EveryProperLadyShouldCurtsy: Philippa.
--> Then, holding the child tightly by one hand, she followed, shakily enough, Kate's universal dictum. When in doubt, curtsy.
%%* FrameUp
%%* GuileHero
%%* HeroicBSOD
* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Walter Scott of Buccleuch, UsefulNotes/MaryOfScotland, Mary of Guise, Catherine de'Medici, Henry II, Diane de Poitiers, Juan de Homedes y Coscon, Jean de la Vallette, Dragut Reis, Suleiman the Magnificent, Roxelana, UsefulNotes/IvanTheTerrible, UsefulNotes/MaryTudor; UsefulNotes/ElizabethI,...
%%* HumanChess
* ImportantHaircut: Lymond, after he [[spoiler: sells his body to Aga Morat]] in ''Pawn in Frankincense''.
* LetThemDieHappy: [[spoiler:Christian Stewart]] in ''The Game of Kings''. [[spoiler:She is mortally injured trying to smuggle papers to Lymond that would prove his innocence. He thanks her for them, and she dies. But Christian, who was blind, did not know that they were blank.]]
%%* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Czar Ivan, as well as most other Russians in ''The Ringed Castle''.
* OmniGlot: Lymond speaks English, Irish, Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, and Russian. Philippa is swiftly catching up with English, French, Greek, Turkish, Italian, Latin and Spanish.
%%* PosthumousCharacter: Lots.
%%* PluckyGirl: Philippa.
%%* RefugeInAudacity: Lymond's disguises.
%%* SacrificialLion
%%* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:Christian]] in ''The Game of Kings'', [[spoiler:Oonagh]] in ''The Disorderly Knights''.
%%* SheCleansUpNicely: Philippa
%%* SilkHidingSteel: Philippa develops into this.
%%* SmartPeoplePlayChess
%%* TheChessmaster
* TheKillerWasLefthanded: Subverted to reveal the murderer of [[spoiler: Will Scott]].
* TheLadysFavour: Queen Mary's glove in ''Queen's Play''.
* WomenAreWiser: To a certain extent. Kate, Sybil, and (sometimes) Phillippa, are a lot calmer, more considerate, and compassionate, than the menfolk.
%%* WouldHurtAChild
%%* YouCanBarelyStand
----