NOTES
Chapter One: “The Fury of the Northmen” • 793–1066
Closer to home, in Ireland Or not. There’s a large and respectable minority opinion that the term Finngaill—along with Dubgaill, usually translated as “dark foreigner,” doesn’t refer to skin or hair color at all, but rather is best translated as “old” and “new” foreigners. (Downham 2009)
“rapine and slaughter” (Jones 1984), quoting The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
“to become their mistresses” (Sorensen 2012)
“the torpid courage of their barbarous natives” (Gibbon 1994)
quicker to respond to change In the words of climatologist George Philander, one partner, the atmosphere, is “quick and agile, and responds nimbly to hints from the . . . ponderous and cumbersome ocean.” (Philander 2000)
Which is not to say that the Norse were just lucky (Ferguson 2009)
sixteen hundred times that of the atmosphere (Brown 2001)
Lower solar activity, more Carbon-14 (Hughes 1994)
the early Iron Age from about 200 BCE (Hughes 1994)
altitudes of more than a thousand feet (Fagan 2000)
vineyards started appearing (Bailey 1981)
were able to produce barley (Fagan 2008)
and “a few other men” (Thorvaldsson 1906)
any time in the last one hundred twenty-five thousand years (Fagan 2000)
“people would be attracted to go there” (Thorvaldsson 1906)
more than four hundred times the volume (Brown 2001)
at least one hundred kilometers away from Iceland (Fagan 2008)
Germany and Poland nearly tripled (Findlay 2006), citing McEvedy and Jones’s Atlas of World Population History
at least 100 million acres were deforested (Williams 2006) The total land area of western and central Europe is approximately 1 million square miles, or 640 million acres.
to reclaim the tree-rich sanctuaries of pagan worship (White 1966)
saved by the “prayer book and the ax” (Williams 2006)
southeast of England, Brittany, and Normandy (Gies 1990)
the Silva Carbonnaria, or charcoal-burners forest (Williams 2006)
frequently as few as three Modern calculations of fourteenth-century agricultural yields are wildly variable. The low numbers are taken from (Jordan 1996); the higher from (Allen 2005) who documents net yields of 8.8 for wheat, and up to 13.4 for barley. However, these calculations are taken from lands planted for the exclusive use of feudal lords—their demesne lands—which were, presumably, the best land available.
a bribe to go away In 876, Charles the Bald paid off a one-hundred-ship raiding party with 5,000 livres. (Ferguson 2009)
the bishops of Noyon, Beauvais, Bayeux, and Avranches (Ferguson 2009)
by contract, rather than blood (Fukuyama 2011) Fukuyama is largely citing the work of the twentieth-century French historian Marc Bloch.
fifteen times as much as a cow (DeVries 2007)
“the destructive progress of the Normans” (Gibbon 1994)
Chapter Two: “Henceforth Be Earls” • 1066–1298
“only a few homesteads had yet to be carved” (Rimas 2010), quoting from Miller and Hatcher, Medieval England
might rule fifty or more villages (Gies 1990)
“by the year from the shire” (Tennant 2011)
true slavery had virtually disappeared (McGarry 1976)
“nor do I hold it of any but God” (Scott 1996)
a monk named Thomas of Otterbourne (Phillips 2010)
“often accompanied by a single follower” (Maxwell 1913)
The first six Guardians (Barrow 2005)
“one of the most able and ably advised” (Scott 1996)
“whatever he likes he says is lawful” (Scott 1996), quoting The Song of Lewes, an anonymous chronicle
virtually ruled both Aberdeen and Berwick (Scott 1996)
“riches were the sea, and the water its walls” (Scott 1996), quoting The Chronicle of Lanercost
and only a few dozen today (Pinker 2011)
“saving the rights of the King of England” (Scott 1996)
“that I am not the rightful Suzerain” (Barrow 2005), quoting The Chronicle of William Rishanger
“the realms of England and Scotland are joined together” (Barrow 2005)
that all died at their posts (Scott 1996)
“If he won’t come to us, we’ll go to him” (Scott 1996)
what was left of Scottish resistance (Barrow 2005)
“Have we nothing to do but win kingdoms for you?” (Barrow 2005)
“or return to your homes” (Barrow 2005)
“to defend ourselves and liberate our kingdom” (Scott 1996), quoting The Chronicle of Walter Guisborough
“baldrick for his sword” (Maxwell 1913)
plunder back to Scotland (Scott 1996)
open to trade with the Hanseatic cities (Scott 1996)
“by consent of the community of the realm” (Barrow 2005)
“William Wallace, Knight” (Barrow 2005)
journeys were the opposite of easy (Barrow 2005)
“other free men of the kingdom” (Bingham 1973)
flayed prisoners, killed babies, and raped nuns (Scott 1996)
more than two thousand Welsh bowmen (Prestwich 1988) Citing English payroll documents, Prestwich gives somewhat higher numbers: 3,000 cavalry, 10,900 Welsh infantry, and 14,800 English foot.
“instead of rebuking you I shall praise you” (Barrow 2005)
“Lochaber ax” . . . well-designed for pulling a man from his horse (Barrow 2005)
Chapter Three: “Penalty for Their Betters” • 1298–1307
“Know that we have divided” Shakespeare, King Lear, I, 1, 37
“I love your majesty” Shakespeare, King Lear, I, I, 94
“leapt at the Earl of Carrick and seized him by the throat” (Scott 1996), quoting the report of an English spy, now preserved at London’s Public Record Office
with the throne of Saint Peter as the prize (Orlandis 1985)
“that he has to expedite” (National Archives 1981) While the letter from Philip to Boniface is undoubtedly authentic, no one has been able to document whether Wallace actually made it to Rome.
for all disputes in Christendom One of Boniface’s papal bulls, Unam Sanctam, is a categorical statement of papal authority over, well, everyone: “It is necessary to salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff.” (Tuchman 1978)
“for the love of Mount Zion and Jerusalem” (Scott 1996), quoting The Chronicle of William Rishanger
“nor silence for Jerusalem” (Scott 1996)
“through evil counsel” (Scott 1996), quoting Stone, Anglo-Scottish Relations
“promises Robert assistance and counsel as before” (Barrow 2005)
25 percent more than England’s (Maddison 2006) Note that the statistics from Maddison’s enormous work attempt to provide longitudinal data, which means country data frequently refers to nations that did not yet exist. The data for Flanders, in this case, appears as “Belgium.”
directly over Flanders (Brown 2001)
Guy of Namur and Willem van Gulik . . . were named to command (DeVries 2011)
the Battle of the Golden Spurs (DeVries 2011)
“than any other single event” (Barrow 2005)
“forced them to brew and bake” (Phillips 2010)
some £3,795 annually from the royal household accounts (Phillips 2010)
“driving carts, rowing [and] swimming” (Weir 2005)
another eight thousand armed and horsed troops As always, different sources give different numbers. (Prestwich 1988) lists the peak number of foot soldiers at 7,500.
three bridges prefabricated At the fairly ec
onomical cost of £938, according to (Prestwich 1988).
besiege Stirling Castle from the north (Pollington et al. 2011)
“to whoever shall capture Wallace” (Barrow 2005)
in the tavern where he was taken (Scott 1996) Another story has Wallace captured in the house of Robert Rae, a servant of Sir John Menteith.
a warning to anyone who might be tempted to rebellion (Barrow 1965)
“time ever made such progress” (Scott 1996)
“no success whatever” (Scott 1996)
“and try to obviate it” (Barrow 2005)
returned to the church to do just that (Barbour 1997)
official companions of Edward Caernarfon (Bingham 1973) The nature of the companionship he offered is still debated by the sort of historians who demand the sort of proof required in a criminal prosecution. And, it’s true that there are reasonable doubts about whether the relationship between Edward and Gaveston was sexual.
“before all other mortals” (Bingham 1973)
“and so Piers was accounted a sorcerer” (Childs 2005)
“too much given to sodomy” (Bingham 1973)
“desire for sinful, forbidden sex” (Weir 2005)
“how would I sink into your embraces” (Berkowitz 2012)
in the same category as incest and sorcery (Berkowitz 2012) By this time, the Latin Empire that, confusingly, had placed Duke Baldwin of Flanders on the throne of Constantine. After his defeat in 1205, Constantinople was restored to eastern rule.
almost immediately headed north (Scott 1996)
“that you could find in any country” (Barbour 1997)
“as the rich had taken to flight” (Phillips 2010), quoting The Chronicle of William of Rishanger
only one in ten had more than six hundred (Gies 1990), citing Hilton, A Medieval Society
subject to rape or murder without consequence (Scott 1996), citing Liber Pluscardiesis, a chronicle from the Plusarden Priory in Elgin, Scotland
where each one was imprisoned (Bingham 1973)
“had not his match in his time, in any clime” (Fordun 1872)
“Of Good King Robert’s Testament” (Scott 1996)
“at the point of the sword” (Phillips 2010)
Chapter Four: “Douglas’s Larder” • 1307–1312
“you should never enjoy your inheritance” (Bingham 1973)
providing £66 annually for his living (Phillips 2010)
“strengthen Piers, and surround him with friends” (Childs 2005)
“younger and harder knights of the kingdom” (Childs 2005)
“the most beautiful woman in the kingdom and the Empire” (Phillips 2010)
“one of the fairest ladies in the world” (Weir 2005)
sixty seamstresses alone (Phillips 2010)
they used up thirty pounds of candles (Weir 2005)
constructed to house Scotland’s Stone of Destiny (Phillips 2010)
“that the community of the realm should determine” (Bingham 1973)
“and followed the advice of the young” (Childs 2005)
“a traitor to his liege lord and his realm” (Phillips 2010)
were still in force (Phillips 2010) The Charter of the Forest, or Carta de Foresta, was drafted as a complement to the Magna Carta; as its name implies, it was largely concerned with changes to the traditional laws of the forest and, as such, actually provided more protections for commoners than its better-known predecessor: Eliminating the death penalty for hunting venison, for example, in the royal forests.
“or keep up your household, except by extortions” (Locke 1919)
to whom he owed some £22,000 (Phillips 2010)
“an open enemy of the king” (Phillips 2010)
“for all time and without hope of return” (Weir 2005)
the two earls would guarantee his personal safety (Bingham 1973)
“I think you know me” (Weir 2005)
the body lay there until found by four shoemakers (Weir 2005)
“and brought it to the king” (Locke 1919)
“and grain is so meager” (Dean 1996)
The knightly orders of Calatrava (Moeller 1908) Calatrava and Alcantara were affiliated with the Cistercian monastic order; the Order of Santiago, with the Augustinians.
“settled by German peasants from the west” (Lewis 1958)
“hacked down and divided into assarts” (Lewis 1958)
rents increased, substantially (Findlay 2006), citing Lewis
planting peas and legumes does the same thing (Clark 2006) Pasture is even better at converting airborne nitrogen to ammonia—the same stuff used by modern industrial fertilizers—than legumes. Legumes fix approximately 65 pounds of nitrogen per acre; pasture grass fixes nearly 100 pounds per acre, while clover fixes 150 pounds per acre. What this means, in practice, is that taking an arable field—able to fix enough nitrogen to produce only six to eight bushels of wheat annually—and alternating it with a pasture that fixes enough to produce seventeen bushels per acre is actually far more productive over any period of time than just using land for wheat every year.
the unsustainable use of arable land (Clark 1992)
“obtaining the original figure by dividing by x” (Angell 1913)
more than the entire value of the country (Allen 2005), One of the most enduring constants of agricultural history is that, in every society, in every era that can be documented, the market price of a piece of farmland over time is approximately four times its annual productivity. In 1300, the aggregate value of all the arable land of England, which was producing rents for its feudal landlords of between 10 and 12 shillings per acre was therefore approximately £2.6 million in the currency of the day: roughly fourteen million acres, at a selling price of four shillings an acre. Scotland, with its lower rents—Gregory Clark estimates .77 shillings per acre in 1300—and less than two million acres under cultivation, was therefore “worth” less than £300,000 (Clark 2006).
was sent to France for his own safety (Davis 1974)
they even recorded the horse’s name (Davis 1974)
“gladly and well rewarded his service” (Barbour 1997)
“there was not one among them there . . . more than James Douglas” (Barbour 1997)
the true and nearest heir to Alexander III (Barrow 2005)
“did them all the injury that he could” (Scott 1996) The original source is the still-mysterious “Monk of Malmesbury,” the anonymous author of a manuscript in the British Museum said to chronicle English history up to the year 1129.
“no food for their horses” (Scott 1996), quoting The Chronicle of Lanercost
“all levied and foolishly spent” (Locke 1919)
what amounted to a national English property tax (Barrow 2005)
“a great number of cattle” (Scott 1996), quoting the Vita
armor and weapons from Flanders and the Hanse (Bingham 1973)
Chapter Five: “Scots, Wha Hae” • 1313–1315
the earls of Pembroke and Surrey aligned with the king (Phillips 2010)
more heavily on England’s peasantry than its aristocracy (Phillips 2010)
who had taken over for Frescobaldi (Phillips 2010) Philip IV loaned his son-in-law £33,000, and remitted all penalties incurred by Edward’s subjects in Gascony. The pope was tapped for another £25,000, and other sources were good for more than £40,000.
made vows to join each other on crusade (Phillips 2010) It seems likely that neither one gave much thought to the rural peasants whose productivity paid for all the pomp; a single banquet—there were six—required 94 oxen, 189 pigs, 380 rams, 200 pike, 160 carp, and 80 barrels of wine.
nothing more than light scaling ladders (Davis 1974) The ladders were supposedly invented by Sim of Ledhouse, one of the soldiers under the command of James Douglas.
“through which the two ropes could be passed” (Scott 1996), quoting The Chronicle of Lanercost
he immediately ordered the mustering of his army (Duncan 2010)
“to traverse all Scotland” (Davis 1974)
“third best knight of his day” (Barbour 1997)
“That was unwisely done, indeed” (Scott 1996)
a few hundred mounted skirmishers (Barrow 2005) The Scots were seriously understrength in not just cavalry but missile artillery. King Robert had well understood, ever since Falkirk, the importance of archers, and especially Scotland’s deficiency in them relative to England. Almost from the time he became king, he regularly converted the traditional feudal obligation of knight service—essentially cavalry, either armed-and-armored heavy cavalry for the richest or light cavalry for their men-at-arms—to archer service. In 1309, for example, he rewrote the grant to the baron of Tweeddale from a single knight’s fee to ten archers; the same for the barony of Cessford—that is, five archers. He notably granted hereditary pensions, essentially fiefs-for-money in return for archer service.
10 percent of them more than £40 (Ayton 1999)
one of Edward II’s horses cost him more than £70 (Phillips 2010)
only raise their swords on behalf of virtue (Tuchman 1978)
“the adventure of life in death” (Tuchman 1978)
and thereby make it more tolerable (Sjøgren 2011)
turned them into scavenger meat at Courtrai (Moyer 2011)
“the gradations of wealth were less steep” (Scott 1996)
from blowing his horn too vigorously (Aberth 2010)
“rather than an army on the march” (Bingham 1973), quoting the Vita
“to bunch at a single well-guarded spot” (Barrow 2005)
“myssit the nobile king” (Barbour 1997)
was, somehow, ignoble (Keegan 1961)
“as to keep your honour” (Scott 1996), quoting various extracts from (Barbour 1997)
“These men will win all or die” (Barbour 1997)
the Great Seal of England and the Royal Shield (Duncan 2010)
“fell before the Flemings at Courtrai” (Bingham 1973)
The Third Horseman Page 29
