John of Gaunt: His Mission To Become A King

John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III of England, laid claim to the throne of Castile, through right of his second marriage to Constance of Castile. She was the daughter of King Peter, or Pedro, of Castile who had died in 1369. John had an ally in his quest to claim the throne, the king of Portugal, John I. John I would be married to Gaunt’s daughter, Phillipa, in 1387 and so by the time Gaunt had launched his expedition in the summer of 1386, he would have been in marriage negotiations with the Portuguese king. . Gaunt was an extraordinarily wealthy man, the richest in England. And these riches had made him a target of the wrath of the Peasants Revolt of 1381. John escaped with his life as he was on campaign in the North of England but his Savoy Palace was destroyed and his son and heir, Henry Bolingbroke, had a very narrow escape indeed. An opportunity to escape his continuing unpopularity would be more than welcome and John had more than enough resources to launch his expedition to Castile.

Gaunt and his men landed in Castile in 1386 and made some headway, capturing towns and castles. But it wasn’t long before they found themselves being bogged down and their advance slowed to snail’s pace. Whilst the English forces were being aided by the Portuguese, the Castilians were being helped by the French. Gaunt’s expedition began in the middle of the Hundred Years War. Gaunt’s father, Edward III, had led England to some spectacular successes but in the last years of his reign, his health began to decline and the French, under King Charles V, began to turn the tide. However, by 1386, both countries had new kings. England was ruled by Richard II, Gaunt’s nephew, who became king in 1377 aged 10. And France was now ruled by Charles VI, who became king in 1380. Charles would suffer from mental problems throughout his reign and with Richard II showing little inclination to continuing hostilities, the Hundred Years War fell ino an impasse for several decades and would not be shaken from it until the emergence of Henry V. This, however, did not mean the French did not want to put a dent in Gaunt’s machinations. The last thing France would have wanted was an already powerful English prince becoming a king on the continent and right next door, to boot. The fact he was Edward III’s son would have also made them extremely wary of these latest developments.
As I mentioned, the situation quickly became difficult for Gaunt and his men. Somewhat bizarrely Gaunt had brought his wife Constance, perhaps wishing to see her homeland once again, and his daughter Phillipa. Whilst Gaunt undoubtedly expected to push through Phillipa’s marriage to John I, it seems more than a little odd that he’d bring the two ladies on campaign. The conditions were trying in the extreme. Oppressive summer heat beat down and to lower the spirits of Gaunt’s men, there was a serious shortage of food. Unsurprisingly, this led to discontent and some fingers pointed at Phillipa and Constance for holding the advance up even further.

Gaunt and his forces advanced to Medina Del Campo where the incumbent Castilian king was residing. Rather confusingly, his English title is also John I, the same as Gaunt’s Portuguese ally, so to avoid getting in a muddle, we shall call him Juan. The situation for Gaunt didn’t particularly improve as they reached the Del Campo region. The French had laid waste to the surrounding area so hopes of finding sufficient food and provisions were dashed.

The English horses began to grow weak, listless before they eventually died and disease began to set in amongst the men. Perhaps with desperation beginning to set in, a number of English knights broke away from the main force and headed towards the town of Villalpando where a French garrison was stationed. Absolutely nothing was gained from this. The exhausting heat, with sand and dust being blown in the knights' faces making their thirst even greater, meant the fighting was reduced to an absolute mininmum. The knights returned rather dismally to their camp where more than a few contracted fevers and died miserably.

By this stage, Gaunt would have been extremely exasperated. Grapes became a main staple of his men’s diet and large amounts of wine was consumed. Obviously, wine would do nothing for their dehydration but by this point, the English knights and soldiers may have been drinking to forget rather than quench their unspeakable thirst. Dysentry and other horrid diseases now inflicted the army and, again unsurprisingly, the soldiers turned their frustations towards the leader of the expedition, Gaunt. They accused him of leading them to their deaths and it’s not difficult to see why they felt that way.
Finally, Gaunt could see nothing else for it but to sue for peace with King Juan. Juan was more than ready to agree to this but only if the knights would leave his kingdom as soon as they were fit to leave. The English were more than happy to agree to this. Before his soldiers departed, Gaunt paid what was owed to them or at the very least made generous promises of payment and so his men went their separate ways. King Juan may have been relieved at their departure but in reality his throne had never been put in serious jeopardy.

As for John of Gaunt, his attempts to become a king had failed dreadfully. But when he returned to England, he found a country in turmoil as Richard II’s reign went from bad to worse. And this provided John with an opportunity to enhance his poor reputation with the English population. And for the remainder of his life, he’d be a prominent figure in English politics.

The First Crusade p.1 : Bound for the Holy Land

 In 1095, Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade. He toured France, spreading his message far and wide. At Clermont, Urban preached powerfully to the French people. But what exactly did the pope want from the Christians of Europe? Well, in a letter written to the people of Flanders, Urban made it clear. He tells of the trials and tribulations of Christians in the East from messages of woe that had been sent to him from the Eastern Roman Emperor, Alexius I Komnenos. Urban tells of churches being destroyed by the Seljuk Turks and, even more disastrously for Christianity, that Jerusalem had been seized by the Muslims. Urban made it plain in his sermons that what he asked was no easy undertaking. “Brothers, you must suffer many things in the name of Christ, wretchedness, poverty, nakedness, persecution, need, sickness, hunger, thirst and other things of this kind”, so the pope was making no pretenses of what lay ahead. But he assured his would be holy army that the spiritual benefits far outweighed any temporal suffering.

Urban’s words had the desired effect. The men of Clermont, on hearing these sermons, stitched crosses, made out of any material available, to themselves and almost immediately made preparations for the long expedition. One man, by the name of Bohemund of Taranto was busy laying siege to an Italian town when he got word of the crusading fever that was beginning to seize Europe. He began to make enquiries as to what was happening. When he learned that this was very much a serious expedition, he left the siege and returned home to prepare for his own journey to the East. Bohemund would be one of the leading figures of the Crusade. Another prominent figure in 11th century Europe to heed the call from Urban and Alexius was Robert, Duke of Normandy. He was the oldest son of William The Conqueror and brother of William II of England. To help finance his expedition, Robert effectively handed over his Duchy to William in return for payment. This didn’t go down too well in England as the king imposed a heavy tax to pay for this transaction.

Not only would the journey prove a long one for the Crusaders but it would also prove to be riddled with dangers for both them and communities of innocent people including Jewish men, women and children who felt the full force of rabid and vitriolic antisemitism as crusading fever began to sweep the continent. More on that in a moment. Hugh, brother of King Philip I of France, also made the journey. He led his forces through Bulgaria but with no due care. The army marching in a spread out formation, rather than as a tight unit, and left themselves vulnerable to hostile enemies lying in wait. And so it proved. Count Hugh was taken prisoner before eventually being taken to Alexius at Constantinople. Among the men to follow was a certain Godfrey of Bouillon who’d become the leading light on the Crusade

Accompanying Robert, Duke of Normandy was Stephen of Blois, whose son would become king of England in 1135. Counts, Dukes, nobles of all kinds, men and women, rich and poor set out on this expedition. But how righteous was it? Undoubtedly many, if not all the Crusaders, genuinely believed in their divine mission to free their Christian brothers and sisters in the East from Seljuk oppression and to liberate the Holiest of cities, Jerusalem. But it would be naive to think that, with all the dangers that lay before them, including long travel, enemy attacks, alien conditions, extreme climates and periods of want and hunger, that there was no thought of enrichment on a practical level as well..

However justified or otherwise one may consider the concept of the Crusade, what is in no doubt is some of the hideous cruelty that took place. Pope Urban was not the only voice who held sway over a great many people. A preacher named Peter The Hermit also roused Christians to take up the cross and follow him to the Holy Land. Unfortunately, Peter seemed to attract the worst type of crusader. His forces stole, plundered and murdered indiscriminately. Anna Comnena, daughter of Emperor Alexius and author of The Alexiad, considered the first female historian, refers to Peter as “the cuckoo” and it’s not hard to see why. His crusade, known as The People’s Crusade, descended into chaos. Leaders of Peter’s army argued amongst each other until The Turks had put them to the sword. The most damning aspect of the People’s Crusade though, had taken place in Europe with their hideous treatment of innocent communities of Jewish people, young and old alike. The first attack had been carried out in Cologne against a small band of Jews. Some were beheaded, others suffered terrible injuries, homes and synagogues were burned to the ground. On seeing this, others tried to flee and were massacred and robbed of their possessions, The disgraceful scenes spread. In Mainz, some tried to hide with the Bishop there but were discovered and slaughtered. The elderly, pregnant women, nobody was safe. To spare them any further suffering, parents killed children and then themselves. It’d be easy to think of the 11th century and in particular the Crusades as a time of unjustifiable violence. But it must be said the chroniclers are, almost universally, as disgusted by these scenes as you or I may be today. However, it was important to highlight the atrocities,

Eleanor of Castile

 Eleanor of Castile married Prince Edward, son of Henry III of England, when she was barely into her teens. She herself was the daughter of the king of Castile. Her marriage would prove to be long and successful one with her husband became very fond of her. In the early 1270s, Eleanor accompanied her husband on crusade. It was during the Ninth Crusade that Edward nearly died. An assassin made his way into the Prince’s tent and attacked Edward with a poisoned dagger. Edward managed to fight off his foe but was seriously wounded. A famous story states that it was here that Eleanor saved her husband by sucking the poison out of his wound. This is extraordinarily unlikely. It’s more probable that Edward was saved by the swift actions of his doctors. However what the legend does indicate is that Edward and Eleanor’s relationship was a loving one and, on seeing Edward’s suffering, she despaired greatly.

As we know, Edward survived and in November 1272, whilst still abroad, he got word of Henry III’s death. He was now Edward I. However, he and Eleanor were in no hurry to return home and in fact didn’t set foot in England until 1274. The delay may well be due to Edward still suffering the effects of his near death encounter and the journey could well have been a long and difficult one for him The coronation took place only three months shy of the second anniversary of Edward’s succession. Edward and Eleanor were largely inseparable. She accompanied him on his many campaigns against the Welsh and their son Edward was born at Caernarfon in 1284. This was the future Edward II. There are stories told of Edward playing games and tricks with Eleanor’s ladies in waiting in order to see her. Eleanor is also known to have sent musicians to play for the king. .

However, not everybody was as fond of Eleanor as Edward I. She became unpopular in some quarters with her acquiring lands that some thought had been extorted from Christians by Jewish moneylenders. As a result, her reputation suffered a little. Edward I was also known to be a king capable of real brutality when stamping his authority over his, and neighbouring, territories. Some believe this was actively encouraged by Eleanor herself but this is wholly unfair. Edward was very much his own man. Eleanor died in 1290, possibly of a fever. She had served her husband nobly. Journeying with him far and wide, from the Holy Land to Wales, to Southern France and all throughout England, her loyalty to Edward was not in question. Her death came as a devastating blow to Edward. She had died near Lincoln and on the procession back to London, he famously ordered the Eleanor Crosses to be erected, three of which can still be seen today. Like many of the medieval queen consorts, Eleanor has largely been forgotten but the mark she left on her warrior king husband should always be remembered. Her tomb can be seen at Westminster abbey.

Augustine and his Conversion of the Anglo Saxons

 

 In the year 596, Pope Gregory The Great was, in the words of the Venerable Bede, "inspired by God" to send a group of monks to convert the island of Britain to Christianity. Britain had been taken over in the 5th century by pagan tribes of Germanic origin. Efforts had been made to convert the different groups, including Angles, Saxons and Jutes but more thorough work was needed. However, Augustine and his fellow monks had their doubts over their holy mission. After all, they were entering an island now home to dangerous "Barbarian" tribes. Aware of their doubts, Gregory wrote to them to try and reassure them. 

However, Augustine's reluctance to come to Britain was entirely understandable. Throughout the 5th and oth centuries, the Britons had to withstand numerous foreign invasions but by the 590s, they were now fighting amongst themselves as well. Augustine was coming to an Island in the grip of civil war. Despite this, the calming words of Gregory had the desired effect and Augustine finally came to Britain in 597 where the first audience to receive his message was King Aethelbert II of Kent which Augustine delivered at the Isle of Thanet,

Aethelbert received Augustine and his band of followers in a friendly way and listened to what the monks had to say. However, the king was unsure. He believed Augustine to be earnest in his message but all the same, Aethelbert was reluctant to give up his old pagan traditions. He allowed Augustine to stay in Canterbury and provided generously for his visitors. Aethelbert also allowed Augustine to continue to preach his message freely. But the monks still had some work to do if they were going to be successful in converting the Kentish king to convert to Christianity.

Augustine and his men were given a house to stay in and they set to work immediately. They preached their message to anyone who'd listen  They urged their listeners to reject luxury, When they weren't preaching, they were either fasting or at prayer and it wasn't too long before their message began to be heard. The simplicity and seeming honesty of the lives of Augustine and his followers left an impression on Aethelbert and he too converted to Christianity. This gave Augustine greater freedoms. He was now able to preach further afield and to build and restore churches. Following their king's example, more and more of the people of Kent began to convert.

With the blessing of Pope Gregory, Augustine was consecrated the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine then wrote to the Pope asking for clarifications on a number of matters including what was the purpose of a bishop, why customs varied in different churches in different kingdoms and what should be the punishment for those who robbed churches among a number of other questions. The first two questions in particular are a reminder of how young the Christian church still was.

Realising that Augustine's mission was proving successful, Pope Gregory sent him a number of clergymen to assist in the full establishment of the Church in England. But the Pope also had a word of warning for Augustine. Rumours of miracles being performed by Augustine in England had reached the ears of Gregory and he wrote to him, warning against the danger of becoming too proud.

In 604, Augustine consecrated two bishops by the names of Mellitus and Justus with Mellitus sent to preach to the East Saxons and Justus remaining in Kent. Shortly after this, Augustine died, having named a man called Laurence as his successor. He is buried at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. Although Christianity had touched these shores a century before Augustine's arrival, he can essentially be credited, if you want to call it that, with the establishment of a church in England.

The Origins of The Plantagenet Dynasty

 

Henry II was the first Plantagenet king, the dynasty which ruled over England for more than 300 years. The name Plantagenet comes from a flower that Henry’s father, Geoffrey of Anjou, used to wear. Henry reigned for 35 years. But his succession to the throne had been riddled by complications. Twenty years before Henry became king (in 1154), it was his mother, the Empress Matilda, who was heir to the throne of England.

Matilda had been married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. On his death, she returned to England and the court of her father Henry I but retained the title of Empress. Her second marriage was to Geoffrey of Anjou. The match pleased neither of them but they got on with things and produced children including the future Henry II. Matilda was one of two legitimate children of Henry I and his first wife, Matilda of Scotland who died in 1118. The other child was a boy named William. As well as these two children, Henry I is believed to have sired as many as 24 illegitimate children with various mistresses. Henry probably should have spent more time focusing on producing further legitimate children as in 1120, disaster struck for his son and heir, William.

King Henry and the royal court had been on the continent but were preparing to return to England in the winter of 1120. Henry was to sail on one ship whilst William and other young members of the nobility were to sail on a ship that had been borrowed for the occasion, called the White Ship.

The White Ship soon became rowdy with youthful exuberance as those on board began to thoroughly enjoy themselves as they threw a party. Meanwhile, the more sombre ship carrying the king had already set off leaving the White Ship lagging behind. The now very drunk crew decided that they were going to remedy the fact they were so far behind by sailing at a pace where they could not only catch up but overtake the other vessel.

As you can well imagine, this was an idea fraught with dangers. Some on board recognised the dangers before it was too late. One man by the name of Stephen of Blois claimed to have a stomach complaint and disembarked. It was a sensible decision and saved Stephen’s life. It would also be a fateful one in English history as 15 years later, Stephen claimed the throne ahead of Matilda. Anyway, the White Ship, with its steaming drunk crew and passengers, set sail but almost immediately ran into grave problems. Almost before they had even left the harbour, the White Ship sailed straight into a rock and began to sink into the freezing water. Raucous cheers and laughter now turned into screams of terror and horror. 

William, being the king’s heir, was bundled hastily into a lifeboat and would have survived the disaster had he not acted so bravely and so selflessly. In the midst of all the chaos, he heard the pitiable cries of his half sister, another Matilda (not to be confused with his full sister).  The 17 year old prince ordered the boat to be turned about in order to save the life of Matilda but the boat was swamped as others desperate to save themselves tried to clamber into the boat. It capsized and into the water went William Aetheling. With his death, the course of English history changed forever.

The king and his party returned home safely. However, news soon filtered through about the disaster that had befallen the king in Barfleur harbour, just off the coast of Normandy. The magnitude of the event was not lost on any of the nobility and they were, understandably, frightened of telling the king the tragic news. In fact, so afraid were they of informing the king, the grown men of the nobility shirked their responsibility and instead got a terrified young boy to do the dirty work. When Henry had finally been told, he was devastated. Firstly, on a personal front, he had lost three children in the tragedy. William and two illegitimate children, Matilda, the young woman William had tried to save, and a son called Richard. This was a sorry tale for the king indeed.

But it was also a disaster for the king on a dynastic front too. With his heir dead, Henry had no obvious successor. He had one surviving daughter and a score of illegitimate children. England, at this time, expected a king who’d be able to ride into battle, if needed, and protect the realm from domestic and foreign adversaries. Simply because she was a woman, Empress Matilda would have been considered by many to be an inappropriate candidate for the throne. As time would tell, Henry would not share that line of thinking. However, he still recognised it would be preferable for him to produce another heir or two to secure the crown that had been won by his father, William The Conqueror, and produce a dynasty that would last generations and avoid civil war on Henry’s death which would tarnish his legacy.

Bearing all that in mind, Henry, a widower, did in fact marry again. His second wife was a young woman by the name of Adeliza of Louvain. Try as they might, the marriage failed to produce any children. This is almost certainly Henry’s own fault. Spending too much time with mistresses in his younger years had come back to haunt him. In the middle ages, kings didn’t just need one son; ideally, they’d produce several in the eventuality of premature death.This was a common sense route to take as infant mortality was high. Henry had been unlucky in one sense that William had survived infancy and was becoming a young man when he died but even then, there was no guarantee William would outlive his father. Henry should have produced spares. This is probably the biggest flaw of an otherwise competent and wise king. 

Another reason to suspect that the reason for the barren marriage was Henry’s fault was that, after his death in 1135, Adeliza married again. This time she produced seven children. There was evidently nothing physically wrong with her. Henry’s overindulgence had come back to bite him.

Once it occurred to the old king that no more sons were forthcoming, he had to weigh up his options. He considered, for a time, making one of his illegitimate sons his heir. But, in the end, he settled on his daughter Matilda. One thing that may have swayed Henry in his decision making was that Matilda already had experience in administration. During her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, she had played a significant role in Henry V’s governance, handling petitions and grants. Whatsmore,as I've discussed, after her return to England on Henry V’s death in 1125, she married again, albeit reluctantly, in 1128 to Geoffrey of Anjou and with him produced three sons, including the future Henry II in 1133.

The old king would have been delighted at the birth of his grandson and he showed it too. Chroniclers tell how the king took great pleasure in meeting the baby Henry and he proved to be a doting grandfather. In this little boy, the old king may have recognised a potential stabilising force in English politics as he knew Matilda’s succession would certainly not go uncontested.

Apart from his fondness for women, another of Henry’s vices was his love of lampreys, a type of eel. His doctors had warned him that too many could prove dangerous for him. And so it proved. In 1135, after another overindulgence, Henry became gravely ill. The time had come to ensure a smooth succession to the throne for his daughter. Henry gathered his nobles around his deathbed to ensure they swore loyalty to Matilda. But, deep down, Henry would have known this meant very little. His distrust of them was evident. This was the third time the nobility had been forced to make such an oath and just three weeks after the old king had died, England had a new monarch. And it wasn’t Matilda.

Stephen of Blois was crowned king of England just a few days before Christmas 1135. Almost immediately he faced challenges in his kingdom. The king of Scots, David I, invaded and captured Newcastle and Carlisle. Eager to look proactive to his new subjects, Stephen marched north to deal with the invasion. The campaign was not overly successful however and did little to improve Stephen’s public image. Although he regained control of Newcastle, Stephen settled for an agreement which meant David retained Carlisle. Perhaps Stephen decided he had more pressing priorities. In 1137, he reached an agreement with Empress Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey of Anjou to stave him off, for the time being at least, from capturing Normandy. Stephen largely had Henry I to thank for that. Stephen had inherited a kingdom in a healthy financial state and plenty of men at his disposal so this left him in a strong negotiating position with Geoffrey. However, the situation would change over time.

The following year, in 1138, the folly of Stephen’s weak capitulation to David I of Scotland was fully exposed as David once again invaded the north. There are graphic descriptions of atrocities carried out during this latest invasion. Some are almost certainly exaggerations but all the same these were worrying times for the king of England, Stephen, because of the weak agreement he had made in early 1136, had left the north of his kingdom extremely vulnerable to further attacks. In response to David’s provocation, Stephen led an expedition into the South of Scotland, burning and laying waste to enemy territory. Stephen returned southwards after getting word of trouble in the west country but while he was gone, David once again invaded. But he was defeated by Stephen’s northern nobility at the battle of the Standard. It’s somewhat ironic that Stephen’s biggest success so far is a victory in battle which he was hundreds of miles away from. All the same, it proved that the king did have significant support on his side. This was key for a usurper.

In 1139, Stephen’s rival for the throne, Matilda, finally arrived in England. Again, Stephen attempted to be proactive and besieged Matilda at Arundel. Again, he made a poor and rather weak decision. Rather than continuing the siege and keeping Matilda on the backfoot, he let Matilda slip away and she made her way to Bristol which was the power base of her key ally, her half brother Robert of Gloucester. Stephen now had a serious problem on his hands. In 1140, the king marched northwards to Lincoln which had fallen into the hands of his enemies. Stephen settled in for a potentially long siege. The man who had captured Lincoln was Ranulf, Earl of Chester, who also happened to be Robert of Gloucester’s son in law. Robert too journeyed to Lincoln in a bid to relieve the siege and here, the forces loyal to Matilda and the king’s army met in battle in 1141.

When battle became inevitable, Stephen had one of his nobles, called Baldwin, give a rousing speech to his soldiers. Stephen himself didn’t give the speech due to his weak speaking voice. The king spent the morning before the battle taking mass and asking for divine assistance against his enemies. No help was forthcoming.

To credit Stephen, he did not shy away from the battle and he threw himself into the midst of the throng and fought bravely. His acts so far as king had been largely uninspiring but he would have impressed his men by his conduct at Lincoln. However, he and his army were soon overwhelmed and Stephen was captured.

This now appeared to leave the throne clear for Matilda. With the king now taken into custody at Bristol, Matilda made preparations to journey to London where she’d have herself crowned. Unfortunately, it didn’t prove as straightforward as that for her as the people of London despised her. Matilda was accused of being pompous and insufferably arrogant. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Empress was a little on the arrogant side. She had, after all, retained her imperial title which may be a sign of a slightly inflated ego. But Matilda’s personality would have been criticised regardless of what traits she had. There would have been considerable pushback to the idea of a female ruler. Indeed, Matilda’s reliance on Robert of Gloucester may have given that some credibility. He was the one that was leading the fight against Stephen. However, this does not get away from the fact that Matilda was the rightful heir to Henry I and there’s a good chance, had she succeeded, the civil war may have been avoided or at least not have dragged on as long as it did.

Either way, Matilda was rejected by the people of London and forced to flee. Then, even worse was to follow for her. Robert of Gloucester was captured by forces loyal to Stephen. This was a calamity and Matilda knew it. In the end, if Matilda harboured any realistic hopes of gaining the crown then she needed Robert and his release was agreed in exchange for the release of king Stephen.

This would have been a relief to Stephen but his reign was hardly in a good state. He had been defeated and captured in battle by his enemies and in 1144, he lost Normandy to Matilda’s husband, Geoffrey of Anjou. The rest of Stephen’s reign was dominated by him struggling to stamp his authority on his kingdom as he lost control of places like Worcester. This was a destructive time in English history, known as “The Anarchy”, and not much good can be said of it. One description of the period goes,” a time when Christ and his angels slept.”.

Ironically though, Stephen did make one significant, long lasting contribution to the security of the English crown. A man by the name of John Marshall had been causing the king significant problems and, as a result, one of Marshall’s young sons, a boy named William, was handed over to the king as surety for his father’s good behaviour. However, John almost disregarded this and continued to cause bother for Stephen. There are kings who may well have executed William as punishment for John’s behaviour, despite the fact that William was only 5 years old at the time. There are, sadly, examples of similar situations in the middle ages. However, Stephen spared the boy. It’s said, one day, that Stephen had overheard the little William talking to one of the king’s soldiers, asking to play with his spear. This had touched the king and he took William under his care. William Marshall remembered this kindness and he would go on to become one of the greatest knights in medieval history who, time and again, saved the English crown from calamity. Stephen was a man who had shown himself to be someone who could be self interested and his reign had been weak. But he was also not a malicious man and this act is one worthy of praise.

By this point, we are in the early 1150s and Stephen has another challenger to his reign. This is Matilda’s son, Henry. Henry launched a rather hopeful expedition to overthrow Stephen despite being just a teenager. Again, Stephen shows a side to him that’s not as ruthless as other kings. Rather than having the rather pitiful invasion swiftly dealt with and taking Henry into custody, he simply paid the boy off. Perhaps, by this stage, Stephen was beginning to give up on the idea of establishing a long dynasty of his family ruling over England, weary of years of fighting. And so it came to pass in 1153. A treaty was signed at Wallingford that agreed to make Henry Stephen’s heir, disinheriting Stephen’s own son who died not long after. Although Matilda had never gained the crown that she had deserved, this was the next best thing. Little did she know, her son, the soon to be Henry II, would be the first king of the dynasty that would rule England for over 300 years.

Edwin of Northumbria

 

Edwin was King of Northumbria and reigned between 616-633 and a powerful king he became too with Bede stating that Edwin ruled over all the Anglo Saxon kingdoms apart from Kent as well as bringing under his rule the Isle of Man and Anglesey. Throughout his reign, his kingdom of Northumbria began to convert to Christianity. Part of this was thanks to the marriage of Edwin to a woman from Kent by the name of Aethelburg.  Thanks to the arrival of Augustine in the late 6th century, Kent had become Christian, including Aethelburg. Edwin sought out Aethelburg's hand in marriage but the initial response from the king of Kent, Eadbald, was not wholly receptive. It stated that a Christian woman could not be married to a pagan.  This could have been a problem for Edwin but he showed a good combination of tact and diplomacy and replied to the message stating that Aethelburg and her attendants would be allowed to practise their Christian beliefs without interference. Whatsmore, Edwin promised to consider converting himself once he had further examined the supposed benefits.

In 626, Edwin faced a threat against his life. An assassin was sent by the king of Wessex under the pretence of delivering a message to Edwin. The would be killer was armed with a dagger which had been laced with poison in the hope that if the actual blow or blows of the dagger weren't sufficient then the poison would finish the job. In the skirmish that followed, two of Edwin's men were killed and he seriously injured. That near death experience seemed to have a profound effect on Edwin. His queen gave birth to a daughter soon after whilst Edwin was still recovering and he supposedly prayed for his recovery and had the little girl baptised.

Despite this, Edwin had still not converted fully to Christianity and he was pressed by various quarters to do so. The pope wrote to Queen Aethelburg to exert her influence over her husband and persuade him to become Christian. Edwin certainly would have put great thought into the matter. He was evidently a thoughtful man who would spend hours at a time pondering over matters of great importance whether they be political or otherwise. And, it's safe to say, that converting to Christianity was a matter that would have played on his mind significantly. Finally, in 627, Edwin adopted the new religion. He was baptised by Paulinus, the first Bishop of York.

Nortumbria, throughout the Anglo Saxon age, would be a kingdom that was frequently troubled, both before and after Edwin's reign. But Edwin seems to have been a king who cared about his subjects. Bede tells a story that Edwin would leave bowls near clear springs so that those on long journeys could stop and refresh themselves easily. In the 630s, Pope Honorious I. wrote to Edwin. In the letter, Honorious calls Edwin "a man of most sincere Christian character...which has shone out far and wide".

But whatever the content of a king's character was, these were difficult times. In 633, Edwin's kingdom was threatened by the Britons and it's king, Cadwallon, who were aided by the Pagan king of Mercia, Penda. The Northumbrians met the enemy at the battle of Hatfield Chase where Edwin was killed  as was one of his sons. Another of Edwin's sons was captured and forced to submit to Penda, only to be put to death later on. The battle was a complete disaster for  Northumbria which now fell into a period of division.

Edwin was a ponderous man and some might say indecisive. But during his reign, Northumbria was one of the most powerful of the Anglo Saxon kingdoms. And this was no mean feat. Edwin had faces threats to his life both before and during his reign and challenges were never far away as his defeat at Hatfield Chase proved. But he was a strong and capable king, now long since forgotten.