by Griff Hosker
“That sounds like a long process, Sir William, and I am keenly aware of the sacrifices you have made for me.”
“If I may speak openly, Prince Henry?”
“Always.”
“Then when the autumn comes, I will return home for neither you nor I will be needed here over the winter. Your garrisons can contain the Welsh and that gives you the opportunity to have your cannons built so that we can begin to reclaim Wales. Harlech and Aberystwyth are now Welsh. The end of the rebellion will come when they are taken. When you have the cannons then we might have to endure a winter in Wales. Until then my men and I will enjoy winters in Weedon and Northampton.”
“Ever the practical man. I will ride to my castles and instruct the commanders.”
“And my men and I will be your escorts for while the Welsh have not proved a danger in an open battle, they are adept at ambush!”
We had but one week of such rides for more dire and unwelcome news reached us. The French had landed in the west of Wales. The numbers were unknown but we knew that there would be knights and crossbows amongst them. In open battle, they were a threat to us and so we sent word to King Henry and gathered as many knights as we could at Worcester. We held a council of war and all were agreed that the French would strike for England and that meant heading towards Worcester. Prince Henry showed his maturity for there was a balance of old and new at the council. Men like myself, Sir John Talbot, Sir John Oldcastle were the older heads while Sir Thomas Rokeby and Sir Richard Grey were the younger ones.
The Prince summed it up when we had discussed and debated for some hours. “It seems we must abandon the land to the west of the Severn and keep our castles there as annoyances to the French and the Welsh. We will gather every knight that we can here so that we can contest the crossing of the Severn. Return to your castles and fetch back our knights. This will be our first real test as Prince of Wales and I pray to God that I will not fail. Fighting a battle against Welsh peasants who are ill led is one thing but a French army is quite another.”
While his nobles returned to their castles, we devised a plan to discover the whereabouts of the French. I told the Prince that I would take some of my men and we would ride to Haverfordwest, which was where the French had landed. He forbade me to do so and was supported by my captains. Instead, we sent Owen the Welshman and David of Welshpool. They had played the part of traitors for us before and they would ride to the coast to bring back accurate numbers of the French and the Welsh. Both Prince Henry and I knew that numbers given by those who had fled would be grossly exaggerated.
It was while they were away that we learned of the vengeance of King Henry. Archbishop Scrope and Sir Thomas Mowbray had been summarily executed. It was not their execution which caused outrage but the fact that the Archbishop had not been tried by a jury of his peers. The King had used the Earl of Arundel and Sir Thomas Beaufort to sit in judgement and they had sentenced both men to death. The Archbishop had asked the axeman to use five strokes to emulate the five wounds suffered by Christ. The manner of his death and his request ignited more anger, especially in the north, and led to the belief that the King was cursed. It was true that his skin complaint worsened and he had fits where he was incapacitated but I had seen signs of this for a year or more and I did not believe in the curse. Others, especially the common people, did. We did not know it then but power was slipping away from King Henry who was seen in public less and less. Visions of King Richard filled my thoughts and haunted my dreams.
My two Welshmen returned to us just a week before the French and the Welsh arrived at the River Severn. The French had captured our last stronghold in south-west Wales, Carmarthen, and were advancing through central Wales with a Welsh army. The fact that none of the notable nobles from France had accompanied the army gave me hope and Owen had recognised Glendower. The rebel would be close enough for us to take. However, the army was somewhat larger than we had anticipated. It was not the Welsh contingent which was made up of idealists who had fled English universities and men who thought they could get back at the English for perceived past wrongs which intimidated us, it was the French knights and men at arms who numbered more than 2,500. We had less than one thousand.
Prince Henry sent for more knights from Bristol to swell our numbers and we waited along the west bank of the Severn. It meant that we denied them the bridge over that river and if they headed north towards the next one, we could mirror their progress and block their crossing. Owen and David confirmed that they were indeed heading for Worcester and their ranks were becoming swollen by those affected by English raids, the raids I had begun. A chevauchée always had risks.
I had sent for those men at arms who had recovered from their wounds but I also sent word to Harry and Tom, along with Wilfred, John, Richard and Henry, my other knights, that they were to stay in the east. I did not need to risk them. When the army finally reached us, I recognised Glendower and his standard and we saw that the French were led by John, Lord of Aumont. His livery was distinctive: arms argent and a chevron between seven martlets. His nickname gave an indication of the sort of knight he was. He was called. ‘the Brawler’! They made their camp to the east of Woodbury Hill.
Once again, we held a council of war. This time Prince Henry was less bellicose for he had seen the size of their army. We were outnumbered in terms of heavy cavalry and their archers outnumbered ours. If we added the ordinary Welshmen then it was hard to see how we could win especially with the hill as a central point in their defence.
“I think we form our battle lines and send them packing!”
I looked at Sir Richard Grey. He was a brave knight but apart from a brief spell as Admiral of the fleet he had been, largely, a politician and administrator. The Prince looked at me and I nodded, “Sir Richard if we were to advance across the open ground before the hill then the Welsh archers and the French crossbowmen would fill it with dead knights and horses. If we were to advance with dismounted men then we might reach their lines with fewer losses but we would be outnumbered in a close battle even a peasant with a bodkin dagger can kill a knight.”
“Then we cannot win, Sir William?”
I smiled, “I did not say that. Sometimes a victory can come about when you do not fight. The French and they are the real threat, are, like us, a mounted army. What is the biggest problem facing horsemen?”
Sir John Talbot snorted, “The same as always, grazing and fodder, not to mention water.”
“Exactly. We hold the river and they must take their horses elsewhere for water. Eventually, they will use all the local grazing and whilst we have the lush valley grass, they do not. They will either have to attack us or to disperse.”
Sir Richard was like a dog with a bone, “And if they attack us?”
“Then they have to endure the same as we if we were to attack. Our archers would make the ground between us a place of the dead and if they used the Welsh to attack,” I nodded to the two Sir Johns, “as these gentlemen will attest, it becomes sword practice to kill them. I do not think they will attack. Glendower has had two defeats and he cannot risk a third.”
For three days both armies arrayed for battle a mile apart and each night retired to their camps. Ours was the more comfortable for we had Worcester and halls where we could eat and even sleep. On the fourth day, a herald came for a parley.
The Prince took me and Sir John Talbot with him. I saw that Glendower was accompanied by the Brawler and another knight whose livery was arms gules and two bars ermine. I think he was Robert of Beaumesnil. The fact that Glendower had not brought a translator meant that we would speak English and that, in itself was a victory. We reined in and faced each other. Behind us lay our armies and they were all ready to fight. Was this the preliminary to a battle or an attempt to negotiate land?
Although Glendower spoke first, I could see that the French leader, John of Aumont, was ready to begin an argument. His fingers played with the hilt of his sword and his eyes darted between the three of us.
I could see that he had earned his name well for he was looking for a fight when the rules of chivalry meant that there would be none!
“Henry of Monmouth, I am here to demand that you return my son and the other prisoners you captured on Welsh soil! And I would have an apology for the way my son, Tudur was treated after death!” His eyes flicked to me; he knew that I was responsible.
He had insulted the Prince by not using his title but Henry was too sensible to make much of that. Instead, he countered the Welsh claim. “As both battles, which you lost, took place on this side of the border I am at a loss to see how you can make such a claim!”
“Those lands are historically Welsh and we demand their return!”
It sounded petty and petulant but it showed me that we had rattled Glendower by our victories and I hoped that Prince Henry would not relinquish the advantage he held. He smiled and shook his head, “That will not happen. They will remain as prisoners in the Tower.”
Glendower was nonplussed. I think he expected us to ask for a ransom. “Then we shall pay a suitable ransom for them. What will it take for you to free them?”
Prince Henry’s smile became broader, “That is simple. Return the traitor Mortimer to us and the castles that you have taken. Then we can begin to have meaningful peace talks.”
Glendower reddened, “Boy! You speak to me thus! I rule Wales and all you hold are a few castles in the north and that is all!”
“Then we have no more to say except that I find it sad that you had to hire mercenaries to fight your battle for you! Are there no Welshmen left that you resort to hiring creatures such as this?”
It was a deliberate insult and as the Prince had expected the Brawler rose to the bait. “My honour is impugned and I demand satisfaction!”
The Prince stared at the huge knight, “Are you a Prince that you can challenge me, Frenchman, or do you not know the rules of such things?”
He was nonplussed and he blustered, “Then I will fight one of your choosing!”
“Like Sir William here? He is the champion of my father and of me. Would you cross swords with him?”
My eyes had never left the Frenchman and when he turned, he saw steel in them. He was a brawler and like all such men, he was a bully and that made him a coward. He might be willing to take on a callow prince but not someone with my reputation. He was younger than I was and, who knows, he might have defeated me, although I doubted it. I made my voice as low and threatening as I could, “I will happily fight you now, Lord Aumont. It has been some time since I slew a Frenchman but the last time I did, his blood flowed as quickly as any other man.”
He snarled, “I do not fight those who are not nobly born. We are wasting time, my lord, let us fight them! We outnumber them and they are led by a boy!”
The Prince earned his spurs that day, “Then we will return to our lines and prepare for battle. There will be little enough ransom this day for the Welsh are as poor as church mice and the French will run for their ships as soon as a blow is struck. If there is nothing more?”
Glendower was defeated and it showed in his eyes. He whisked his horse’s head around and led the two French knights back to their own lines. We deliberately stayed watching them and then, as we turned, our army all began to cheer and bang their shields. The victory was compounded.
The French and the Welsh stayed another four days before heading west. We awoke one morning and found them gone. The Prince sent Dafydd to follow them and when he returned, at the end of the month, it was with the news that they were back at Haverfordwest. When the Prince heard the news, he wrote a letter to his father, now returned to London and becoming the recluse he would be for the rest of his days as King. The Prince told his father what he had done and suggested that he send the English fleet to intercept the French. We later learned that the King declined as Parliament had, once more, failed to find the finances for the ships.
By the time autumn came the rebellion had fallen into a stalemate. The Prince could not afford to continue to maintain his army and the Welsh had to sow winter crops for they had failed to do so in summer. It would be a lean winter for Wales. I got to go home after almost a year away and I was happy for the stalemate for a stalemate meant that while we had not won, we had not lost!
Chapter 8
It seemed such a long time since I had been in Weedon that when I finally reached my home it was like visiting a new country. As I rode along my lanes, I found myself looking at trees which were so tall that they might have been planted by another and not me. I saw faces smiling and waving at me and they looked like much older people than when I had left. And when the door of my hall opened and I saw a white-haired woman waiting to greet me, I almost did not recognise my wife. In a year she had grown old. Guilt wracked me for having deserted her when she needed me. I would put my knightly pursuits behind me for a while.
I turned to Abelard, “Put the horses in the stable and then the time is yours. I thank you for your efforts but you need not serve me now that we are at home. We ride abroad in the morning but until then I shall not need your services.”
“Thank you, lord, I think I will sleep tonight in the warrior hall and then visit with my mother for the rest of the time. I have missed her but tonight she will welcome my father back. They need time together and besides my father will have seen enough of me!”
I forgot, sometimes, how young Abelard was. As he led the horses away, I saw my wife turn and say something to the servants. Then she opened her arms and beckoned me. The welcome my wife gave me was as warm as it had always been. The embrace was held longer than I could recall.
“Husband, I have missed you! Tell me that you will stay here awhile.”
“I will, wife. The campaign is over and the Kingdom of England is safe, for a while. And, how are you?” It was not a platitude for I really meant my words and I could not tell if she was still in the pit of despair.
She linked my arm and led me into the cosy room the two of us used when we were alone. It was the chamber with just two chairs, a table and a fire which made the whole room seem comforting. I saw that she had been knitting. She normally did that when there were babies. I would let her tell me the news in her own time. Two of the house servants hurried out of the room having placed a jug of ale and some savoury pastries for me. I smiled my thanks at them and knew that my wife would not answer me until they had left. They closed the door and I poured myself a beaker of the ale.
She looked up at me as she sat in her chair, “Do you mean have I found my smile once more after Mary was taken from us? Aye, for Alice has had a baby, Beatrice, and she was born in January. God took one from us but sent another in her place. It is for her I knit and, I confess, I can see Mary in her. Is that not strange? Magda said that is how the sisters work. I fear that Magda has something of the witch in her but it does make sense to me.”
I suppose I could have been upset that no one had told me but then I had not written home once while I had been away. It was good that there were more grandchildren. I wondered if Thomas and Mary had begun to enlarge their family. It would be good to speak to my sons.
“And where is Harry?”
She beamed and, putting down the knitting took my right hand in hers and kissed it, “I forgot to thank you for having him knighted and then sending him home where he is safe. He is well and busy making Flore as prosperous as Weedon. He has been there but a short time and yet he has become more popular than even Sir Roger.”
“That is good. I will ride, when time allows, to see my sons.” It would not be a long ride. Flore was just over a mile away and Northampton but nine. As my wife click-clacked away with her wooden needles, I stared into the fire. When I had been with the Blue Company the only warmth that I had known growing up was the burning campfire for my father had had little to do with me. The fire around which the men of the company had sat became comforting to me. There was, in my eyes, nothing finer than a log fire into which I would stare. I saw things in the fire which others did
not and my mind often wandered. Thus it did as I watched the flames burning the elms that had been copsed three years since. In three years, our country and my life had changed beyond all recognition. I had gone from gentleman to baron to Sherriff. My sons had been squires and were now knights.
I heard a laugh and came back to the room and away from my thoughts. I saw my wife shaking her head, “Will Strongstaff, but you are a deep one. I have been talking to you for some little while and you were just staring into the fire.”
I laughed, “Aye, you are right and I was just thinking of the position we hold and how we made the journey. We both had nothing and by sheer dint of hard work, and a little help from the Good Lord, we are now respected folk and others look up to us.”
“And there are many noble-born who cannot say that.” She shook her head. “Prince Henry is a good boy but I put that down to you. That Robert de Vere, he was evil and there you have it. Both were noble-born and yet they turn out as different as can be. Still, you have done your best, as have I, and Prince Henry is the man he is because of you and, I like to think, a little of me.” She stood, “And food will not prepare itself. Tonight will be plain fare for I have had no time to plan and to tell the cook what to prepare. It will just be potage, bread, ham and cheese.”
“And there is nothing wrong in that!” I meant the words I said. Our potage was one of my favourite meals. Begun on Sunday with the leftovers from the best meal of the week it was kept warm and each day something new would be added with the daily water to replace what had been eaten the previous day. It was the same in the homes of every common born family but we were lucky. Rabbits, hares, squirrels and game birds would all be added and even by Friday it would still be more than just edible, it would be something to which I looked forward. I had arrived home on a Monday and so it would be mutton based and that was good.
That night I slept better than I had since last I had been home. The bed in the castle at Usk had been a good one as had the bed in Worcester Castle but they were not mine and I woke refreshed. After a hearty breakfast, I went to the stable and mounted my horse which Abelard had prepared. “Abelard, I do not need you. Go to your mother. I will send for you when I need you next.”