[Norman Conquest 02] Winter of Discontent (17 page)

Anne espied Queen Edith, the widow of King Edward, talking near the dais with Countess Judith, the king’s niece,
Hawise Sourdeval the wife of Stephen Count of Brittany
and Alice de Tosny the wife of Roger Bigod and a good friend of Anne
. P
resuming on her acquaintance with them Anne took Alan by the arm and led him to the group. Alan was introduced to those he did not know, and kissed them all on the hand with impeccable manners. The ladies were much taken by the young, tall, handsome man with
flowing
red hair and fine but understated clothing of black silk tunic and hose embroidered in silver thread and wearing sensible black half-boots
,
instead of the foppish and garish clothing and footwear adopted by some of the younger courtiers. At twenty years of age Alan and his wife
-
two years younger, auburn haired, shorter
than her husband
by a head, her slim figure temporarily spoiled by being five months pregnant
,
and
dressed in a specially made dress of H
unter
G
reen velvet that artfully sought to disguise her condition
-
made a striking couple.

Just then William and Matilda left the dais and started to circulate, immediately gravitating to the Englishwoman whose support after Hastings had been instrumental in having William accepted and crowned as
k
ing. William, while a hard man, recognised his obligations and
he
genuinely liked the
39
year old daughter of
Earl
Godwin who had been
King
Harold’s sister. Edith dipped into a curtsy, as the others in the group either curtsied or bowed according to gender. William reached out and took Edith by the hand before she had hardly started her obeisance, raised her up and introduced her to his wife.

Matilda still retained her beauty
,
despite her
37
years. At 4’ 2” she was as tiny as a doll, dwarfed by her husband, who at
5’ 11’’
was taller than average
and solidly built
. Her elfin face showed intelligence, grace and determination. She was polite and well-spoken. She was also three months pregnant with her tenth child by William
-
not her least contribution to the monarchy. This would be her fifth child in six years and Alan wasn’t sure how she and William had managed to have enough time together to achieve this over the last few hectic years.

Queen
Edith introduced the others in the group who were not known to
Queen
Matilda. Matilda smiled at Anne and patted her arm in a sisterly fashion and took a step back to peer up at Alan. “You, Sir, I have heard of from my husband. He describes you as his most…interesting…vassal, and something of an enigma. I thank you for saving the life of my husband, but this seems to be but one of a number of interesting feats
- n
ot least marrying against the ban imposed on such matters
!
”

Alan smiled easily
.
“Given the example of yourself and my liege, I was sure that this would cause no problem. Like yourself and the king in your time it was something we wished to do
,
and a
t least we didn’t have to face p
apal disfavour
!
” William gave a bark of laughter and Matilda grinned. “And I paid a penance of six long
boats
,” concluded Alan.

Matilda nodded, still smiling. “
Cheaper than our having to endow two abbeys
! But yours was
a
generous gift to the king
,
and an example of one of those things I was referring to before. Overcoming an invasion by the Danes all by yourself!”

Alan laughed. “My queen, I didn’t have the resources to man the ships, and they do no good sitting rotting on the beach.
It is b
e
tter
to have the king think he owes me a favour! We all need those
favours
at some time
,
and it did distract him from
the question of our marriage
!
”
Here he put his hand on Anne’s arm and continued in a somber tone
.
“As to the Danes, I wasn’t standing in front of them all by myself. The
sheriff
of Essex
was sitting safe behind the walls of Colchester while Lexden and Winstree Hundreds were devastated. Villages
were
burnt
;
women
were
raped. Men, women and children killed. Thegns
were
impaled and tortured to death. None of the ‘civilised’ rules of warfare apply in such cases. Every man in the south of the Hundred
came
, and most of those from the north and east, even the slaves
came with what they had
- except the men from fitzWymarc’s villages
.
They wielded s
word, bow, spear, hay-forks
and
sharpened sticks. They fought for their very lives
and those of their families, and
they
fought well. We planned, set an ambush and defeated a larger force of professional warriors
- a
t considerable cost. We took the longships and rescued hundreds of English captives being carried into slavery,” he concluded.

“That’s the dichotomy I was talking about,” replied Matilda. “Just about every man I know would be crowing about his victory. You are concerned more about those lost. And fitzOsbern tells me you had a recent successful action in Wales, which has his admiration as all he manages to do is lose men in ambushes. How did you manage that?”

“Well, I must say that I am rather more proud of that raid than of the defensive battle at Wivenhoe,” said Alan modestly. “I run a
really
good ambush myself. As for
the
success in Wales? I obtained good information about their land and where their men were.
I m
ade sure they didn’t know where we were or what men we had available
- we arrived secretly and struck immediately
. My men are well trained. We cut up a large Welsh raiding force a couple of nights before, which substantially reduced the men they had to oppose us.
W
e went over the border like an Act of God
- f
ast and hard, with a clear plan and clear objectives. I had a firm talk to Idw
allon, the Cantref l
ord, and he understands the need to leave my lands alone.”

“Didn’t your intercepting the Welsh raiding party alert them to the presence of your men?” asked Edith.

“None returned to tell, my
l
ady,” replied Alan dryly. “That was part of Idwallon’s lesson. One of his sons
fell
in the raiding party.”

“And William tells me that you think we need a navy?” asked Matilda.

Alan nodded. “The Irish raid our west coast. The Norwegians raid Northumbria and the Danes raid East Anglia. All do so several times each sailing season. They come over when they get bored at home and going raiding is the national pastime for all of them. Fifty longships, spread between Chester and Bristol in the west and York, Ipswich and Colchester in the east
,
can stop those raids by making it too costly for them. Fifty ships would also allow us to harry any invasion fleet if the Danes come. Otherwise we just sit on the land and try to guess where they are going to land next, always arriving too late.”

“
That would be t
oo damned expensive,” said William. “
50
ships at
30
or
40
men each is
2,000
men.”

“And the cost of the ships. Merchant ships are useless and we need longships, and the cost of swords and cross-bows,” agreed Alan. “Still, you’re receiving a lot in port taxes and the
geld
this year will bring in what…
£
50,000
?
More? The merchants can be levied to contribute to the cost.”

William scowled at being told how to spend his money and looked away. “Come, my dear. The servants are bringing out the food and setting up the tables and we’ve some others to talk to.”

Matilda smiled at Alan and Anne. “I look forward to having further discussions. And I’ve heard how wonderful your music soirees are, my dear,” patting Anne’s arm. She chatted with the other English ladies in Anglo-Saxon for several minutes, being of English descent she could speak the language fluently although with a Flemish accent, before allowing herself to be led away.

“
H
ow much would it cost?” asked
Queen
Edith with interest, also in Anglo-Saxon
English
.

“Probably
£10,000
to buy
the ships and weapons. That’s a once off expense that could probably be halved by having the ports contribute a certain number of ships each, together with those lords who have their demesne close to the sea. Many of the Norman lords donated substantial numbers of transport ships a couple of years ago. The ongoing cost would be less
-
2,000
men at a shilling a week, say
just over
£5,000
a year.”

Edith reached out and patted Alan’s arm. “It’ll never happen, my dear man.
The idea is good and the cost is modest- but William is a soldier not a sailor
and he’s not used to living
on an island. He has a continental frame of mind and doesn’t think in terms of protecting coastline or shipping. He’ll increase the town garrisons, even though that won’t work and will be just as expensive.
It’s a g
ood idea
,
though
not likely to be adopted
. Now shall we go and sit at table?”

The meal was a typical Norman feast
, with f
a
irly simple food and lots of it-
heavy on boiled and roast meats and vegetables, beef, pork and chicken. Here at the table of one of the ‘high and mighty’ they had additional delicacies such as peafowl, duck, swan and venison, roasted or braised in broth. The food was relatively simply prepared and presented with a range of spiced or herbed sauces and gravies. At this table at least there w
ere
fine French wine
s
from the Loire and Bordeaux, red and white, and the ever popular honeymede and ale. Th
e
men and women at Edith’s table were mainly English middle-level thegns, sheriffs, household officials and their wives,
all
known for their loyalty to King William. Apart from Alan there were also several other Normans including Roger Bigod and his wife Alice, William Peverel and his newly married wife
Ade
lina
of Lancaster, Bernard de Neufmarche and
Aubrey de Vere.

“My lady, last time we spoke you mentioned you were considering leaving public life,” said Alice.

“That’s true,” replied Edith. “I’ve had enough of pub
lic life. I married Edward in ’
45 and, apart from the year he forced me into a nunnery when he exiled my father, I had to deal with the tribulations of a husband who was a weak king and interested in little other than religion. Twenty years of a loveless marriage to a celibate man who hated me because of my father and what he did to Edward’s brother. I was willing enough, for the sake of the kingdom, but he would have none of it. A man with little interest in the kingdom he ruled, or its people. I did what I could to ensure proper rule.
On Edward’s
death my brother
Harold
was crowned, and within nine months he and three of my other brothers were dead. Last month my mother Gytha Thorkelsdottir, Godwin’s widow, encouraged the people to revolt, including my own town of Exeter.

“I’ve had enough and done enough
!
Godgifu is a friend of mine and
is
abbess at Wilton. I’ll take the veil and retire into a quiet and contemplative life in comfortable surroundings. I’ll bestow some of my lands on favoured servants, such as Azur here, and some on the abbey, while retaining a few to provide life’s comforts until I bequest them in my will
- a
fter all, I have no children. England needs only one queen
,
and that’s now Matilda,” she concluded.

“Perhaps if you left that d
ecision for a little while, my l
ady,” suggested Alan. “Your intercession in the conflict at Exeter last month was important both for its people and the kingdom. Both the king and the people respect you.
D
ifficult times lie ahead.”