The Horrors of the Harrying Of The North

 

In 1087, William The Conqueror was on his deathbed. The king was ill at ease and perhaps even riddled with guilt. His mind was thinking back to the events of 1070 when William and his conquering Normans had massacred the population of Northern England. William had faced stiff opposition to his conquest of England, long after the victory at Hastings. He built castles all across the country and dealt brutally with those who revolted against him. Uprisings were more common in the north which William struggled to contain. This explains, though fails to justify, the Normans utterly shocking and repulsive actions of 1070.  Now, as William neared his end, he believed he was about to face judgement from God and fear began to take hold.

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Orderic Vitalis quotes William as uttering these words as he lay dying..."I attacked the English of the Northern Shires like a lion. I ordered their houses and corn, with all their belongings, to be burnt and large herds of cattle and beasts of burden to be destroyed wherever they were found. It was there I took revenge on masses of people by subjecting them to a cruel famine; and by doing so — alas!— I became the murderer of many thousands of that fine race".

Orderic himself wrote of the horrifying events....

"King William cut down many in his vengeance....destroyed the lairs of others and harried the land and burned homes to ashes. Nowhere else had William shown such cruelty. I have frequently praised William but for this act which condemned the innocent and the guilty alike to die violently or slowly by starvation, I cannot commend him.  I would rather lament the griefs and sufferings of the wretched people then make a vain attempt to flatter the perpetrator of such infamy."

Another description of the truly horrendous aftermath of the massacre was written by Simeon of Durham, another medieval chronicler..Simeon wrote..."So great a famine prevailed, that men were compelled by hunger to eat human flesh and also that of horses, dogs and cats and whatever custom abhors. Others sold themselves into slavery to preserve their wretched existence. It was horrible to behold corpses decaying in the street, in houses and in the roads, swarming with worms whilst they were consuming with an abominable stench, for no one was left to bury them."

Despite everything, however, the spirit of the English was not yet broken (and perhaps never was). On the Isle of Ely, William was defied by a small army led by the mysterious and legendary Hereward The Wake. Hereward in particular proved to be a thorn in the side of William for some years and more can be read about him on this blog, in a piece called simply Hereward The Wake. Hereward won the respect of William who called him a most remarkable knight. And that respect wasn’t only reserved for Hereward it seems. William, as mentioned above, called the English population “that fine race” despite them resisting his rule so stubbornly. Whilst William ultimately brought England under control, the English had put up one hell of a fight which, in 1070, had tragic consequences.

The Battle of the Standard 1138

 In 1138, an English army defeated an invading Scottish force at the battle of the Standard. The Scottish king at the time was David I. David was the brother of the now long dead Matilda of Scotland who had been the first wife and Queen of Henry I of England. Matilda was the mother of the Empress Matilda whom Henry I had designated as his heir to the throne of England before he died in 1135. However, Matilda's succession did not go uncontested and she was beaten to the crown by her cousin Stephen of Blois. Very quickly into King Stephen's reign however, trouble began to brew. One of the sources of that trouble was David I of Scotland. David had two motivations for invading Northern England. One, pressing the claims to the throne of England by his niece the Empress Matilda. And two, to capture territories in Northern England.

In 1137,  David made his first move against the usurping King Stephen by invading Northumberland. By January 1138, David moved deeper and deeper into English territory, causing devastation as he and his men marched on. Men, women and children were murdered in cold blood, towns and churches burnt to the ground. Children from high born families were led into slavery in scenes that were reminiscent of the Viking raids of centuries past. Although medieval chronicles were given to exaggerations at times, and sometimes massively so, it's safe to say the conduct of David and his Scottish army was particularly shocking.

King Stephen, who had problems elsewhere in his kingdom, marched northwards and arrived in Northumberland forcing David into a hasty retreat. David did not make a full retreat and instead set a trap, hoping to take the English king unawares. The plan didn't work as Stephen instead marched to Scotland, launching a revenge attack and causing much destruction to the Scottish. David was undeterred and he continued his brutal campaign. He then sent his nephew William to march further southwards, where William and his band of men raided Yorkshire, again killing innocent people regardless of sex or age, again taking young members of the nobility, mainly women, as slaves and where they looted a monastery in Craven.

Boosted by the success of William's raids further south, David continued on his violent campaign. With Stephen preoccupied with matters in the Southwest of England at this time, the English king was now reliant on his northern nobility to save the crown he had won, or stolen, less than 3 years earlier. The nobility quickly made preparations for battle although they did send a small group of men to negotiate with David, offering Northumberland to David's son Henry if the Scottish king left England immediately. The offer was rejected with contempt and battle now inevitable.

The two sides would meet NorthAllerton in Yorkshire and the Battle would be given the name of Standard from a mast that was hoisted upon a cart by the English army on which they hung a container holding the communion bread, hoping for diving inspiration. Also on the mast, the banners of Northern bishops were flown. The battle begun and the Scots quickly sustained heavy losses. And it wasn't long before many of the Scots decided to flee with David I among them. The battle had lasted little more than a few hours.

However, although the victory at the Battle of the Standard had been an emphatic one, and a victory that was received gratefully by the king of England, it was hardly a decisive success. David gathered his forces together again and forced Stephen to negotiate a peace settlement. David was allowed to keep Carlisle and Cumberland whilst his son Henry was given the earldoms of Northumberland and Huntingdon. The result of these negotiations rather sums up what would be a pathetic reign for King Stephen. He had essentially been bullied by the Scottish king. And he had only averted complete disaster because of the military capabilities of powerful northern noblemen. If the Battle of the Standard had been lost, then Stephen's kingdom may have been lost. But his problems weren't over yet. He still had Empress Matilda to deal with yet.

A History Of The Life And Reign of Edward I part 3: Enemies on All Sides

 In the early 1290s, Edward began to turn his attention towards Scotland where he hoped to establish overlordship over England's northern neighbours. In 1292, John Balliol was declared king of Scotland with Edward's approval. John then paid homage to Edward who, satisfied with how the business had been concluded, returned to England. In 1293, tensions rose between Edward and King Philip iV of France. First of all, there was a quarrel in the English channel between French and English sailors. The French appeared to be a disruptive presence as English traders attempted to make crossings over to the continent to conduct their business affairs. Tempers boiled over and eventually fighting broke out. Even though they were heavily outnumbered the small number of English ships inflicted severe damage on the French vessels.

That relatively minor incident was overshadowed in 1294 when the English and French kings became embroiled in a dispute. In what was intended to be a symbolic gesture after the clashes in the channel, Edward surrendered his lands in Gascony to the French crown. In return, Philip IV swore to return the possessions to Edward after a period of 40 days. Philip had made that vow in a solemn ceremony in front of the French nobility. Tentative negotiations were then held to discuss a potential marriage between Philip's sister, Blanche, and Edward, now a widower. However, the marriage never came to pass. Blanche refused to marry Edward. This refusal came about after arrangements had been made for Edward to come to Amiens to meet Philip and for the wedding to take place. Edward, by now, would have suspected some skulduggery on the part of the French king who still held Gascony. and so he refused to attend the meeting at Amiens. Feigning outrage at Edward's absence, Philip publicly declared the English king to be an enemy of France and of all the French people. Edward returned to England where he held parliament where it was agreed that he would now make preparations for war against the French. Likewise, Philip began to strengthen his navy and spent much time and money on building new warships.

Edward's attentions from the conflict with France was temporarily diverted to Wales, which had given him so much trouble in the past, and briefly threatened to go into open revolt again. However, after taking Anglesey, Edward was able to calm the situation and he was in a forgiving mood and treated those responsible with leniency. Shortly after this, an English fleet sailed for Normandy and wreaks havoc along the Norman coastline. In response, a French force caused significant damage along the English south coast before they were eventually driven back. On 27th November, Edward held a meeting, asking for finances for the now seemingly inevitable war with France from his nobility and clergy. However, Edward met with some strong reluctance, particularly on the part of the Clergy who perhaps felt the war could be avoided. Nonetheless, Edward was eventually granted the required money.

But Edward could not afford to be too occupied with the French. In the North, the Scottish were threatening rebellion. Edward wrote to John Balliol asking him to send men to fight in Edward's army that would invade France. But it might be said that Edward was not quite reading the room. Balliol was a king in name only and the Scots knew this all too well. It was Edward who was the true power behind the Scottish throne. Edward's demands were therefore given short shrift by the Scots who wrote back telling the English king, in no uncertain terms, that they were under no obligation to heed his calls for support. On top of this, the Scots then signed a treaty with the French that would become known as the Auld Alliance. With his enemies uniting against him, Edward was now in a potentially tricky situation.

Byzantine Emperors: Justinian II "The Slit Nosed" part one: His First Reign 685-695

 

Justinian II was the son of Emperor Constantine IV and succeeded to the Imperial throne on his father's death in 685. Early in Justinian's reign, Arab envoys were sent to him by their ruler Abd Al Malik who sought peace with the Byzantines. As part of the agreement, Justinian put a halt to attacks on Lebanon. In return, Al Malik offered Justinian payment as well as giving him horses and slaves. Justinian was only 16 or 17 when he became Emperor and he could, at times, be prone to youthful rashness and he was accused of acting before taking the advice of perhaps more experienced men around him.

In a campaign of 688 to 689, Justinian conquered the Slavs, albeit some came over to the Byzantines side without resistance, and resettled those captured in Anatolia where they would provide a significant boost to Justinian's army. Selecting from the Slavic men available, Justinian picked 30,000 men for a "special army". His confidence boosted by this, Justinian then threatened to renew aggression against the Arabs, thereby revoking the peace that had been agreed only a few years earlier..

Having been accused of reneging on the peace agreement, the Arabs came to the Emperor and attempted to persuade him that it had not been their intention to do so but Justinian was having none of it. By this point, he had made up his mind and was ready for battle. In the conflict, Justinian appeared to be gaining the upper hand. That was until the Arabs bribed the general of Justinian's new Slavic army and he deserted the Byzantines along with 1000s of his men. Furious at this dramatic turn of events, Justinian unleashed his wrath on the remaining Slavs and massacred not only the fighting men but their wives and children also.

In 695, Justinian made a Eunuch named Stephen The Persian one of his advisers. This would appear to have been not an overly popular decision as Stephen was accused of being bloodthirsty and cruel. Among his crimes,  Stephen is said to have had innocent men stoned to death and is even said to have been incredibly vicious to the Emperor's mother Anastasia and he had her whipped brutally. Of course, this was done whilst Justinian was away from Constantinople. Stephen wasn't Justinian's only unpopular appointment. Another, that of a man named Theodotos who was placed in charge of the Public finances, would prove to be equally controversial. Heavy-handed enforcement of taxation in Constantinople led to the confiscation of property from wealthy and influential people in the city and even imprisonment and executions. It's fair to say that the driving force behind this approach was pure greed on the emperor's part. As a direct result, Justinian's reputation began to suitably suffer.

It was hardly surprising then that Justinian's deposition was not far away. Being a Roman Emperor in either East or the West could be a very dangerous game, especially if you played fast and loose which is exactly what Justinian had done. His deposition was brought about by one of his generals, Leontius, who became Emperor in his stead. Leontius had spent several years in prison and on his release, he was urged to take the imperial throne. The coup was successful and Justinian was overthrown. However, he made one mistake. Instead of dispatching Justinian, i.e executing him, Leontius merely had the now former emperor mutilated. Justinian's tongue was cut and his nose slit, earning him his rather unpleasant nickname. This, it was assumed, would render Justinian unfit to rule again and he was sent off into exile. As for Stephen The Persian and Theodotos, they too had a brutal punishment lying in store for them; they were burned alive. So Leontius was now emperor but this was not the end of Justinian and he would return...

The Life And Reign Of Edward I part 2: The Years 1274-1290

 

With Edward having finally been crowned king of England nearly 2 years after the death of Henry III, it was time for the 35 year old to settle down to the business of kingship. Around Easter of 1275, Edward presided over his first parliament in which he passed new laws and changed old laws that had proved ineffective. Unsurprisingly, given the state of England's finances during the reign of Henry III and the expenses Edward had accrued during the 9th Crusade, the new king found himself short of money and so, in October of 1275, Edward turned to Parliament for financial assistance. During that same Parliament, Edward passed a law clamping down on Jewish moneylenders who had been profiting from their activities, much to the annoyance of Christians who struggled to pay the money back due to high interest rates. This would not be the last Anti-Jewish move of Edward's reign.

In 1277, Edward sent an army to the Welsh marches to deal with the rebellious Welsh Prince Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd. Edward's campaign proved to be successful. In order to stamp his authority over Wales, Edward began an extensive castle building programme, enlisting the help of Master James of St George, an expert architect. James first helped to oversee the building of castles at Flint and Rhuddlan before, in the 1280s, he constructed castles at Conwy, Harlech and Caernarfon, the latter of which was the birthplace of Edward's son and successor, the future Edward II, in 1284. The success of the campaign seemed to be confirmed when Llywelyn accompanied Edward on his return to London where the Welsh Prince paid homage to the English. The following year, Edward hears rumours that Llywelyn has gone into revolt again but these rumours proved to be false and homage was once again paid to the king by the Welsh. Llywelyn would then marry Eleanor, daughter of Simon De Montfort, with Edward's approval. A few months later, Edward sailed to France to lay claim to Ponthieu. The trip goes according to plan.

Edward enjoyed a period of stability but an old problem once again reared it's head in 1282. That problem was Llywelyn, his brother Dafydd and the Welsh who were once again up in arms and attempting to throw off the suffocating grip of English oppression. This time the trouble was even more serious than it had been previously with the Welsh capturing the castles at Flint and Rhuddlan and causing untold damage elsewhere. At Harwarden, there was terrible indiscriminate slaughter as not only soldiers but innocent men, women and children were caught up in the violence. Edward, perhaps having become a touch complacent, is deeply shocked when he hears the news. The king managed to subdue parts of Wales but Llywelyn senses an opportunity and attempted to make further gains but is killed in battle. His brother Dafydd is captured the following year and he suffers a truly terrible fate. Dafydd becomes the first person, at least on record, to be hung, drawn and quartered. The brutality of this execution must have caused some considerable shock, even in an age where violence was not exactly unheard of. Whilst Edward's castles sent a message that he intended to keep firm control of Wales and its people, the example Edward had made out of Dafydd was a pretty clear indicator to the enemies of the English king what they could expect if they betrayed his trust one too many times.

As mentioned previously, Edward's son and heir, Edward ii, was born at Caernarfon Castle in 1284. Edward's queen, Eleanor of Castile, had been a loyal companion to the king, remaining by his side during his Welsh campaigns, as evidenced by the place of birth of Edward's successor. Edward and Eleanor were a couple who clearly thought a lot of each other and stories are told of the king playing tricks on Eleanor's ladies in waiting so that he could see his wife. In turn, Eleanor would send musicians to Edward to entertain him during times of melancholy. When Eleanor died in 1290, Edward was deeply upset and erected the Eleanor Crosses in her memory. However, Eleanor was not universally popular. Some people accused her of benefiting from the unpopular Jewish moneylenders which may explain Edward's laws passed against the moneylenders as he sought to take some of the heat off his queen. As we've seen examples of already, Edward could be a brutal man and some accused Eleanor of actively encouraging these traits in her husband which is wholly unfair. 

Shortly before Eleanor died, Edward passed the Edict of Expulsion which demanded that all Jews living in England leave the country before 1st November 1290 in one of the most shameful acts of Edward's reign. From the king's point of view, it would have made perfect sense. On the one hand, he could dress it up as though he was protecting the interests of Christians when in reality it was a cynical move to seize Jewish goods and property. Debts that were owed to Jews conveniently transferred to the Crown. Even more tragically, as they heeded the edict, many Jews fell victim to Piracy in the English channel as they lost both the property they had been able to take with them and, in many cases, their lives as well. Jews who remained in England were threatened with execution although some may have converted. Earlier in the reign, Jews had been scapegoated for a crisis which saw English coins being worthless by excessive clipping. As a result, scores of Jews were executed. Whilst Edward is undoubtedly a fine king, overlooking his clearly antisemitic nature would be absolute folly.

Moving into the 1290s, Edward's attention began to move towards Scotland. In fact, it had been whilst travelling northwards to Scotland that Queen Eleanor had died. The English king, having subdued the Welsh, was now fully determined to establish his overlordship of England's neighbours to the North. These campaigns would bring out about their own challenges as two of Scotland's greatest National heroes, William Wallace and Robert Bruce, emerged to defy not only Edward I but also Edward II. The 1290s would also see a rivalry with the French king Philip emerge. More on that in part 3.

The Life And Reign Of Edward I part one: The Making of a Warrior King

 

Edward I was born in June 1239 at the Palace of Westminster. His parents were King Henry III and his queen, Eleanor of Provence. Henry's reign was a long one, too long some might say. Becoming king on the death of his own father, King John, in 1216, Henry would rule for 56 years until his own death in 1272. Just 9 years old when he came to the throne, Henry's crown was at risk of being snatched away from him. At the time of his succession, England had a foreign invader in its midst. This was Prince Louis of France who had been invited to come and take the crown off the hapless King John by the fed up English nobility who had had just about enough of John's incompetent rule. However, with John now dead and a young, innocent boy on the throne, some of the tension eased although Louis didn't give up his claims until he suffered defeat at the Second Battle of Lincoln in 1217 at the hands of the aged but still brilliant knight, William Marshal. Louis, up until that point, was still evidently confident of success as he wasn't even present at Lincoln at the time of his forces' defeat. Louis had divided his army into two with one force marching on Lincoln and Louis leading the other half to besiege Dover. When he heard of the disaster at Lincoln, momentum in Louis' campaign was completely lost and he would have to content himself with a short reign as king of France, when he ruled as Louis VIII from 1223-1226.

Although his crown had been saved, this was hardly the best of starts for a new king. And, unfortunately, Henry inherited some of his father's incompetence. He was particularly lax with finances. One of the more absurd ideas of his reign was to try and put his son, Edmund Crouchback, younger brother of Edward, on the throne of Sicily in the mid 1250s. This idea had been suggested to Henry by the Pope. Eventually, after Pope Innocent IV had died, his successor Alexander IV, demanded Henry pay a huge some of money to cover Papal expenses as the bid to take the Sicilian crown from the hands of Manfred, son of the now dead Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, gradually became more and more costly. Henry's situation was made all the more dire by the fact that before the Sicilian saga had come to pass, he was already in trouble financially. He'd made earlier promises to go on Crusade and had borrowed huge sums of money. However, in Gascony, trouble had kicked off over the heavy handed rule of Simon De Montfort and Henry had been forced to waste the money he had raised for Crusade on quieting Gascony.

As the 1250s became increasingly troubled for Henry III, his son and successor Edward was beginning to grow into a young man. As a child, Edward had a few close shaves. He had several bouts of illness which caused some considerable concern. There was also an interesting story where Edward, by pure luck, escaped being crushed by a huge stone. Edward had been playing Chess with one of his household knights when, for no reason other than perhaps boyish restlessness, Edward stood up and walked out of the room. Within seconds, the stone came crashing down from the roof which apparently would have been enough to kill an adult, never mind a young boy. According to one chronicler, Edward's apparent habit of enjoying good fortune was attributed at the time to him having "the protection of the Lord of Heaven." 

Despite Edward suffering poor health at times in his childhood, he still developed into a famously intimidating figure. He would grow to be 6 foot 2 with powerful legs well suited for riding horses and arms perfect for wielding swords in a most powerful fashion. Edward did have his imperfections however. His left eyelid drooped slightly, something he had inherited from Henry and he spoke with a lisp although he remained a compelling speaker.

In the 1260s, Henry III's problems were growing. Tensions had spilled over between the king and his barons, who were led in their opposition by Simon De Montfort. Aside from his terrible financial situation, Henry had also caused widespread dismay by allowing foreign relatives of both himself and his queen Eleanor to come into England and prosper. Eventually, the barons would defeat a royalist army at the battle of Lewes in 1264 which effectively gave De Montfort control over England for over a year. Edward, a prince now in his mid 20s, had been present at Lewes, fighting on behalf of his father. Early in the battle, Edward caused the barons' army significant damage but Edward then allowed a personal agenda to take over his decision army. Part of the Barons' army was made of men from London with whom Edward had a bone to pick with. Whilst sailing up the River Thames, Edward's mother Eleanor, deeply unpopular with the people of London, was pelted with rocks, vegetables, garbage and basically anything the Londoners' could get their hands on. At one point, the barrage was so serious, the queen came to fear for her life. Remembering that at Lewes, Edward, on seeing the Londoners fleeing from the battle, rashly went in pursuit of them, leaving his father badly exposed. When Edward returned to the field, the battle was lost. In negotiations that followed, in which the king didn't have a leg to stand on, his heir Edward was handed over as hostage to De Montfort.

Edward however was not going to sit quietly and accept his fate as hostage to De Montfort. As his time in captivity wore on, Edward became familiar with his captors, even friendly to a point where they would go out riding together and it was on one of these trips out, that Edward made his daring escape. He managed to manipulate the situation where he was allowed to ride the quickest horse. Seizing the moment, Edward rode off into the distance and returned to his father's side in order to reestablish royal authority over England. This was largely brought about when Edward engaged De Montfort's men at the Battle of Evesham and it was here the rebel Earl of Leicester met his end as his force was absolutely routed. De Montfort's body was hacked to pieces.

With a semblance of calm now restored, Prince Edward vowed to go on Crusade and, unlike Henry, he actually did so. This Crusade would be led by Louis IX of France but the French king would die at Tunis in North Africa after an outbreak of disease. Edward continued the Crusade and headed for the Holy Land where very little was accomplished by the Crusaders. In fact, English history could have been very different indeed because of the Crusade if Edward had not survived an assassination attempt on his life. Whilst camped at Acre, an assassin managed to enter Edward's tent and attacked him with a poisoned dagger. Edward's considerable strength aided him as he fought off the would-be killer but sustained serious injuries. His wife Eleanor had accompanied Edward on the Crusade and was deeply upset by the incident. Edward, as we know, survived but would be left feeling the effects of the attack for some considerable time. Although Edward had been eager for the Crusade to continue, it was clear that there was very little point and Edward's injury made that all the more obvious. Edward finally gave in to the advice of others and began the long journey home.

And a long journey it would be. Edward arrived in Sicily in September 1272 where he was greeted by the king of Sicily. Whilst there, Edward was brought news of the death of his father Henry III. He was now king Edward I of England. It was a bittersweet moment for him as he genuinely grieved the passing of his father. The news however did NOT hasten Edward's journey home. It would seem a fair bet he was still struggling from his Crusading injury. Edward then made a slow progress through Italy where he was greeted warmly far and wide, from city to city. Moving onwards, at Burgundy, Edward was challenged to take part in a tournament which he accepted, evidently feeling better. Edward handled himself more than capably and caused some upset when he through a Count off his horse although, in Edward's defence, the Count had been trying to do the same to Edward but found the new English king to be hard to dislodge from his saddle.

Edward then met the French king Philip III to whom he paid homage for his lands in France. Edward then travelled to Gascony where he put down some further disturbances in the region. Edward FINALLY returned to England in 1274 and in August of that year, he and his queen Eleanor, who had been a loyal companion in his most difficult moments during and after the Crusade, were crowned. In the words of one Chronicler, Edward and Eleanor shone in radiance and glory. Joy at the arrival home of the new king was felt all across England. However, for the country's enemies, perhaps a shudder was felt. Edward would prove to be a truly remarkable king.