B00B9BL6TI EBOK (31 page)

The shock made her numb. She couldn’t swim; none of them could. She thrashed her arms and legs uncontrollably, her heavy clothes weighing her down and trying to pull her under. In a desperate attempt to stay afloat she dropped her bag and watched it sink, taking all her wealth with it. But it was no use, the water was in her mouth and nose, choking her, and her last thoughts as she sank were of her beloved son, and the successful future which awaited him. Then the black waters closed over her and claimed her, and she thought no more.

It was just after dawn. Edwin sat in the kitchen of the house, looking at Alys and the children. A bright fire burned in the hearth, and the furniture had been put straight again. Four soldiers had stood guard throughout the night, and no harm had come to any. They and their shattered city were safe, although the price had been high.

They sat in silence, he looking at her and she at him. At last Alys roused herself and gave the children some bread and water. ‘Take this out to the men with our thanks. Tell them we’re sorry we have nothing better, but we hope they will take it to line their bellies before the start of the journey.’

All three children slipped out without a word, and then they were alone. Edwin took a step forwards. He reached out his arm, raised his shaking hand until it nearly touched her, but let it drop. There was so much he wanted to say, but how could he? He could make her no promises, for he was the earl’s man and bound to do as he was commanded.

She too held out her hand, paused, and then laid it very lightly on his arm. ‘Words are not enough to say what we all owe to you, but for what it’s worth, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.’ Her eyes, as blue as the summer sky, met his for a long moment. Slowly, very slowly, he brought up his hand and put it on top of hers for the lightest, briefest moment. Then, as the children returned, they stepped away from each other and he turned and left the house.

The Battle of Lincoln took place on Saturday, 20 May 1217. It is normally referred to as the Second Battle of Lincoln, in order to distinguish it from the earlier encounter which took place there in 1141.

Towards the end of King John’s reign, the nobility of England had rebelled against him and invited Prince Louis, the son of the king of France (later Louis VIII), who was married to John’s niece, to invade and take the crown. However, during this invasion John died unexpectedly, leaving as his heir his nine-year-old son, Henry III. This caused many of the barons to undergo a change of heart, and by early 1217 many of the lords had defected back to the Royalist party, which was led by William Marshal, the regent, and by the Earl of Chester. However, Louis still had the support of a number of English nobles, as well as the French lords who had invaded with him, and his army was in control of most of eastern England. One of the most important strongholds in the region was Lincoln.

In 1217, Lincoln was one of the largest cities in England; a bustling and prosperous place whose wealth was built upon the wool trade. Wool and cloth had been exported from here to Flanders for many years, and the weavers of Lincoln had established a guild as early as 1130. Most of the people who lived in the city would have been engaged in some kind of trade, rather than being involved in the agricultural work which characterised rural areas of the country. The basic unit of currency – and the only coin in general use – was the silver penny, which could be cut into halves or quarters for small change. Twelve pennies made up one shilling; twenty shillings made one pound, and thirteen shillings and four pence, one mark. Cloth was measured either in yards (36 inches) or, for larger quantities, in ells (45 inches), and one may surmise that those who bought and sold goods must have had a good grasp of some fairly complex arithmetic.

Among the citizens of Lincoln in the early thirteenth century, according to the town’s records, were William the nephew of Warner, who served several terms as mayor; Peter of the Bridge; Peter of the Bail; Ralf the son of Lefwine; and Master Michael, the master mason in charge of the cathedral works. Nicholas Holland and his family are fictional (although a ‘Nicholas the son of Gunnilda’ was living in Lincoln in the early thirteenth century), as are Mistress Guildersleeve, Gervase and Aldred. It was unusual at the time for anyone other than the nobility to have a hereditary surname: any second name which differentiated people with the same first name was likely to be either patronymic (‘son of’), locative (‘of Conisbrough’) or occupational (‘the baker’). However, some people were known by nicknames or by the names of their ancestors if they had been particularly noteworthy individuals, and it was about this time that some of those names started to become hereditary. Edwin’s surprise at being called by his father’s name is only to be expected, but the practice would become less unusual as the years went by.

The medieval city of Lincoln occupied a hill, with the castle at the top and the river at the bottom. The castle was originally built by William the Conqueror, on the site of a Roman fort, and consisted of two fortified mounds with a large bailey encircled by walls. It was in a prime position: to the south the defenders could command the steep descent towards the river, and to the west they could look out over the valley of the Trent and the highway. The castle had two principal gateways: one in the east wall (which is still in use) and the other to the west, giving access to the open country.

In 1217 the castle was under the stewardship of Dame Nicola de la Haye, a remarkable woman whose life story is worthy of a book of its own. She was the hereditary castellan, succeeding to her father’s lands and duties after his death sometime around 1170. Although legally subordinate to her husband (she married twice) she played an unusually active role in running her own affairs. Indeed, on the two occasions when the castle needed defending she was in sole charge: her husband was absent during the siege of 1191, when the castle held out for forty days and nights against attack, and he died in 1215 before the events of
The Bloody City
took place. They had a son, Richard de Camville, who died in the spring of 1217, although there is no evidence to suggest that this was due to the invasion.

The city of Lincoln was not prepared for the large-scale attack which fell upon it in the spring of that year, and it capitulated quickly to the invading army. The castle, however, with its separate defences, managed to hold out. William Marshal knew that such a strategically important stronghold could not be left to fall into the hands of the invaders, so he gathered a force. They mustered at Newark before marching to the city via Torksey, to avoid using the main road which would have brought them directly into the path of the French.

The major contemporary narrative sources for the battle are the
History of William Marshal
, written in the 1220s, and Roger of Wendover’s
Flowers of History
, which he completed in 1235; from these sources we can reconstruct a reasonable, if slightly confusing, account of what happened there.

Both sources agree that some form of contact was made with those inside the castle: according to Roger of Wendover, a messenger was sent out to tell the host of the situation inside and to offer them entry via the postern; according to the
History
, William Marshal’s nephew, John, met outside the castle with Geoffrey de Serland, who told them of a door they could use; John was then attacked by a party of French as he tried to return to the host. However, the
History
then goes on to say that Peter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester, managed to enter the castle and then the city, where he found a gate of great antiquity that was blocked but that could be cleared to allow the host entry.

The Marshal’s army then entered the city via the north and probably also from the west, and from inside the castle, where their crossbowmen had been stationed. There was some fierce fighting in the narrow streets, and the Royalists drove the French southwards down the hill where they fled out of the city – those of them who managed to escape through the constricted gate, anyway. Both sources recount the death of the Count of Perche via a strike to the eye, although Roger of Wendover does not give a name to his killer, and the
History
attributes the fatal blow to Reginald le Croc, with William Marshal apparently attempting only a capture and feeling regret at the death of his cousin.

After the battle, the city was looted by the victorious army on the pretext that the citizens had collaborated with the enemy; the papal legate excommunicated the entire clergy of Lincoln, and the cathedral, too, was looted. So much plunder was gained by the Royalist army that the battle is sometimes also called ‘Lincoln Fair’. Roger of Wendover recounts a sad addendum to the battle: ‘Many of the women of the city were drowned in the river, for, to avoid insult, they took to small boats with their children, their female servants, and household property […] the boats were overloaded, and the women not knowing how to manage the boats, all perished.’

Finally, it is true that Roger states that only three people died in the battle: the Count of Perche, Reginald le Croc, and another unnamed knight. It is also true that this was a time when the deaths of commoners were not thought important enough to record, so, although the day might not have been quite as bloody as portrayed here, it is very likely that there were more than three casualties.

Edwin is a fictional character, but his lord, William de Warenne, was a real earl whose motives are open to question. When the civil war first broke out he had sided with John, and was one of the Royalists who were present at the signing of the Magna Carta. He later served as a Royalist commander, but in June 1216 the rebel army led by Louis was allowed to enter his castle at Reigate unopposed; later in the month, Warenne came to Louis and offered him his support. It is not clear why he changed sides, but whatever his reason, his rebellion was short-lived, and following John’s death in October 1216, he wavered again. In April 1217, he entered into a truce with the Royalists; and then in May, the regent’s summons was sent out. Warenne was still not trusted, however, and he and his men were not present at the Battle of Lincoln. Nevertheless, he was welcomed back into the fold almost immediately afterwards, and to this day nobody seems quite sure why.

Robert Bartlett,
England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225
(Oxford University Press, 2002)

D.A. Carpenter,
The Minority of Henry III
(Methuen, 1990)

David Crouch,
William Marshal: Knighthood, War and Chivalry, 1147-1219
(Longman, 2002)

J. W. F. Hill,
Medieval Lincoln
(Cambridge University Press, 1948)

A. J. Holden (ed.),
History of William Marshal
(3 Vols, Anglo-Norman Text Society, 2002-2006)

Sean McGlynn,
Blood Cries Afar: The Forgotten Invasion of England 1216
(Spellmount, 2011)

Roger of Wendover,
Flowers of History: 1215 to 1235
(Llanerch Press, 1996)

C.B. Hanley has a PhD in mediaeval studies from the University of Sheffield and is the author of
War
and
Combat 1150-1270: The Evidence from Old French Literature
, as well as the historical work of fiction,
The Sins of the Father
. She currently writes a number of scholarly articles on the period, as well as teaching on writing for academic publication, and also works as a copy-editor and proofreader.

First published by The Mystery Press, 2013

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