“You read English? That must be unique amongst your nobles,” said Edith with a tilt of her head.
“And he writes it, as well of course Latin and French, and also Attic Greek,” added Anne. “Alan has his own library and has been giving me books as presents.”
“I would love the opportunity to learn Arabic and read some of their great works, particularly on medical sciences, but that would take years and require me to travel to the distant lands of the Moors. Now with the responsibilities of wife and land that is no longer possible,” said Alan wistfully.
“And your marriage. Presumably arranged by your lord?” asked the Queen.
Alan took Anne’s small hand in his and replied, “No, it is a love match. I found an injured creature in my forest and took her home to cure. I fell in love immediately, but it took some time and effort for her to make her choice. She’s not the most biddable of women,” he concluded with a quick look at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Ah, yes, the Battle of Wivenhoe. My thegn at Wix, Adamnan, has told me about that, although he was not present of course. From what I hear 400 untrained fyrdmen under your leadership defeated 800 trained Danish warriors with minimal casualties to themselves, and you invoked God to rain fire from the skies to destroy your enemies. And then you let the thegns of the Hundred receive the head-money from the sale of the slaves, while at the same time rescuing hundreds of English captives from a life of slavery. The sort of thing that poems and sagas are written about!” said the Queen.
“It wasn’t quite like that, Your Grace. Numbers were nearly even. I had been training the fyrdmen from my own estates and they were quite useful by then. And we had the advantage of surprise and ambush.”
“And fire?” asked Eadnoth.
“And fire,” confirmed Anne. Neither she nor Alan elaborated. That was an advantage that they wanted to keep to themselves in case of future need.
“And now he has become the champion of the poor oppressed English thegn and freeman, opposing the tyranny of corrupt officials including the earl of East Anglia!” interjected Regenbald, who then went on to explain the reason for Alan’s current journey to London.
“That will hardly make you popular with the Normans,” commented the Queen.
“Well, technically all three are English,” replied Alan.
“Technically, my foot! Two are French and you’ve pointed out the abuse that Normans all over the south of England are engaging in. You intend to follow this through?” demanded the Queen.
“With a formal complaint to the Curia Regis when the king returns, if necessary,” replied Alan. “But I doubt that will be necessary. I expect the complaints will be resolved as ‘administrative errors’ by junior officials within the next few weeks and one or two minions may be punished as examples. If it means that these three officials, and those in the other shires, take their duties more seriously and are less outrageous in their abuses, I’ll have achieved what I set out to do. I may be unpopular with the Normans, but I doubt that anything will come of it. I certainly don’t expect any thanks from King William.”
After a pause the Queen said, “I envy you your love match. It’s something that few achieve, especially nobles- and you are now of the nobility. In Edward’s time you would have been called a King’s Thegn. My own marriage was a loveless thing. Edward married me when I was 16 and Edward was 42. The Witengemot insisted that the king marry and produce an heir and deemed me, the daughter of Godwin, the strongest and best of the earls, as most suitable.
“The English, or at least the people of Wessex, wanted and still want a king who can claim descent from the great King Alfred. All his descents were killed or went into exile when Cnut became king. Edward was the son of Ethelred and went into exile in Normandy. His brother Alfred returned to England in 1036 after the death of Cnut, but was blinded and soon died. That is a deed oft ascribed to my father, but it was done by others at the behest of the sons of Cnut.
“My father arranged the return of Edward in ’41 and when Harthacanute died Edward was crowned. That was two years before our marriage. Edward was a quiet, pious and kindly man, but quite erratic- with no liking for war and little aptitude for administration. After 25 years of exile in Normandy he was at least half-Norman and had many Norman ways and friends, which didn’t endear him to my father or the people. He had little interest in ruling and effectively my father ran the country, except for the year when he was forced into exile and Edward sent me to the abbey of Wherwell. Godwin returned a year later and died soon after in ’53, when Harold took over the administration of the kingdom.
“Duke William visited in ’51 when t duke was 23 years of age, while my family was in exile. The line of Alfred was weak and the few princes had died young with no children, except another Edward, a son of Edmund Ironside. He was sent into exile and had a son Edgar, the current Aetheling. When it became obvious there would be no heir from my union with Edward, the Witengemot searched and found Edward, known as ‘The Exile’ and persuaded him to return to England from Hungary- and I understand it took some considerable persuasion as he saw himself as Hungarian. Like most of his line he died young, leaving Edgar the sole remaining prince of the line of Alfred. Edward took the boy in and treated him as his natural heir. However, Edward was very quick with his promises of who he intended should succeed him, giving them to all and sundry.
“The current situation is the fault of my late husband’s refusal to bed me and produce heirs, because of his hatred of my father. I was willing enough, out of duty not love, but he preferred celibacy to security of the realm. Had we had a son soon after we were married, he would now be 22 or so and would have been elected last year as king instead of Harold. Harold was not of the royal blood and would not have been chosen had there been any other realistic choice- the Aetheling was just 13. Indeed the Norman invasion would not have occurred as the alleged promise of kingship would never have been made. Edward was weak, lax and easily manipulated, more concerned about the state of his soul than the state of his kingdom.
“There are only four noble families in England. The houses of Wessex, Bamburgh, Leofric and Siward. With Harold dead, Gyrth would have made a good king and been able to organise a defence of the realm, but he also fell at Hastings. Edgar and Morcar are little more than children, with no experience. Waltheof is the same.
“It’s been a bitter year for my mother Gytha and myself. We’ve seen four of the five sons of Godwin die within a year; Tostig betrayed his people and fought for the Norwegians against his brothers and was killed at Stamford Bridge; Harold, Gyrth and Leofwine were killed at Hastings. Only Wulfnoth remains, and he’s been a captive of William’s since Edward delivered him up to William fifteen years ago.
“So that is why, after my brothers died, I supported William, and still do so. Whatever the cost that may be suffered by my people, it’s less than would be the cost of opposing him- should the Aetheling’s party ever have the guts to recommend a single course of action and stop thinking of their own advantage. England is in a state of paralysis. It is as powerless to defend itself against William and his Normans as a flock of sheep against a pack of wolves. We must survive and salvage what we can.
“One change I’m glad was made was Esgar the Staller, who was until recently the sheriff of Middlesex. He’s a slippery snake of a man. He fought against William at Hastings, then returned to London and organised its temporary defiance against William, but then turned up with the others at Berkhampstead to make his submission, apparently expecting to be able to retain his position. William has retained quite a few of the officeholders under Edward and Harold, but whoever advised him on this point did well. Esgar was both corrupt and untrustworthy.
“As for me, I have had enough of these troubled times and I’ll soon retire to the nunnery at Wilton, where my friend Godgifu is the abbess. I retain, and will retain, the lands that were my dower for my marriage. How I will leave them in my Will I do not yet know. I’ll tell my thegn at Wix, Adamnan, to follow your lead in all things in Tendring Hundred.”
Alan was thoughtful about how personalities and the effects of history influence the present.
After a moment Swanhild asked Alan, “What kind of man is William? I hear that you have met him and had dealings with him.”
After a moment’s pause Alan replied, “He’s hard- as hard as iron and quite ruthless. Meticulous; he plans and considers everything in detail. Autocratic and unable to accept any criticism or lack of loyalty once sworn. His will is law. Suspicious- remember his past. There were many attempts to murder him as a child and his guardians had to keep moving him to ensure his safety. One was killed in William’s own chamber as he sought to protect him.
“From the age of 19 he’s dealt with rebellion within Normandy and invasion by France, both of which he overcame. His father Robert died when William was seven. He was a bastard son and that is something about which, while he acknowledges, he is sensitive of and will not allow others to mention in a derisory manner. Not
