Baron's Crusade Read online

  I turned and looked at William. His resigned eyes told me that we had no way out of this and he shrugged. I took a drink of the wine. It tasted fine to me. “And when do we leave, King Henry?”

  “I will return to London. The knights and their men who will accompany you will return here to York. That is the length of time you have to prepare for Archbishop de Gray will arrange the shipping and the equipment you will need. Archbishop Rich will send the funds. You just need to bring your son and your retinue.” He smiled again, “See how all is well planned? And now we had better see de Montfort. I expect that he will have seen enough of your church, de Gray.”

  I did not want to sit in the Great Hall and listen to a baron plead with the King, for the putative Earl of Leicester was obviously a supplicant; I wanted to speak with William but one did not leave the presence of a king.

  Simon de Montfort and the Sherriff returned. I could see that the young knight wished to have a private conference with the King but the ruler of England was his own man and he made de Montfort speak before all of us. I felt sorry for him.

  “Your Majesty, I come here to ask for the hand of your sister, Eleanor, the widow of William Marshal, in marriage.”

  I could see that Archbishop Rich knew nothing of this but the look on the King’s face told me that he knew. “Yet my sister took a vow upon the death of her husband.” He looked at Archbishop Rich, “It was in your presence I believe, Archbishop.”

  “Aye, it was, Your Majesty, and as such is a solemn vow not to be broken lightly.”

  Simon de Montfort coloured, “I have met with the lady and she and I are determined to be wed.”

  I saw the King’s calculating mind, “I am mindful that my sister is young and has yet to bear children. Yet she did make the vow and the breaking of such a vow would need papal approval.” He turned to me. “Sir Thomas, when you deliver my letter to the Pope, perhaps you could ask him for dispensation to allow the marriage to take place.” I nodded. “There, Sir Simon, you would have your answer in less than three months. That is not too long to wait, is it?”

  He obviously thought it was but he was in no position to argue, “No, King Henry.”

  “And then, perhaps, we can see how you can repay us.” As usual in such royal dealings, there was a price to be paid! The King had known what de Montfort would ask and he planned his next move before de Montfort had reached York. My visit to Rome would serve two purposes. “And, perforce, this must remain a secret until all is settled.” He glared at all of us in the room and we all nodded. We could say nothing.

  Before the meeting ended, I made a plea to the King for I knew not the knights I would be leading, “I would ask, Your Majesty, that you impress upon these knights that we need good horses and that, if they have them, they should bring archers as well as well mailed sergeants.”

  His dismissive hand showed that he was not a military man and had not even thought of that, “Of course. You are the expert.”

  “And losses, such as armour and horses will be made good?”

  This was always a problematic area for horses were expensive. The King did not war himself but he knew the cost; King Henry knew the cost of everything! “It has been our policy hitherto and there seems little need to change it.” I knew why he was so generous. It was not his coins that he would be giving to me! The money would come from that raised in all of the churches in England.

  That evening, as we ate, there was a muted atmosphere around the room. Only the King seemed in good spirits. That was because he had achieved his objectives. He had a hold over Simon de Montfort. His brother, Amaury, was one of the most powerful barons in France and an alliance could only help the King. He had offered the hand of peace to the Pope and it would cost him nothing. In fact, he would benefit financially as the ships which were being hired turned out to belong to the King.

  Simon de Montfort sat next to me. I did not know the man but I suspected his motives. He had to have chosen Eleanor, widow of William Marshal, and sought her out. Was he putting himself in line for the throne? I knew that the de Montfort clan was ambitious and so when he spoke with me, I was guarded in my responses. My son, William, was busy speaking with the King and de Montfort kept his voice low and conspiratorial.

  “My lord, how will you be travelling to Rome? By sea?”

  Although I had been taken by surprise at the King’s orders, I had already planned our route. I shook my head, “The sea and the pirates around the Straits of Hercules mean that a journey across land would be preferable. We will travel by ship from York to Calais and then travel across France.”

  He smiled, “That is good for I will give you a letter to take to my brother Amaury. He will give you an escort across France and then a messenger can return directly to me with the news.”

  I was relieved. I did not wish to send one of my own men back. “And if the news is not good?”

  He gave me a sly look. “My brother is not without power and influence. There will be a way. I am convinced that the news will be good.”

  “Then all is well.”

  “I envy you, Sir Thomas. If this matter was not so pressing then I would join King Henry’s young knights on this noble venture. I would have your reputation. If a man makes his name early then his route to the top is assured. It is a lifetime ago and yet men still speak of the hero of Arsuf. What was it like?”

  “The battle or the crusade?”

  “The battle. I would know how King Richard defeated these Muslim warriors. They just use the bow do they not and mounted bowmen can be easily defeated?”

  He had heard of the Turkish horsemen but he did not know how effective they could be. “King Richard did not defeat them. He won Jerusalem and then returned home. This crusade which is demanded by the Pope will, at best, keep Jerusalem in Christian hands for a short time only. And they have other mounted men who are as skilled as any knight in Christendom.”

  His words reflected the views of many knights but I knew different. I thought back to the battle. I still had nightmares for we had thought we had defeated them when the enemy sent men armed such as we.

  The men who charged us were not horse archers. These were armed as we were. They had spears and mail. Their helmets, bayda or egg helmets, had a full mail coif hanging down so that they looked to have a mailed head. They wore a cuirass beneath their flowing robes. With a lance and a curved sword, they had a shield which looked like ours. These were the best that the Seljuk Turks had.

  “They are fanatical warriors, Sir Simon, and their weapons and armour make them hard to defeat. More, the land conspires against us. There is little water and an army must carry all of its food with it.

  He looked at me with new eyes. “You surprise me, Earl, I thought you would have relished the glory and fame.”

  “I lost my father that day and he lost all of his oathsworn knights. Do you think that was a reasonable trade?”

  “No, Sir Thomas, and now I think I begin to understand yet I would still take the cross and ensure my place in heaven!” He smiled.

  The King had been listening and said, I suspect, for the ears of de Montfort for he had already spoken of this to me, “You may tell the Pope that you are but the vanguard of the English contingent. It will take time to rouse English lords. I have hopes that my brother, Richard of Cornwall, might well lead the next contingent but do not say. Be vague.”

  I saw the effect it had on de Montfort. He could marry the King’s sister and travel with the King’s brother. It would move him into the highest echelon of English nobility and guarantee that his name would be known.

  King Henry knew how to be slippery and evasive. I was not sure I could emulate him. I believed in God but I was not convinced, despite the Pope’s words, that heaven was guaranteed to Crusaders. I had seen too much evil for that to be true.

  We did not speak again with the King before we returned home, the next day. He sent one of his pages with the documents we would need. When Sir Simon brought his missive, for his br
other, I knew that we would need a chest for all of the valuable papers we had to carry. We left the documents with the Sherriff. We had not mentioned our mission to our pages and squires. We would do that once we had left York as the road had few ears. Geoffrey and the servants rode behind us with our purchases and as we rode, I told the pages and squires what we had been asked.

  “It goes without saying that you need not come with us. In fact, Henry Samuel, I doubt that your mother would allow you to come.”

  “But, lord, grandfather, I am your page and I am my father’s son.”

  “And that is why she may not want you to go. Fighting just sixty miles from home is less dangerous than the Holy Land. Believe me, I know!”

  I looked at the other three. Matthew, my son’s squire, grinned, “I think I speak for all of us when I say that the chance to go to the Holy Land on Crusade and have all of our sins forgiven is a price worth paying. We would go and I believe we will be the envy of all of the squires and pages who stay at home. As for Sam, my lord, if he comes then we will watch over him.”

  “And while that is noble of you it is not me you have to convince but the Lady Matilda. We will leave that for now. We have much to do and very little time to do it. The journey through France will be hard enough but we will go from the cold of England to the heat of Palestine. It will be hard on the horses. I intend to buy horses for us to take. We have to take servants and they will be those who choose to go on crusade. This is not like the wars we have fought in England. We will be away for, probably, more than a year. Think on that!”

  They were young and they thought not about such matters. To them, it was an adventure and I remembered what I had learned when I had gone with my father. I, too, had not foreseen the dangers and I was the only one who could tell them the truth. No matter what I said they would assume I was exaggerating.

  William smiled, “I know how they feel. As much as I wish to stay with my wife and son this is an opportunity I know comes but once in a lifetime. To take the cross, the Pope has decreed, guarantees a place in heaven. It is not as though we have to capture Jerusalem. It is in our hands already. We just need to hold on to it! I doubt that we will even need to draw our swords.”

  I sighed at his naiveté. “Son, I doubt not the hearts and arms of knights, men at arms and archers who will fight, but it is the leaders I fear. Each will have their own plans and they are all self-serving. King Richard fought with his fellow kings as much as Saladin and one of his allies imprisoned him. That cost England dear! Do not expect nobility, honour or glory. They will not be there. We do our duty and, as soon as we can, we return home.”

  I was prepared for the squall which would hit me in Stockton but not the full-blown gale. “You cannot be serious husband! Has King Henry lost his mind? Sending an old fool and a boy to do that which is the work of an army! Does he not know that you have earned your place in heaven twice over while he squats like a toad in London!”

  I smiled but shook my head at the same time, “Peace, wife. I trust all of our people but if such a tirade should reach the ears of King Henry then things might go ill!”

  “I care not! His father was a fool and an evil fool at that. His son is merely incompetent and after what this family has sacrificed for the crown! It is too bad! You shall not go!”

  I held her hands in mine, “We can rant and we can rave. We can complain but it will do no good for we are ordered to go by the King. William and I were commanded directly by the King. For the rest, I leave it to them. I care not if William and I go alone; we will have fulfilled our obligations but we two have to leave or we risk losing all.” I waved my hand around the hall. “Remember when we came back? We had nothing. You are right we have earned the stones, walls and towers which guard us but they can be taken away on the whim of a King. The Great Charter means nothing to King Henry. It will take another king, as yet unborn, to do anything about the injustices which remain. It will avail us nought to complain. Now let us make the best of what is, you are right, a bad job. I will see my men and ask them who wishes to accompany me. William’s can stay at Elsdon. Alan of Bellingham will have need of them. Lady Mary and young Richard can stay here with you. So long as my family is safe then I am a happy man.”

  She suddenly burst into tears and threw her arms around me. “You are the best of men! I shout, not at you, but the King! All you have ever thought of is your family, your people and your country!” She nodded, “You are right and we should bear our tribulations with nobility but I know one thing, Henry of Winchester will never go to heaven!”

  I spoke with Ridley the Giant, Henry Youngblood and David of Wales before I spoke with my men. I told them of my obligations and pre-empted what I knew was coming, “I will not take you for you are fathers and grandfathers. Besides which, I need you to watch over my family.”

  Henry said, “Lord, we should come. We are the last two of the men you brought from the Holy Land. We were young men then, as were you.”

  David nodded, “Aye, lord, if you return then we should too.”

  I could tell, from their voices and faces, that they did not relish the journey and that they hoped I would change my mind. They were not knights and did not understand my obligations. I said, “I take no man with children or a wife! And you two are grandfathers. I am the leader of this conroi and I have to go. I only take those without obligations and ties to others. Ask our men who wish to come with us. That is if any wish to travel across a continent and endure the heat and arid land that is Palestine!”

  They both laughed and Ridley said, “It will be harder to persuade them not to come. Perhaps you are right, my lord. You would have me buy horses?”

  I nodded, “You and Alan would be best. He knows horses and you know their purpose. Middleham now has some horse breeders who seem to know their business and it is not far. William and I will need three each. Worry not about the cost for the money for them will come from the King, eventually!”

  Ridley the Giant nodded, “When I have spoken with our men, I will ride. I think you are correct to leave your better horses at home, none are young and that is what you need, strong horses which are young and can adapt to the climes.”

  I left my two captains to speak with the men and then went to Alan Horse Master. “I would have you go with Ridley to Middleham. We need many horses.” I handed him a leather pouch filled with coins. We were not poor and I knew we would be recompensed by the King. It was, after all, not his money he was spending; it was the churches!

  I went, after speaking with Alan, to my church. I needed to pray to the Warlord whose body was buried there. Many people would have regarded it as sacrilegious but I was praying to God and using my great-grandsire to pass my message on. It gave me comfort knowing that all of my family was buried here, all save my father. He lay in the land to which I would be travelling. That was one positive to take from this ill-considered venture. When I came out, I saw Matilda, my daughter in law, and Henry Samuel waiting for me. Matilda had been crying and Henry Samuel had his arm around her.

  “What is this, Matilda? Tears? I told Henry Samuel that he would not be travelling with me. Your son is safe.”

  She shook her head and, when she spoke, her voice was on the edge of breaking with emotion, “No, my lord, it is not right that my maternal instincts should stand in his way. We both know that Alfred would have taken him to war. It was his way and he is his father’s son.” She smiled and kissed her son on the cheek. “He is the image of his father.” Turning to me she said, “All that I ask is that you try to keep him safe. I know that you will do your best and I know that war is a fickle mistress. I will pray for him each night.” Curtsying to me she kissed the back of my hand and then went inside my church. She would speak with her dead husband, my son.

  I turned to Henry Samuel who had disobeyed me a little. I had not wanted to take him but he had persuaded his mother, “Sam, your mother needs you.”

  He forced himself upright, “Grandfather, it is a hard choice I have ma
de but I have to have faith that I am a worthy warrior and can come through the trials and tribulations of a crusade. More, my uncle will need me at his side to help to protect you. Family will be more important than you can know. It was you almost saved your father, my namesake. If I can save your life then it will be worth the hurt I have caused my mother. Whatever you say, I am going.”

  The meal that night was a quiet one. We were all behaving as though we were walking on a sea of eggs. For my own part, I was taking in my children, their spouses and their children. Who knew when we would see our families again?

  Chapter 2

  Of course, it was inevitable that my knights and the lords of my manors would hear of the crusade. It was not from my lips but the whole of my valley knew whither I was bound. They came to offer to travel with me. Even Sir Edward who had been wounded and now would war no more offered his services. When he spoke with me, I saw death in his eyes. His son and a future knight, Henry, confided in me that he had the coughing sickness. “I fear, Sir Thomas, that when you return my father will be with God.”

  “Thank you for telling me. I will speak privately with him before I leave.”

  This was the saddest of ends for any warrior. Edward had been at my side since I had returned from the Holy Land and was as dear to me as any of my children. I was touched by the affection I saw from all of my men. I was a lucky man to have such loyalty. I would not have had to order any man to go on crusade. I could have asked while King Henry had to order and that was one of the many differences between us. I made certain that, despite all of my preparations, I spoke to all of them and especially Edward as I was not certain that I would be returning.

  The preparations should have taken weeks but we had only days. The sheer number of men who wished to come with us also made it difficult as I had to tell most of those who offered their services that they had to stay at home and, in the end, I chose just two captains, seven men at arms and seven archers. Along with three servants, they were my whole retinue. There was logic to my choices. We were going as a token and a symbol of England. To that end, we did not need large numbers. In addition, we would have knights sent by King Henry. They would have men with them. I needed a conroi which I could manage. We would be part of a greater whole. The final factor was that they had to be single. That meant that they were, generally, my younger warriors. There were three exceptions. Padraig the Wanderer, Richard Red Leg and Cedric Warbow chose to come. All were either unmarried or their wives and, in Cedric’s case, children had died. I was grateful for the three of them. The grey hairs they shared were a measure of their skill. They had forgotten more than most of my young men knew. Cedric and Padraig would be my captains.