by C. B. Hanley
Any army would include among its number experienced soldiers who had fought in previous campaigns and who, in some cases, had survived serious injury. The nature of hand-to-hand combat meant that broken and severed limbs were common; survival rates were low due to the dangers of blood loss and infection, but occasionally somebody got lucky. Alf is one of these; the fact that he was treated by an Arab doctor probably increased his chances of recovery, whatever he might say himself.
There was no such thing as a pension, so a man disabled by active service would simply have to make his way in the world as best he could. He would not, however, be an outcast: his former comrades would probably treat him no differently, and after the initial shock of his appearance, new acquaintances would get used to him. Very few people in the thirteenth century reached middle age without some kind of lasting scar or health problem, and attitudes to disability were more liberal than we might think. Alas, not every condition was treatable; those who suffered from other ailments, such as the appendicitis which strikes Humphrey’s man Rob, were doomed.
Archery in 1217 was not quite as well developed as it would become in the following couple of centuries, but it was an established military practice. The law making Sunday archery compulsory was not passed until 1252, but local competitions (friendly or otherwise) took place on an ad hoc basis and there were certainly skilled bowmen around who formed a significant part of any army.
Bows were not as long as they would be later – perhaps a maximum of 5ft – but they could still propel an arrow at great speed from a draw weight of 80-100lbs. The technique was to start with the bow held in front of the chest and then to push and pull at the same time, which helped to even out the strain; repeating this over and over again was a feat of skill and endurance that required extensive training. Arrows were loosed in volleys (with the commands being ‘nock, draw, loose’, not ‘ready, aim, fire’); they were generally made of ash, which tends to grow very straight, with fletchings of goose feathers. The iron or steel arrowheads could vary in shape from narrow, pointed, mail-piercing bodkins to triangular broadheads, effective against both horses and men and extremely difficult to remove once embedded.
The outcome of the Battle of Sandwich was the Treaty of Lambeth, finalised three weeks later, by which Louis agreed to relinquish his claim to the throne in return for a huge payment of 10,000 marks (£6,667) of silver. He sailed back across the Channel at the end of September 1217; he would never set foot in England again, but when he later assumed the throne of France as Louis VIII he fought successfully against the English in his own realm as he sought to expel them from French soil.
The treaty was meant to impose peace, but of course that was easier said than done in a land where the nobles had been deeply entrenched on opposing sides for years, and where many of them held competing claims to the same titles and lands. Disputes, conflict and outright violence would continue throughout England for some years, as Edwin will soon discover.
Further Reading
Carpenter, D.A., The Minority of Henry III (London: Methuen, 1990)
Hanley, Catherine, Louis: The French Prince Who Invaded England (London: Yale University Press, 2016)
Lynn, John A. (ed.), Feeding Mars: Logistics in Western Warfare from the Middle Ages to the Present (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994)
McGlynn, Sean, Blood Cries Afar: The Forgotten Invasion of England, 1216 (Stroud: The History Press, 2011)
McGlynn, Sean, ‘England’s Medieval Trafalgar’, BBC History Magazine, July 2012
Stanton, Charles D., Medieval Maritime Warfare (Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2015)
Acknowledgements
As ever, my thanks are due to many people and it is a pleasure to be able to acknowledge them here.
Matilda Richards, until recently my editor at The Mystery Press, has believed in and supported this series from the start; I will miss her and her acute observations, but I hope that her new venture brings both success and happiness.
Joy Hawkins, an academic medievalist specialising in the history of medicine, and Alison Convey, a GP, between them set me straight on all sorts of matters to do with amputation, food poisoning and appendicitis, for which I am extremely grateful. Sorry about the emails full of gruesome questions.
Sean McGlynn, as ever, was happy to discuss all things thirteenth-century in return for tea and cake; his work on Eustace the Monk and the Battle of Sandwich has been of particular help this time round.
Three splendid volunteers read through full drafts of the work before I finalised it: many thanks to Susan Brock, Maddy McGlynn and Stephanie Tickle, whose comments on everything from equine behaviour to semi-colons were gratefully appreciated, even where they diverged to a considerable degree …
I am fortunate to have many friends on Twitter who were generous either with specific help on points contained in the book, with general medieval goodness, or with all-round support and encouragement. They include (but are in no way limited to) James Aitcheson, Sophie Ambler, Andrew Buck, Jim Jones, Phyl Jones, Marion Livingstone, Levi Roach, Richard Sheehan and Paul Webster; many thanks to all of them and to the rest of the Twittersphere.
And finally, a grateful shout-out to the small but perfectly formed Wiveliscombe library; despite the threats being cast at it from all sides, it remains doggedly open to serve its rural community. The staff, ‘friends of’ and volunteers are all heroes.
About the Author
C.B. HANLEY has a PhD in mediaeval studies from the University of Sheffield and is the author of War and Combat 1150–1270: The Evidence from Old French Literature and Louis: The French Prince Who Invaded England, as well as her Mediaeval Mystery series: The Sins of the Father, The Bloody City, Whited Sepulchres and Brother’s Blood. She currently writes a number of scholarly articles on the period, as well as teaching on writing for academic publication, and also works as a copy-editor and proofreader.
Also in this series
1217: England has been invaded. Much of the country is in the iron grip of Louis of France and his collaborators, and civil war rages as the forces of the boy king try to fight off the French. Most of this means nothing to Edwin Weaver, son of the bailiff at Conisbrough Castle in Yorkshire, until he is suddenly thrust into the noble world of politics and treachery: he is ordered by his lord the earl to solve a murder which might have repercussions not just for him but for the future of the realm.
1217: Lincoln is not a safe place to be. A French army has captured the city and the terrified citizens huddle in the rubble of their homes as the castle, the last remaining loyal stronghold in the region, is besieged. Edwin Weaver finds himself riding into grave danger after his lord volunteers him for a perilous mission: he must infiltrate the city and identify the traitors who are helping the enemy. Edwin is pushed to the limit as he has to decide what he is prepared to do to protect others. He might be willing to lay down his own life, but would he, could he, kill?
1217: Edwin Weaver has returned to Conisbrough from his blood-soaked adventure in Lincoln, but he has no chance to rest: preparations are underway for a noble wedding at the castle. When the household marshal is murdered and a violent band of outlaws begins terrorising the area, the earl asks Edwin to resolve the situation; but Edwin is convinced that there’s more to the situation than meets the eye and, with growing horror, he realises that the real target might be someone much closer to the earl.
1217: The war for the throne of England is far from over, but as commoner-turned-earl’s-man Edwin Weaver waits to see where his lord’s loyalties lie, a message arrives from Roche Abbey: one of the monks has been murdered. The abbot needs help to find the killer and Edwin soon finds himself within the unfamiliar and claustrophobic confines of the abbey, where faces are hidden and a killer stalks unnoticed.
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