Excerpt One from Sons of the Wolf

Chapter Nineteen

The Battle of Hereford

Hereford, October 24th 1055

Ralph walked along the rampart of his palisaded defences as the chilled late autumn morning swathed the burgh in a cloak of mist. He was proud of his strong timber and earth castle that he had built inside the burgh of Hereford not long after his uncle King Edward had invested him with the office of earl four years ago. If he looked out over the parapet on a clear day, to the north of the burgh, he would be sure to see any sign of the enemy coming.

This morning would be like any of the other mornings that had passed since, upon hearing Burghred’s news, he had wasted no time in gathering his huscarles and racing across the ancient tracks to the West Country, sending out summonses to all the mounted men that Edward had commended to him. Looking out over the fog-laden hills, he contemplated another morning of watching and waiting. Down in the courtyard, his men would be on standby. He was proud of his accomplishments in Hereford and fiercely proud of the mounted cavalry he had trained. Some of the Englisc looked upon his ideas with derision, but he would show them just what his mounted army could achieve. He had stubbornly refused Harold’s offer to rally the Wessex fyrd to aid him, convincing everyone, except for Harold, that he had no need of them. This was not, he had said, a matter of national emergency. His mounted soldiers would be match enough for Alfgar and Gruffydd, he had guaranteed them.

“Another morning and still they do not come,” muttered William Malet, joining him in leaning against the wooden barrier. Dressed and ready for battle, the men wore their armour of little metal links skilfully chained together to form the hauberk, the tunic of maille that protected the length of their torso, arms and upper legs. Under them they wore a padded jerkin which would stop the metal from chafing them, adding to the protection that their maille already afforded them. “I am beginning to think that they never will.”

“Oh, they will come alright; your cousin Burghred was sure of it. It seems your uncle has been collecting his forces all summer.” Ralph looked sideways at Malet. “And when they do, Will, we shall be ready for them. Ha, we will soon have our chance to prove to Godwinson that we are quite capable of sorting out our own defences!”

“In hindsight, do you think it was wise not to accept his offer to call out the Wessex fyrd?” Malet asked retrospectively.

“What? And have nice, golden, shiny Harold take all the glory? No, my friend, this one is for us. Besides, it would be a great waste of manpower. Costly too. Our combination of cavalry, light infantry and bowmen is the right formula needed to win the battle against the Wéalas.”

Malet looked a little sceptical and Ralph looked at him scornfully. “You do not doubt that the victory will be ours, William?”

“No, Ralph, I do not. It is just that—”

“I know that perhaps it is hard for you to go to war against your uncle,” Ralph suggested sympathetically.

Will shook his head and replied firmly, “You know how I feel about that brainless idiot! He has the intellect of a newt, uncle or not.”

“Then why do you have that doubtful expression on your face?”

“I just thought that perhaps it would have been advantageous to have the Wessex fyrd here, just in case. After all, Harold is—”

“Harold is not here!” Ralph responded angrily. “And what’s more, we do not need him!”

“But the men are untried and inexperienced, Lord,” Malet gently argued.

“Are you doubting me, Will?” Ralph thrust a disturbed look in his friend’s direction.

“No, Lord. No…”

“You know how I have been waiting for this chance to ingratiate the Witan, Will? And why should I not? I have royal blood coursing through my veins. I am throneworthy! An atheling!” He thumped the edge of the wooden strakes in earnest. “Why should I work so hard all these years only to have Harold Godwinson come along at the last minute and interfere in my command? This victory will gain me the accolade that I deserve and put an end to the threat that comes swamping over the marcher borders!”

“My Lord, you are indeed throneworthy!” Malet said supportively. He frowned slightly, changing his cynical expression to one of fervent loyalty.

“If only the Witan would recognise me as so,” Ralph said regretfully. “Mon Dieu! They send out to lands afar, searching for long-lost Englisc princes, doing deals with that bastard in Normandy, dropping hints at Swein of Denmark  and, all the time, here I am, a prince with the blood of Alfred, right under their snotty noses! So what if I was born on the distaff side of the royal line? I am just as much a contender, if not more. The King, my uncle, loves me, does he not? And yet still I have to prove myself...and prove myself I will!”

“My Lord, we will win this. If they come today, I swear we will win this!” Malet replied with genuine sincerity.

He was standing in front of Ralph as the earl leaned with his back against the parapet, the wind blowing his short dark hair forward. The Earl put a grateful hand on Malet’s shoulder. “Thank you, Will. When I finally sit on the throne of this damned kingdom, I will see that you are rewarded for your loyal service.”

“Good God!” Malet interrupted. “Look, my Lord!”

“What?”

Ralph saw that Malet was surveying the valley behind him intently. He swung round and faced the view over the hills. He felt his stomach tighten as he realised what his friend had been staring at: the fast moving shadow of a lone horseman, galloping amidst the thick morning haze that drifted toward them across the plain.

“It’s one of your scouts, my Lord. Look, he holds your banner aloft. That means they are coming…At last they are coming...”

 “Then we must see that the men are ready. Fitzscrob!” Ralph yelled loudly for his captain. He grabbed his helmet and shoved it onto his head.

“Yes, my Lord?” A small, lithe Norman dressed in maille came running up the wooden rungs of the rampart to join them.

“See that the men are armoured and the horses ready,” Ralph ordered. “Alfgar and Gruffydd are on their way. We will ride out to engage them.” He felt a ripple of excitement in his veins and a fluttering in his stomach. “Maintenant! Now, Fitzscrob! Que vous attendez? What are you waiting for? Allez, allez!”

“Yes, my Lord,” replied the little man dutifully as he turned and ran quickly down from the parapet.

Ralph breathed in deeply as he secured the chinstrap of his helm. He had been waiting for this moment and now it had arrived. At last he could show the world his worth and that Edward and his Englisc subjects need not look to that far-off place, Hungary, for their next king. He pictured himself sitting on the throne in Edward’s Palace of Westminster with his wife Gytha by his side. Yes, now his chance had come…

Battle of Gate Fulford Part Two

In Part One, we saw that Harald Hardrada beat Edwin of Mercia's right flank with a lightening charge accompanied by warhorns that heralded his victory. Edwin's huscarles broke and died where they stood and the levies panicked and fled back toward York.  Having overwhelmed Edwin's men, Hardrada now closed in to support Tostig on his right flank and Morcar's men were trapped in the swamp. Many met their deaths there in those murky muddy waters, sucking their bodies into its ravenous depths. Florence of Worcester claims that there were less men killed on the battlefield that drowned than in the river.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the day saw great slaughter on both sides but the Norsemen took possession of the field and the glory was theirs. Many corpses were bogged down in the river and the 'causeway of corpses' was to be remembered long after the battle. Those that managed to flee, escaped to the relative safety of York with both the Earls and their surviving men. The young brothers were inexperienced and could have only have been aged between 17-19 at the time. They were the sons of Alfgar of Mercia, the rogue Earl who had allied himself on more than one occasion with  the Welsh to oppose Harold Godwinson and King Edward. Alfgar had died around 1062 and Mercia had passed into his son Edwin's hands. Later, younger brother Morcar had been elected Earl by the Northumbrians in a unprecedented move to oust Tostig Godwinson as their earl. Tostig had been Earl of Northumbria since 1055 but his harsh rule had made him unpopular and the men of the North revolted in 1065, demanding that they would have none other than Morcar as their leader,  threatening to blaze a trail through the country if their demands were not met.

The devastating defeat must have been harrowing for the brothers in their first real engagement. They appear to have fought bravely and the battle may have gone either way. The Battle of Fulford Trust believe that the Vikings outnumbered the English and this may have contributed to Hardrada's forces being able to roll up round them and crush them as re-inforcements arrived. Peter Marren (2004) states in his book 1066 The Battles of York, Stamford Bridge and Hastings that he does not necessary agree with this theory that the English were out numbered and that the armies were comparable in size.

The lie of the land meant that Edwin and Morcar's troops would have had difficulty in keeping track of each other. According to the Battle of Fulford Trust, if either of the English flanks gave way, the other side would not have known and this would have made them extremely vulnerable as they were to find out when Hardrada made his charge. Hardrada also had a much better view of the battle from some higher ground on the approach. From a higher vantage point, he would have been able to command his troops more effectively.

Considering the lack of experience and their youth, the young English brothers made a brave attempt to hold off the invaders and defend their city. They had obviously picked their spot with great care and thought, but their rawness in the field may have led to them disregarding such an important point as the lay of the land. Once their lines were broken, the Norwegians were able to break through and push them sideways without their respective flanks being able to pull backround together. Those that fled the onslaught made their way back to York, those that didn't were slaughtered where they fought.

During the 1990's excavations of bones thought to be those of Edwin's and Morcar's men were found with unhealed sword cuts to legs and arms, cracked or decapitated skulls and the typical injuries that are caused by arrows and other sharply tipped weapons such as spears. Many injuries were in the back and at least one had multiple deep cuts.

As violent and brutal as this battle was, it was just the first that the warriors of England were to endure that year. Edwin and Morcar and his surviving troops didn't make it to Hastings. But there was another northern battle yet to come before Hastings took place. The Battle of Stamford Bridge takes place 5 days later. In that battle, the victorious Vikings were to meet a new enemy, the army of Harold, the King of England.

References and further reading
http://www.battleoffulford.org.uk/a_battle.htm
Marren P (2004) 1066 The Battles of York, Stamford Bridge & Hastings Pen and Sword books Ltd, Yorkshire.
Swanton M (1996) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles The Orion Publishing Group Ltd, London.

If you enjoy reading about the events of this period you may enjoy my novel Sons of the Wolf www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk/sonsofthewolf  available also on Amazon and all good leading bookstores. Visit my website for more about the author www.paulaloftingauthor.com


Coming up soon the Battle of Stamford Bridge

The Battle of Hereford

October 24th 1055 was a date I am sure would stick  in the minds of many of the people who lived in the Earldom of Herefordshire and in those of the people of Wales, for many years to come. For the poor, unfortunate survivors of Hereford, the names of Gruffydd and Alfgar would most likely invoke terrible memories of burning buildings and blood strewn streets. As for the Welsh people, the Cymry, they would remember it as one of their great successes, a victory over the Saes invaders who had stolen their land. These days, the ravaging of Hereford is a little known battle and mostly, only those who have an interest in this period of history, would be able to admit that they knew of it. It certainly wasn’t a fight on the scale that the Battle of Hastings was and it wasn’t a hard won victory for the vanquishers; but it was a devastating blow to the Franko-Norman Earl of Hereford, who, in his effort to pre-empt the Welsh King Gruffydd and the outlawed English Earl Alfgar from sacking his burgh, lost both his reputation and his standing in English affairs, when he and his guard, left the field of battle leaving many of his mounted army to die. 

Photo Attributed to Len Howell

          
            Gruffydd, self-proclaimed King of Wales, became so after he had won his bid to become supreme leader over the other Celtic kingdoms of Wales. He had been King of Gwynedd and Powys and had fought successfully against a Mercian army c 1040, killing Edwin, Alfgar’s paternal uncle. He soon began to harbour ambitions of uniting Wales against her enemies and so set about ridding himself of any impediments to realising his goal: Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, ruler of the South was one of them. This he did, probably with the aid of the exiled Alfgar of Mercia.    
          Alfgar had washed up on the shore of the River Conwy at Gruffydd’s palace at Rhuddlan, Northern Wales after being found guilty of uttering treasonable offences toward his King, Edward the Confessor. With him he brought a fleet of mercenaries from Dublin. It would be the second time that Gruffydd had used a renegade outlaw exiled from England to assist him. The first was Swegn Godwinson, the scandalous older son of Godwin, outlawed for bad behaviour. This shows that Gruffydd was not above taking advantage of the discord that often went on at the English court. He was an astute and ruthless ruler, and to the Welsh, he was the Shield of the Britons. Unfortunately for him, he was to be betrayed by his own people some years later when  murdered, they sent his head to Harold, Earl of Wessex.          
           Alfgar, son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia and the legendary Godiva of naked horse ride fame, appears to have been an unruly, truculent man, envious of the success the Godwins were  having. The Anglo Saxon Chronicles don’t go into a lot of detail but  he was banished from England after some angry outburst which could have been treasonous. He was stripped of all his wealth and lands. Like the Godwinsons before him, he was determined to return and first went to Ireland to gather a force before approaching Gruffydd, his family’s natural enemy.          
           The King’s nephew Ralph was made Earl of Hereford around 1052. Ralph was the son of Edward’s sister Goda and her deceased husband Drogo de Mantes who had been the Count of Valois, the Vexin and Amiens. His older brother Walter, became the Count after Drogo and appears to have died along with his wife in tragic circumstances. Ralph may have been raised at the court of  Normandy and travelled to England either with Edward or perhaps arriving shortly afterwards. He was most likely to have been in his mid to late twenties at the time of the battle. Ralph wanted to introduce Norman style tactics into English warfare and although it was probably not unheard of for English troops to fight on horseback, it was not the usual preferred method. 
           The mounted warrior would have looked very different to previous warriors who fought on foot. The maille that was being worn by this time was becoming longer than the usual byrnie that had formerly graced the bodies of 11thc warriors. The byrnie (or haubergeon) was more of a maille ‘shirt’ where as the hauberk generally well covered the thighs and groin areas. Kite shields were also becoming popular as we see in the Bayeux Tapestry and they were more practical for using on horseback as the kite shield gave greater coverage to the unprotected side of the warrior’s body. He could hack or spear with his weapon-hand which would defend his other side from his shoulder down to his foot whilst he was horsed. He would also wear a conical shaped helmet like these spangenhelm wearing warriors.

              Most likely he would go into battle with a few javelins to project at the enemy, or a spear to skewer them with. His sword or hand axe would be for closer hand to hand fighting when proximity to his opponent made the longer arms too difficult to use. If he was able to afford them, he would no doubt be wearing some maille chausses on his legs to protect them whilst he was in the saddle.           

             Ralph had been working on his Norman style defences too, building wooden structures with palisades, the pre-runner to castles. These would have consisted of a motte, a mound of earth with a towered structure within an inner bailey. The wooden fencing would have contained ramparts and lookouts. These were posted around the marcher borders and in Hereford itself. Ralph was obviously out to impress his uncle the King and may have considered himself worthy of being his successor, although there is no evidence to believe that he ever did, apart from the fact he was of the Royal bloodline through his mother. This might have been one reason why he was never declared an atheling, because he came from the distaff side of the House of Wessex. A great resounding defeat against the Welsh might have brought him the adulation and respect that he desired. Perhaps it would have gained him the title atheling. Unfortunately for Ralph, it was not to be.   

            On October the 24^th, the two armies faced each other across the plain. Here is what the D version of the AS Chronicle said about it

".....And soon after that, Earl Alfgar, son of Earl Leofric,
was outlawed well-nigh without fault; but he turned to
Ireland and Wales and there got himself a great band ,
and travelled thus to Hereford; but there Earl Ralph came
against him with a great raiding party, and with a little
struggle they were brought to flight, and many people
killed in that flight, and then turned into Hereford market
town and raided it, burned down the famous minster which
Bishop Athelstan built, and killed the priests inside the min-
-ster, and many others as well, seized all the treasures in
there and led them away with them. And then when they had
done most harm, it was decided to reinstate Earl Alfgar, and
give him back his earldom and all that was taken away from
him. This raid was made on October the 24th....."

           The Abingon Manuscript elaborates a little more and states that after Alfgar was outlawed, he went to Ireland and raised an army and then sought asylum with King Gruffydd of Wales. The allied forces then go into Hereford and Earl Ralph comes against him with a 'great army'. "But before a spear could be thrown, the English people fled because they were on horse; and great slaughter was made". The Manuscript also states about 400-500 English were slaughtered and the enemy lost none. It has  also been suggested that Ralph and his men left the field leaving the English to die. Hence he is later known as Ralph the Timid. As there is little evidence of a full eyewitness account of what happened that day, one has to imagine how this might have occurred. Whatever happened, the day belonged to a victorious Gruffydd and Alfgar. Alfgar, we see was reinstated and Gruffydd most likely given Lordship over the lands around Archenfield. Harold Godwinson had come with a great army to chase the Welsh and their allies back into the mountains but there was no return match and Gruffydd’s Welshmen and Alfgar’s Hiberno-Norse made away with slaves, livestock and treasures from the church they had sacked.
          The people of Hereford were left to lick their wounds and Harold rebuilt the defences that seemed to have been neglected by Ralph. The fact that Alfgar was never called to account for this outrage shows how brutal and non-consequential life could be in these days. The fact that he got away with it shows how little regard there was for the ordinary people concerned. The razing and ravaging of lands was often a punishment levelled at the nobility but although it is an absurd notion for us to protest the irony of it with our 21^st century outlook, the lower echelons of life in medieval times mattered only to their immediate lords for what they were worth in economical terms. A simple local thegn may have been devastated at the loss of his ‘people’ but for the major nobility it was more of a financial disaster than an emotional one. As for Ralph, it seemed he may not have ever got over the disgrace and he disappears from the pages of history until he dies in 1057. The Earldom of Hereford later passed to his son Harold, after the Conquest.

References

Barlow F (1997) Edward the Confessor (2^nd ed) Yale University Press, US.  

Stenton F (1971) Anglo Saxon England (3^rd Ed) Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Swanton M (2000) The Anglo Saxon Chronicles (2^nd ed) Phoenix Press, London.

This Battle features in my novel Sons of the Wolf and was part of the research I did for it.

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I am author of Sons of the Wolf, a work in progress, currently working on the last chapters. I enjoy history and specialise in the late Saxon period. Here is an overview of what my novel is about.

1054, pious King Edward sits on the throne, spending his days hunting, sleeping and praying, leaving the security and administration of his kingdom to his much more capable brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, the powerful Earl of Wessex.

Against this backdrop we meet Wulfhere, a Sussex thegn who, as the sun sets over the wild forest of Andredesweald, is returning home victoriously from a great battle in the north. Holding his lands directly from the King, his position demands loyalty to Edward himself, but Wulfhere is duty-bound to also serve Harold, a bond forged within Wulfhere’s family heritage and borne of the ancient Teutonic ideology of honour and loyalty.

Wulfhere is a man with the strength and courage of a bear, a warrior whose loyalty to his lord and king is unquestionable. He is also a man who holds his family dear and would do anything to protect them. So when Harold demands that he wed his daughter to the son of Helghi, his sworn enemy, Wulfhere has to find a way to save his daughter from a life of certain misery as the daughter-in-law of the cruel and resentful Helghi, without comprising his honour and loyalty to his lord, Harold.
Following the fortunes of his family, we meet Ealdgytha, his golden-haired wife, attractive, neurotic and proud. Her lust for success and advancement threatens to drive a wedge between her and her husband, while Wulfhere’s battle with his conscience and his love for another woman, tears at the very heart of their relationship. Also central to the story are his children; Freyda, his eldest daughter, reckless, defiant and beautiful; Tovi, his youngest son, his spirit suppressed by the pranks of the red-haired twins, Wulfric and Wulfwin; Winflaed, a younger daughter, whose submissive acceptance of womanhood belies a stronger spirit and a longing to hold a sword in battle like her warrior father.

Sons of the Wolf is snap shot of medieval life and politics as the events that lead to the downfall of Anglo-Saxon England play out, immersing the reader in the tapestry of life as it was before the Domesday Book. With depictions of everyday life experienced through the minds of the people of the times; of feasts in the Great Halls to battles fought in the countryside, it cannot help but enlighten, educate and entertain.