Baron of the North (27 page)

Vikings continued to raid the rivers and isolated villages of England for centuries. There are recoded raids as late as the sixteenth century along the coast south of the Fylde. These were not the huge raids of the ninth and tenth centuries but were pirates keen for slaves and treasure.  The Barbary Pirates also raided the southern coast.  Alfred’s navy had been a temporary measure to deal with the Danish threat.  A Royal Navy would have to wait until Henry VIII.

The Welsh did take advantage of the death of the master of Chester and rampaged through Cheshire.  King Henry and his knights defeated them although King Henry was wounded by an arrow.  The king’s punishment was the surrender of 10,000 cattle.  The Welsh did not attack England again until King Henry was dead!

Matilda was married to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry, in 1116 when she was 14. They had no children and the marriage was not a happy one. When William Adelin died in the White Ship disaster then Henry had no choice but to name his daughter as his heir however, by that time she had been married to Geoffrey Count of Anjou, Fulk's son and King Henry was suspicious of his former enemy's heir.  His vacillation caused the civil war which was known as the Anarchy.  However those events are several books away. Stephen and Matilda are just cousins: soon they will become enemies.

An early Great Helm.  Basically it was a conical helmet with metal instead of an aventail and a fixed mask.  Later on they became more elaborate.

In the high middle ages there was a hierarchy of hawks.  At this time there was not.  A baron was supposed to have a bustard which is not even a hawk.  Some think it was a corruption of buzzard or was a generic name for a hawk of indeterminate type. Aiden finds hawks' eggs and raises them.  The cadge was the square frame on which the hawks were carried and it was normally carried by a man called a codger.  Hence the English slang for old codger; a retainer who was too old for anything else. It might also be the derivation of cadge (ask for) a lift- more English slang.

Gospatric was a real character.  His father had been Earl of Northumberland but was replaced by William the Conqueror.  He was granted lands in Scotland, around Dunbar. Once the Conqueror was dead he managed to gain lands in England around the borders.  He was killed at the Battle of the Standard fighting for the Scots. I have used this as the basis for his treachery. He was succeeded by his son, Gospatric, but the family confirmed their Scottish loyalties. His other sons are, as far as I know my own invention although I daresay if he was anything like the other lords and knights he would have been spreading his largess around to all and sundry!

The incident with Bishop Flambard being held captive is pure fiction.  However he died in 1128 and there was a great deal of unrest while King Henry was away in Normandy.  The Gospatric family did show their true colours when the Scottish king tried to take advantage of the internal strife between Stephen and Matilda and invade England.  A leopard does not change his spots. The land between the Tees and the Scottish lowlands was always fiercely contested by Scotland, England and those who lived there.

Hartburn is a small village just outside Stockton.  My American readers may be interested to know that the Washington family of your first President lived there and were lords of the manor from the thirteenth century onwards.  It was called Herrteburne in those days. In the sixteenth century the family had it taken from them and it was replaced by the manor of Wessington, which became Washington.  Had they not moved then your president might live in Hartburn DC!

Books used in the research
:

The Varangian Guard- 988-1453 Raffael D’Amato

Saxon Viking and Norman- Terence Wise

The Walls of Constantinople AD 324-1453-Stephen Turnbull

Byzantine Armies- 886-1118- Ian Heath

The Age of Charlemagne-David Nicolle

The Normans- David Nicolle

Norman Knight AD 950-1204- Christopher Gravett

The Norman Conquest of the North- William A Kappelle

The Knight in History- Francis Gies

The Norman Achievement- Richard F Cassady

Knights- Constance Brittain Bouchard

Griff Hosker July 2015

If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?

Ancient History

The Sword of Cartimandua Series
(Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)

Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)

Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua

Book 2 The Horse Warriors

Book 3 Invasion Caledonia

Book 4 Roman Retreat

Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch

Book 6 Druid’s Gold

Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters

Book 8 The Last Frontier

Book 9 Hero of Rome

Book 10 Roman Hawk

Book 11 Roman Treachery

Book 12 Roman Wall

The Aelfraed Series
(Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.

Book 1 Housecarl

Book 2 Outlaw

Book 3 Varangian

The Wolf Warrior series
(Britain in the late 6
th
Century)

Book 1 Saxon Dawn

Book 2 Saxon Revenge

Book 3 Saxon England

Book 4 Saxon Blood

Book 5 Saxon Slayer

Book 6 Saxon Slaughter

Book 7 Saxon Bane

Book 8 Saxon Fall: Rise of the Warlord

The Dragon Heart Series

Book 1 Viking Slave

Book 2 Viking Warrior

Book 3 Viking Jarl

Book 4 Viking Kingdom

Book 5 Viking Wolf

Book 6 Viking War

Book 7 Viking Sword

Book 8 Viking Wrath

The Anarchy Series England 1120-1180

English Knight

Knight of the Empress

Northern Knight

Baron of the North

Modern History

The Napoleonic Horseman Series

Book 1 Chasseur a Cheval

Book 2 Napoleon’s Guard

Book 3 British Light Dragoon

Book 4 Soldier Spy

Book 5 1808: The Road to Corunna

Waterloo

The Lucky Jack American Civil War
series

Rebel Raiders

Confederate Rangers

The Road to Gettysburg

The British Ace Series

1914

1915 Fokker Scourge

1916 Angels over the Somme

1917 Eagles Fall

Combined Operations series 1940-1945

Commando

Other Books

Great Granny’s Ghost
(Aimed at 9-14 year old young people)

Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul

For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at
http://www.griffhosker.com
where there is a link to contact him.