Knight Triumphant

by Heather Graham

  AD787: The first Viking raid, according to the Anglo-Saxon chronicle. In 797, Lindisfarne is viciously attacked, and the monastery is destroyed. “From the Fury of the Northmen, deliver us, oh, Lord!” becomes a well-known cry.

  AD843: Kenneth MacAlpian, son of a Scots king, who is also a descendant from Pictish kings through his maternal lineage, claims and wins the Pictish throne as well as his own. It is not an easy task as he sets forth to combine his two peoples into the country of Scotland. Soon after becoming king of the Picts and the Scotia, he moves his capital from Dunadd to Scone, and has the “Stone of Destiny” brought there, now known as the Stone of Scone. (And recently returned to Scotland.)

  The savage Viking raids become one focus that will help to unite the Picts and the Scots. Despite the raids and the battles, by the tenth century, many of the Vikings are settling in Scotland. The Norse kings rule the Orkneys through powerful jarls, and they maintain various other holdings in the country, many in the Hebrides. The Vikings will become a fifth main people to make up the Scottish whole. Kenneth is followed by a number of kings that are his descendants, but not necessarily immediate heirs, nor is the Pictish system of accepting the maternal line utilized. It appears that a powerful member of the family, supported by other powerful members, comes to the throne.

  AD878: Alfred (the Great) of Wessex defeats the Danes. (They will take up residence in East Anglia and at times, rule various parts of England.)

  AD1018: Kenneth’s descendent, Malcolm II, finally wins a victory over the Angles at Carham, bringing Lothian under Scottish rule. In this same year, the king of the Britons of Strathclyde dies without an heir. Duncan, Malcolm’s heir, has a claim to the throne through his maternal ancestry.

  AD1034: Malcolm dies, and Duncan, his grandson, succeeds him as king of a Scotland that now includes the Pictish, Scottish, Anglo, and Briton lands, and pushes into English lands.

  AD1040: Duncan is killed by MacBeth, the Mormaer (or high official) of Moray, who claims the throne through his own ancestry, and that of his wife. Despite Shake-speare’s version, he is suspected of having been a good king, and a good Christian—going on pilgrimage to Rome in AD1050.

  AD1057: MacBeth is killed by Malcolm III, Duncan’s son. (Malcolm had been raised in England.) Malcolm is known as Malcolm Canmore, or Ceann Mor, or Big Head.

  AD1059: Malcolm marries Ingibjorg, a Norse noblewoman, probably the daughter of Thorfinn the Mighty.

  AD1066: Harold, king of England, rushes to the north of his country to battle an invading Norse army. Harold wins the battle, only to rush back south, to Hastings, to meet another invading force.

  AD1066: William the Conqueror invades England and slays Harold, the Saxon King.

  AD1069: Malcolm III marries (as his second wife) Princess Margaret, sister to the deposed Edgar Atheling, the Saxon heir to the English throne. Soon after, he launches a series of raids into England, feeling justified in that his brother-in-law has a very real claim to the English throne. England retaliates.

  1071AD: Malcolm is forced to pay homage to William the Conqueror at Abernathy. Despite the battles between them, Malcolm remains popular among the English.

  AD1093: While attacking Northumberland (some say to circumvent a Norman invasion), Malcolm is killed in ambush. Queen Margaret dies three days later. Scotland falls into turmoil. Malcolm’s brother Donald Ban, raised in the Hebrides under Norse influence, seizes the throne and overthrows Norman policy for Viking.

  AD1094: William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, sends Malcolm’s oldest son, Duncan, who has been a hostage in England, to overthrow his uncle, Donald. Duncan overthrows Donald, but is murdered himself, and Donald returns to the throne.

  AD1097: Edgar, Duncan’s half-brother, is sent to Scotland with an Anglo-Norman army, and Donald is chased out once again. He brings in many Norman knights and families, and makes peace with Magnus Barelegs, the King of Norway, formally ceding to him lands in the Hebrides which has already been a holding for a very long time.

  AD1107: Edgar dies; his brother, Alexander, succeeds him, but rules only the land between Forth and Spey; his younger brother, David, rules south of the Forth. Alexander’s sister, Maud, had become the wife of Henry I of England, and Alexander has married Henry’s daughter by a previous marriage, Sibylla. These matrimonial alliances make a very strong bond between the Scottish and English royal houses.

  AD1124: Alexander dies. David (also raised in England) inherits the throne for all Scotland. He is destined to rule for nearly thirty years, to be a powerful king who will create burghs, a stronger church, a number of towns, and introduce a sound system of justice. He will be a patron of arts and learning. Having married an heiress, he is also an English noble, being Earl of Northampton and Huntington, and Prince of Cumbria. He brings feudalism to Scotland, and many friends, including de Brus, whose descendants will include Robert Bruce, fitzAllen, who will become High Steward—and, of course, a man named Sir William Graham.

  AD1153: Death of David I. Malcolm IV, known as Malcolm the Maiden, becomes king. He is a boy of eleven.

  AD1154: Henry Plantagenet (Henry II) becomes king in England. Forces Malcolm to return Northumbria to England.

  AD1165: Malcolm dies and is succeeded by his brother, William the Lion. William forms what will be known as the Auld Alliance with France.

  AD1174: William invades England. The Scots are heavily defeated; William is taken prisoner and must sign the Treaty of Falaise. Scotland falls under feudal subjugation to England.

  AD1189: Richard Coeur de Lion (Plantagenet, Henry’s son) now king of England, renounces his feudal superiority over Scotland for 10,000 marks.

  AD1192: The Scottish Church is released from English supremacy by Pope Celestine III. More than a hundred years peace between England and Scotland begins.

  AD1214: William the Lion dies. Succeeded by Alexander II, his son.

  AD1238: As Alexander is currently without a son, a parliament allegedly declares Robert Bruce (grandfather of the future king) nearest male relative and heir to the throne. The king, however, fathers a son. (Sets a legal precedent for the Bruces to claim the throne at the death of the Maid of Norway.)

  AD1249: Death of Alexander II. Ascension of Alexander III, age seven, to the throne. (He will eventually marry Margaret, sister of the king of England, and during his lifetime, there will be peaceful relations with England.)

  AD1263: Alexander III continues his father’s pursuit of the Northern Isles, whose leaders give their loyalty to Norway. King Haakon raises a fleet against him. Alexander buys him off until October, when the fierce weather causes their fleet to fall apart at the Battle of Largs. Haakon’s successor, Magnus, signs a treaty wherein the isles fall under the dominion of the Scottish king. The Orkneys and Shetlands remain under Norse rule for the time being.

  ADc1270: William Wallace born.

  AD1272: Edward I (Plantagenet) becomes king of England.

  AD1277–1284: Edward pummels Wales. Prince Llywelyn is killed; his brother Dafyd is taken prisoner and suffers the fate of traitors. In 1284, the Statute of Wales is issued, transferring the principality to “our proper dominion,” united and annexed to England.

  AD1283: Alexander’s daughter, Margaret, marries the King of Norway.

  AD1284: Alexander obtains from his magnates an agreement to accept his granddaughter, Margaret the Maid of Norway as his heiress.

  AD1286: Death of Alexander III. The Maid of Norway, a small child, is accepted as his heiress. Soon after the king’s death, Edward of England suggests a marriage treaty between the Maid and his son, Edward.

  AD1290: The Maid of Norway dies. With the number of Scottish claimants to the thorne, the Bishop of St. Andrews writes to Edward, suggesting he help arbitrate among the contenders.

  AD1291: Edward tells his council he has it in his mind to “bring under his dominion the king and the realm of Scotland.”

  AD1292: November. Edward chooses John Balliol as king of Scotland in the great hall at Berwick.
Edward loses no time in making Scotland a vassal of England; King John, he claims, owes fealty to him.

  AD1294: The Welsh, led by Madog ap Llywelyn, rise for a final time against Edward.

  AD1295: Edward has put down the Welsh, and the principality is his.

  AD1296: Not even King John can tolerate the English king’s demands that Scotland help him finance his war against France (ancient ally of the Scots). John rises against Northern England; Edward retaliates with brutal savagery at Berwick. King John is forced to abdicate and is taken prisoner. The king of England demands that the barons and landowners of Scotland sign an oath of fealty to him; this becomes known as the Ragman Roll. Among those who sign are the Bruces, who, at this time, give their loyalty to the king of England.

  AD1297: September 11. Wallace and de Moray command the Battle of Stirling Bridge, a spectacular victory against far more powerful forces. De Moray will soon die from the mortal wounds he receives during the battle. But for the moment, freedom is won. Wallace is guardian of Scotland.

  AD1297–1298: Wallace is knighted. England is invaded, the country of Northumberland is raided of food and supplies for Scotland’s population. For ten months Wallace governs his country, his spies informing him of the massive English army being formed by King Edward.

  AD1298: July 22. The Battle of Falkirk. It is later argued that the battle might have been won if Comyn hadn’t taken his troops from the field. The Scots suffer a brutal loss: Sir John Graham, longtime close friend and supporter of Wallace, is slain. The eight remaining years of Wallace’s life, as later recorded by the historian Blind Harry, are full of both legend and myth. Knowing that he hasn’t the army he needs to defeat the English, Wallace turns his talent in other directions, seeking foreign recognition and aid. In this time period, he definitely travels to France (probably twice), receives the king’s friendship. The French king’s favor of Wallace is documented when later, before he is executed, letters from the French king commanding that Wallace be given safe passage to Italy to put his case before the Pope are found on him. More than one historian relates the tale that he did indeed come upon the pirate Thomas de Longueville and find pardon for him. During this period, the vacillation in Scotland continues, with certain barons bowing to Edward, while others desperately cling to their dream of freedom. Violence continues during Wallace’s lifetime and though he has no army, he is believed to have participated in skirmishes after his return. During the winter of 1303–1304, Edward again invades Scotland, receiving little opposition. At that time, Wallace is in the area; and many men are charged with the job of apprehending him. Relatives urge he submit, but he refuses. King Edward, however, means to give no quarter. Robert Bruce, for one, was ordered to capture Wallace, yet there is speculation that later, when the king’s men were close on Wallace, it was Robert Bruce who sent him a warning to flee. Robert Bruce has learned something important from Wallace: the loyalty of the common man is one of the greatest powers in the country.

  AD1304: Many men, including Comyn and Lamberton, come to the king’s peace at Strathord. The king’s terms are easy, probably because he intends to besiege Stirling Castle. The king offers terms to many men as a bribe to demand the capitulation of Wallace; to his credit, Comyn, sometimes accused of being a traitor at Falkirk, scorns such a demand.

  AD1305: March. King Edward suffers a seizure. More men rally around Wallace, but, according to Harry, Robert Bruce, in England at the time, arranges to leave London and meet with Wallace on Glasgow Moor on the first night of July. Bruce does not appear. On the eighth night, Wallace is betrayed by Sir John de Menteith and his nephew, Jack Short. His faithful friend, Kerby, is killed immediately. Wallace fights with his bare hands until he is told they are completely surrounded by English troops. He is taken, and only when his hands are tied does he find out that they are not English troops, and he has been betrayed by Menteith. He is turned over to King Edward’s men. He is bound on his horse for the long trip to London, surely knowing he is doomed.

  AD1305: August 22. Wallace arrives in London.

  August 23. Wallace is tried at Westminster. He denies to the end that he is a traitor, for he has never sworn an oath to the king of England. He is brutally executed at Smithfield, being hanged, cut down, disemboweled, castrated, and finally, beheaded and quartered. His head was placed on a spike and carried to London Bridge. The death of this great patriot creates a legend of mammoth proportions, and in the years to come, many brave men will rally to battle, shouting his name.

  AD1306: February 10. Robert Bruce and John Comyn meet at Greyfriars Church. Comyn is murdered. Controversy remains as to whether Bruce did the deed, or if he wounded Comyn and his men completed the task of killing him. As well as fighting the English, Bruce will now have the relatives of Comyn as his enemies.

  March 25. Bruce is crowned King of Scots at the Abbey of Scone. Palm Sunday, forty-eight hours after his first coronation, he is crowned again so that the ancient rites of tradition may be carried out—Isabella, sister of the Earl of Fife, married to the Earl of Buchan, Edward’s ally, has arrived. To assure his succession, Bruce goes through the ceremony again, in which the golden circlet was placed upon him by Isabella, representative of the family.

  May 22. King Edward knights his son, and in turn, three hundred young men eligible for the honor are knighted by their future king.

  June 18. Bruce, with the men he can muster, draws up before Perth, where the Earl of Pembroke has brought his forces. Unable to take the castle by traditional means, Bruce challenges Pembroke to an old form of chivalric battle, and the earl promised to meet him the following day. But that night the English attack the camping Scottish forces. Bruce’s troops are taken unaware, shattered, and Bruce is nearly captured himself. The battle of Methven is a tragic defeat. Bruce loses many loyal men to the English king’s rage and revenge.

  August. Legend has it that Bruce went to the shrine of St. Fillan of Glenlochart, and there, did penance and sought absolution for his part in the death of John Comyn. August through September. For the safety of his wife and sisters, Bruce sends them away from him with his brother Nigel. At Kildrummy Castle, they discover that the Earl of Pembroke is at Aberdeen, waiting for the Prince of Wales to attack. The ladies push northward, but are seized by allies of John Comyn. Nigel valiantly defends Kildrummy, and is only bested from treachery within when a bribed blacksmith sets fire to supplies. Nigel is executed; the blacksmith had molten English gold poured down his throat for his reward. The Bruce women will suffer years of incarceration and humiliation at the hands of their captors.

  Autumn. Bruce travels north and is given aid by Christiana, widow of Duncan of Mar, mistress of the lands of Arisaig, Moidart, and Knoydart, and many of the islands. In the highlands of western Scotland, he gathers support.

  AD1307: January. Bruce has gathered enough men and supplies to return to Rathlin.

  January 29. Edward sends out orders for a fleet to find Bruce in the islands.

  January–February. Douglas, sent ahead, ambushes English soldiers and supplies at the Castle of Arran. His attack is fierce and victory is his. But on February 7, Bruce’s brothers, Thomas and Alexander, who had been mustering forces in Ireland, are ambushed by the MacDowalls of Galloway, allies of King Edward, as they entered Loch Ryan. They are subsequently hanged, drawn, and quartered. Bruce himself, however, has been awaiting word at Arran, and as his ships arrive at the mainland, he is warned that fires lit at Turnberry Castle were those of Henry Percy, holding the castle. Bruce, trained to chivalric combat, knows that he hasn’t the real strength to take the castle. He and his men set silently upon the troops camped before the castle. Henry Percy, behind the walls, certain he is being overrun, gives his men no aid. Almost all are killed, and the Scots go to the mountains of Carrick with a tremendous booty in arms and supplies. Soon after, Douglas lays waste to his hereditary castle where the English have been in residence and Bruce is victorious, with his small party of men, at the battle of Glen Trool and Loudoun Hill.r />
  AD1307: July 11. King Edward, who had grown so furious with his failing commanders that he had mounted a horse to lead his armies himself, dies at the little village of Burghon-Sands, just north of Carlisle. He orders his son to separate his bones from his flesh, and carry the bones with him at the head of the troops, and let them remain with him until Scotland is beaten.

  Edward II did not comply. Edward I’s body is left at Waltham Abbey, while Edward II marches on to Cumnock, after awaiting the arrival of his banished favorite, Piers Gaveston.

  Read on for an excerpt from the next exciting novel in the Graham series,

  The Lion in Glory,

  coming from Zebra Books in July 2016!

  “They’re coming, my lady!”

  Despite the many preparations they had made, Christina felt a chill sweep through her, as if she had been frozen by a sheet of winter ice.

  But she couldn’t freeze, and she couldn’t fail. Their course of action had been discussed at length, debated and argued. She and the men of Hamstead Heath had agreed on what they must do.

  And so she replied with a cool and calm control. “Ralph has seen them?” she asked Sir Alfred Cheney, the white-bearded bearer of the news.

  “Aye, down at the stream in the forest.”

  “How many?”

  “Forty . . . fifty, perhaps.”

  “Well armed and armored?”

  “Glittering in the sun.”

  She nodded. “Still, with so small a party, they expect compliance. And, of course, it will appear that we will give it. See that everyone is warned.”

  Sir Alfred nodded gravely, but then paused. “Perhaps we should just pay the tribute.”