by Griff Hosker
I was exposed on the ground and I was helpless. With a cry of joy, he raised his sword. Any blow across my body or head would end my life – but my strong right arm saved me. I raised the sword to block the blow and then, as the swords rang together, rammed my dagger through his kneecap and twisted. As I ripped it out he collapsed, screaming, for I had torn tendons and ripped cartilage. Leaping to my feet I raised my sword and drove it down into his throat.
He was dead.
I looked around, panting. Lewis Left Alone lay dead with a mass of cuts and wounds. His killer lay next to him, also dead. The rest of my men were still standing, although Robin of Barnsley had a leg which was bleeding and Tom was attending to it. I saw that John of Nottingham had a bloody coxcomb, but other than that we had survived.
“Do we continue the chase, Captain?”
I looked at David the Welshman and shook my head. “I do not know about you, but I have had enough slaughter for one day. Besides, the men on horses are the ones who can catch them.”
I saw that, now that the bridge was blocked with the dead and the dying, many men were heading up the Alcester Road. Our knights and men at arms would catch them. The only one of our leaders who I could see was Roger Mortimer, despoiling the body of Hugh le Despencer. I could not conceive how a man could hate someone who was already dead. Surely he had done all that he could to him?
I went back to the body of Henry Sharp Sword. He had a good sword and I took it. I pulled his mail from his body, it would fetch a good price. His coif was ruined. He had a full purse and there was gold in it. The rest of my men did the same with the men they had killed. We picked up Lewis’ body. We would bury him. Then we headed back up the hill. We had bodkin arrows to recover and the treasure from the knights we had killed to take. They were easy to identify. They were the bodies stuck with arrows.
“Tom and I will take Lewis back to where we buried the Welsh archers. They are all archers together. We will bury him at sunset.”
When we passed the corpse of Simon de Montfort, it was hard to recognise him. His head was gone as were his arms, legs, feet, hands and genitals. If it was not for his livery, I would not have known who it was. The body of another of his sons, Henry, was also cut about.
As we neared the hill Peter ran down to greet us. He had obeyed his orders and guarded our arrows and bow staves. He looked at Lewis. “Poor Lewis. He had a sad life, Captain.”
Tom shook his head. “The first part of his life was sad but I know, for I spoke with him, the time with this company was his best. He is a lesson to us all, Peter – live each day as though it is your last. Who knows? It may be.”
Dusk had come upon us before Lord Edward, Henry Almain and the Earl of Gloucester returned. They were leading their horses for they were weary. All had tunics which were covered in blood. Behind them came their knights and men at arms. Every horseman was walking.
I heard a shout from the road below us and saw Roger de Leybourne leading a man wearing Montfortian armour. I prayed that the man would be allowed to live, for he was the first prisoner I had seen. To my amazement I recognised him. It was Lord Edward’s father; it was King Henry!
The reunion was touching but the king, I could see, was a broken man. He was no longer the arrogant aristocrat who dismissed commoners as irrelevant. He had endured a year of captivity and had almost died when our men took him for an enemy. He was king in name only. From that moment Lord Edward was really the king. He had been the king in waiting, and now he just waited for his father to make the throne his. The king’s life had been saved by Roger de Leybourne. For his services, Lord Edward knighted him on the battlefield and, at the same time, conferred a knighthood on Captain William who was now Sir William of Evesham.
Prince Edward came over to me and said, “Do not fear, Gerald War Bow, you shall be rewarded too. It will not be a knighthood, but you shall not lose for your loyalty and for following my banner.”
“And young Simon, my lord?”
“Fled. I fear that Kenilworth will still be a thorn in our side, for those who escaped us entered that castle and there are now 1,700 rebels within.” He smiled. “At least we know where they all are!”
And so the bloody battle of Evesham was over. Many men called it the murder of Evesham, for there had been no honour. Knights had been butchered. Lord Edward had his vengeance for the defeat at Lewes, and his grip upon the land was a firm one.
Epilogue
The day after the battle I was summoned to the side of the king and the other lords. “Captain Gerald War Bow, you have done the cause of England and King Henry great service. In recognition of that fact, you are hereby made a gentleman and given the manor of Yarpole, which lies in the land ruled by Roger Mortimer, Baron of Wigmore. Baron Mortimer is also given the castle of Ludlow, for he has shown himself to be a stout defender of our border.
I was stunned. I was not a knight but I had land and an income. I knew not what to say.
Lord Edward smiled. “I can see that this has come as a shock. Take your men and ride to Yarpole, for I believe that Baron Mortimer has a task he would charge you to undertake.” Lord Edward continued to confer honours and to knight young men who had served him at the battle.
The baron was pleased, for he now had Ludlow Castle. He took me to his tent and handed me a sack. “This is a present for my wife. Give it to her with this letter. I will follow as soon as Kenilworth falls or we apprehend young Simon de Montfort!”
“Of course, my lord.”
“Yarpole is small, but it will give you a good income and I will be a generous lord, for you have served our cause well.”
My men, of course, were delighted. I was now a gentleman and that raised their status, too. We left immediately. We had spare horses and treasure to sell. Ludlow would be the place to become richer, for King Llewellyn was now at war with King Henry. He had allied himself with the loser in the civil war and now owned five English castles in Wales. There would be war and the mail we sold would be worth more. We stayed overnight in Ludlow and sold our treasures at the market. We shared the proceeds. Even our youngest, Peter, was rich!
We rode through Yarpole. I had the deeds with me, but they were unnecessary as the hall was unoccupied. I discovered that the gentleman who last owned the manor had died at Evesham. He was a rebel and had chosen the wrong side.
“John of Nottingham, I leave you and my men here. I will deliver the letter and present to Lady Maud and return.” I put a purse of coins in his hand. “See what the ale in the village is like, eh?”
“Do you not want to look around first, Captain?”
I shook my head. “I will have time enough for that. I wish to deliver this present and then my work is done. We will have war again soon, and this time it will be with the Welsh. Let us enjoy this brief time of peace, shall we?”
I was taken directly to Lady Maud.
“I come bearing a gift and a letter, Lady Maud.”
She grabbed the letter and broke the seal. Her daughters came down when she squealed.
“What is it, mother?”
“You have the best of fathers! We now have Ludlow Castle and he has sent us treasure!”
She took the sack from me and, reaching in, pulled out the head of Simon de Montfort. I found it sickening, but her daughters seemed as excited as she was.
They were so engrossed and excited that they did not notice me leave. I yearned for the company of my men. They were rough and they were common, but they were honest and they had a code. I had been amongst royalty and nobility and saw that they did not have a code; chivalry was an illusion.
I was still Lord Edward’s archer but I knew not for how long. I mounted Eleanor and rode to my new manor and my men. I found myself smiling. Once out of the castle the air smelled sweeter and life seemed better.
I began to whistle. It was a new start!
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Glossary
Badequelle – Bakewell (Derbyshire)
Battle – a medieval formation
Bricstow – Bristol
Chedle – Cheadle (Staffordshire)
Chevauchée – A raid by mounted horsemen
Haverberg – Market Harborough
Leueton – Luton
Murage – A medieval toll for the building or repair of town walls.
Namentwihc – Nantwich Cheshire
Sennight – a week (seven nights)
Slo – Slough
Historical Notes
The Battle of Lewes should have been a royal victory, but Lord Edward wished to punish the men of London and it was his departure which left the king and his brother vulnerable. The incarceration in Wallingford and the meeting at Westminster all occurred as I wrote them. The rescue of Lord Edward, improbable though it might seem, did occur. The words I used as he is rescued are, allegedly, the actual words used on the day. The character of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester almost needs a whole book. He changed sides at the drop of a hat, but if he had not defected to the royalist side, then the rescue could not have happened. Within the space of just over a year, Lord Edward went from prisoner without hope to a prince who would be king, for his enemy was dead.
There were many spies. The spy who told Lord Edward of the Kenilworth camp was a female spy who dressed as a man: her name was Margoth.
Mortimer did send Montfort’s head to his wife, Maud de Braose. She sounds like a powerful woman. I have changed the rescuers of Lord Edward because this is a story and I am a writer, after all! My story is the story of Gerald the archer. The kings and lords are incidental. It is the archers of England and Wales that I celebrate in this series of books.
Books used in the research:
The Normans, David Nicolle
The Knight in History, Frances Gies
The Norman Achievement, Richard F Cassady
Knights, Constance Brittain Bouchard
Feudal England: Historical Studies on the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries, JH Round
Peveril Castle, English Heritage
Norman Knight AD 950–1204, Christopher Gravett
English Medieval Knight 1200–1300, Christopher Gravett
English Medieval Knight 1300–1400, Christopher Gravett
The Scottish and Welsh Wars 1250–1400, Christopher Rothero
Lewes and Evesham 1264–65, Richard Brooks
A Great and Terrible King – Edward I – Mark Morris
