by Griff Hosker
Pointing through the trees he said, “We cannot see them yet but they are beyond the slope we see. They have formed battle lines and face the men of York. I had one of my archers ride to Sir Thomas to tell him of the enemy disposition.”
“Has he returned?”
“Not yet, my lord, but, in truth, I would not expect him. If he was seen hurrying west then it would alert the rebels to our position. He would take a circuitous route to avoid detection. We have not been able to count them, lord, and so I do not know the numbers we face. I thought that surprise would be lost if they knew they were being watched closely from the west. You will have to trust me, Sir William, they are there and they know not that we are here.”
“You have done well. We wait.”
I suspected that the fact that the rebels waited was evidence of their lack of numbers. This was not the army they had brought to Shrewsbury but that was not a surprise. Both sides had lost many men that day, but the rebels and their Scottish allies had lost their best warriors. In addition, Henry Percy was not the gifted warrior his son had been. He was waiting on the top of this piece of high ground to try to win a defensive battle and then march into a York stripped of its garrison. The hidden rebels like Sir Nicholas would them emerge like disturbed insects from the holes in which they hid. No matter what happened at this battle those hidden rebels would remain and the King and his son would still be in danger. Peace was still some way off.
When we heard the horns above us then we knew that Sir Thomas was approaching the rebels. They were preparing to fight the Yorkshire levy. That was our signal too. I donned my helmet and took my shield and dagger. Unsheathing my sword, I raised it and led the men at arms and my handful of knights from the shelter of the shrubs. Captain Alan and his archers, with strung bows, scurried up the hill like greyhounds. I waved my sword to make us into a long line like beaters at a hunt. As we began the walk, I saw why Alan of the Woods had advised us not to use horses. There were holes which had been the homes to rocks at some time. The rocks had gone leaving a trap which would have broken an animal’s leg. Walking on foot we could avoid them.
Even with a helmet, coif and arming cap, I heard the whoosh of arrows from the east. The battle had begun. Captain Alan and his archers would form a line and nock arrows but they would wait for our arrival unless they were seen by the rebels. I was feeling my age as I struggled up the slope. It was not steep but I had not fought on foot since Shrewsbury and that had been some years since. I was no longer the young man fighting as King Richard’s champion. Glancing around I saw Sir Wilfred struggling to keep up with Harry. The clash of arms told me that battle had been joined and I wondered if we had left our climb too late. Then my line of archers came into view and beyond them, I could see the battle. The enemy horses were to the south of us and were tethered and unattended. Lord Percy and Lord Bardolf were using all of their men to fight. I saw Percy’s standard but this would be a bloody battle for, even as our archers drew back on their bows, I saw many wild Scotsmen amongst the rebels. They would fight and die hard!
Raising my sword, I shouted, “Loose!” The arrows soared and fell amongst the many rebels who were yet to be engaged. They dropped and struck some around Henry Percy’s standard. As our archers nocked another arrow and drew back, I shouted, “For King Henry and the Prince of Wales!” We marched forward. Our archers were not a continuous line and we passed between them. The first arrows had come as a surprise and each had found a mark. The second flight was almost as effective as men turned to face the new threat. The third flight would be Captain Alan’s last for by then we would be engaged and they would drop their bows and become the deadly killers I knew they were.
The rebels now turned to face this new threat. We were few in numbers but we had surprise on our side and I knew that Percy and Bardolf would be dismayed that their flight was now barred. We were between them and their horses. For one of the first times that I could remember I was not the first to strike the rebel line. My two sons had that honour. Thomas had not fought since Shrewsbury but he had trained each and every day. When the wild Scot raced at him wielding the deadly poleaxe my son did not falter and he rushed towards the Scot so swiftly that the poleaxe was only swung halfway before my son’s shield smashed into it and his sword hacked across the thigh of the Scot. His leg half severed, the borderer fell to a bloody death. I barely had time to register that Harry was fighting a knight before I was engaged and it was Lord Bardolf himself who faced me. His blue shield was distinctive. He held a war axe in his hand and a shield. Seeing me he lowered his visor and came towards me. The rebels were now engaged all around but for me, the battle was the small circle which separated Lord Bardolf from me.
He had the advantage and I knew it. A war axe was a heavy weapon and the head alone could break steel plate and the bones beneath. In contrast, my sword was almost a lightweight weapon. I had my rondel dagger in my left hand and that weapon might be the one to win this fight for me. I had one advantage over him and that was the weight of his weapon. Once he began to swing then he would be committed to the swing. He could not feint and he could not change direction. I had to allow him a free swing at me, He was so eager to get at the knight who had killed Harry Hotspur that he put all of his efforts into the first swing which was aimed at my shield. If he could break my shield and my arm, then I would be at his mercy. I had anticipated the blow and held my shield, not tight to my body but away from me. It was a risk but it paid off. As he swung, I withdrew the shield and stepped back on to my left leg. His axe still connected but it just scored a line down and across my shield. My step back allowed me to swing my own weapon at him but I did not aim at his shield, which he expected, instead, I swung at his plate protected leg. I turned my sword so that I hit with the flat of the blade as I did not wish to take the edge from my sword. I heard his cry from within his helmeted face. I had hurt his leg.
All around me my men at arms were protecting me from others who wished to come to the aid of Lord Bardolf. I saw Wilfred obeying my orders and fighting to keep the enemy from Harry. In this way, we were clearing our part of the battlefield.
As Lord Bardolf pulled back his arm for another swing I stepped forward on my left leg and punched with my shield at the rebel. My shield was strapped to my arm so that I could hold my dagger. The shield hit his right shoulder and my dagger hit his besagew. The round plate was intended to protect the armpit and my dagger severed the fastening holding it. The besagew swung loosely from his shoulder. We were now so close that swings were impossible and so Lord Bardolf tried to use his weight to push me over. I had the advantage for my legs were placed well apart and he had an injured one. As he lunged at me, he slipped and I used the pommel of my sword to batter his helmet as he slid to the ground. He was stunned and so I placed my sword where his besagew would have protected him and plunged my blade down into his flesh. When the axe slipped from his hand, I looked for another opponent. Lord Bardolf was out of the battle.
Glancing around I saw that my sons, Sir Richard and Sir Ralph still lived and were hacking and hewing their way towards Henry Percy who had tried to retreat towards his horses. I noticed that Sir Wilfred was limping. He had been hurt. Around the Earl of Northumberland was a ring of household knights and his standard-bearer still held the blue rampant lion aloft. I shouted, “Take the earl! Take the head of the snake and the beast will die!”
I adjusted my shield and began to move towards the ring of steel around the last rebel, the earl. A young knight lunged at me with a poleaxe. He had quick hands and was strong; I barely had time to deflect the spiked head with my shield. Had he managed to strike me he could have used the hook to pull me over and once on the ground I would have been slain. I hacked at his weapon and it cracked. The better poleaxes had steel reinforcements and plates along the haft. This did not. I know not if he knew his weapon was damaged but he lunged at me a second time and when the head hit my shield the haft broke and fell into two pieces. His look of shock lasted a heartbeat for
I swung my sword at the side of his head. He tumbled to the ground and putting my weight on my sword I drove it through his open mouth. His eyes had glazed over and I doubt that he knew much about it. Thomas and Harry, along with Captain Edgar had slain some of the younger knights around the Earl and I heard Sir Ralph, the son of Red Ralph, hired sword, roar out a challenge, “Face me, old man, for I am a loyal knight and a lord of the north who wishes the Percy family gone!”
It was a challenge which could not be ignored and meant that no other would interfere. I caught glimpses of the combat as I fought to get at the standard. When that fell then the battle would be over regardless of what happened to the earl. Most of the pole weapons, spears and pikes had been broken and now it was swords and axes which determined the battle. It meant we were all closer and long swings were harder to employ. This reminded me of the fight at the bridge when Sir John Chandos had perished. I knew that in this type of fight victory or defeat hung by a thread.
I punched my sword into the open face of a knight and, as he reeled, I rammed my rondel dagger up under his right armpit for he had no besagew there. The tip caught on the plate over his shoulder and I had to twist it to remove it. He screamed in pain and bright blood spurted as I tore a vital artery, Sir Ralph was trading blows with the Earl and wearing him down. The Earl was ten years older than I was. More importantly, he had not fought for some years. Ralph had been at Shrewsbury and fought many times since. It would be a matter of time.
The standard still fluttered and I shouted to Thomas, “The standard!”
The two of us began to move towards the flag. There were fewer men in our way now. Sir Thomas Rokeby and his levies would be hacking and slashing their way through the Scottish mercenaries and border brigands but it was we who faced the knights of Northumberland. It was sword on sword and my son and I worked in unison to swing, slash and block almost as one. The knights we encountered fought alone and that meant they exposed their sides. One knight with a bastard sword swung it at my head but I blocked it with my shield. My arm was numbed by the force of the blow but a two-handed sword meant you either struck your enemy or you exposed yourself. He was exposed and I swung my sword at the top of the skirt which protected his groin. I had practised the blow many times and it demanded accuracy. I managed to find the gap between the breastplate and skirt and the blade’s edge had yet to be blunted. It sawed through the mail and the gambeson. Coming away bloody I knew that he was hurt. He lifted his sword above his head to finish me off but I punched, almost blindly with my shield and dagger. The blade tore through his cheek and he did not complete the blow but stepped backwards towards the standard. As he did, I pulled my sword to swing at him.
I saw that Sir Ralph was winning and the Earl had lost his shield and was using his sword two-handed to fend off the blows rained on him by Ralph of Middleham Tyas. Blood was pouring from the Earl and he would not last long.
I, too, was tiring and although my two sons and my son in law were now fighting the standard-bearer and the last two of the Northumberland knights, my enemy was still a threat. He swung his bastard sword at my head and I did the unexpected. I dropped to one knee and rammed my sword up under his plate skirt. There was neither plate nor mail to hinder my sword and I drove it up deep within his body. As he fell, I stood and saw the standard fall and then Sir Ralph swing his sword and smash into the side of the earl’s head. I looked around and saw that the battle was over. Sir Thomas Rokeby and his levy were pursuing the remnants of the rebels.
I shouted, “If you wish to surrender then do so now!”
There were still four or five men with swords including at least one Bishop. They dropped their weapons. Sir James had lost four of his knights but my men and sons were alive. I walked over to Sir Ralph, “You have done well and the earl’s armour and horses are yours. I shall tell the King and there will be more honour for you.”
“I am happy, Sir William, to have served my King and my country.”
I sheathed my sword and handed my helmet and shield to Abelard who had obeyed my orders and stayed close behind me to guard my back. I walked back to Lord Bardolf and took off his helmet. He was dead and I had killed him. Sir Thomas Rokeby rode up to me and I saw that his surcoat was so bloody he could have been a worker in an abattoir.
“A great victory, Sir William, and I see that your men have slain the beast!”
“Aye!”
He turned to the men with him. “Have Lord Bardolf and the Earl stripped of armour. I want them hanged drawn and quartered.” It was a brutal but necessary sentence. The body parts would be sent to the four corners of the kingdom whilst the heads were prominently displayed. The Sherriff had lost men. I could see their corpses amongst the rebels and he was not in a forgiving mood. He looked at the prisoners and recognised two churchmen amongst them. The Abbot of Hailes wore armour while the Bishop of Bangor did not. The Sherriff said, “Bishop, you may lay down your sword and return to your church where you can beg forgiveness of God for your rebellion.” He turned to the rest, “As for you, kneel and ask God for forgiveness now!” His men held them while he strode along the line, swinging a twohanded sword and taking their heads. “Now put these heads upon spears so that all the world may know the fate of traitors.”
I turned to speak to my sons and I saw that Harry was not there with Thomas. I saw him close to the place he had helped me fight for the standard. He was kneeling and I feared that he was hurt. As I reached him, I saw that he knelt over the body of Sir Wilfred. My old friend had died. Harry looked up at me and shook his head, “He was wounded, father, but he never left me. When two Northumbrian knights came at my shield side, he placed himself between me and their blades. He slew them both and then succumbed to his wounds.” I could see that he was distraught. “I never got to thank him! He died saving my life and I said nothing!”
I put my arm around my son, “His soul is but a little way above our heads, Harry, and he knows. My father did the same for me. He died and I did not get the chance to thank him but I believe he knew I was grateful. Sir Wilfred was obeying my last orders. I asked him to watch over you and he did. He died a warrior and he died happy. See the smile upon his face.”
Harry shook his head, “I did not want him to die for me!”
“And had you asked him he would have said that better an old man dies than a young knight who will have children of his own one day! You and Tom are the future! Come let us bury my old friend here, at Bramham Moor and we will remember him each time we talk of this battle, the battle that finally ended the threat of the Percy family!”
It was a brutal world in which we lived but that battle at Bramham Moor ended the northern threat. King Henry and his son were safe and it meant that Prince Henry and I could turn our attention to Harlech and the Welsh rebellion!
Map of Aberystwyth Castle
Chapter 12
We left the battlefield two days later. Sir Wilfred had a wooden cross but Harry swore that it would be a stone one. The dead were stripped and the mail, plate, weapons and horses equitably distributed. Sir Ralph and his men were rich because of the battle. The Earl had gold upon his person as did his retainers. To the victor go the spoils. My men at arms and archers all benefitted as did my knights and I. We took horses, mail, plate and weapons, along with the heads of the two leaders with us. We left one head, Lord Bardolf’s, at Lincoln for that was the start of the north. Leaving my sons to return home I took the head of the Earl of Northumberland to London. Prince Henry came with me and it was he placed it on a spike upon London Bridge. It was a sign to all in the south that the rebellion was over.
“You and the Sherriff have done well and now, when the fields are planted, we can go to Aberystwyth and Harlech and end this other ulcer’s cancerous growth!” My face must have fallen even though I tried to hide it for he said, “But a little more, Sir William, and then, with a secure kingdom, I can learn how to rule this land.”
“Rule this land? Is the King…?”
He shook his he
ad, “He lives but his illness means that he cannot go forth in public and I will have to establish my own control for there are parties who might not wish to rebel but have their own ideas of governance. They will learn that I am not a man to cross!”
I heard the steel in his voice. He reminded me of his father when he had been Henry Bolingbroke and seeking the crown. Was Prince Henry making a move to take the throne? If so then I would have to stop him as much as I did not wish to. I had sworn an oath to the King and only he, or God could release me from it.
As I headed home, I was lost in my thoughts. I knew that Prince Henry would make a better King than his father but the King had to choose to abdicate the throne. King Richard had allowed Henry Bolingbroke to take the crown and if he had not then I would have fought him. I knew that the Council who advised the King were the real power in the land and they were the ones who could apply pressure. If the King’s ailment prevented him from appearing in public then the Council would, effectively, rule the Kingdom. It was a dilemma and I knew not how we could get around it. I also had Wales on my mind. Prince Henry now had his cannons and his gunners. He had plans to sail them to Aberystwyth from Bristol and save a journey through Wales which would be beset by dangers. To that end, he had asked me to join the Earl of Arundel at Shrewsbury and to bring the men who would assault the walls across Wales. That, in itself, was a nightmare. Welsh rebels would hide behind every rock.
By the time I reached Weedon, I had my plans in my head and I shelved them there for I wanted at least two days without thinking of battles or politics. I wanted two days with my family, all of them. What I wanted and what I got were two entirely different matters. I had forgotten that our son, Henry, was due to be wed in September. At the table that first evening my wife was in a good mood and the food was well cooked and to my taste. I enjoyed wine from Bordeaux with the food and felt replete until she brought up the subject of the wedding.