attack and invasion by the Norwegians, Swedes, Germans and Flemings. Swein is neither a good king nor a good general. He has enough trouble keeping his own people in order in his own country and would stand no chance of controlling them in England. The excellent administration system built up by Edward’s predecessors would fall apart in months. And Swein, like the remaining English earls, has never fought and won a major battle. William is the best general in Europe. He beat the second-best general at Hastings.
“And don’t forget the religious aspect. Pope Alexander has decreed that William is the true king of England. The pope’s personal banner flown at Hastings was worth at least 1,000 extra men for the encouragement it gave the Norman forces and the discouragement it gave the English. William has been anointed with Holy Oil and crowned king by the Archbishop of York. How many fyrdmen and thegns would hold back from a future revolt due to religious convictions?
“No, I’m sorry to say from the English point of view your best option is to be raped and take the long-term view.”
“So we should just shut up and be thankful for small mercies?” asked Anne with some asperity. “Next you’ll be saying that having Norman lords is better for us English than having our own nobles!”
“Not at all! Obviously it would have been better for both the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Danes if nobody had invaded last year and you had simply been left in peace. Probably having Norwegians as overlords would have been better for the locals, as they’d be assimilated into your society more quickly and wouldn’t try to make changes. All I’m saying is that what is done, is done. The English either need to live with the result or be unexpectedly successful in a revolt.”
“And any war is bad for business,” commented Orvin sourly, not having enjoyed hearing the long but logical presentation of the argument he had just heard. “It’s a pity that the yoke we are under feels like a noose and so much abuse is happening in the king’s absence.”
“Now that is something that I may be able to do something about, if I am now as wealthy as you say. I’ve met both fitzOsbern and Odo of Bayeux. Both are capable enough and at least fitzOsbern is reasonably honest. FitzOsbern is being kept busy by the fighting in Herefordshire with the Welsh invading and attacking and laying waste to the shire, and the raiding by the Irish being led by Harold’s bastard sons. Odo, who I have already said has his own snout in the trough, has his troubles with disturbances in Kent- not an uprising but a lot of friction, including use of arms, between the English and the Normans. That conflict is mainly the Normans’ fault for overstepping what’s reasonable, particularly Richard fitzScrob.
“Both fitzOsbern and Odo are too powerful to be susceptible to anything I can do or say, but a gentle reminder from me that the king will be returning later in the year may help. I probably can’t do much about Earl Ralph the Staller either, but I can try as he and I probably have equal influence with King William. After all, Ralph is a hang-over from Edward’s regime, being half Breton and half English. I may be able to influence William the Bishop of London, who is a Norman invited over to England by Edward the Confessor, and Engelric.
“The main problem at the moment is the abuses in the Heriot land redemption payments being made by the English. I’ll discuss the problem with the sheriffs of Essex and Suffolk, although they are probably in on the caper as well. What I am going to need are written depositions from Essex and Suffolk listing every abuse of power since the Heriot started until whenever the king returns, which will probably be November. At least, as a result of the Danish raid, the thegns in my own Hundred have the coin to pay both the Heriot and the geld this year. Orvin, do you have the contacts to arrange this documentation in Suffolk and Norfolk?”
“I know the people who can arrange it,” said Orvin with considerable enthusiasm. “I can send the information in dispatches. When will you start?”
“I’ll see the sheriff here in Ipswich before we leave. Can you obtain four or five depositions of malpractice by Friday, and can I borrow a scribe for the sake of appearances? I’ll attend to Essex after the wedding. On consideration, we’d better have Solomon transfer the money I was going to leave here in Ipswich to Colchester, so I can use it to lend to thegns who are being extorted in Essex.”
Garrett queried the reason for the speed of the marriage arrangements, “After all, if you have only been sleeping together for ten days you can hardly have got her pregnant yet!”
Alan demurred, looking at Anne and saying, “I’m sorry, that is something between my lady and myself. If you want to know that, it would be up to her to tell you and I doubt she will.” Anne smiled and shook her head.
Orvin suggested that in the circumstances that it might be best if the earlier wedding date of 30th June was chosen, to remove one of the few areas of vulnerability of Alan and Anne. The marrying of an English heiresses, while not actually forbidden, was strongly discouraged and required the consent of both lords, mainly to discourage the widows from exercising free choice as Anne intended to do. “Now if you gentlemen will give me leave, I must visit the privy after all that beer I’ve been drinking,” said Alan excusing himself for the night.
Next day being a Monday the small church of St Stephen held only the Sext service at noon, with a brief Mass being said. Orvin kept his word and took Alan and Anne to the Jewish Quarter early in the morning to see Solomon.
Alan was very impressed with the usurer, who was the antithesis of everything he had thought he knew of Jews. The man was small, plump and bald, despite being only about thirty years of age. He spoke fluent English, Latin and formal French, as well of course as Hebrew, and claimed some ability in Danish, Norwegian and Flemish. He was polite, well-spoken, literate and urbane, with an excellent grasp of current affairs and politics. He efficiently receipted and sealed the transfer of funds from Orvin’s account to that of Alan. Anne insisted that given her current uncertain legal status the account should not bear her name even as partner. Alan gave written instructions that in the event of his death the account balance was to become owned by Anne, effective immediately.
Then they returned to Carr Street to change for church. Orvin, Lora and Anne took confession as usual before the service. Alan arranged to meet the priest, Father Aella after the service, while Orvin escorted Lora and Anne home.
Father Aella was a tall spare man of about forty years of age. He took Alan through to his study in the rectory. “What can I do for you my son?” he asked the younger man.
“Father, it is nine months since I last confessed,” said Alan in a troubled voice.
“It’s nine months since you took Mass?”
“No, Father, that’s not the same thing. I took Mass unconfessed,” replied Alan.
“Obviously you know that is in itself a sin,” said Father Aella conversationally. “Why?”
“I suppose because taking Mass is a habit, and I have not confessed because of my sins.”
“Well, that’s one sin you have confessed. Shall we deal with the others?”
“I have killed. Killed many men.”
“In the course of war, when they were attacking you?”
“Mainly. Many at Hastings during the battle. There was one I killed on Christmas Day outside where the king was being crowned, to make a point and establish my authority when he defied me. That was done for what I saw as being a good purpose, to have the houses being set on fire extinguished, and he was preventing me from doing that. Three men who were robbers who myself and my party caught in the act of killing, robbing and ravishing. In battle recently were hundreds who did not die by my hand, but on my orders- and died most horribly and painfully. That was defending a village from being pillaged by the Danes. Others I have had judicially put to death because of their crimes. These all weigh on my mind. And I have stolen, stolen from the dead at Hastings- but not the dying, nor did I hasten the death of any of the wounded for the purposes of robbery.”
“You were poor then? I thought so. But by your appearance you are not now poor? You now have your own lands somewhere else, as I have not seen you before? If you don’t mind me saying so, such sins are not unusual for men who have called to be soldiers. Have you raped? No? Killed wantonly or stolen from the poor? No? Fornicated? Yes? Well that’s again not an unusual sin for any man,” continued the priest.
“I kept a mistress for five months, had carnal knowledge of several women while on campaign and I am now cohabiting with the woman I am due to wed in several weeks time. That last is one thing I do not intend to seek absolution for, as I intend to continue with that sin!” continued Alan.
Father Aella smiled slightly, without saying anything on this point as he’d heard the other side of the position in confession a little earlier in the day. “And has anything good come from your actions?”
“From the thefts, yes. I used the money I obtained to buy the weapons I needed to equip my own men, who later fought to save a village and to destroy a raiding party of Danes. By killing the Danes we saved dozens of lives in that village and rescued hundreds of English that they had taken as captives. By killing the robbers I saved two
