Defiant Unto Death (61 page)

The Prince of Wales, raiding far and wide across the south, expected his father to land in the north but this invasion was postponed and King Edward, knowing that the French King had now gathered a great army, believed his son would be unable to beat the might of the French forces set against him. A messenger was sent allowing the Prince to surrender with honour and return home – in my story, knowing the English King had many connections to Italy, I created the character Father Niccolò Torellini. Historians may disagree as to whether the Prince was making a run for it when the French army caught up with him, but evidence suggests that he chose his place to fight. And chose it carefully.

The outcome was the Battle of Poitiers, probably the greatest defeat the mighty French army would ever suffer. Unlike Crécy the English and Welsh archers could not be as effective owing to their lack of arrows. Poitiers was a fight between men-at-arms slugging it out like heavyweight contenders. In simple terms the English were always better led and always had been, and were loyal to one commander – their King – whereas the French fought for glory and family honour. Their courage was recognized by all, but their lack of cohesion in battle fractured them into defeat. King John's splendid bravery was recognized on the battlefield. He wielded his battleaxe and was nearly brought down in the thick of the fighting. His fourteen-year-old son Philip stood at his side and cried out warnings as his enemies attacked. The biggest mistake John made was to have his main force make their attack on foot. He clearly thought to copy the English success at Crécy but failed to grasp that the English were stout in defence – on foot. They were not obliged to trudge uphill to confront their enemy. The French were ill suited to the task. The Dauphin fought on foot once the French cavalry had punished the English lines, but then, when the King had him sent from the field for his own safety, the Duke of Orléans – the King's brother – also took his troops away. No one is clear why this happened. Cowardice or misunderstanding? Either way it probably cost the French the battle.

In a final, daring bid for victory Prince Edward ordered his Gascon commander, Jean de Grailly, to ride with a hundred men behind the French lines. When the banner of Saint George was seen at the rear of the French the Prince risked everything by stripping his men from the ranks on the ground and using every man capable of riding a horse to attack the main body of the French army. This action decided the battle.

After Poitiers large numbers of the English army were set free from their commitment and turned to what many soldiers did throughout history when faced with a lack of war: they found employment as soldiers of fortune. These hordes of routiers scoured the land and the Italian poet Petrarch wrote after visiting France that
Everywhere was grief, destruction and desolation … scars of defeat.

The gateway to Italy lay open. The powerful and ambitious Visconti of Milan were the dominant power. The mostly German and Hungarian mercenaries they employed added to the prevailing anarchy. Many Englishmen, guided by monks across the Alpine passes, went into Italy to become
condottieri
fighting for Florence against the anti-papal Milanese.

And this became Thomas Blackstone's journey also.

David Gilman

Devonshire

2014

www.davidgilman.com

www.facebook.com/davidgilman.author

F
RANCE
, 1356

Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crécy when Thomas Blackstone and his fellow archers stood their ground and rained death on the steel-clad might of French chivalry. Blackstone left that squalid field a knight.

Now, Blackstone commands a war band and has carved out a small fiefdom in northern France. But the wound of war still bleed and a traitor has given the King of France the means to destroy first his family, and then the English knight himself.

As the traitor's net tightens, so the French King's army draws in. Blackstone will stand and fight – in pitched battle and in single combat. He will defy his friends, his family and his king. He may yet defy death, but he can't defy his destiny:

Blackstone,

Master of War.

“Page-turning and gritty.”

Daily Mail

“Gilman does heart-pounding action superlatively.”

The Times

D
AVID
G
ILMAN
enjoyed many careers, including firefighter, soldier and photographer before turning to writing full time. He is an award-winning author and screenwriter.

Visit his website:
www.davidgilman.com

Like him on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/davidgilman.author

1 – Master of War

E
NGLAND
, 1346

Amid the carnage of the 100 Years' War – the bloodiest conflict in medieval history – a young English archer confronts his destiny.

For Thomas Blackstone the choice is easy – dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king's invasion.

Vastly outnumbered, Edward III's army will finally confront the armoured might of the French nobility on the field of Crécy.

It is a battle that will change the history of warfare, a battle that will forge a legend.

Master of War
is available
here
.

2 – Defiant Unto Death

F
RANCE
, 1356

Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crécy when Thomas Blackstone and his fellow archers stood their ground and rained death on the steel-clad might of French chivalry. Blackstone left that squalid field a knight.

Now, Blackstone commands a war band and has carved out a small fiefdom in northern France. But the wound of war still bleed and a traitor has given the King of France the means to destroy first his family, and then the English knight himself.

As the traitor's net tightens, so the French King's army draws in. Blackstone will stand and fight – in pitched battle and in single combat. He will defy his friends, his family and his king. He may yet defy death, but he can't defy his destiny:

Blackstone,

Master of War.

Book 3,
Gate of the Dead
, will be released in spring 2016.

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The story starts here.

First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus Ltd