Earl Marshal

by Griff Hosker

  “And now, Sire?”

  “Now we can begin the siege. They are trapped inside their castle. The Count of Caen will send men to seal the other side of the castle and then we will construct war machines.”

  My heart sank. Who knew how long this would take. I was not going home in a hurry.

  Most of the knights we had captured were local lords of the manor or were the household knights of the Count of Bourges. We sent a wounded French squire with our demands. Padraig was in no condition to continue and so I wrote a letter for him to take to Sir Leofric. Padraig and his squire could return home and give my wife the letter. It would explain the delay. I had just finished when Masood rode in.

  “Well?”

  He smiled, “I had a long ride but I found a messenger heading north and east. I followed him. He stopped at a castle on the Loire and I saw two riders sent out. One went north and one went north east. There was a wood nearby and I camped there. It seemed to me that as the messenger had not returned to Bourges I could wait until he did. If he left alone then I would capture him and persuade him to talk. I had no need to for the next morning knights and their retinue began to arrive. I spied the Count of Orleans and his household knights. He has a royal banner and so I left. I had learned all that I needed to. The King should know that there is a large army heading this way. He will be outnumbered.”

  Not only would I not get home soon it looked increasingly likely I would not get home at all! The King brooded after I had given him the news. “This is where I need my sons! They have armies! Will they not fight for their inheritance?” It was on the tip of my tongue to say that he had already made it clear that they had all been given all that they would be given. He turned to me. “Go and fetch Richard. He will listen to you. Tell him that Berry will be his. All I want is the army of Aquitaine!”

  “He still may not come, sire.”

  “Make him!”

  I shook my head, “Sire he is master of Aquitaine, I am Earl of Cleveland. I cannot force him to do anything.”

  I could see that the King was becoming desperate. “Henry is of little use and there is nothing left for me to offer him save Normandy and I will be damned if I will give him that. What would the next request be? Would Geoffrey want Anjou? Richard is my only hope. If you cannot persuade him and persuade him quickly then I will have to slink back to Maine with my tail between my legs. If that happens then men will suffer!” He put his arm around me and led me to one side, “William you and your father are the two men on whom I place my complete trust. I have given you Cleveland. If you do this then you can have Yorkshire too.”

  I shook my head, “I will do it, sire, or try to at least. I do not need Yorkshire. I have no desire for more land. Stockton and the valley of the Tees suits me. If I take my men I will leave you perilously short of men.”

  He nodded, “Take your knights and an escort of men at arms and archers. You are correct. I will need the others.” He put his hand on my arm, “If all else fails tell him that he may have the whole income from Aquitaine and I will allow him to punish the rebel barons.”

  “Yes, King Henry. I will do my best.”

  I sought out Padraig, “Yes, lord?”

  “Give me the letter. I had a post script to add. I take the other knights to Poitiers!” I scribbled a note on the bottom and resealed it. “If I can persuade Richard to come then we may come back through La Flèche. Warn Leofric for his wife will wish to prepare the accommodation.”

  We left the next morning. I took just ten archers and ten men at arms. I left the rest with their captains. The civil war had meant that the roads and forests teemed with bandits and men at arms whose masters had died. My conroi was large enough to deter all but the most determined of war bands.

  As we headed west Sir Morgan asked, “Do you think you can persuade the Prince?”

  “The three brothers lost the war, Alf, this could go two ways. He may resent his father so much that he throws me out of his castle as soon as I make the request or he may want to gain favour at the expense of Henry, his older brother. I do not think there will be a middle way. What I do know is that we will be lucky to be home for Christmas this year!”

  He nodded, “By then my child will be born. It grieves me that others at my hall at Seamer will see my child before I do!”

  “That is the lot of a knight. I fear it will happen again. We bear the cross that is success. We do not lose and so the King will use us before any other. My father has seen more than seventy summers and yet the King still puts him in harm’s way.”

  He nodded and smiled, “Yet despite all of that my life is immeasurably better than it would have been in Miklagård.”

  I smiled at his use of the archaic name for Constantinopolis. My father told me that my grandfather had done the same. “Then I am pleased that we were able to save you.”

  Poitiers was a true stronghold. The Dukes of Aquitaine still remembered when the Moors had raided from Spain. It might have been hundreds of years ago but Islam was still a threat. I did not wonder that Richard made it his home. It had a fine aspect and was strong. He was not in residence when I arrived. He was out hunting but such was my reputation and standing that we were admitted and housed. I was even able to bathe!

  By the time the Duke returned I felt cleaner and I had prepared my arguments. Richard always surrounded himself with handsome, brave and witty knights. They were all skilled warriors too. He had taken a leaf out of my father’s book and made certain that the men he led into battle were his equal. I wondered how he would react to me. I had not seen him since before the rebellion by him and his brothers. While his father had fought him in France I had been helping to defeat William of Scotland.

  He beamed when he spied me, “Earl! It is a pity you did not come earlier. We had a fine hunt! A boar and a sow! We eat well tonight!” I know that Richard had his faults but he was also good company. Out of the four brothers he was the one whose company I enjoyed the most. “And how is your father?” He turned to the knights, “The earl’s father is the Earl Marshal of England! My father may be a tight fisted ungrateful bastard but he knows how to pick a good leader. The hero of Northallerton, Lincoln and now Alnwick!”

  “He still does your father’s bidding, lord. The last I heard he was helping Prince Dafydd to subdue his brothers!”

  “And if he were over here then my father would now be King of France.”

  “That touches upon my business, lord, and the purpose of my visit.”

  His face became serious, “Let me wash and change. We will speak after the feast. I am always more agreeable after food and if my father has sent you then I do not doubt I will not enjoy what you have to say!”

  I gave a weak smile, “I am just a messenger, lord.”

  He nodded, “It is a pity that my devious father uses brave warriors in such an underhand way. He knows if he sent any other then I would have them thrown out but the family of the Warlord is ever welcome. I fear you may return to him disappointed.”

  “Then so be it. I am a man of war and not a politician!”

  “Enjoy my castle. We have good wine in Poitou.”

  I walked with my knights and squires. We visited the town and explored the castle. We each had our own manor and were always seeking to improve them. We saw much that we admired. As we returned to the castle Sir Richard said, “Fine as this town and castle are I would not swop Stockton.”

  Sir Gilles said, “Nor I Norton. I know not why men leave their own lands to seek their fortune elsewhere.”

  I smiled as Sir Gilles realised that he had come close to insulting me for I had left Stockton for Normandy when I was his age, “Men leave home for many reasons, Gilles. In my case it was because I did not want to live in the shadow of my father. How foolish was I? The man casts a shadow which reaches across the western world. You cannot escape his shadow in this world. I still regret those years I spent apart.”

  Thomas said, quietly, “And yet you are apart again now, lord.”

/>   “Would that it was not so. I do the King’s bidding. He is not a man to cross.” Even as I said it I wondered. My father had treated us both as though we were brothers. If I had refused to come then the King would have been angry but I now realised he would not have harmed me or the valley. My father guaranteed that. It had been a mistake to come to France.

  The feast was, as I had expected, of the highest quality. The wine was superb and the entertainment exquisite. Richard had a beautiful voice and he knew how to deliver a song. I might have enjoyed it but I knew that I would have to broach a difficult subject. I did not drink too much. I would not have enjoyed it.

  Richard picked up his goblet and said, “Come Earl. I can see that you have had too much on your mind to enjoy the wine and the food. My father has much to answer for. Would that we could exchange parents.”

  He led me to a balcony which overlooked the inner bailey. There were two seats already there. He had prepared for this meeting.

  “I am sorry, lord, but this is not my strength. I am not a man of words. I am a man of action.”

  “Aye I know and I envy you the time you spent on crusade. That is what I would like to do. I would be a crusader who was not a prince. My great grandfather went as a lord. I would go as a warrior.”

  “It was an experience. I met my wife there.”

  “And gained great honour. Men who have returned have told me of your actions. What you did was chivalrous and noble.”

  “Perhaps.”

  He sighed and drank deeply, “On then, Earl. Let me hear what my father asks of me.” He smiled.

  “Prince Richard…”

  “That is not my title, Earl. I am Duke of Aquitaine. A prince implies I might be King and my brother already has that title. This will be all that I rule.”

  This was not going to be easy. “Your father needs your army. He is at Bourges and the French have sent two armies to fight him. He cannot win without help.” He said nothing. “He fights for Berry which is the wedding present for you and Alys.”

  “Alys? The daughter of the King of France whom my father has used as a concubine these last years? We will never be wed. He can say that Berry is for us but like most things my father says, it is a lie.”

  There was no anger in his voice, merely sadness. I could understand it.

  “He offers you all of the coin from Aquitaine instead of just half.”

  He laughed, “That is rich. I am Duke of Aquitaine and my father offers me half of the money I am legally entitled to. This gets better and better. What else?”

  I spoke quietly, “There is nothing.” I took a deep breath, “Lord, if you do not help your father and he loses this battle think of the wedge which will be driven between you and your father.”

  He emptied his goblet. “And if I help him what will it get me? England is Henry’s. I have Aquitaine and Geoffrey has Brittany! The best that I can hope is Anjou and Normandy!”

  I liked Richard. Perhaps I should have voiced that which I felt but I was the Warlord’s son. “Lord, he favours John. Would you have John be given Normandy and Anjou?”

  I watched his face as his demons wrestled inside him. He was a clever man and he could see the endgame. If he did not support his father he would just be left with Aquitaine. He wanted more. He needed the entire treasury of Aquitaine if he was to have a chance to build an army.

  “You will be there?” I nodded. “I do not trust my father but the Warlord and his son are never foresworn.”

  “I will not help you to fight your father.”

  He smiled, “Nor would I expect you to. If your veins were slashed then you would bleed honour. You cannot do other. I will bring my men and we will come to my father’s aid.”

  I was relieved. I had done my duty. I dared not ask him to go to La Flèche first. I could not risk him changing his mind. I would forego the visit with Leofric. Looking back now I can see that was a mistake but that is with the luxury of hindsight. At the time it seemed the right thing to do. My decision haunted me for years and yet I could not see how I could have changed it.

  Richard had a thousand men. His knights numbered less than two hundred but he had well-armed and enthusiastic men at arms. He even had a hundred archers. He confided in me that they were a pale shadow of my own but he was trying to build an army based on my father’s. We rode quickly and in the two days I was with him I learned much about Richard the warrior. He was more like his father than his brother Henry. I thought that it was a shame that he was the second son. I hoped, as we headed east, that we would be in time. I had brought Masood with me and as we spent the night at the castle of Châteauroux I sent my scout to Bourges to give me an accurate report of the situation. He returned at noon.

  “Lord, the two armies face each other but King Henry no longer surrounds Bourges. He has prepared defensive lines where we fought the battle.”

  “Good, then we are in time.”

  We heard our arrival being heralded when the cheers rang out from the east. By the time we arrived it was like a conquering Roman general entering Rome. I knew that Henry would have mixed feelings. There would be relief that his son had come but jealousy and envy that such acclaim was for a potential rival. King Henry knew how to play the part and he greeted Richard like the prodigal son from the Bible. It evoked a monumental cheer from the army. They embraced but I saw no affection in either man’s eyes. Then the King turned to me, “Once more I am indebted to your family. Whatever you ask, it is yours!”

  I knew the words to say, “Sire, I serve you and I serve England!”

  He rubbed his hands together, “Now we have set the French a problem! When it was just me they faced then they thought that they might win quickly. Now that my son has arrived they will be more likely to talk.”

  Richard shook his head, “I have never heard of a city’s walls falling to words. How does this get me Berry as a wedding dowry?”

  I knew, from my conversation with Richard that he had no intention of marrying Alys. He was playing a game with his father. This was a world I did not like.

  “We have the land between here and Touraine. It is a sizeable piece of land. It is one third of Berry. We negotiate a little more of the land.”

  “But you will not get Bourges.”

  “Not yet, perhaps but if we have Vierzon we can make it a stone castle and that will allow us to build an army large enough to take Bourges.” He waved a hand, “Come let us go to my tent. We have much to discuss, my son.”

  I was dismissed or maybe they just forgot me. Either way I did not mind. Father and son sought power and land. My father and I just wanted the peace of our home. If there was to be negotiation then that might mean we could get home. I returned to my camp and my knights.

  I was needed again the next day when the King and his son went to negotiate with the French. The French delegation was led by the Duc du Berry. Chairs were brought and I saw that there was not only a priest present but a cardinal. He was the Pope’s man. I wondered if that was an omen.

  Henry took charge of the negotiations immediately, “Berry belongs to me! It is part of the land which my grandfather conquered.”

  “It is part of France. My lord the lands you rule, Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, all are part of the land which is France. Your liege lord is Louis.” The Duc du Berry spoke with respect in his voice but the force of right behind it.

  Henry did not like that. When Duke William had invaded and conquered England it made the family believe that they no longer had any feudal obligations to the King of France. As my father had often told me it was a debatable and contentious point.

  Henry spread his hands and smiled, “Then as lord of Berry I will acknowledge King Louis as liege lord of Berry. We need not fight.”

  It was the Duc du Berry’s turn to have a superior look upon his face, “There is, indeed, no need for us fight, my lord for this is Cardinal Boniface. He is the Pope’s representative.”

  The papal delegate stepped forward, “King Henry, the Holy
Father is most distressed that two such senior kings should go to war over this matter. He orders both kings to cease hostilities until such time as he can make a judgment on the matter.”

  I saw the King become red in the face. This was an outcome he had not expected. When Pope Adrian had ruled Rome King Henry had had much support for Nicholas Breakspear had been English. Pope Alexander was Italian and he had a rival pope, Callixtus. Both Popes sought favour and the King of France had taken advantage of the situation.

  “And when can we expect a decision?”

  “The Holy Father has much on his mind. In the fullness of time.”

  “Then until he decides we hold that which we have taken!” He stood, “Duc du Berry, I will be easy to find for I will be at Vierzon when you wish to speak with me.” He mounted his horse and galloped back to our lines.

  Richard said, “We have been used, William. My father has what he wants and he has dragged me from my home to do so! I will leave on the morrow.”

  I realised then that I could leave too. Surely the King would not require me.

  The King had wasted no time and even as we rode into camp I saw it being dismantled. He waved us over. Richard did not like the gesture, “We will break camp and invest Verizon. We will sleep in a real bed this night.”

  “Father I will return to Poitiers in the morning.”

  “Stay a little longer. We have much to discuss. We have plans to make for your future.”

  “What future, you have given away the throne of England to my brother.” He shook his head. “What remains for me?”

  “The Duchy of Normandy!”

  It was the one thing which the King could have said which would make Richard reconsider. I did not mind travelling to Vierzon. It was on the road home. In two days of hard riding we could be in La Flèche! Another ten or twenty days and we could be home in England!

  I rode with Richard to Vierzon. Our knights saw to the dismantling of our camp. Duke Richard knew his father well. “It is a lure to make me stay you know. He has no intentions of giving me the Duchy.” I could not say anything for I suspected he was right but it was none of my concern. “I will see what delicacy he throws my way. Before I leave I will have it put in writing that I have the revenue from the whole of Aquitaine. Anything else will be more than I had before you came.”