queen. As I understand it, her time has come, waters have broached and the next prince or princess of England will be born in this village. They will follow later.”
In confusion Alan said, “I’m most surprised that the queen accompanied you at this time.”
William gave a snort of amusement. “So am I,” he replied. “However, Matilda is not a woman to whom it is easy to say ‘no’, irrespective of the circumstances. And, of course, I already have three sons, safe in Normandy. At least, from my own experiences, I hope they are safe!” After a pause he added, “Robert of Eu is looking after them, as he looked after me. I trust that none will need to lay down their lives to protect them, as was needed to protect me.”
Seeing that Alan was nodding off to sleep again, he clicked his fingers to attract the attention of a servant. “Food and drink for Sir Alan and,” with a glance at those standing by the door, “his men. Instantly! Now, Robert, about…”
The king had obviously sent his cooks ahead of the main body of the army, as roast pheasant and venison were provided along with roast vegetables, gravy and several sauces, followed by a sweet pie made with preserved berries. Alan and the Englishmen drank ale instead of the fine wine offered as they still had a night of duty to perform, before they returned replete to their camp. There the others had completed their meal of reheated boiled pork and vegetables, stale bread and cheese, washed down with river water- which was probably better fare than most in the army received that day. ‘Nobody said life was fair,’ mused Alan, his belly full of delicious food, as he detailed the first men to the guard positions.
Despite his tiredness and his poor ability to perform at his best when fatigued, Alan rose and checked the guards three times during the night. There are few things more certain to keep a guard’s attention that the expectation that any moment either his captain or his lord would appear without warning and hopefully not be welcomed with an arrow in the belly.
As dawn broke a little before six in the morning, the men that Alan had undertake the second shift of the night watch returned to the camp. Four men were posted as guards and the grooms sent to the village to collect breakfast, as the army marched past heading towards York some twelve miles away. The grooms returned with news that the queen had overnight borne a son, her fourth, to be named Henry. Prince Henry’s birth was toasted and food was eaten before the exhausted troops wrapped themselves in their blankets for a well deserved rest.
The following day Alan and his men rode the short distance north to York. The previous day the city had capitulated before the king’s army as cravenly as it had surrendered to the Northumbrians shortly before. As the army had approached the bridge over the River Ouse a delegation had ridden forth from the city offering its abject submission. The siege of the castle had been lifted and the city of 8,000 souls, the second largest in England, was at least nominally peaceful and in friendly hands. How peaceful a city can be with an occupying and mainly foreign army of 4,000 is somewhat questionable, and the patrols in the city streets were kept busy detaining both rebels and marauding Normans.
York having surrendered and submitted to the king, the following day Alan was requested to attend a meeting of the
The king had arranged for Mass to be said for the assembled members of the
“My lords! Your efforts of the last week or so have been quite notable. Gathering so large a force and moving it so far and so quickly is creditable. We moved as many men in less time than the English did in their much-vaunted march to Stamford Bridge, which lies just seven miles from here.
“York has submitted to peace, although when we entered the city yesterday we found some hundreds of enemy soldiers who had not had the chance to flee, and whom we put to the sword. I thank Archbishop Ealdred for his intervention in the name of peace. However, I must say that personally I would have preferred a decent battle to take the city, so that I could burn it to the ground to make the point that rebellion against my rule is totally unacceptable. The Archbishop has successfully pleaded for mercy for the city, likening it to a woman of easy virtue who just can’t say no to any nobleman who presents himself. While the city may not have been burned, its burgesses will pay a very heavy financial price and will provide hostages to ensure future good behaviour.
“A second castle will be raised immediately, close to the site of the existing castle but on the other side of the River Ouse. Gilbert de Ghent will be the castellan. York is the second-largest city in the kingdom and is positioned to prevent the descent of the Scottish and Northumbrian barbarians into the rich Midlands of England. We have recovered York, which was our main objective. What do we do next? Unfortunately, we fight a beast which is somewhat formless.
“Other than the Aetheling, who has yet again fled back to Scotland and is in any event a cat’s-paw for other ambitious men, there is nobody other than the family of Bamburgh and the people of Northumbria that we target. Cospatric and the others have fled in their ships from the River Humber and where they have gone we know not. Whatever army they had has dispersed. One could say that we have achieved what we needed to do- but I refuse to accept that we will need to do this every year. North of here the only significant settlements are Durham and Monkchester. There is nothing to suggest that the Cumbrians have been involved in this revolt, and anyway that land is largely under the sway of the Scots and the Manx Norwegians. Durham is 65 miles away. Monkchester is 90 miles away on the mouth of the river Tyne. Both are so small they are hardly worth the effort of burning, but some such gesture is needed. Gilbert de Ghent, I direct you to take a force of the Flemish mercenaries to Durham. Every manor belonging to Cospatric, Cnut Karlison, Sumarlithr Karlison, Gamall Karlison, Thorbrand Karlison and Arnkell is to be burnt and every animal slaughtered, whether in Yorkshire or Northumbria. Send men specifically to seek out and destroy those manors. Every village in Northumbria along the road to Durham is to be burnt and again the livestock carried away or slaughtered. Obviously, you’ll do that on your way back.
“In a week’s time I return to Winchester. Gilbert, I expect to hear from you that Durham is destroyed before I leave.
“Any comments or suggestions? No? Then I will ask Archbishop Ealdred to give us all his blessing and we can get to work.”
After a rest of two days Gilbert de Ghent led 1,000 men, mainly Flemish mercenaries, north towards Durham. They intended to take two days to cover the 65 miles, traveling more cautiously than King William’s much larger army on its march north several days before. Alan and his men were allocated scouting duty in the countryside around York, being given rest on alternate days. As was his wont, Alan spent most of his free days in the library at York Minster, finding several new books which he arranged for the monks to copy in return for works from Colchester Priory.
Every peasant nearby and all the townsfolk, including the well-to-do and the women, were recruited as forced labour to raise the artificial hill that would comprise the motte of the new castle, dig its defensive ditch and to cut and drag in the timber required for construction of the palisade and buildings. By Tuesday 10th March the castle was nearly completed and that day King William, the queen, the new-born prince departed south to Winchester together with 1,000 men, leaving William fitzOsbern to conduct the ‘mopping up’ operations and supervise the completion of the second castle.
Two days after the king and his entourage had departed, Gilbert de Ghent returned. The expedition against Durham had not proceeded well. After a relatively slow and difficult march of two days the Flemings had approached the town, only to find the area wreathed in fog so dense that a man could barely see his hand before of his face. The fog, and the Flemings, had both persisted for three days before, short of supplies, Gilbert had
