Wager of Battle: A Tale of Saxon Slavery in Sherwood Forest

by Henry William Herbert

  CHAPTER XXV.

  THE FALSE CHARGE AND THE TRUE.

  As for the rest appealed, It issues from the rancor of a villain, A recreant and most degenerate traitor; Which, in myself, I boldly will defend; And interchangeably hurl down my gage Upon this overweening traitor's foot, To prove myself a loyal gentleman, Even in the best blood chambered in his bosom.

  KING RICHARD II.

  So soon as the court was opened on the following morning, to theastonishment of all parties, and to that of no one, as it would seem,more than of the grand justiciary himself, Kenric was againintroduced; but this time heavily ironed, and in the charge of twoordinary constables of the hundred.

  "Ha! what is this?" asked Ranulf de Glanville, sharply. "For what isthis man brought here again in this guise? Judgment was rendered inhis case, last night; and I would have all men to know, that from thiscourt there is no appeal. Or is there some new charge against him?"

  "In some sort, a new charge, my lord," replied the clerk of the court;"he was arrested last night, the moment he had left this court, on thecomplaint of Ralph Brito, next of kin to the deceased, for the murderof Ralph Wetheral, the seneschal of Waltheofstow, at the time and inthe place, which your lordship wots of, having heard all about it, inthe case decided yesterday _de nativo habendo_!"

  "Now, by my halidom!" said Glanville, the fire flashing to his darkeyes, "this is wonderful insolence and _outrecuidance_ on the part ofMaster Ralph Brito, who is himself, or should be, under arrest forperjury----"

  "So, please you, he hath entered bail for his appearance, and isdischarged of custody."

  "Who is his bondsman, and in what bail is he held?"

  "So please you, in a hundred marks of silver. Sir Foulke d'Oilly ishis bondsman."

  "The bail is well enough; the bondsman is not sufficient. Let theproper officer attach the body of Ralph Brito. Upon my life! he hasthe impudence to brave us here, in court."

  "Who? I not sufficient," cried Sir Foulke d'Oilly, fiercely, rising tohis feet, as if to defy the court. "I not sufficient for a paltry bailof a hundred marks of silver? I would have you to know, Sir Ranulf----"

  "And I would have you to know, sir," thundered the high justiciary,"that this is 'the King's court,' in the precincts of which you havedared to make your voice be heard; and that I, humble as I am, standhere in _loco regis_, and will be treated with the reverence dueto my master. For the rest, I will speak with you anon, when I shallhave dealt with this case now before me, which seems one of shamefulpersecution and oppression."

  Sir Foulke d'Oilly had remained on his feet during the time thejusticiary was speaking; and now, turning his eye to his barons andthe knights of his train, who took the cue, and rose silently, hebegan to move toward the door.

  "Ha! is it so? Close up, halberdiers; guard the doors! Pursuivants, doyour duty. Sheriff of Lancaster, have you a guard at hand to protectthe court?"

  "Surely, my lord," replied Sir Yvo de Taillebois. "Without, there!pass the word to the proper officer, that he turn out the guard."

  In a moment, the call of the bugles of the archery was heard, and wasshortly succeeded by the heavy, ordered march of infantry, closing upto the doors, while the cavalry-trumpets rang through the narrowstreets of the old city, and the clash of mail-coats and the tramp ofchargers told that the men-at-arms were falling in, in great numbers.

  Meanwhile, two of the pursuivants, in waiting on Clarencieux, had madetheir way to Sir Foulke d'Oilly, and whispered something in his ear,which, whatever it was, made him turn as pale as death, and sink downinto his seat, without saying a word, while the pursuivants remainedstanding at his back. The nobles and knights of his train looked athim, and looked at one another, with troubled glances; but, finding nosolution to their doubts or answer to their question, seatedthemselves in sullen discontent.

  The multitude which filled the court-house, meantime, was in thewildest state of confusion and consternation; the call for themilitary force had struck terror into all, especially the feebler partof the crowd, the aged persons and women, many of whom were present;for none knew, in those stormy times, how soon swords might be drawnin the court itself or the hall cleared by a volley of cloth-yardarrows from the sheriff's Kendal archers.

  After a while, however, by the exertions of the proper officers, orderwas restored; and then, as if nothing had occurred to interrupt thethread of his thoughts, de Glanville continued in the matter ofKenric, who still waited in custody of the sheriff's officers.

  "Be there any other charges against this man, Kenric, beside this oneof murder?"

  "One of deer-killing, my lord, against the statute, in the forestcourt, at the same time, and in the same place, as stated yesterday."

  "And on the same evidence, doubtless, on which the jury pronouncedyesterday. In fact, there can be no other. In the last charge, who isthe prosecutor?"

  "Sir Foulke d'Oilly, my lord."

  "Ah! Sir Foulke d'Oilly! Sir Foulke d'Oilly!" cried Sir Ranulf,looking lightnings at him, and then turning to the clerk. "Well, sir.This matter is not as yet in the province of this court. Let it go tothe grand jury now in session, and see that they have copies of thewarrants, and full minutes of all the evidence rendered in the case_de nativo_, and of the jury's finding, that they may have thepower to judge if these charges be not purely malicious."

  A solemn pause followed, full of grave expectation, while the officerswere removing Kenric from the hall, and while the high-justiciary, hisassessors on the bench, the high-constable, the earl mareschal, andthe sheriff of the county were engaged in close consultation.

  At the end of this conference, the high-sheriff formally appointed SirHugo le Norman to be his deputy, with full powers, by the consent ofthe court, invested him with his chain and staff of office, and,shortly afterward, appeared in his private capacity, in the body ofthe hall; and it was now observed, which had not been noticed while hewore his robes of his office, that he carried his right arm in asling, and halted considerably in his gait, as if from a recentinjury.

  "Stand forward, now, Sir Foulke d'Oilly," exclaimed the justiciary."Crier, call Sir Foulke d'Oilly into court."

  Then, as the knight made his appearance at the bar, followed by thetwo pursuivants--

  "Now, Sir Foulke d'Oilly," he proceeded, "what have you to say, whyyou stand not committed to answer for the murder of Sir Philip deMorville, and his esquire, Jehan de Morville, basely and treacherouslyby you and others unknown, on them, done and committed, in the forestof Sherwood, by the river of Idle, in the shire of Nottingham, on thesixth day of August last passed, as charged on good and sufficientevidence against you?"

  "By whom is the charge put in?" inquired the felon knight, who, nowthat he was certain of the worst, had mustered all his ruffian courageto his aid, and was ready to bear down all opposition by sheer bruteforce and determination.

  "By Sir Yvo de Taillebois, Lord of High Yewdale, Hawkshead, Coniston,and Kendal, and High-Sheriff of this shire of Lancaster."

  "The Knight of Taillebois," retorted the other, "can put in no suchcharge, seeing that he is not of the blood of the man alleged to bemurdered."

  "Ha! how say you to that, Sir Yvo de Taillebois?"

  "I say, my lord," replied De Taillebois, "that in this, as in allelse, Sir Foulke d'Oilly lies in his teeth and in his throat; and thatI _am_ of the blood of Sir Philip de Morville, by him most foullyand most treacherously murdered. May it please you, my lord, callClarencieux, king-at-arms."

  "Ho! Clarencieux, what knowest thou of this kindred of these houses?"

  "We find, my lord," replied Clarencieux, "that in the reign of DukeRobert, father of King William the Conqueror, Raoul, Count of Evreux,in the Calvados, gave his daughter Sybilla in wedlock to Amelot, Lordof Taillebois, in the Beauvoisis. The son of this Raoul of Evreux wasStephen, invested with the fief of Morville, in Morbihan, who foughtat Hastings, and for good service rendered there and elsewhere,received the fief of Waltheofstow in Sherwood. The son o
f Amelot ofTaillebois and Sybilla was Yvo de Taillebois, the elder, who foughtlikewise at Hastings, and for good service performed there andelsewhere was enfeoffed of the lordships of Coniston and Yewdale; ashis son became seized, afterward, of those of Hawkshead and Kendal, inright of his mother, sister and sole heiress of the Earls Morear andEdwin, and wife of Yvo de Taillebois, first Norman Lord of Kendal.Therefore, this Stephen de Morville, first Norman lord ofWaltheofstow, was maternal uncle to Yvo de Taillebois, first Normanlord of Coniston and Yewdale. Now, Philip de Morville, deceased, wasfourth in descent, in the direct male line, from Stephen, who foughtat Hastings; and Yvo de Taillebois, here present, is third in descent,in the direct male line, from the elder Yvo, the nephew of Stephen,who also fought at Hastings; as is set down in this parchment roll,which no man can gainsay. Therefore, Sir Yvo de Taillebois _is_ of theblood of Sir Philip de Morville, deceased; and is competent to put ina charge of the murder of his kinsman."

  "On what evidence does he charge me?"

  "On that of an eye-witness," exclaimed Sir Yvo de Taillebois. "Letthem call Eadwulf the Red."

  "A fugitive serf, deer-slayer, and murderer!" cried Sir Foulked'Oilly.

  "But under the king's safe conduct, here in court," said Sir Ranulf,"and under proclamation of liberty and free pardon of all offenses, ifby his evidence conviction be procured of the doers of this most foulmurder."

  Then Eadwulf was produced in court, miserably emaciated andhalf-starved, but resolute of mien and demeanor, and obstinate asever. He had been discovered, by mere chance, in a cavern among thehills, half-frozen, and more than half-starved, by the foresters ofHigh Yewdale, who had been instructed to keep a lookout for him; and,having been with difficulty resuscitated, and made acquainted with thetenor of the king's proclamation, had been forwarded, in a litter, byrelays of horses, in order to give evidence to the murder.

  But, as it proved, his evidence was not needed; for, so soon as he sawhim in court, Sir Foulke d'Oilly pleaded not guilty, flung down hisglove, and declared himself ready to defend his innocence with hisbody.

  "The matter is out of my jurisdiction," said Sir Ranulf de Glanville."My Lord High Constable, and you, Earl Mareschal of England, it isbefore your Court of Chivalry."

  "Sir Yvo de Taillebois is the appellant," said the high-constable. "Doyou take up the glove, and are you ready in like manner to defend yourcharge with your body?"

  "I am ready, with my own body, or with that of my champion; for,unless the wager of battle be deferred these two months, I may notbrook the weight of my armor, or wield a sword, as my leech has hereinon oath testified;" and, with the words, he handed a scroll to thecourt.

  "Thou hast the right to appear by thy champion. To defer the trialwere unseemly," said the constable, after a moment's consultation withthe mareschal. "Take up his glove, Sir Yvo de Taillebois."

  De Taillebois took it up; and both parties being called upon toproduce their pledges, Sir Yvo de Taillebois gave Lord Dacre and SirHugo le Norman, and Sir Foulke d'Oilly, Sir Reginald Maltravers andSir Humphrey Bigod, who became their godfathers, as it is termed, forthe battle. Whereupon, Sir Humphrey de Bohun, the high-constable, thusspoke, and the herald, following his words, made proclamation--

  "Hear ye, Sir Yvo de Taillebois and Sir Foulke d'Oilly, appellant andappellee; ye shall present yourselves, you Sir Yvo de Taillebois,appellant, in your own person, or by your champion, to be by thiscourt approved, and you, Sir Foulke d'Oilly, appellee, in your person,in the tilt-yard of this Castle of Lancaster, at ten o'clock of themorning of the third day hereafter, to do battle to the uttermost onthis quarrel. And the terms of battle shall be these--on foot, shallye fight; on a spot of dry and even ground, sixty paces in length, andforty in breadth, inclosed with barriers seven feet high, with no onewithin them, to aid or abet you, save God and your own prowess. Yourweapons shall be a long sword and a short sword, and a dagger; butyour arms defensive may be at your own will; and ye shall fight untilone of you be slain, or shall have yielded, or until the stars be seenin heaven. And the conditions of the battle are these; if the appelleeslay the appellant, or force him to cry 'craven,' or make good hisdefense until the stars be seen in heaven, then shall he, theappellee, be acquitted of the murder. But if the appellant slay theappellee, or force him to cry 'craven,' or if the appellee refuse tocontinue the fight, then shall he, the appellee, be held convicted ofthe murder. And whosoever of the two shall be slain, or shall cry'craven,' or shall refuse to continue the fight, shall be stripped ofhis armor, where he lies, and shall be dragged by horses out of thelists, by a passage made in one of the angles, and shall be hanged, inthe presence of the mareschal; and his escutcheon shall be reversed,and his name shall be declared infamous forever. This is the sentenceof this court, therefore--that on the third day hence, ye do meet inthe tilt-yard of this Castle of Lancaster, at ten o'clock of themorning, and there do battle, in this quarrel, to the uttermost. Andso may God defend the right!"

  Before the court adjourned, a messenger came into the hall from thegrand jury, and Kenric was re-conducted into the presence, stillironed, and in custody of the officers.

  Sir Ranulf de Glanville opened the parchment scroll, and read aloud,as follows--

  "In the case of Kenric surnamed the Dark, accused of deer-slaying, against the forest statute, and of murder, or homicide, both alleged to have been done and committed in the forest of Sherwood, on the 13th day of September last passed, the grand inquest, now in session, do find that there is no bill, nor any cause of process.

  "Done and delivered in Lancaster Castle, this 6th day of December, in the year of Grace 1184.

  "WALLERAN DE VIPONT, "_Foreman of ye Grand Inquest_."

  "Why, of course not," said Ranulf de Glanville. "Not a shadow of acause. Strike off those irons. He stands discharged, in all innocenceand honor. Go thy ways, sirrah, and keep clear of the law, I counselyou, in future; and, for this time, thank God and the laws of yourcountry, that you are a freeman, in a whole skin, this evening."

  "I do thank God, and _you_, Sir Ranulf, that you have given me afair trial and free justice."

  "God forbid, else, man! God forbid, else!" said the justiciary; "andnow, this court stands adjourned until to-morrow, in the morning, atsix of the clock. Heralds, make proclamation; God save the King!"