from the capital at Winchester and wore it with all pomp and ceremony at York on Christmas Day, to show the Northerners who really is king. The two castles at York have been repaired and re-garrisoned. His army has ravaged far and wide spreading a swathe of destruction to prevent the land being able to support another army of rebellion. Almost every village and cottage in the north has been put to the torch in the middle of winter. What livestock couldn’t be taken away or used as food for the army has been slaughtered in their pens, particularly the oxen required for ploughing and transport. Carts and ploughs have been burnt and seed-stock for the spring planting despoiled. Thousands will die of starvation. The main part of the Danish army slipped away into the marshlands of the Fens and couldn’t be brought to battle, using their ships to move whenever the king’s army approached. William has no navy to prevent this, so he’s bribed the Danes to remain inactive during the winter and to depart in the spring.”
Alan remembered the conversation that he’d had with Gundred in Durham, and gave a small smile of satisfaction that King William had followed the advice given to him by his counsellors and paid
“So we’ll be able to resume normal trading with our ships in the spring?” asked Anne.
“Probably,” replied Jacob. “Assuming the Danes do what they’ve been paid to do. I don’t expect any problems with that, as they’re honest in that when they’ve been bought they usually stay bought and don’t cheat.” After a moment’s pause he continued with his news. “Interestingly, King William has maintained his standing army at York. I expect that in the spring he’ll march on Chester to chastise the Mercians and push the Welsh back over the border, if they’re still on the wrong side of the River Dee at that time. Then he’ll probably go to Normandy again to ‘stare down’ the Angevins or do something about the revolt in Maine. Fulk ‘The Ill-Tempered’ is being a nuisance again now he’s won his battle with his brother Geoffrey, and King William will need to look to protect his southern borders in Normandy. One interesting titbit of information, at least for my people, is that we’ve been told that William will be inviting more Jews to England, feeling a need for greater commercial prospects and more capital. The word is that we’ll even be offered the protection of having legal status, which would be good for us.”
Now up to date with the latest gossip, Alan lapsed into thought of what the future might bring.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bradbury, Jim:
Cates, William:
Crouch, David:
Domesday Book: ed A Rumble. Phillimore 1983
Gravett, Christopher:
FitzStephen, William:
Freeman, Edward :
Howard, David:
Montgomery, Hugh:
Partington JR:
Rex, Peter:
Sinclair, Charles:
Williams, Ann:
LINKS
Calendar (Julian amp; Gregorian)
http://almanac.oremus.org/easter/
Misc Information
http://www.medart.pitt.edu/image/england/london/maps-of-london/london-maps.html
http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/sitemap.shtml
Wikipedia.org
www.battle1066.com
British History Online: www.englandandenglishhistory.com
Normans in Wales: http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/nelson/index.html
Discussion of Battle of Hastings www.angelfire.com/mb2/battle_hastings_1066/hastingsmaps/html.
Domesday Book:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/
http://domesdaymap.co.uk/
Anglo-Saxon Dictionary
http://home.comcast.net/~modean52/oeme_dictionaries.htm
