Magna Carta (Border Knight Book 4)

by Griff Hosker

  “Comte you are like all Frenchmen. You have a higher opinion of yourself and your nation than you merit. I will cut you down to size.”

  His honour impugned he punched at me with his shield as he lunged with his sword. I emulated my son. I stepped back and spun. The Comte stumbled and Ridley laughed, “He is clumsy too, lord.”

  The Comte spun himself before I could strike a blow. His sword clattered against my shield. I used my foot and rammed it against his left knee. The knee bent backwards. It made my men cheer even more. They loved tricks like that. I had hurt him. His knee was damaged and his pride was hurt. As he swung his sword I blocked it with my shield and stepped close to him. Neither of us could used our swords but he had a helmet with a nasal and I had an arming cap. He brought his head back to butt me. Hooking my left leg behind his right I leaned to the side so that his head hit my shoulder and then I pushed. He fell backwards and my right arm was freed. I brought my sword down diagonally across his neck. The blow was so powerful that it almost severed his head.

  His death and that of his men marked the end of all rebel resistance. It became a rout. The Earl of Chester’s men rode to avenge the hurts their lord had suffered. William Marshal rode over to me, “Sir Thomas I see in you the spirit of your grandfather, the Warlord. The King is in your debt.”

  That evening we gathered in the Great Hall. The King wished to thank the Lady of Lincoln for her valiant defence. Outside the town was being cleared of the enemy and the townsfolk, for colluding with the enemy were being pillaged. None tried to stop our men. The burghers of Lincoln had made their choice and it had been a bad one.

  After the King had praised Nicola de la Haie he said, “Sir Thomas, your son, this day, showed great courage not once but three or four times. Just as you were knighted at Arsuf so your son Alfred should be knighted now.” He reached for his sword, “I would be honoured to do it.”

  The Earl Marshal smiled, “You are not yet a knight yourself, Your Majesty but I will do the honours.”

  Alfred stepped forward, “Without showing disrespect, Your Majesty, Earl Marshal, I would wait.” Everyone looked in shock at his words. He was refusing to be knighted. “I can think of no greater honour but I have promised my sister that I will be knighted in Stockton on Midsummer’s day and my father will dub me and give me my spurs. I would wait.”

  The King smiled and the Earl Marshal nodded, “Like your father you will be a true knight and King Henry is lucky to have you as a friend. So be it!”

  Epilogue

  The Battle of Lincoln ended, effectively, the Baron’s War. With the leaders now prisoners Prince Louis returned to France for more men. Eustace the Monk brought ships across from France with the necessary reinforcements. The French ships were defeated by Hubert de Burgh in the Battle of Dover. The Earl Marshal, in one of his last acts negotiated a peace. In return for ten thousand crowns Prince Louis relinquished all claims to the English crown. King Henry was safe. His crown was secured and the rebellion was over.

  With the reparations from Fitzwalter and the other knights we were rich. King Henry confirmed Sir Ralph as Sheriff of York and I was given the title, Defender of the King. Once an outlaw, hunted and persecuted by King John, his son had now made me the First Knight in the land.

  What made me the proudest was when I was able to knight my son. All of my knights and the knights of the Palatinate attended. My aunt and my wife nodded approvingly as young knights queued up to speak to Rebekah and Isabella. All of the work they had put into the feast had not been in vain.

  My son had shown knightly virtues when he had not needed to. I had raised both of my sons well. With the rebellion over and the Scots cowed, I hoped for years of peace. Perhaps Alfred and Rebekah would find partners to wed and my legacy would live on. I had been told that I was the embodiment of the Warlord and I owed it to him to see that his line continued on into the future.

  As the young folk danced before my wife I sat with Aunt Ruth. She had her arm linked in mine, “Thomas, if you were my own son I could not be prouder. What you have achieved is quite remarkable. You have behaved honourably and you have saved the crown. I have spoken with Ridley and your men. They are in no doubt where the praise should go. Yet you have not made capital of it and you behave modestly. That is how a true knight should be. Sir William saw those attributes in you all those years ago when you returned from the Holy Land. Many men might have changed but you are the same and, my nephew, you are my grandfather, father and brother in one. Enjoy this night for this is your night as much as Alfred’s”

  As one of the young knights of the Palatinate, Geoffrey Fitzurse, danced with Rebekah I caught my wife’s eye. She smiled at me and blew a kiss. My son’s gesture had been worthwhile and I was content. My land was safe, my country was whole again and my family had come to no harm. What more could a knight ask?

  The End

  Glossary

  Bylnge -Billinge, near Wigan

  Chevauchée- a raid by mounted men

  Fusil - A lozenge shape on a shield

  Garth- a garth was a farm. Not to be confused with the name Garth

  Groat- English coin worth four silver pennies

  Luciaria-Lucerne (Switzerland)

  Mêlée- a medieval fight between knights

  Nissa- Nice (Provence)

  Reeve- An official who ran a manor for a lord

  Rote- An English version of a lyre (also called a crowd or crwth)

  Vair- a heraldic term

  Wrecsam- Wrexham

  Wulfestun- Wolviston (Durham)

  Maps and Illustrations

  Historical Notes

  This series of books follows the fortunes of the family of the Earl of Cleveland begun in the Anarchy. As with that series the characters in this book are, largely, fictional, but the events are all historically accurate. For those who have read the earlier books in the series the new information begins with the section: Timeline of the novel.

  Templars

  No matter where they were based the Knights Templars followed a strict routine:

  Night- Matins sleep until dawn

  6 am Rise- Prime and then mass

  9 am Terce

  12 Noon Sext

  3 pm Nones, Vespers for the dead, Vigil for the dead

  There were set times to speak with their squires and see to their horses.

  Prince Arthur

  Arthur was born in 1187, the son of Constance of Brittany and Geoffrey II of Brittany, who died before he was born. As an infant, Arthur was second in line to the succession of his grandfather King Henry II, after his uncle Richard. King Henry died when Arthur was 2 years old, and Richard I became the new king in his place.

  While Richard was away on the Third Crusade, Arthur's mother Constance made actions to make the Duchy of Brittany more independent. On 11 November 1190, Richard betrothed Arthur to a daughter of Tancred of Sicily as part of their treaty. However, Emperor Henry VI conquered the Kingdom of Sicily in 1194, so the betrothal of Arthur came to nothing.

  A marriage plan, originally aiming to establish an alliance between King Richard and Philip II, King of France, to marry Arthur's elder sister Eleanor to Philip's son Louis also failed. In 1196, Constance had the young Arthur proclaimed Duke of Brittany and her co-ruler as a child of nine years. The same year, Richard again nominated Arthur as his heir and summoned him, as well as his mother Constance, to Normandy, but Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, stepfather of Arthur, abducted Constance. Richard marched to Brittany to rescue Arthur, who was then secretly carried to France to be brought up with Louis.

  When Richard died on 6 April 1199, on his deathbed he proclaimed his brother John as his heir, fearing Arthur was too young to look after the throne. Arthur was only twelve years old at the time and under the influence of the French king. John immediately claimed the throne of England, but much of the French nobility were resentful at recognising him as their overlord. They preferred Arthur, who declared himself vassal of Philip. Philip recogn
ised Arthur's right to Anjou, Maine, and Poitou. Upon Richard's death Arthur led a force to Anjou and Maine. From 18 April, he styled himself as Duke of Brittany, Count of Anjou, and Earl of Richmond.

  After his return to France, and with the support of Philip II, Arthur embarked on a campaign in Normandy against John in 1202. Poitou revolted in support of Arthur. The Duke of Brittany besieged his grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, John's mother, in the Château de Mirebeau. John marched on Mirebeau, taking Arthur by surprise on 31 July 1202. Arthur was captured by John's barons on 1 August, and imprisoned in the Château de Falaise in Falaise, Normandy.

  At the Chateau de Falaise, Arthur was guarded by Hubert de Burgh. According to contemporaneous chronicler Ralph of Coggeshall, John ordered two of his servants to mutilate the duke. Hubert de Burgh refused to let him be mutilated. The following year Arthur was transferred to Rouen, under the charge of William de Braose. Arthur vanished in April 1203.

  “After King John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some time, at length, in the castle of Rouen, after dinner on the Thursday before Easter, when he was drunk and possessed by the devil ['ebrius et daemonio plenus'], he slew him with his own hand, and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine. It was discovered by a fisherman in his net, and being dragged to the bank and recognized, was taken for secret burial, in fear of the tyrant, to the priory of Bec called Notre Dame de Pres.”

  Margam annals

  William des Roches

  In May 1199, King Philip of France met with William des Roches at Le Mans and together they attacked the border fortress of Ballon, the fortress was surrendered by Geoffrey de Brûlon, the castellan, but not before being demolished. A quarrel ensued between King Philip and William over the lordship of the site. William was adamant that Ballon belonged rightfully to Duke Arthur, while King Philip wished to retain it as his own.

  In June 1199, King John of England launched a massive attack into Northern Maine from Argentan. On 13 September he was successful in repulsing King Philip from the fortress of Lavardin which protected the route from Le Mans to Tours. Arthur's supporters were forced to come to terms with John, and William met with the English king at Bourg-le-Roi, a fortress of the pro-John viscounts of Beaumont-en-Maine on or about 18 September. John convinced William that Arthur of Brittany was being used solely as a tool of Capetian strategy and managed to convince him to switch sides. With this, John promised him the seneschalship of Anjou. During the night, John's incumbent seneschal, Viscount Aimery, took Arthur and Constance and fled the court. They fled first to Angers, then to the court of King Philip. King John officially designated William seneschal of Anjou in December 1199 and entered Angers triumphantly on 24 June 1200.

  Courtesy of Wikipedia

  Treaty of Le Goulet

  The Treaty of Le Goulet was signed by the kings John of England and Philip II of France in May 1200 and meant to settle once and for all the claims the Norman kings of England had as Norman dukes on French lands, including, at least for a time, Brittany. Under the terms of the treaty, Philip recognised John as King of England as heir of his brother Richard I and thus formally abandoned any support for Arthur. John, meanwhile, recognised Philip as the suzerain of continental possessions of the Angevin Empire.

  Philip had previously recognised John as suzerain of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany, but with this he extorted 20,000 marks sterling in payment for recognition of John's sovereignty of Brittany. The Treaty of Le Goulet was signed by the kings John of England and Philip II of France in May 1200 and aimed to ultimately settle the claims the Angevin kings of England had on French lands. Hence, it aimed to bring an end to the war over the Duchy of Normandy and finalise the new borders of what was left of the duchy, as well as the future relationship of the king of France and the dukes of Normandy. The treaty was a victory for Philip as it asserted his legal claims to over lordship over John's French lands.

  The terms of the treaty signed at le Goulet, on the Gueuleton island in the middle of the Seine river near Vernon in Normandy, included clarifications of the feudal relationships binding the monarchs. Philip recognised John as King of England, heir of his brother Richard I, and thus formally abandoned his prior support for Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, the son of John's late brother, Geoffrey II of Brittany. John, meanwhile, formally recognised the new status of the lost Norman territories by acknowledging the Counts of Boulogne and Flanders as vassals of the kings of France, not those of England, and recognised Philip as the suzerain of the continental lands in the Angevin Empire. John also bound himself not to support any rebellions on the part of the counts of Boulogne and Flanders.

  Philip had previously recognised John as suzerain of Anjou and the Duchy of Brittany, but with the treaty of le Goulet he extorted 20,000 marks sterling in payment for recognition of John's sovereignty of Brittany.

  The treaty also included territorial concessions by John to Philip. The Vexin (except for Les Andelys, where Château Gaillard, vital to the defence of the region, was located) and the Évrécin in Normandy, as well as Issoudun, Graçay, and the fief of André de Chauvigny in Berry were to be removed from Angevin suzerainty and put directly into that of France.

  The Duchy of Aquitaine was not included in the treaty. It was still held by John as heir to his still-living mother, Eleanor. The treaty was sealed with a marriage alliance between the Angevin and Capetian dynasties. John's niece Blanche, daughter of his sister Leonora and Alfonso VIII of Castile, married Philip's eldest son, Louis VIII of France (to be eventually known as Louis the Lion). The marriage alliance only assured a strong regent for the minority of Louis IX of France. Philip declared John deposed from his fiefs for failure to obey a summons in 1202 and war broke out again. Philip moved quickly to seize John's lands in Normandy, strengthening the French throne in the process.

  John and the Lusignans

  The new peace would only last for two years; war recommenced in the aftermath of John's decision in August 1200 to marry Isabella of Angoulême. In order to remarry, John first needed to abandon Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, his first wife; John accomplished this by arguing that he had failed to get the necessary papal permission to marry Isabel in the first place – as a cousin, John could not have legally wed her without this. It remains unclear why John chose to marry Isabella of Angouleme. Contemporary chroniclers argued that John had fallen deeply in love with Isabella, and John may have been motivated by desire for an apparently beautiful, if rather young, girl. On the other hand, the Angoumois lands that came with Isabella were strategically vital to John: by marrying Isabella, John was acquiring a key land route between Poitou and Gascony, which significantly strengthened his grip on Aquitaine.

  Unfortunately, Isabella was already engaged to Hugh of Lusignan, an important member of a key Poitou noble family and brother of Count Raoul of Eu, who possessed lands along the sensitive eastern Normandy border. Just as John stood to benefit strategically from marrying Isabella, so the marriage threatened the interests of the Lusignans, whose own lands currently provided the key route for royal goods and troops across Aquitaine. Rather than negotiating some form of compensation, John treated Hugh "with contempt"; this resulted in a Lusignan uprising that was promptly crushed by John, who also intervened to suppress Raoul in Normandy.

  Although John was the Count of Poitou and therefore the rightful feudal lord over the Lusignans, they could legitimately appeal John's actions in France to his own feudal lord, Philip. Hugh did exactly this in 1201 and Philip summoned John to attend court in Paris in 1202, citing the Le Goulet treaty to strengthen his case. John was unwilling to weaken his authority in western France in this way. He argued that he need not attend Philip's court because of his special status as the Duke of Normandy, who was exempt by feudal tradition from being called to the French court. Philip argued that he was summoning John not as the Duke of Normandy, but as the Count of Poitou, which carried no such special status. When John still refused to come, Philip declared John in breach of his
feudal responsibilities, reassigned all of John's lands that fell under the French crown to Arthur – with the exception of Normandy, which he took back for himself – and began a fresh war against John.

  De Ferrers

  De Ferrers was a favourite of King John and also the Sherriff of Nottingham! His coat of arms was vairy or with gules. It is easier to show you rather than trying to describe it!

  Eleanor Fair Maid of Brittany

  I did not know the story of Eleanor until I began researching this book. Hers is a sad story. Eventually King John captured her and imprisoned her in a castle: although the exact location is uncertain. Some said Corfe and then Bristol. When King John died his heir, Henry III continued to have her incarcerated. Her burial and her final resting place are unknown. There is a story there.

  Treadmill crane

  The medieval treadmill was a large wooden wheel turning around a central shaft with a treadway wide enough for two workers walking side by side. While the earlier 'compass-arm' wheel had spokes directly driven into the central shaft, the more advanced 'clasp-arm' type featured arms arranged as chords to the wheel rim, giving the possibility of using a thinner shaft and providing thus a greater mechanical advantage.

  Treadmill crane- courtesy of Wikipedia.

  Fall of Normandy

  Prince Arthur was in Falaise and, after he was moved to Rouen he was, reputedly, killed by his uncle. That action and the ill treatment of prisoners drove William des Roches into the French camp. Between 1202 and 1204 Normandy, Brittany, Anjou and Maine were all lost. Most of Poitou also fell and only the wine rich region of Aquitaine remained in King John’s hands. He never gave up on Normandy and spent the next ten years trying to retake it. He even built a fleet to defend the seaways to Bordeaux.