Magna Carta (Border Knight Book 4)

by Griff Hosker

  I nodded. David of Wales and Ridley, who led the men to my right were mounted. Their men, although dismounted were within walking distance of our mounts. I said, “Alfred, tell Ridley and David to mount their men. They are to follow us.”

  “Aye lord.”

  The Scots were just half a mile from us and showed no sign of advancing. They were staying close to the walls of Din Burgh so that the men on the fighting platform could use their slings and bows to defend them. King William was the bait.

  I raised my spear, “Knights wheel left!” I pulled Flame’s head around.

  The knights to my left walked their horses backwards while those to my right advanced. By the time we were in three ranks obliquely facing the Scots, Alfred had returned. As he tucked in behind me I saw that King John had turned the whole of the rest of the army to face the charging Scottish knights led by Prince Alexander. He was exposing his right flank to the men led by King William. He was trusting me to protect him. If I had harboured any rebellious thoughts then that would have been the time when I would have shown them.

  “Forward!”

  We moved at the walk. Until my men at arms and archers mounted then the eighty of us who moved forward would be isolated but we had to fix King William’s attention on us. As we moved I saw him give a command so that they also turned to face us. There would be two battles this day: a king against an earl and a prince against a king.

  I spurred Flame to the canter. I knew King William now. I had fought against him and for him. He was now in his seventies. He had lost confidence. Worse, each time I had fought him I had defeated him. I knew that he would not risk charging me even though he had more knights than I did. He would stay as close to his walls as he could. I counted on his archers having just hunting arrows and that the cold would make the crossbows difficult to use. We would take casualties until David of Wales could dismount my archers and clear their walls. It was a risk. Knowing or, rather, believing, that the Scots would not counter charge us made it easier for me to gauge when to unleash my horses and charge. At the canter we could keep a straight and unbroken line. Once we galloped then the line might become uneven. I chose to wait until the last moment to charge.

  I could hear the clash of arms to the west but that was not my battle. You fought the one before you and hoped that your brothers in arms did as well as you. When we were fifty paces away from the waiting Scottish knights I lowered my spear and shouted, “Cuthbert’s knights! Charge!” As I spurred Flame he leapt and Sir William and Sir Edward were hard pressed to stay with me. I was slightly ahead of them.

  I saw a household knight. He had William’s golden lion on his shield. I pulled back my arm as the Scottish knights belatedly tried to charge us. It was an erratic response as some seem fixed while others, like the knight I faced, chose honour and glory and charged. He was a brave knight. He had a helmet which covered his face and he held his shield close to his chest. I was using my knees to control Flame. My horse knew how to charge and to fight. My foe had a lance and, as he thrust it at me I punched with my shield and my spear at the same time. His lance shattered on my shield. My spear drove into his left shoulder. The shaft broke leaving the spear head and a hand span of ash sticking from his arm.

  Flame was snapping and biting at the Scottish horses. I could not have slowed my war horse down even had I wanted to. I held my shield before me as I drew my sword. Another lance smacked into my shield and I reeled a little. Drawing my sword helped to balance me and I swung it, instinctively, at the knight whose lance lunged at my side. He hit me and the wooden tip broke mail and went into my side. My wild sweep with my sword connected with his head and he fell.

  We had broken their main line. I saw men at arms on foot race back to protect the King and his royal standard. When arrows flew over my head then I knew that David and his archers were close to hand. That also meant that Ridley the Giant was leading the finest men at arms in the land to my aid. We were no longer alone and I rode at King William.

  Before men became Christian they believed that dying with a sword in their hand guaranteed them a place in the afterlife. King William was old. Perhaps he thought to do the same. He charged at me with his sword raised. As he galloped towards me I turned my sword so that I would strike him with the flat of my blade. I would not kill a king. Even as I pulled back my arm I saw his sword drop and he slid from his horse. No arrow protruded from him and he looked to be without a wound. As he fell to the ground his men at arms gathered around him.

  Raising my helmet, I shouted, “Your King is hurt! Yield for I am the Earl of Cleveland you know what my archers can do!”

  His standard bearer threw down the standard and said, “The King is dead, lord! We yield.”

  To the west the battle raged and Prince Alexander did not know that he was King. I turned to Ridley, “Take the King’s standard to King John. Tell him that the Scottish King is dead!”

  The news must have reached Prince Alexander before my man at arms could reach King John or perhaps he was already beaten. He surrendered and the battle was over. We had won and Scotland had a new King.

  Chapter 13

  French Invasion

  Father Abelard saw to my wound. If we had not had healers with us then the wound might have become poisoned. As it was I would merely have discomfort as I rode home.

  The King was pleased with our actions and he allowed the knights of Durham and myself to go home directly. Edward was cynical enough to believe that the King did this so that the reparations he extracted from the Scots would not be shared with us. I did not mind. Our chevauchée had yielded more than the coin the King would take from the Scots. The journey home was not a pleasant one. January was a harsh month and, when we reached my castle, I vowed that I would not stir again until the new grass was grown. My wound had ached all the way home. The King was also heading south. He had done what he intended. The north was now free of rebels. There were isolated areas such as Scarborough. He would deal with them but they would be slight detours on his progress south. He would reach his heartland by March.

  The treasure we had taken was divided equitably between every knight. I did not take more than my fair share. If truth be told I did not need it even though I had now lost the revenue of Huntingdon. It did not go to his son, King Alexander. King John had revoked the gift and it became a royal manor. Some knight would reap the benefit. I had had two years of Huntingdon’s fief. I was happy.

  Alfred was now a young man. He was almost fourteen and he had been to war. That made a boy into a man. William, my youngest child, looked up to his big brother. He was everything William aspired to be. The story of his heroics in the Scottish campaign just made him more determined to become a squire. He was just eight and he would have some time to go. We could now talk around the table for although William was young he could understand weightier matters. For my daughters what was said around the table was important for it might affect their chances of a good marriage.

  “Will the King win, Thomas?”

  “I do not know, aunt. I confess that his behaviour in Scotland impressed me. He was decisive and bold. We could, if there had been no trouble further south, have conquered the whole of Scotland.”

  “But the rebels still hold London and the south.”

  I nodded, “And the rebels are drawing more and more support. Perhaps they hope for a new king, I know not.”

  My wife said, “Young Henry?”

  “No, my love, Louis of France. When I spoke to the Earl Marshal that was his fear. Many of the barons have more ties to France and Normandy than to England.”

  Alfred sipped the watered wine I had poured for him, “And we stay here?”

  He was astute. “We need to stay here until we are ordered south. The King knows that my presence will deter the Scots. King Alexander is not bound by the treaty of Norham. I know that we hurt the Scots but give them time and they will recover. The French may bolster them with gold. They have done so before. However, you are right, my son. We
may have to go south; not to save the King but to save the country. Alan the horse master has secured us enough horses that we could reach Lincoln in two days. We can afford to wait until summoned.”

  We had not taken the new men at arms to war with us. I had thought it best to leave them in the castle so that my garrison could get to know them. The reports were favourable. The men had fitted in well. I gave them a surcoat each and a shield. With the new horses we had both captured and bought we were able to give them good mounts. I could now leave Ridley and Henry to train them and teach them to fight our way. They would need to know the signals we used. As we employed mounted archers they had to work with David of Wales and his men. Close cooperation was vital.

  The snow had gone by March although the ground had failed to warm up. The new grass and animals would be delayed. I had heard that the King had left Northampton and was headed to East Anglia. If that was the case then there would be no war for a while. Once he had retaken London then there might be and I needed to put in place plans to stop the rebels. I rode with Alfred, William and ten men at arms to visit with Sir Ralph at Northallerton. We rode, huddled beneath cloaks for the wind came from the east and was bitingly cold. The small castle at Northallerton was a welcome refuge. As luck would have it Petr and his wife and daughter were visiting and so I could kill two birds with one stone.

  I had kept them informed of our success as they had with their own. As I sat before a roaring fire drinking mulled ale we each filled in the details of our battles. We had both lost men and we mourned their loss.

  “And now, Earl?”

  “I wish I knew. Everything is finely balanced now. The King has regained some of the land he lost but the rebels still draw men to their cause. The Earl Marshal has taken young Henry to Gloucester. We do not want the King and the heir in close proximity.”

  “But that means the King is without his two best advisers, you and the Earl Marshal.”

  “He has his half-brother, Longespée, he is competent.”

  “But we need a leader with proven experience to advise the King. I am competent, lord, but I would not dream of advising the King.”

  “You are more than competent. You did well at Piercebridge.”

  He laughed, “Sir Peter and I just used the techniques you taught us and they worked. Our archers thinned out the enemy and then we struck with horsemen. If they had not worked then we would have been stuck.”

  “You will learn. I fear that this civil war may go on for some years. Hopefully not as long as the other one but this one will not end any time soon. Both sides still think that they can win.” They both nodded. “If the French invade then the King will need every loyal knight and baron to stand with him. I will be leading all of my men south. How stand your castles? Would your families be safe with you away?”

  They looked at each other and Sir Ralph nodded. “Something else we learned from you lord was to hire men when you did not need them. We have invested the money we took from ransoms and our captives in more men at arms, good weapons and strong defences.”

  Sir Ralph took me on a tour of his manor. There were no natural features such as I enjoyed. If an enemy came it would be the fabric of his castle and the mettle of his men which would determine the outcome. “And your neighbours?”

  He shook his head, “They are mainly rebels who would side with de Percy and his men. De Percy lost Topcliffe and that is a rich manor. Many of his neighbours fear that they could lose theirs.”

  “Are you threatened?”

  He laughed, “With you as my sponsor? They are terrified of you and your men. You are close enough to be here within a few hours and my castle could hold out against a large army for days. So long as you are safe then so are we.”

  By the time I returned home, a few days later the icy winds had gone and we had balmy warm weather. Such was the climate of the north. It was hard to predict. It meant that farmers took advantage of the sun to sow crops. Ewes which had been waiting to give birth did so in great numbers. Although I was not directly involved in any of those events it drew my attention away from weightier matters.

  Towards the end of April, I received a missive from the Earl Marshal. He was in Gloucester with the Prince and, as such, further away from the major events around the south east. It was, however, good news. The King had managed to wrest control of London from the rebels. Even more importantly the Pope had finally given his judgement on the charter. I showed the most important section of the letter I had received to Aunt Ruth and my wife:

  He declared the charter to be ‘not only shameful and demeaning but also illegal and unjust’ since King John had been ‘forced to accept’ it, and accordingly the charter was ‘null, and void of all validity for ever’; under threat of excommunication, the King was not to observe the charter, nor the barons try to enforce it.

  The rebels were now, clearly in the wrong. I had read the charter, or a copy of it, at least. I could not see what the Pope found so offensive. It was Aunt Ruth who pointed out that the salient point was that King John had been forced to sign it. It seemed the rebellion might soon be over. With the King in control of London and with the Pope’s support the rebels would wither and die. All of the preparations for war would now not be needed. The weapons and horses would not be wasted. We might not have a civil war to fight but when King Alexander grew in confidence then he would come south again.

  In May I knew that my hopes of an end to the baronial conflict would be dashed. Prince Louis had been invited to England and he landed on the Isle of Thanet. The messenger who brought us the news told me that the King had fled to Winchester. Prince Louis and the rebels held London again. A second rider arrived just two days after the first to tell us that Prince Louis had been proclaimed King of England by the rebels. This was a disaster. I had sent riders out to my knights, including the Palatinate as soon as I heard of the rebels retaking London. I was just glad that William Marshal had the young Prince Henry safe in Gloucester. The west was still loyal, in the main, to King John. As I waited for those knights whose manors were in the Palatinate to arrive and the one or two other loyal barons of the north, I sat with Sir Edward and Sir William to try to decide what we ought to do. There was no easy solution.

  “We could march south and help King John.”

  I nodded, “Aye William, but where will he be? The last I heard he had divided his army into five so that he could control more of the land he stills holds. The Earl of Salisbury has one, his steward, Sir Falkes de Breauté a second. I know not the leaders of the others but I do not know where the King will be. The last I heard he was in Winchester. That is a long way from here. We could waste time travelling the country trying to find him.”

  “Lincoln will be crucial, father. We should go there. We are still close enough to home to return if there is a problem and just a couple of days march from London.”

  Sir Edward nodded, “Your son is right, lord. The Constable will resist all efforts to shift her.”

  “You are right. That is as far south as we dare risk going and any army heading north would have to pass through Lincoln. The Lady de la Haie will not relinquish the castle easily. When the other knights arrive, we will head south.”

  In the event the Scots pre-empted any decision I might make. They took Carlisle. It was Robert Fitz Clare who brought the news. He arrived in the afternoon following the arrival of my Durham knights. His arrival threw my plans into disarray. After he gave me the bad news he said, “I sent a rider to the Earl of Chester but you are better placed to intercept them.”

  “Intercept them? Do they not consolidate their gains?”

  He smiled, “No lord. The young King is set on going to London. There he will offer his support and army to the French Prince. They will leave a small garrison at Carlisle. Even now I expect that they will be heading south and using the plains of Lancashire. With the Pennines as your barrier he will feel safe from your wrath.”

  “And none other can stop them?”

  “Th
ere is a castle at Skipton but there are many roads which they can take to avoid it. Once they are in the plain of Lancashire then they can flood the land.”

  “I take it they are largely on foot?”

  “I believe, my lord, that you took most of their horses.”

  I was thinking even as he was speaking. By using my ferry, we could cut across country. Ripon was still loyal to the King; Sir Ralph had told me that. From there we could take the narrow road which headed to Clitheroe. If they were avoiding Skipton then they would either come east and we would dissect their path or they would head further west and go towards Prestune. The castle at Prestune would bar their crossing of the Ribble and that meant we had a chance. Our horses would mean we might be there before them.

  “Alfred, fetch David of Wales.” I turned to William as my squire ran off, “William, go and tell Geoffrey that we have guests this night. Tomorrow we ride.”

  Despite my wife’s best efforts, the talk around the table was about war. Everyone knew what the proclamation and the invasion of the Scots meant. It was the first civil war again. Then London had proclaimed Stephen to be king and the Scots had taken advantage and invaded Yorkshire. It had been my great grandfather and Archbishop Thurston who had defeated them. If I failed to stop the Scots then all of my family’s work might be in vain. I had to succeed. I had sent David and twenty archers to find and watch the Scots. My archers rode the fastest of horses and could both scout and remain hidden. When I had fought for the Scots I had seen little evidence of the use of scouts.

  David of Stanhope asked the question which was on everyone’s mind. “The Scots are a problem but not as great a problem as the rebels. Can the King defeat them?”

  It was an unspoken question because none wished the answer. Was he strong enough and, if we lost, what would our punishment be? Were we all risking our manors and our families?

  I answered the question. “If we stand firm then I believe that we can defeat the rebels. The question beneath your words is harder to answer. I know not what will happen if Prince Louis is King of this land. I know that I am no friend of theirs.” I shrugged, “I have been forced to be an exile before now. I have been a sword for hire.” I smiled. “There are benefits. That is how I met my wife and how Sir Fótr came to serve me. If I had to leave this land then it would not be the end of the world. It would just be the end of the world that I know and love. England is worth fighting for. Our enemies had best fear us for we are the best that this land has to offer.”