Warlord of the North (28 page)

The Bishop of Durham, the Archbishop of Canterbury and William Cumin were all real people. I have filled in the back stories of all of them for the purposes of plot but the events could have happened as I describe them.

Anjou was known as Angieus in 1127 and later in the century became Angiers this became Angers. I have used the modern spelling as the twelfth century was a time of great change.

The language we now call English evolved over a long period.  For those interested in it then the book The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg is a superb read. The Ancient Celtic language was changed through the addition of not only Latin words but many from the languages of the auxiliaries who served on the frontier. The Jutes invaded, bringing their words with them and then the Angles and the Saxons. Although I call the language the natives of England speak as Saxon its name is now accepted as Old English.  Most of the functional words in English are still Old English.  When Sir Winston Churchill wrote his 'fight them on the beaches' speech the majority of the words he uses are Old English in origin. The Normans added many words to the English language and Old English became Middle English. If we had the ability to travel back in time then the Middle English of Chaucer would have appeared as a foreign language to us.  It took until Shakespeare's time for it to become closer to the language we use today.

King Stephen did indeed come to the north before Easter 1136 where he negotiated a peace treaty with King David.  The Scots gave up all that they had captured save Carlisle and in return King David's son, Prince Henry, was allowed to keep his lands in Huntingdon. Alfraed's successful campaign is fiction.

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

Knight Templar 1120-1312 -Helen Nicholson

Griff Hosker

February 2016

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 6th 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

Book 9 Viking Raid

Book 10 Viking Legend

Book 11 Viking Vengeance

The Anarchy Series England 1120-1180

English Knight

Knight of the Empress

Northern Knight

Baron of the North

Earl

King Henry’s Champion

The King is Dead

Warlord of the North

Modern History

The Napoleonic Horseman Series

Chasseur a Cheval

Napoleon’s Guard

British Light Dragoon

Soldier Spy

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

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Combined Operations series 1940-1945

Commando

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Dieppe

Other Books

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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.