Wolves in Armour
( Norman Conquest - 1 )
Iain Campbell
Iain Campbell
Wolves in Armour
NORMAN AND ANGLO-SAXON GLOSSARY
Ballista- a siege or field weapon of Roman design, shooting a bolt similar to a small spear.
Barrels- Firkin (ale), 9 gallons. Kilderkin, 18 gallons. Barrel, 36 gallons. Hogshead, 52 gallons. Tun, 256 gallons.
Bot- compensation payable under the West Saxon legal system.
Byrnie- a sleeveless waist-length vest of armour, usually chain mail.
Chain-mail- a series of round links joined together, each riveted to four others, which when made into sections were sewn onto a leather undergarment. This provided good protection against cuts and reasonable protection against thrusts or arrows. Hauberk and coif weighed about 40 pounds.
Charger- a large and strong horse used in battle.
Church Services- Matins midnight; Lauds dawn; Prime 6.00am; Terce 9.00am; Sext 12.00noon; Nones 3.00pm; Vespers 6.00pm; Compline Sunset. Hours varied depending on season (ie the length of the day). Used as a standard statement of a specific time (eg ‘an hour before Vespers’).
Coif- a piece of chain mail that covered the neck and head, leaving the face clear.
Cog- a smallish single-masted merchant vessel- the standard marine transport of the Middle Ages.
Curia Regis- the Council advising the Norman kings, successor to the Witenagemot.
Destrier- large French-bred trained warhorse.
Ealdor- English word for chief.
Fyrd- English militia comprised of freemen who were not professional fighters.
Gambeson- quilted padded jacket worn under armour, to absorb the force of a blow. Frequently used without over-armour by archers.
Gebur- Generic term for English freeman/freewoman.
Hackney- a medium sized multi-purpose horse, usually a cheaper horse of lesser quality.
Hauberk- a sleeved or partially-sleeved chain mail garment of mid-thigh to knee length.
Heriot- a fee payable to secure the right of succession to land under English law. Similar charge under Norman law was a Relief.
Hide- an area of measurement of land (similar sized parcels were called carucates in some shires) comprised of 4 virgates. A hide theoretically comprised 120 acres although this was somewhat variable. 100 hides made up the shire division of 100, although again this was not immutable.
Huscarle- professional English warrior.
Landboc- the book of ownership that proved ownership of the land.
Laen- a form of land ownership by long-term lease on varying conditions. Usually for life, or ‘for three lives’ (that of the recipient, his widow and heir).
Longbow- a bow of Welsh derivation made of yew wood in a way that made it a naturally composite bow, providing greater power. Depending on the size of the archer, the longbow was usually 5–6 feet long and fired an arrow 39 inches long- a ‘cloth yard’.
Money. English. Pounds, shillings and pence. A gold Mark (not English currency) equaled ?12, or 240 shillings. French. The same system. The denier equaled a penny, 12 deniers to the sou, 20 sous to the livre.
Onager- a simple catapult of Roman design throwing rocks around the size of a man’s head. Used as a siege weapon.
Palfrey- a smallish horse suitable for riding by women.
Pontage- toll fee payable to use a bridge.
Rouncey- an all-round horse, suitable for many uses including general riding and also as light cavalry.
Scale-armour- small plates, usually metal, sewn in an overlapping fashion onto a leather jacket. Provided reasonable protection at lower cost than chain mail, due to the lower labour content.
Seax- English fighting knife, usually large, worn by freemen and freewomen as a sign of their status.
Snekke- Norse word for the normal-sized longship. A fast and maneuverable warship 60 feet long by 9 feet wide with a crew of about fifty, usually with 10 oars a side. Powered by a large square sail or oars.
Tabula- Roman board game similar to Backgammon.
Taxes amp; Charges. Danegeld, English tax levied to bribe the Danes and Norwegians not to attack- levied at two shillings per hide of land prior to 1051. Corvee- unpaid labour provided in lieu of payment. Banalities, fees charged by a lord for use facilities such as a mill. Estovers (the fee for the right to gather wood). Pannage (fee for the right to have pigs eat the acorns in the local forest).
Wergild- The value placed on a life for compensation purposes in England. 200 shillings for a freeman or freewoman, 1,200 shillings for a thegn. No wergild was paid for death of a slave, but compensation of value of the slave was paid.
Witenagemot- Council advising the English king.
Other English words used in this book.
cifes — whore
cifesboren — bastard/ whoreson
galdricge — immodest
grim — fierce
herer?swa — commander
Hlaford — gentlemen
Horsbealdor — Horse-master
nydh?mestre — mistress
scamleast — enchantress
unfrod — inexperienced
unges?lig — accursed
ungleaw — stupid
wealh — foreigner
English social classes. Slaves (theows) at the bottom of the ladder, somewhat less than ten percent of the rural population. Freemen, known collectively as geburs, comprised, in ascending order cottars (who held a cottage from the laenholder or bokholder, in return for 1–2 days a week of labour, and usually worked for pay for the rest of the week). No right of occupation passed on the death of the cottar. Sokemen, held the right to farm collectively-owned village land, and usually also land in his own right, and able to sell or pass this to his family. Cheorls were usually moderately wealthy men with the right to farm a substantial amount of communal land and privately owned land. Owed the lord work-rent or paid cash for the ongoing right to use the privately owned land. Thegn- a man who usually owned his land owed military service for the land he held. Uniquely, a merchant who engaged in foreign trade could be deemed thegn-worthy (ie of equal social status as a thegn). Earl- holder of large parcels of land, usually geographically based, and who administered a geographical area. Equivalent to a French duke.
French Social Classes. The Norman system was based on a hierarchical system with lower members holding (but not owning) land in return for either military or financial obligations to their superiors, as vassals. The lowest level were the villeins, who held no hereditary rights to the land they laboured to farm. A villein was free in that he could abandon his land, but could not sell, gift or will it. Freemen were essentially rent-paying tenant farmer who owed little or no service to the lord, but formed only a small portion of the rural population, usually specialists such as blacksmiths etc. Knight — a man who owed military service for the land he held but usually did not own it. Baron- held land from the king or duke in return for substantial military obligations. Some of his land may be owned by him as a hereditary entitlement, or alod. Townsfolk were generally deemed to be freemen.
CHAPTER ONE
ST. VALERY SUR SOMME SEPTEMBER 1066
Alan de Gauville looked down from the crest of the hill overlooking the township of St Valery-sur-Somme one mile to the northwest. The town had been invaded, but by a friendly army- insofar as any army could be called friendly. The small town was comprised of perhaps eighty houses along three dirt streets, which were crowded with men wearing weapons. The abbey, built of weathered grey stone, stood outside the activity like an island of tranquillity, with scarcely a figure to be seen moving on its grounds.
To the west and south of the town a huge tent city was spread haphaz
ardly across many fields, seething with activity. A thousand tents appeared to be randomly clustered around the colourful banners outside the larger pavilions of the nobles. Archers were practicing at the butts to the west of the camp. The horse-lines to the north of the town contained at least 2,000 horses with hundreds of men moving amongst them. Other men moved like a stream of ants into the woods just to the west of the town, whence the sound of axes could be heard, returning carrying armloads of wood for the hundreds of cooking-fires scattered amongst the tent city.
In one section of the encampment were tents with outdoor forges where smiths were fashioning horse-shoes and nails, and increasing the reserve supplies of arrowheads and crossbow bolts. The smoke from the various fires combined to make a pall like a cloud that drifted to the south on the breeze, making Alan’s eyes sting. Farriers were at work amongst the horse-lines. Fletchers sat in open-sided tents making arrows the length of a man’s forearm from the supply of wooden shafts provided by the duke, carefully checking that each was straight before attaching goose feathers and arrowhead and then placing each head-down in small barrels. The weather was cold and windy, with the wind from the north. Occasional showers of autumn rain swept in.
Out in the river, and in the shelter of the bay beyond, stood so many ships that Alan couldn’t count them. Hundreds were crammed together with scarcely a gap between them.
He straightened his back, shifted his sore buttocks on the saddle and ran a gloved hand through his short-cropped red hair. Alan de Gauville was a tall, thin but physically powerful young man of eighteen years with grey eyes. A smile twitched on his pale freckled face. “Looks like we’re in the right place,” he commented to the shorter and slightly older dark-haired man riding next to him.
Robert de Aumale laughed in response, reached across and struck Alan a friendly blow on the shoulder. “At least they haven't left without us!” he exclaimed. “Now all we need to do is find Hugh de Berniers and give him the letter that my father’s clerk wrote introducing us… well, introducing me.” Robert glanced back at the five men-at-arms trudging along on foot behind them leading three sumpter horses and a mule, and at his servant Gillard.
The men on foot were tired from their journey but at least they were carrying nothing more than a sword and spear. Their mail shirts, steel helmets and equipment were on the pack-horses, along with the equipment of the two knights. Robert’s father, with his large and wealthy manor at Aumale, had outfitted his son handsomely, particularly considering he was the fourth son. Alan was less well equipped, but with a full mail harness in a pannier of the pack-mule that belonged to him. It was an old hauberk, patched and repaired- but the best that his family could afford to provide him.
A groom from Aumale accompanied them to take back the spare pack-horses after they arrived at their destination. Man and beast, they were all sweaty and covered in the dust of two days on the road.
“It’s a pity that Count Hugh isn’t participating in the expedition,” commented Alan.
Robert pulled a wry face. “He’s old, at least fifty, and well past campaigning. Father tells tales of Hugh in his youth when he’d have been at the forefront of the charge. He has one son. I’ve heard that Bertrand wanted to join Duke William, but Hugh wouldn’t allow it; he wants to keep him alive to become Count after him. Invasions have a high mortality rate. Why take the risk when you’re already going to be a Count? What more would he get out of joining the invasion?”
“Still, at least he could have made arrangements for his people to participate, joining all of us together into a respectable force with another Count’s men, so we don’t have to each negotiate our own inclusion,” complained Alan. “Who is this Hugh de Berniers anyway?”
“He’s a vassal of Geoffrey de Mandeville. I assume you have heard of him? He’s pledged eighty ships to the expedition,” replied Robert sarcastically.
“Where the devil did they get all the ships?” asked Alan, pointing at the bay.
“I understand there isn’t a ship between Stockholm and the Iberian border that hasn’t been spoken for,” replied Robert. “Many hundreds of others were built over the last few months, or at least thrown together since we have few shipwrights in Normandy. There are 500 or 600 ships at least. Robert of Mortain pledged 120 ships. Bishop Odo pledged 100,” replied Robert.
They continued with the stream of men, horses and wagons down the dusty winding road towards the town, past fields where the villeins and freemen of the town were at work with sickle, scythe and pitch-fork. With the harvest already gathered they were cutting and stooking the stubble and making haystacks.
It was the 20th September in the Year of Our Lord 1066.
Following the beaten track into the tent city Robert took charge of the group and sought ever more specific directions. Firstly to the Norman camp, set amongst those of Duke William’s Breton and Flemish allies and French mercenaries, then to Geoffrey de Mandeville’s encampment. There Alan and Robert dismounted and Robert gestured to his men-at-arms to unload the pack-horses. Only one pack-horse and Alan’s mule would be retained, to carry the equipment of the knights on campaign under the supervision of Gillard. Being infantry, from now on the men-at-arms would wear or carry their own equipment. Robert disappeared into the throng and returned ten minutes later accompanied by a short stocky man with dark hair cropped short, stubble on his chin and wearing a brown leather jerkin and green hose.
“Hugh de Berniers, I have the honour to introduce Alan de Gauville,” said Robert, making a theatrical gesture with his right hand. As Alan and Hugh grasped forearms in greeting Robert turned to the spare groom and said, “Allerd, I want these pack-horses back in Aumale tomorrow. Here’s a denier for you to buy food for tonight and tomorrow and to bed down in a stable with the horses tonight. Get going!” Turning to Hugh he asked “Where’s de Mandeville?”
With a smile Hugh replied, “You’d better learn proper respect! Count Geoffrey is in Abbeville with Duke William and the other mighty nobles. I’ll take you to his victualler Michel. He’s a Frenchman, but not too bad despite that. He’ll be in Count Geoffrey’s pavilion tent,” he indicated a large white tent with a nod of his head. “Come with me and I’ll introduce you now.” Hugh paused and looked affably up at Alan, taking in his six-foot height, lean frame, red hair and the well-muscled broad shoulders of a trained warrior. “And what do they call you? ‘Fire in the Thatch’, ‘Rufus’ or ‘Longshanks’?” he asked.
Alan laughed and replied, “I haven’t been important enough to acquire a by-name yet.”
“Well spoken young lad, isn’t he?” said Hugh to Robert as they strode toward the pavilion.
“That comes from him being a failed monk. The Benedictines threw him out about two years ago.”
Hugh shot a quick look at Alan, who had developed a sudden deep blush. “Their loss and our gain! I look forward to hearing the story tonight! Here we are!” He pushed a way through the crowded entrance to the tent and then forced a way towards a small, shaven-headed man who was sitting behind a table looking harassed. “Ho, Michel! My friend Thibaut de Aumale has sent two knights, including his son, and five men to join us!”
Michel barely glanced up from the papers in front of him. “Give their details to my clerk, over there. The knights can join your squadron. Do the men-at-arms have their own horses? No? Well, they can join Walter’s infantry company. Six deniers each a week, plus food and fodder for the horses.”
Michel looked past Hugh at the next in line and began to speak to him when Robert interrupted. “When do we see Count Geoffrey to swear fealty?”
Michel laughed. “Count Geoffrey doesn’t have time for that crap! We’re due to sail as soon as the wind changes fair for England. Take your places, do your duty and if you’re found worthy he can worry about that later. Next!”
Back outside in the late afternoon sunshine Alan commented, “Well, that was a bit abrupt. I didn’t think we’d exactly be greeted like the prodigal son, but I’d have thought we’d have been
made more welcome than that!” Hugh flushed with embarrassment but made no comment. Clearly he was put out by the cavalier treatment he himself had just received. “Let’s get ourselves set up before it gets dark,” Alan continued.
“You have your own tent?” asked Hugh.
“Yes, a five-man tent,” replied Robert.
Hugh nodded his acknowledgment that either Alan and Robert, or more likely their fathers, knew something about campaigning and said, “There’s an open space over there where you can set up your tent. Horse-lines are down there. You’re responsible to look after your own horses. The main meal is at mid-day, of course. There’s also food provided at about dusk. Don’t rely on getting any food in the town. There’s a baker, pie-sellers and so on- but with 6,000 hungry men in camp the food in the town is poor quality, expensive and scarce. You get a pound of meat, half a pound of cheese and some fruit and vegetables a day. Err… if you’re religious, there’s no fish on Fridays, sorry. Horses get fresh-cut grass and hay twice a day. If you want them to have oats, you have to arrange that yourself. Again, it’s expensive- you can spend your whole wage just feeding your horse.”
While Gillard took the horses down to the horse-lines, rubbed them down and fed and watered them, the others set up the tent, squeezed into a vacant spot of grass, and moved the knight’s equipment inside before the men-at-arms went to report at the infantry compound. Alan took three palliasses to the hay store and filled the mattresses, carrying all three back at once, draped over his head and back.
After dark Alan sat around a camp-fire with Hugh, Robert and another dozen or so men, some sitting close to the flames and others leaning back against saddles and other equipment in the semi-darkness further from the fire. The meat, a nondescript grey in colour, full of gristle and starting to turn slimy, had been boiled with vegetables. Alan was eating from a wooden bowl, having already drunk the liquid. Having given up trying to cut the meat with his knife he was gnawing patiently at the hunk of meat with his side teeth. A slice of rancid cheese lay on the grass next to him.
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