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…

A king, an earl and the terrible death of a prince

Edward the Confessor came to the throne after his half brother Harthacnut died in June 1042. Harthacnut had designated him as his heir, however it was not a foregone conclusion and Edward would have needed to rally the support of the English nobility. One of those whom it might have been necessary for him to ingratiate himself with would have been Godwin of Wessex although Edward would most likely have loathed the man. Godwin was a dominant figure in the politics of the time and had control of a large part of what was once Alfred the Great's Kingdom of Wessex. Godwin must have played a large part in rallying the other nobles and thegns to Edward’s cause and for this, Edward may have felt obliged to agree to wed Godwin’s daughter Edith. 

No doubt Edward’s animosity toward Godwin, as we shall see by his attitude later, was driven by Godwin’s part in the death of Alfred, Edward’s younger brother. Alfred’s unpleasant demise had occurred when in 1036, the brothers, living as exiles in Normandy for more than 20 years, had received a letter allegedly written by their mother Queen Emma,  inviting them to England and seeking their help. In 1036, Alfred and Edward had for some reason decided to travel separately to England. The expedition appears to have been a failure for both of them but at least Edward was to escape with his life. Unfortunately for Alfred, he did not. Some sources lay the blame for his death totally at Godwin’s door and others were less inclined to show Godwin in a bad light. What appears to have happened is that Alfred and his party were met by Godwin who was to escort them to meet with Harold Harefoot, then the monarch of the time. At Guildford, however, they were intercepted by Harold’s men and taken from Godwin’s custody. What happened next ended with poor Alfred being blinded and dying of his wounds at Ely.

This is what the Abingdon Manuscript (C) tells us

            “But then Godwine stopped him, and set him in captivity,

             And drove off his companions, and some variously killed;

            Some of them were sold for money, some cruelly destroyed,

            Some of them were fettered and some of them were blinded,

            Some maimed, some scalped,

            No more horrible deed was done in this country

            Since the Danes came and made peace here....

            .....The atheling still lived; he was threatened with every evil;

            Until it was decided that he would be led to Ely town, fettered thus

            As soon as he came on ship he was blinded, and blind thus brought to the monks,

            And their he dwelt as long as he lived,

            Afterwards he was buried as well as befitted him,

            Full honourably, as he was entitled.......

            ....His soul is with Christ.

            It seemed that Edward would forever hold it against Godwin for what happened to Alfred even though he was to be cleared before the court on oath more than once. To Edward, Godwin was like a boil on his backside that would never go away and when one day, the opportunity came for Edward to be rid of the whole Godwin family, he grasped it firmly in his hands. Robert Champart of  Jumièges was the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and a longstanding enemy of Godwin's. According to the sources he began whispering in the King's ear that Godwin had murdered his brother Alfred and was now plotting to murder him. A visit from Edward's brother-in-law Eustace of Boulogne seemed to fuel the fire that was burning in Edward's heart, when on his way home to Boulogne, he and his men stopped at the town of Dover and caused a fight with the townspeople. some of Eustace's men were killed in the fight as well as an equal number of townfolk. Godwin was ordered by the King to punish the town by razing it to the ground. He refused. Dover was in Godwin's jurisdiction and he may have heard the Doverian townsfolk's side of the sad, sorry tale. In anycase, his refusal to punish them resulted in a stand off between the Godwins and the King and his supporters. They were all consequently exiled and although Edward accepted Godwin back, restored his lands and in his office as Earl after a year in exile, their relationship would always be strained.

            Edward’s unforgiving attitude towards Godwin later shows in his behaviour at the Earl’s death in 1053 at a court reunion with his family and the King. During the feast, Edward is allegedly said to have made acrimonious remarks toward Godwin regarding his involvement in Alfred’s death. It was said that Godwin is so enraged that it causes him to have a stroke and he dies later in Edward’s private apartment. Perhaps Edward felt a pang of guilt and offered him the comfort of his own chamber and doctor.

References
Barlow F (2002) The Godwins Pearson Educated LTD, Edinburgh.
Barlow F (1970) Edward The Confessor, Yale University Press, London.
Stanton M Translationof the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.

Tostig, Alfgar and the Earl of Northumbria

 

by Sons of the Wolf on Thursday, 03 March 2011 at 22:16

 The Scandinavian Earl Siward, held the post of Northumbria throughout much of Cnut's reign, the whole of Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut's up until the early years of Edward the Confessor's reign. There is much recorded of him in legend but in reality, one would have to believe that there was little difference in the character of the man of the sagas and the man of reality. When he died in 1055, he must have been a great age and although he had converted to christianity, the story goes that his dying wish was that he be given a traditional Viking ceremony. his body sailing out to sea on a burning boat with his sword placed in his hand. He was actually buried at St Olaf's church in york. Possibly the death of his son Osbjorn and his wife's nephew at the battle of Dunsinane may have spurred an already old man to his grave. I like to think that perhaps his wife, in tribute, might have sent one of his boats, alight and furnished with his gear, out into the sea for him, whilst his body lay buried in the Christian manner. He left one surviving son, Waltheof, who was a child of only about 5 or 6 years old at the time, born of his young wife Aelfflaed, obviously not his first liason. Due to Waltheof's young age, the vacancy of earl was now open. Who should think themselves up for the job?

Contender No 1 was Tostig Godwinson, younger brother of Earl Harold of Wessex. Tostig was, like his brother Harold, a seasoned warrior and had married Judith of flanders, half sister to Baldwin V who was father of William of Normandy's wife Matilda. It would be easy to imagine that he may have harboured a childhood jealousy against his older more popular brother Harold, which may explain his later resentment toward Harold as grown ups, that would lead to their tragic confrontation in 1066 at Stamford Bridge. He seems to have been portrayed as more serious of character than his elder brother who was described as affable, gracious to all men and possessed charm and wit. Nonetheless, he appears to have been the favourite of both the King and Queen. Edith certainly was fond of him and because of this, he most likely got the post instead of Alfgar. For Edith, who had not that long ago been cast aside and sent away to a nunnery in shame, it would have been more expedient to have both her brothers in strong postions, so that never again would she ever be treated in such a degrading manner.


Contender No 2 was Alfgar Earl of East Anglia, son of Earl Leofric of Mercia. The old Earl was a sort of Mercian version of Siward. By the time he died in 1057, he was quite aged. He was married to Lady Godgifu/Godgyva of  legendary fame, notorious for her supposed naked ride through the streets of Coventry. Leofric and Godgifu's wayward son Alfgar was a bit of a rebel and by all accounts had trouble controlling his temper which seemed to have got him officially exiled at least twice for uttering treasonable words. It was in 1055 at a council to cast votes for the new Earl of Northumbria that he was first in trouble.  No source tells us exactly what he had done wrong  but the AS ms C&D states that he was 'outlawed without any fault of his' . In the ms E, Alfgar was said to have been 'traitor to the king and all the people of the land. And he admitted this before all the men that were gathered there, although the words shout out against his will.'  One can imagine him blurting out some terrible insult against the king and then realising that he had put his foot in his mouth somewhat to his detriment and rather publicly. What ever it was, and one can only imagine, it led to him being exiled. Most likely, when he heard that Tostig was to recieve the earldom, he did not take  kindly to it and in a fit of pique lost his temper and spoke out against it. You can imagine the intesity of his feelings, after all,  the Godwin brothers appeared to be the king's current favourites and were already in charge of a large portion of the kingdom's earldoms, not to mention the role that Harold Godwinson now played as Dux Anglorum. With Tostig now entrenched in the North, the balance was now definitely tipped in their favour.