The Re-enactor issue 39PDF

Issue 39 April

Field Piece by Matthew Ryan

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The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England The past is a foreign country - this is your guide.

We think of Queen Elizabeth I as 'Gloriana': the most powerful English woman in history. We think of her reign (1558-1603) as a golden age of maritime heroes, like Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis Drake, and of great writers, such as Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare. But what was it actually like to live in Elizabethan England? If you could travel to the past and walk the streets of London in the 1590s, where would you stay? What would you eat? What would you wear? Would you really have a sense of it being a glorious age? And if so, how would that glory sit alongside the vagrants, diseases, violence, sexism and famine of the time?

In this book Ian Mortimer answers the key questions that a prospective traveller to late sixteenth-century England would ask. Applying the groundbreaking approach he pioneered in his bestselling Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, the Elizabethan world unfolds around the reader. He shows a society making great discoveries and winning military victories and yet at the same time being troubled by its new-found awareness. It is a country in which life expectancy at birth is in the early thirties, people still starve to death and Catholics are persecuted for their faith. Yet it produces some of the finest writing in the English language and some of the most magnificent architecture, and sees Elizabeth's subjects settle in America and circumnavigate the globe. Welcome to a country that is, in all its contradictions, the very crucible of the modern world.

The Re-Enactor Magazine will shortly be offering a few copies of Ian Mortimer’s latest book, A Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England, in a competition!

Dr Ian Mortimer 2

Greetings All

On the way home from a short break in Blackpool I dropped into T.O.R.M at Ryton on Dunsmore, near Coventry, and chatted to various re-enactors and traders. I collected details of at least 10 new traders-so take a look at the latest traders list and see what has been added!

Easter is nearly upon us here in the UK and this is when our re-enactment season really gets going, it’s non-stop from Easter until the end of October This month sees more pictures from Matthew Ryan as well as an interview from him. Thank you from me to Matthew for allowing me to publish his pictures!

Artwork by Matthew Ryan

Features This Month 1: Anglo Irish Tomb Effigy Armour (Part 2) An Experimental Study by Brendan Halpin

2: Competition No.1 3: Book Reviews-The Historical Novel Soc. 4: The Battle of Wakefield Book 5: Matthew Ryan Interview (Artist) 6: Matthew Burnell by Fran Norton 7: Event Listings 8: Folville’s Law by David Pilling 9: Duke of Wellington-Extract (Saul David) 10: Interview with Kristel Mckerringtons 11: Historic Battlefield Tours, Scotland To receive a copy of this magazine just send your email address to: thereenactor@btinternet.com

First Aid Course for Re-Enactors Saturday May 19th The GreenWood Centre, Coalbrookdale, UK For More information: firstaidinfo@btconnect.com

Congratulations to Mark, in the UK, for being the lucky winner of last month’s competitions. Your prizes will be with you soon!

As always, I am on the look-out for more groups, traders, event details, stories, articles and reports.

Please contact me at the normal email address with details!

Editor.

thereenactor@btinternet.com Competitions: All competitions are free to enter Winners will be selected at random on the 24th of each month for the relevant competition.

Winners will be notified via email shortly after the draw takes place.

No correspondence will be entered into.

The editor’s decision is final.

Editor’s Choice Take a look at the following link, a really interesting article on jousting saddles produced

by Ancient Traders in Texas, U.S.A. http://thejoustinglife.blogspot.com/2012/02/trevo r-aubrey-of-ancient-traders.html The views and opinions expressed in the articles in this ezine are those of the individual authors themselves and not those of the Editor.

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ANGLO-IRISH TOMB EFFIGY ARMOUR: AN EXPERIENTIAL STUDY BRENDAN HALPIN B.A M.A PART 2 In the first part (published last month) I introduced the Anglo-Irish tomb effigy armour and attempted to come to reasonable conclusions as to how it was constructed and its protective properties, through a series of tests and comparisons. In this part I would like to take what those test suggested and combine it with what is already known about warfare in medieval Ireland and attempt to assess its role in combat and how it relates to other aspects of war in the Island.

USE OF THE ANGLO-IRISH ARMOUR Despite its unusual appearance all the tests suggest that the Anglo-Irish armour is feasible and could easily have been developed from the earlier Coat-of-plates; with the design changing to better suit warfare in Ireland. When coupled with documentary evidence for combat on the island, it is possible to make suggestions as to how it was used.

The Anglo-Irish armour seems to have been designed with the culture of raiding in Ireland in mind and as such it is important to examine why this style of warfare was used.

Cattle raiding and skirmishing were the main means of conducting warfare in Ireland, this related in part to the low population density in Ireland and the culture of warfare dating back to before the arrival of the Vikings. Through-out the medieval period Ireland had a relatively low population, which can be seen in the chronicles were there are accounts of Lords fighting over tenants or even abducting them (Simms, 1975, p. 99). Because of this large armies were generally neither practical nor desirable; a large army would simply result in a higher death toll and there was no point conquering land and being left with no one to work it. Raiding was a way of asserting dominance over a neighbouring lord without the need for excessive violence and death, and this can be seen in the Irish Chronicles with regular reports such as 'a great rout in which six men were killed' or 'ten men and eleven horses captured' (ibid. p. 101).

There is much evidence to suggest that the tradition of raiding in Ireland dates back to at least the Iron Age, with stories such as the 'Táin Bó Cúailnge' or 'The Cattle Raid of Cooley' still present in modern Irish culture. Alongside the tradition of cattle raiding came the 4

preference for skirmishing and the refusal among the Irish to meet an enemy in an open battle. Speaking during Edward the Bruce's campaign in Ireland in the early 14th Century John Barbour described the Irish fighting style; “Unless they choose there is no one there to fight, our custom is to pursue and fight and fight when retreating, and not to stand in open conflict until the enemy are defeated” (Simms, 1975, p. 98). Similarly, even in the late 16th century, Richard Stanihurst said of the Irish that “in broad daylight they plunder the goods of their enemy and his kingdoms, driving off all the cattle from his entire territory” (Barry, p.

16). Because of the widespread use of raiding and skirmishing and a general refusal to fight in open battle, the Anglo-Irish lordships had to learn to adapt to the Irish style. The only way to force an army using guerrilla tactics to take to an open field is through brutal attacks on civilian populations, which is exactly what would happen in Munster and Ulster in the late 16th century and led to the plantations. The Anglo-Irish lords of course did not have the kind of power and resources to build an army big enough, and even if they had they would be left with empty land with no one to farm it, making such extreme tactics impossible, therefore the only realistic way to fight the Gaelic Irish was to fight like them and resort to raiding and skirmishing, which they did with great relish, becoming 'more Irish than the Irish themselves' by the time of the 15th century.

It was in this environment of warfare that the Anglo-Irish Armour developed and was used and it is possible to see reasons for this. Compared to plate armour the Anglo-Irish suit would be quick to put on and if being raided by an enemy this is a characteristic that would be important to any Irish lord. Full plate armour could take between 15-20 minutes to put on and needed the assistance of a squire to buckle and tie the armour together. Although the full Anglo-Irish harness consists of plate arms and legs which would have to be tied on, and overall would only take a few minutes less to put on the complete suit, the torso armour could be put on in seconds, secured with a single buckle if needed and without help, while still offering the wearer a great deal of protection. Given that during a raid time would be very much of the essence this factor cannot be dismissed and has to be seen as an advantage for the Anglo-Irish armour in Ireland.

It seems likely that the greatest advantage the armour had over European-style plate armour is comfort when traveling. Properly fitted plate armour will not rub or chaff the wearer and leaves him with a full range of normal movement (Loades, 2010, p. 136), but it does not allow him to flex or stretch, exactly the sort of movement one would want to make 5

during a long day's travel. Elsewhere in Europe it might have been possible for nobles to travel without armour even while on campaign because they were unlikely to be attacked until both armies were ready. In Ireland because of the terrain and the nature of warfare based on raids an army would have to be ready to fight at a moments notice. Most skirmishes in medieval Ireland were a result of the raiders being spotted and intercepted before reaching their destination, or caught while fleeing with their plunder (Simms, 1975, p. 103). Even at night armies could engage, with one Anglo-Irish Chronicler describing the Irish as “good watchers in the night, as good soldiers by night as others by day” (O' Cleirigh, 1996, p. 183).

The Anglo-Irish armour, worn with normal plate arms and legs, as shown on the effigies would allow a noble to take part in a raid while remaining very well protected and avoiding the discomfort of wearing a plate cuirass for a long time (possibly days, depending on how far they had to travel). Both these factors; the speed with which the armour can be donned and the comfort, are features of the other most popular form of armour for the nobility in Ireland. From my own experience I can say that a gambeson and maille hauberk could be put on in as little as a minute, if the gambeson was left unbuckled and there was someone to assist with the maille. As for comfort when traveling this form of armour would lend itself to being worn over a long time; it keeps the wearer warm, dry, and able to stretch and flex as much as they want. Having worn maille for over 8 hours at a time I can attest to the fact that it causes no major discomfort over a long period. It is not certain that either the Anglo-Irish armour or the gambeson and maille combination were popular due to these factors but they are not something that can be dismissed and are possible reasons for the apparent lack of popularity of plate armour.

Having defined both how the armour seems to have been constructed and the climate in which it was used it is now possible to attempt to fit the armour into a battlefield role and come to some conclusions as to its use. The nature of the overlap makes it unlikely that it was being used on horseback, while offering greater protection than a coat-of-plates for a man on foot. The rarity of heavy cavalry in Ireland, due to the terrain (with a lot of hills, bogs and other broken land) and the skirmishing tactics prevalent throughout the medieval period provides more evidence to suggest that the armour was used unmounted. Gerald of Wales, in his work the Conquest of Ireland, when talking about terrain said; “In France war is carried out in campaign country, here (Ireland) is rough and mountainous; there you find open plains, here you find dense woods” (Simms, 1975, p. 99). This description makes it clear that heavy cavalry would not be ideal in much of medieval Ireland. Although (Illustration 17) shows 6

Heavy Cavalry sent from England, under the command of Richard II, to fight Art McMurrough-Kavanagh, the King of Leinster, it also shows the disadvantage they had in Ireland; they could only fight on open, reasonably level ground. Lighter forces could attack from rough areas and quickly retreat, tactics that Art and other Gaelic lords were very successful with. Other areas in Europe that never adopted the heavy cavalry-orientated model include the Scottish Highlands, Wales and the Swiss Cantons, all location with roughly similar terrain (Kagay & Villalon, 1999, p. 46). Because of this, most Anglo-Irish lords used to warfare in Ireland and often indistinguishable from the Gaelic-Irish adopted these tactics and abandoned the heavy cavalry which was favoured elsewhere in Europe. What all this seems to point to is that the Irish nobles equipped with this armour were fighting as heavy infantry, probably riding to the battle but dismounting for the actual combat, a role that is often termed 'mounted infantry'. This fits in with the picture already established of combat in Late Medieval Ireland where the Galloglass acted as a 'castle of bones' (O' Cleirigh, 1996, p.

184) forming the main battle line in both attack and defense, with the Kerns, Knaves and light horsemen skirmishing and harassing the enemy. This picture seems to have been reasonably true whether for the Gaelic- or the Anglo-Irish. With this rough outline it is easy to picture the wearer of the Anglo-Irish armour partaking in a raid or possibly pursuing a retreating enemy raiding force, mounted on a sturdy Irish Hobby horse able to move swiftly across broken terrain. When they confronted the enemy the noble would be found fighting at the forefront of a block of Galloglass, the place of honour in any Irish army (Simms, 1975, p.

104), well protected from the over-arm spear thrusts used by enemy cavalry (Illustration 17), the hurled javelins of the Kerns and even the vicious two-handed axes of the opposing Galloglass, all attacks that would be coming downwards and be more likely to glance off the armour due to the overlap.

Given the lack of documentary evidence and the high-status, expensive nature of the effigies themselves it seems extremely likely that the Anglo-Irish armour was a rare item on the battlefield, restricted to a small group of nobility. From the effigies we know that many of the owners of this armour were high-status nobles including a Baron, two powerful Earls (including Piers Butler the 8th Earl of Ormond, a close ally of Henry VIII (Neeley, 1990, p.

109)), a Lord, and a number of named individuals who, although not the heads of their family held considerable power and wealth themselves. It could be argued that the only reason there are no poorer warriors depicted in this armour is because they simply could not afford effigies but may in reality have worn the Anglo-Irish armour. This is not convincing for two 7

reasons; firstly there are depictions of poorer professional soldiers on effigies generally 'guarding' the owner of the tomb, such as that of Piers Butler, and they are represented in gambesons and long hauberks, rather than the Anglo-Irish harness. Secondly if the armour was in use by lower class warriors it would have been much more common and would have been mentioned in annals, chronicles or depicted in illustrations. All the evidence points to the fact that the armour was a very rare sight, but those who could afford it and chose to use it would have had excellent protection on the battlefield.

CONCLUSIONS A personal understanding of medieval weaponry and armour, how they should move and best be employed, is needed to; firstly, formulate theories regarding use and abilities, and secondly to be able to test these theories in a reliable manner using methods known from a medieval context. This work therefore aims to show the contribution that can be made to archaeology by incorporating elements of reenactment and western martial-arts and the importance of taking an experiential approach to studying combat. Although my skills in using medieval weapons and armour could only be described as basic, it was still enough to make observations and come to reasonable conclusions that otherwise could not be achieved.

As an element of justification for this theory I met with a Western Martial-Arts trainer and introduced the armour to him, after describing my theory of construction he immediately said 'but that would be really vulnerable if he was on horseback'. Without even studying the armour it was obvious to him how it would move and work, what was possible and what was not, this would be the same for any experienced practitioner of Western martial-arts or combat reenactment.

If an item of wargear is not studied from the point of view of its use in combat then its most important facet is being ignored and lost. We can study a sword and describe its length, weight, even its balance but unless suggestions can be given as to why the weapon was designed like this, what role it fulfilled in combat, then its study is largely incomplete.

The experiences of those familiar with weaponry and armour can be used to fill this gap, whether drawing on outside assistance or the expertise of the academic themselves. The acceptance of experiential combat activities in research can only lead to a greater understanding of combat and warfare as a whole, it allows us to examine things at an individual level and to learn something of the experience of a real combatant. To quote weapons expert Mike Loades: “To swing a sword, or shoot a bow, to ride a horse or bear the

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crush of armour, is for a moment to wear the soldier's shoes and sense something of their life� (Weapons that made Britain, 2004).

Bibliography Barry, J, (Translator) n.d. Richard Stanihurst's De Rebus in Hibernia Gestis, Unpublished translation, UCC Classics Department Cannan, F, 2010. Galloglass 1250-1600, Oxford, Osprey.

Cosgrove, A, 1981. Late Medieval Ireland 1370-1541, Dublin, Helicon.

Curtis, E, 1968. A History of Medieval Ireland from 1086-1513, Dublin, Barnes & Noble.

Dressler, R. A, 2003. Of Armor and Men in medieval England, Ashgate, Aldershot.

Duffy, Edwards & Fitzpatrick Eds, 2001. Gaelic Ireland c.1250- c.1650 Land, Lordship and Settlement, Dublin, Four Courts Press.

Edwards, D, 2003. The Ormond Lordship in County Kilkenny, 1515-1642, Dublin, Four Courts Press.

Halpin, A, Irish Medieval Swords c. 1170-1600, 1986 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, p. 183-230 Halpin, B, 2010. The Reality Behind Anglo-Irish Tomb Effigy Armour 1450-1550, Masters Thesis, University College Dublin.

Harbison, P, Native Irish arms and armour in Medieval Gaelic Literature 1170-1600, in The Irish Sword vol. 12 1975-1976 Hayes-McCoy, G. A, 1977. Sixteenth Century Irish Swords in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, Stationery Office.

Hunt, J, 1974. Irish Medieval Figure Sculpture 1200-1600. Holland, Irish University Press & Sotheby Parke Bernet.

Kagay, D. Villalon, L.J. Eds, 1999. The Circle of War in the Middle Ages, Woodbridge , The Boydell Press.

Loades, M (2010) Swords and Swordsmen, Barnsley, Pen & Sword Books.

Neely W.G, 1990. The Ormond Butlers of County Kilkenny 1515-1715, in Nolan, W & Whelan, K eds. Kilkenny: History and Society. Dublin, Geography Publications.

Nicholls, K.W. (2003) Gaelic and Gaelicized Ireland in the Middle Ages, The Lilliput Press, Dublin Nicolle, D, (Ed.) (2002) A Companion to Medieval Arms and Armour, The Boydell Press, Woodbridge.

Rector, M (Translator, ed), 2006. Medieval Combat, A Fifteenth-Century Manual of Swordfighting and Close-Quarter Combat by Hans Talhoffer, London, Greenhill Books.

O'Carrol, D, 2004.The Battle of Knockdoe 19th August 1504, in the Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society ,Vol. 56, p 46-59 O' Cleirigh C, 1996. Irish frontier warfare: a fifteenth century case study, in From Crecy To Mohacs; warfare in the late Medieval Ages (1346-1526), Vienna, International Commission of Military History.

O Domhnaill S, 1946. Warfare in Sixteenth century Ireland, in Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 5, No. 17, p 29-54 O'Meara, J (ed, Translation), 1982. Gerald of Wales: The History and Topography of Ireland, London, Penguin Classics.

Prestwich, M, 1995. Miles in Armis Strenuus: the Knightly war, in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Sixth Series, Vol. 5, p 201-220 Prestwich, M, 1996. Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience.

London, Yale University Press.

Simms, K, Warfare in the Medieval Gaelic Lordships, in The Irish Sword vol. 12 1975-1976 Thordeman, B, 1939. Armour from the Battle of Wisby 1361. Uppsala, Almqvist & Wiksells.

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Competition One To the Greeks who love it, it is Constantinople. To the Turks who covet it, the Red Apple. Safe behind its magnificent walls, the city was once the heart of the vast Byzantine empire.

1453. The empire has shrunk to what lies within those now-crumbling walls. A relic. Yet for one man, Constantinople is the stepping stone to destiny. Mehmet is twenty when he is annointed Sultan. Now, seeking Allah’s will and Man’s glory, he brings an army of one hundred thousand, outnumbering the defenders ten to one. He has also brings something new – the most frightening weapon the world has ever seen...

And yet, through seven weeks of sea battles, night battles, by tunnel and tower, the defence holds… and will until the final assault and a single bullet that will change history.

But a city is more than stone, its fate inseparable from that of its people. Men – like Gregoras, a mercenary and exile, returning to the hated place he once loved. Like his twin and betrayer, the subtle diplomat, Theon. Sofia, loved by two brothers but forced to make a desperate choice between them. And Leilah, a powerful mystic and assassin, seeking her own destiny in the flames.

This is the tale of one of history’s greatest battles for one of the world’s most extraordinary places. This is the story of people, from peasant to emperor - with the city’s fate, and theirs, undecided... until the moment the Red Apple falls.

Constantinople 1453 – A Place Called Armageddon.

I have 2 copies of this book to give away.

Have a read of the article on the following page and answer this question:

When did Chris Humphreys move to Canada?

Send your answer for this month’s competitions along with your full postal address to: thereenactor@btinternet.com before April 24th 2012 to be in with a chance of winning!

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I have always been a swordfighting man.

It began as a boy, aged three, with a Zorro costume complete with mask and plastic rapier. When I began to read it was all about the duel. I was D’Artagnan, Scaramouche, the Count of Monte Cristo. I was my school’s sabre champion at 15. Semi finalist, London Schoolboy Sabre Championships. I went to drama school and studied stage combat with the redoubtably John Waller, medieval man himself.

I became an actor mainly so I could leap around with bladed weaponry. And I often succeeded in that. In the 80’s, I played Rome’s top gladiator in a Biblical- Roman mini series ‘AD’. Killed nine men on screen and ‘fought’ in a real coliseum. I lived the fantasy of doing ‘Zorro’ in Madrid. Not as the masked hero but as a cad – Sir Miles Thackeray, the ‘finest swordsman in Europe’- but not apparently in California! Further childhood disappointment came when I finally appeared at the Bristol Old Vic in ‘The Three Musketeers’… as a Cardinal guardsman! When I moved to Canada in the early 90’s I spotted a gap in the market and began choreographing stage violence. The climax was playing the role of the very Nietschean Zastrozzi in which I leapt around with a sabre to my own fights and slaughtered mediocre poets.

It was clear that when I decided to write novels, they would have to involve men – and sometimes women - with swords. My first ‘The French Executioner’ featured Anne Boleyn’s executioner with his square tipped chopper. ‘Jack Absolute’ opens with a small sword duel on a snowy Hounslow Heath. In my novel about the real Dracula ‘Vlad, The Last Confession’, the title anti hero fights with a mighty hand and a half, the Devil’s Talon. And in my most recent about the fall of Constantinople – ‘A Place Called Armageddon’ – my protagonist Gregoras wields a falchion and a Turkish bow. (I sometimes kill at a distance even if it seems a little unsporting).

I have now carried all this to an extreme. I have just finished my new novel (tentatively called ‘Fighting Man’ and out in 2013) and it is about William Shakespeare’s fight arranger at the time of the first production of ‘Hamlet’ (My other obsession). My hero, John Lawley, is a drunk, a sometime actor … and a master swordsman. And he fights at the time when a major shift was happening in swordplay as well as in theatre. The Italians had arrived with their rapiers while some Englishmen, like George Silver, were clinging onto ‘the science of defense’ with the trusty backsword and buckler.

Though I pick up a weapon less often these days, I did participate in the wonderful International Sword Symposium in Vancouver last year. Three days studying the works of Achille Marozzo of the Bolognese school and picking the brains of masters like Tom Leone and Devon Boorman. There is nothing like the feel of the real weapon in your hand, crossing blades with an expert. I can feel it still when I sit down to write my fights and battles – and the ghosts of Zorro, D’Artagnan and Caleb the Gladiator hovering at my shoulder.

C.C.Humphreys.

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GUINEVERE, THE LEGEND IN AUTUMN: Book Three of the Guinevere Trilogy Persia Woolley, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2011, $16.99/C$19.99, pb, 544pp, 9781402246432 Persia Woolley’s final book of the Guinevere Trilogy, The Legend in Autumn, first appeared in 1993 and is being reprinted. Not having read the two prior books in this trilogy does not present any problems for this reader. The familiar story is enough to go on, and Woolley’s skillful delineation of Guinevere’s character makes this tale, though familiar, once again epic and haunting, in many ways like Marion Zimmer Bradley did in The Mists of Avalon. Told from Guinevere’s point of view, the final section of Arthur’s quest comes to vivid life as the queen’s struggles, both internal and external, reach the inevitable climax.

Filled with deftly crafted characters of low and high degree, Woolley breathes life into the story as Guinevere must choose how to best serve Arthur's purpose – a strong, united Britain. While once the threats to this vision were outside Camelot, now those closest the Arthur endanger his dream – his son, Mordred; his best friend, Lancelot; and Guinevere herself. As Guinevere’s moira (fate) runs it inevitable course, readers will once again witness the conflict between the old gods of the Celts and the new religion of the White Christ. Once again they will experience the divided love Guinevere has for her husband and her champion.

Once again, readers will savor the rich world of early Britain, when spirits moved in the trees and magic emptied itself into the world, sometimes wreaking havoc, sometimes sowing peace.

--Anne Clinard Barnhill

THE BROKEN LAND Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear, Tor, $25.99/C$29.99, hb, 304pp, 978075326942 In this third of four books set in 1400 CE among “The People of the Longhouse” (who most of us know as the Iroquois), famine, war, and witchcraft are tearing apart what ought to be one people. A creepy old sorcerer who wears skulls on his cloak and binds his hair with rattlesnake skins struggles against a band of true-hearted companions. Prime among the heroes is Sky Messenger, troubled by visions of the end of the world unless he puts a stop to the chaos.

The Gears provide their usual brilliant creation of the physical world in which these people live. Every detail of how a fire is started in winter woodlands is lovingly described, and the world is peopled with the lively spirit of kinship the Iroquois recognized in fields and streams.

I was disappointed, though, in how the Gears present the matriarchal aspects of the Iroquois nation.

This was the most difficult to follow of the Gears’ books I've read. The Broken Land was the first I'd read of this series set in Longhouse times, and while the Gears meant for the book to stand alone, I'm sure previous acquaintance – and probably a reread of previous volumes – would have helped me. Not only do characters get adopted and so earn new names, they then acquire other names through office holding. All of the clans portrayed share material culture, so we can’t use that to tell good guys from bad. On top of that, we have, within a line of each other, Flint People and Cloud People, the one a real tribe, the other metaphorical for what's going on in the sky. Very difficult read.

--Ann Chamberlin

For other reviews on other books why not visit: http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/ 12

THE BATTLE OF WAKEFIELD REVISITED: A FRESH PERSPECTIVE ON RICHARD OF YORK’S FINAL BATTLE, DECEMBER 1460

By Helen Cox Medieval history/non-fiction Paperback, 140 pages, 16 black-and-white plates, 5 line drawings Published by Herstory Writing & Interpretation, 2010 ISBN 978-0-9565768-0-4 R.R.P. £12.00

On 30th December 1460, the veteran warlord Richard of York led his small army to catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Wakefield – and the reason for his suicidal decision has been misunderstood ever since. Traditionally, York is thought to be a poor commander, arrogant and reckless, who is deservedly mocked in nursery rhyme; or an heroic failure who gallantly attempted to rescue a foraging party, punish enemy perfidy or avenge insults to his honour. But The Battle of Wakefield Revisited explores a more convincing explanation for York’s conduct, using historical and archaeological evidence to dispel these popular misconceptions about the Duke and his ill-fated northern campaign.

‘This thoughtful, perceptive account discusses various ‘myths’ surrounding the Battle of Wakefield, including the alleged incompetence of the Duke of York, and convincingly disposes of them. An excellent book based on a thorough study of the sources’ - Peter Hammond, President of the Richard III Society and author of The Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury ‘A new study which eloquently pieces together theory, facts and insights to paint a compelling picture of Richard, Duke of York and his journey to one of the nation’s most pivotal battles via the most convincing account of the ‘Battle’ of Worksop I have ever read’ - Mark Taylor, Chairman of Towton Battlefield Society

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The Battle of Wakefield Revisited is the first publication to look at this battle in depth since Philip A. Haigh’s From Wakefield to Towton (Leo Cooper/Pen & Sword Books Ltd.) in 2002. It is available at £12 plus postage & packing from York Publishing Services, and can be ordered on-line from www.YPD-books.com, by phone on 01904 431213, or by fax on 01904 430868.

Contents         

Introduction: Traditional views of the battle and York as a ‘failure’ Enter the Protagonists: Historical prelude from Edward II to Henry V; introduction to Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou and Richard of York The Road to War: The upheavals of the 1450’s and York’s claim to the throne Dispelling the Myths: Critical analysis of accepted accounts, including the alleged destruction of York’s vanguard at Worksop, the role of foragers in his defeat and the ‘ambush from the woods’ theory The Real Battle of Wakefield? An alternative interpretation of the Duke’s decision to ride out, and the role of Edmund, Earl of Rutland The Fate of the Vanquished: What became of the Yorkists – and their conquerors Finding Proof Positive: Suggestions for further research and fieldwork to support or refute various theories A Nursery Rhyme Duke? Analysis of whether Richard Plantagenet really was the ‘Grand Old Duke of York’ Afterword: Who should we blame for the Battle of Wakefield?

The Author Originally qualified as an archaeological conservator, Helen Cox worked for 15 years in museums in Britain and the United States before specializing as a freelance heritage consultant. In 2005, she took early retirement to pursue long-held research interests in medieval history, becoming an active member of the Richard III Society and Towton Battlefield Society. Now based in Wakefield, Helen works as a freelance writer, lecturer and Wars of the Roses interpreter. Recent publications include articles for the Ricardian Bulletin and The Yorkshire Dalesman, and a chapter in the second edition of the Battle of Towton excavation report, Blood Red Roses. She is also Secretary of Towton Battlefield Society’s affiliated Wars of the Roses re-enactment group, The Frei Compagnie.

For further information, see Helen’s website www.helencox-herstorywriting.co.uk

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The Mortimer History Society Spring Conference May 12th 2012 The Earl Mortimer College Leominster, Herefordshire.

Marc Morris will be hosting a lively and interactive discussion on King Edward I, Simon de Montfort & Prince Llewelyn.

He will be joined by representatives from historical groups and other authors to discuss aspects of the three men.

For more details www.mortimerhistorysociety.org.uk

COSTUME-MAKING SUMMER SCHOOL with Chalemie

The Festival of History Kelmarsh Hall Northamptonshire, UK July 14th & 15th 2012 Visitors immerse themselves in 2000 years of England's past during the Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire, presented by English Heritage. The event features everything from falconry, jousting displays and battle re-enactments to music, dance and ale.

The Historical Writers Association will also be there with various talks and meet the author sessions throughout the weekend.

http://www.kelmarsh.com/ The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross (C1461) September 15th & 16th

Oxford 14-19 August 2012 Come and spend a happy week making a period/historical costume under the expert supervision of Ann Susan Brown Other courses available: Baroque Dance, Commedia, Singing and Instrumental Music Fees: ÂŁ485 for full board and tuition (financial help available, age immaterial) Enquiries and full brochure from Barbara Segal on 020 7700 4293 email: chalemie@thorn.demon.co.uk website: www.chalemie.co.uk

Hampton Court Castle & Gardens, Herefordshire Living History Combat Archery Cannon Traders Row Music Dance Barber Surgeon Beer Tent Bring & Buy sale (Sat eve)

www.mortimerscross.co.uk 15

An Interview with Matthew Ryan

By Jason O’Keefe Matthew Ryan is thirty three years old and has been married to his wife Sarah for five years and they have two children, Isabelle and Joseph and live in Redditch, Worcestershire.

2. When was it first noticed that you had a talent for drawing?

I have had a love of drawing all my life and even as a boy one of my favourite themes to paint and draw was of knights and battles.

3. Does it come naturally? Or was it lots of hard work at school/college?

My drawing ability is I believe something that comes naturally but as with all natural talent is nothing without being added to with practise and hard work. Producing historical illustrations gives me much more to think about than other types of pictures as accuracy is a key thing when producing this kind of illustration and allot of research goes into each painting.

4. Did you attend an art college?

After leaving school I did a H.N.D in Visual Communications and then went to Hereford College of Art where I did a Degree in Illustration.

5. Is drawing your full time job?

Yes, I now work as a Historical Illustrator. I worked for the last eleven years as a traditional signwriter/advertiser for a large retailer but this year was made redundant.

Although I enjoyed my job I knew it never made full use of my talents it was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, so the redundancy helped me make my mind up on a decision I have been thinking about for a long time.

6. Is medieval re-enactment your favourite thing to draw?

History as always been a passion of mine, I love reading about it and visiting places of interest. All my life I have shot Longbows and for the last few years warbows as well. I also enjoy making my own war arrows and find this a great inspiration for my work. It was my love of archery that first took me to a re-enactment and I was so impressed by the attention to detail that people put into their portrayal of the past and the privilege it was to see history brought to life in this way. I have since been to many more events and reenactments and look forward to more in the future. I base my work on many sources such as contemporary illustrations and medieval tombs but seeing re-enactors is a great way of finding out how things such as armour look when worn and drawing real people is a great way to portray emotion and realism in my work.

7. What has been the response from re-enactors?

All comments that I have had off re-enactors so far have been very positive and people have enjoyed seeing themselves appear in my pictures. I am currently working on a large oil painting depicting the later stages of the First Battle of St Albans. It shows Edmund 16

Beaufort, Duke of Somerset leaving the Castle Inn moments before his death. This painting I have displayed on my Facebook page and people are free to look at the images of it to see how it is progressing. I have used old maps of St Albans and existing street plans to try and recreate the battle field on that day in 1455. Most of the figures in this painting are painted from photographs that I have taken of re-enactors, re-enacting the First Battle of St Albans at Avoncroft museum last year.

8. What are your short term plans for drawing?

I have recently approached various publishers who produce books on military history and my work has been well received, I hope to have some of my previous work published and look forward to receiving new briefs in the future.

9. Long term, Where would you like to see you yourself in the future?

Long term I wish to have as many pictures published and also produce many large oil paintings depicting various historic themes and battles that can be sold as prints and as originals.

10. Which is your favourite piece of work?

My favourite piece of work is the St Albans painting that I am currently working on, I always believe that my next painting will be my best and I think this is what helps me to constantly improve my work.

11. What would be your ultimate piece of art, if you could draw anything?

I have many ideas for future paintings, one major piece of work that I plan to produce is of King Richard at Bosworth. I also plan to produce paintings depicting events from the Hundred Years War. One canvas that I have already started to produce sketches for is of a community of archers practising at the Butts on a Sunday in spring time. It was inspired by a photograph I took of my daughter last year when she was three. The picture is of her pulling back a small bow made of hazel and I imagined it would look great to produce a painting of her doing this with the adult archers resting in the background under a tree, yew bows leaning against the tree and the Butts targets seen in the distance. I am using a contemporary flemish illustration of a similar scene for inspiration and after talking to a friend about a contemporary picture he found showing two boys practicing with butlers and swords decided to include this in the image as well.

Finally. Can people commission you to draw them?

Yes people are free to offer me commissions for private or commercial use. I can be contacted on Facebook: matthewryanhistoricalillustrator@facebook.com Email address: matthewryanhistoricalillustrator@LIVE.CO.UK

17

ROBERT BURNELL THE KING’S TRUSTED CHAMBERLAIN

The reign of Edward I has been described as one of the most turbulent periods in English history. Unlike his father Henry III, Edward was an excellent judge of character a trait which enabled him to gather men with vision, passion, and capabilities to match his own.

One of these men was Robert Burnell, born in 1239, at Acton Burnell in Shropshire. The Burnell family had bestowed their name on the village of Acton in 1198, and were referred to as, ‘of local importance’.

Robert was the youngest of four sons although records are vague as there were two Burnell families one of Acton and the other at Buildwas around the same period.

Robert was sent into the church - like so many younger sons -where he spent his childhood in the atmosphere of discipline, austerity, and learning. Obviously an apt pupil for the next time he appears on record is in the early 1250’s in the Courts of Chancery [law courts] which followed the king around the country dispensing laws and judgements. This proved a logistical nightmare and one which made a deep impression on the young Robert.

Robert’s growing reputation does not go unnoticed and he is appointed into household of the Lord Edward, heir to the throne. The two quickly became firm friends for it is recorded they were constantly in each others company and Robert is listed in Apr 1257, as one of Edward’s known council at that time.

During this period the earls and magnates led by Simon de Montfort, the fearsome Earl of Leicester, were in opposition to Henry III who had proved an ineffectual monarch. At first Lord Edward sided with his uncle the Earl of Leicester, and this caused a rift between the king and his eldest son.

Edward must have discussed matters at length with his friend Robert Burnell, as so many issues of that period were quickly changed during the first years of Edward’s reign.

In Nov 1260, Robert accompanied Edward to France [he was 21 years of age] where they enjoyed months of jousting and having a good time. It is highly likely that Edward had left his father’s court because of their differences.

On his return Edward, now almost bankrupt, resumed a more amicable relationship with his parents. This opened the door for requesting funds from his father [nothing changes where children and money are concerned even after 800 years].

In 1264, the tension between king and many of his magnates finally culminated in the Battle of Lewes. Simon de Montfort defeated the royalist and captured the king and his son. However, an audacious plan [by the Mortimer’s’] enabled the Lord Edward to escape and with Robert undoubtedly as his aide, summoned all the loyal royalists to arms and by May 1265 they were ready to challenge de Montford’s position as usurper. The ensuing battle became known as the Battle of Evesham and was one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on English soil. The order of ‘No quarter’ was given, and this was viewed by many as the death of the code of chivalry. It was also a foretaste of Edward’s ruthless method of dealing with any opposition to his authority.

The vicious death of Simon de Montfort resulted in repercussions which echoed down the generations. It was during this battle that Roger Mortimer [grandfather of the first Earl of

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March,] slew Hugh de Spencer the Younger’s grandfather. It was the beginning of a deadly rivalry which only ended many years later in acts of brutality by both families.

However, this is the period when we see the rise in Robert Burnell’s status for in 1266, he is allowed to buy back the land at Ruckley and Langley which had been confiscated. These lands had been held by the crown in searjeanty for the service of going into Wales with the king for 40/ days in time of war and had been granted in fee to William de Gardinis.

The increase in Robert’s wealth points to Edward’s generosity by rewarding his friend’s abilities this in turn enabled Robert to consolidate his family estates. Now wealthy enough to build a fortified manor house at Acton Burnell. Also in this year Robert was given permission to impark his land within the royal forest another sign of his growing position within Edward’s service.

Some time before 1267, Robert became the Prebend of Holme [Yorkshire], his fortunes growing in the service of the heir to the throne.

By 1269 he was granted a licence for a weekly market in Acton Burnell and two annual fairs.

This brought prosperity to the people of his birthplace. Highlighting the fact that Robert used his new found wealth to enhance the lives of those that live and serve his family and the surrounding area.

In 1270, the Lord Edward tried to advance his friend and promote him as the Archbishop of Canterbury following the death of Archbishop Boniface of Savoy, [the Queen’s uncle] on the 18th of June of that year. The Pope instead appointed his own candidate overruling both the choice of Edward and the selected appointee of the English clergy William Chillenden.

The church in medieval times was all powerful and even kings were overruled by the Pope especially in matters pertaining to the church therefore Robert Kilwardby was annointed as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, the reason for this selection by the Pope would become clear some years later as Kilwardby was subsequently elected as a cardinal.

The Pope’s reason for rejecting Robert quite simply- his life style – he had a mistress, Juliana and probably also children although publicly Robert always denied this relationship.

However, in December of that year he was also named as Archdeacon of York although Edward had been thwarted by Rome he was still advancing his friend’s career in the church at every opportunity.

It is also the year in which Edward and his brother Edmund and a number of young nobles planned to go on a Crusade to the Holy Land [this was the goal of every knight to serve God] – Robert Burnell was set to go with them but for whatever reason that prompted the decision to remain in England but he was named as one of the four Regents.

The Regents were - Roger Mortimer 6th Baron of Wigmore – Walter Gifford Archbishop of York – Philip Basset – Robert Burnell [and Marc Morris also includes Richard of Cornwall Edward’s Uncle}. I suspect that Richard had been made Edward’s guardian years earlier and therefore would automatically be included being the king’s brother.

However, in 1271, two of the Regents, Richard of Cornwall and Philip Basset both died.

During this year one of the bloody repercussions of the Battle of Evesham occurred when Henry of Almain, Edward’s cousin, and son of Richard of Cornwall, was murdered in an Italian church whilst attending mass. The murderers – the surviving de Montfort brothers, Guy [claimed as the actual assassin and Simon] both had married wealthy Italian heiresses.

In Aug 1272, Robert Burnell bought a house in Westminster immediately north of the palace. In November of that year Henry III died. Had the king’s health been the reason Robert had stayed in England? Whilst Roger Mortimer was kept busy in the Welsh Marches he was quite happy to let Robert Burnell take control of the administrative duties.

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Robert issued mandates to the Justiciars both at home and in Ireland under Edward’s seal.

Many of the Norman earls and barons, owned lands in Ireland where the Irish law is recorded as being ‘Destestableto God’ However, the reforms would only be obtained with the consent of the people. [Re Cambridge Press].

It was now that Robert Burnell’s talent as administrator really began to come to the fore as he oversaw the transition of the new reign calling a parliament and receiving oaths of fealty on behalf of the new king Edward I who was still on in the Holy Land. He also transacted Wardrobe business for Edward receiving money from Italian Bankers for the furtherance of the king’s affairs.

On Edwards return in 1274, he was crowned on the 19th August and immediately after in September, he replaced the veteran Chancellor, Walter of Merton by appointing Robert Burnell as Chancellor where he quickly established himself as a leading figure of the new government.

The position of Chancellor held by Robert cannot be compared with the role of a 21st century Chancellor. It was Prime Minister, Secretary of State, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary all rolled into one, a powerful position for the 35 year old Robert.

On the 11th October of that year within a month of receiving the seal of office Robert signed writs ‘of course as well as by command,’ acting on his own but with the full backing of the king without referring to the king. It is now that Robert’s abilities come into focus for he commissioned inquiries into each county concerning royal rights and liberties of sheriffs and bailiffs and other matters affecting ‘the state of the king and the state of the community of the said county’ this ref Rymer, Foedera]. ‘Whom so ever the law touches should have a say in that law’ words attributed to Robert Burnell. Although there are no official records that it was Robert who instigated these measures everything points to the fact that he had an important part in these measures. The shuffling of sheriffs/bailiffs to ‘set to rights the state of his kingdom’ [Statutes of the Realm] highlights his grasp of the failings of the previous reign.

It was also about the time that a Parliament was called where it is recorded over 800 nobles, magnates Prelates and men from each Shire were represented. The young king and his chancellor had learned the lesson the late Henry III had never done throughout his long reign and the one Simon de Montfort had died for, Edward had listened to his subjects.

It was also about this time when Robert got to grips with the diverse laws of the land which at that time were both Norman and English. Two lawyers from the continents together with Henry de Bracton, the Chancellor of Law at Oxford University, were summoned to sort out and bring into line a more workable system of laws. Although records do not show Robert Burnell had a personal hand in these changes there is undoubtedly evidence, that these changes had his stamp of orderliness about them. The term ‘even handed man’ again points to a man with a perfect grasp of the situation and times in which he lived and just manner in dealing with the affairs of the day.

In 1275 he was elected as Bishop of Bath and Wells and Consecrated on the 7th of April. Also in that year he fought for reforms which had been at the heart of Simon de Montfort’s dissent.

These were known as ‘The Statutes of Westminster’. [ According to Wm Stubbs the British constitutional historian.]

When the king learned that Eleanor de Montfort was on her way to marry the defiant Llywelyn, he intercepted her voyage taking her captive and imprisoning her at Windsor for the next three years. This insult to Llywelyn resulted in open warfare.

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Never one for accepting defeat the king again tried to promote Robert Burnell as Archbishop of Canterbury but again Rome refused. In Nov of 1276, he took part in the council at Westminster that judged Llywelyn ap Gruffud a rebel and disturber of the peace.

By the late summer and autumn of 1277, Robert Burnell was at Chester and Shrewsbury providing safe conduct for merchants who were servicing the king’s army in Wales. He was all too aware of the importance of trade. On the 13th August he celebrated mass before the king and his nobles on laying the foundations for a new abbey at Vale Royal in Cheshire. In November we find him at Rhuddlan with Edward together with the Earl of Lincoln {Henry de Lacy] when Llywelyn surrendered. On Xmas Day Llywelyn submitted his oath of fealty to Edward at Westminster after the 1st Welsh war with Llywelyn. His wedding took place at Worcester on the 13th October on an English Saint’s day the ceremony witnessed by Edward who also paid for it; a somewhat cynical act asserting his superior authority over Llywelyn.

By 1278 – Robert Burnell was in Gascony with Otto Grandison, the two governed this troubled region for two years replacing the unpopular Luke de Tany with a Gascon. they brought a period of peace and prosperity which hadn’t been experienced for many generations. The reasons of their success, they did not try and impose English laws over the fiery Gascons.

In 1279, John Peckham was anointed as Archbishop of Canterbury, he tried to improve discipline in the clergy and have every reason to believe this may have brought him into conflict with Robert who refused to dismiss his mistress.

Then in 1280 Burnell was nominated for the see of Winchester but again denied by the Pope this time Nicholas III quashed the election.

On the 28/6/1280 a Chancery memorandum records the Chancellor, along with other ministers, were now responsible for sorting out the many petitions. It is worth pointing out that Edward transferred the hanaper system of fees of disbursal from the treasury to chancery - this would have been a great source of income to Robert and his administrators yet a further sign of Edward’s regard for his efficient and hard working Chancellor.

It was at this time that Robert also changed the system of the Chancery courts trailing round after the king and had them based in London. His earlier experiences acted upon as soon as he had the powers to do so.

The outbreak of another Welsh war in 1282, brought a family loss to the Burnell family as Robert’s two brother died fighting the Welsh at Moel-y-don at the Menai Straits.

Marc Morris also states that two of Roberts’ illegitimate sons were also killed! Whether they were the Chancellor’s sons or relatives it is uncertain. However, Burnell may have been in Wales during this period as Edward was recorded as being in at Rhuddlan sometime during this bout of fighting. It also the year that one of Edward’s staunchest Marcher supporters died, Roger Mortimer who had served the Plantagenet’s faithfully over the years and had even come out of retirement to command troops in this venture.

Once again the Chancellor, with Otto Grandison, went to France to pacify the Gascons, no easy matter as the years of unrest so aptly portrays.

In autumn of 1283, Robert hosts a Parliament at Acton Burnell. Here he brought about laws which protected Merchants debts and it is when debtors prisons came into being. This was also about the time of the trial of the last Welsh Prince, Dafydd in Shrewsbury, who was subsequently brutally executed there. This important trial emphasised how Shropshire and the Welsh Marches played a significant role during the medieval period In the year of 1284 –Robert was given permission for the embattlements at [Acton Burnell] Eyton, 6.132] noted that the king remarked of the affection the Bishop 21

of Bath and Wells had for his birthplace. The actual wording ‘towards his native place of birth of Acton Burnell, whence he derived his origin, and towards the people of those parts’.

Robert’s third brother Hugh, died in 1286. Hugh’s son Philip became Robert’s heir. During this year the Scottish king Alexander was killed in a riding accident leaving his only surviving heir, his granddaughter, Margaret, the Maid of Norway, to succeed him. Sadly the little girl died on her way to Scotland leaving the Scottish throne vacant.

Edward, with his rapacious ambitions now had Scotland in his sights and here began the first signs of unrest which would become a full blown war during the last years of his reign.

Meantime, Robert gave a speech in Paris which detailed the history of the English/French relationship since the Treaty of 1259. A prelude to discussions on homage owed by Edward to the French king Philip 4TH, known as Philip the Fair. Edward’s Chancellor fulfilling the important role as mediator for which he appears to be supremely able negotiator.

Sometime during 1290, Robert vowed to go on a crusade to Acre which had been threatened

by Muslims, since the late 1280’s. When the queen, Eleanor of Castile, died it was a sore blow to Edward as the queen had been at Edward’s side since their marriage. She had conceived at least 17/possibly 19 times however, many of their children died in infancy and the heir, Alfonso, when he was 12/yrs old.

Eleanor is recorded as never recovering from his death and was buried with him. She had accompanied her husband on his Crusade where her daughter, Joan of Acre, was born. Robert must have known Eleanor as both as his queen and friend. [Wonder if Eleanor and Juliana ever met!]

1291 – In June of this year at Norham, Robert gave two speeches at the Great Council of English and Scottish nobles to decide on the succession of the Scottish throne. Again the king suffered a tragedy; when his mother, Eleanor of Provence died. She had been an indomitable spirit and it was from her Edward inherited his forceful characteristics.

At Berwick in 1292, during a council on the Scottish situation Robert dies – still in the service of his king and friend. The Scottish issue which came to be known as ‘The Great Cause’ would be a thorn in Edward’s side for the rest of his life. It led to years of war unrest, and famine. Edward must have missed the wisdom and sound good sense of his late Chancellor. We can only wonder at how the Scottish problem would have been dealt with had Robert survived.

SUMMARY: The eminent historian Richard Huscroft considered Robert Burnell to be one of the most important and influential men in England at that time. He had brought about changes in legislation and had reformed much of the legal procedures. He based the court of Chancery in London and saved the logistical nightmare which had dogged his predecessors.

Throughout his years at court Robert Burnell served his king and country with undying loyalty. His ‘even handed’ dealings throughout that period smoothed the way for Edward on many occasions.

His legacy; He brought about the means by which the law was changed so that only one law was used instead of Norman and English laws which had been previously used. He also sought to deal with the laws of rape which in medieval times was more than somewhat controversial given the status of women at that time.

He had expelled corrupt officials in the Shires. Promoted the idea that Parliament should consist of men from all stations and not just the rich nobles and Prelates. This was Robert

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Burnell’s vision that all men should be equal in the eyes of the law as in the eyes of God whatever their financial standing. A legacy we enjoy today.

Throughout his life he always kept Acton Burnell and his family close to his heart to the amusement of the king.

Finally, his reputation.

The following has been written about Robert Burnell – he was ambitious, greedy, licentious, genial, generous, and even handed. He must have also been a charming man given the countless times he appears to have dealt with so many egotistical nobles and prelates without rancour or at least none that I have read of to date! True! His private life was scandalous but as Robert did not choose the ecclesiastical life for himself, suggests that he must have been a loving man of warmth and amiability and had missed his childhood home life. Why do I suggest that? Juliana did not leave him as far as I have read. He arranged good marriages for his two daughters Amabilla, who married into the family of the Chief Justice and Joan was promised to a William Greystoke.

Robert enjoyed a sumptuous lifestyle but in his position it would have been expected. At his death he left over 80 manors which were scattered throughout England. However, we know for certain that he always withdrew from public life each year throughout Lent. Was this atonement for his sins? After 800/yrs it is difficult to know exactly the true character of the man and we are only left with accounts of what he achieved and how he dealt with events in his life. His longstanding friendship with a king who is known as both ‘Terrible and Great’ who would not have suffered fools at all is a significant endorsement in itself.

Prof. Prestwich noted in his book on Edward 1 that Robert Burnell was a most approachable man [a rare attribute for one in so high an office at that time]. Another reference, by an unknown author, that Robert was ‘a slippery character’. One of the very few negative comments regarding Robert Burnell I have come across in searching many sources of reference.

His single failure if you can call it that was the law of Quo Warranto – which merely tried to legalise the king’s rights over confiscated land where no written deeds were recorded. This proved too cumbersome for his clerks to bring about and therefore it was reversed to the form of ‘time out of mind’.

Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Chancellor of England – friend of a King the able administrator and ‘Man of Vision’ was buried in the Cathedral at Wells which he had embellished years beforehand - his heart is buried at Bath. His spirit, I suspect - returned to the place of his birth Acton Burnell.

THE END

By Fran Norton http://www.ellinghampress.co.uk/page/intheShadowofaTaintedCrown

'In the Shadow of a Tainted Crown'

Please send me………………….copies Price: £9. 99 {plus £2.50 p/p}

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Published by: ELLINGHAM PRESS

Name ………………………………………..

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Event Information April 17th Clandon House Drill Display Clandon, Nr Guildford , UK www.2ndfoot.org.uk 21st 2012 Annual Battle of San Jacinto Historical Reenactment, Texas, USA https://www.facebook.com/events/158428737602728/?notif_t=event_invite

May 1st & 2nd Newstead Abbey Battle Display Weekend (NA) Notts www.2ndfoot.org.uk 6th & 7th, Fortress Wales, Margam Copuntry Park, Port Talbot, Wales http://www.webster.uk.net/HistoryAndCulture/Re-enactmentWW2SWB/FortressWalesShowInformation.aspx

6th – 8th Albuera Bicentenial Event Spain www.2ndfoot.org.uk 12th The Mortimer History Society Spring Conference, Leominster, Herefordshire, UK www.mortimerhistorysociety.org.uk/ 12th & 13th Multi-era Grand Historical Bazaar, Rufford Abbey Country Park, Notts. UK www.eventplan.co.uk 12th & 13th Italian Medieval Tournament at Casei Gerola, Italy, (PV) www.caseimedievale.it

12th & 13th Victorian Weekend, Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch, UK www.eventplan.co.uk 12th &13th The Cressing Temple Fayre, Cressing Temple, UK www.templars-fayre.co.uk

19th Re-Enactors First Aid Course, The Greenwood Centre, Coalbrookdale, UK Contact: firstaidinfo@btconnect.com 26th & 27th les medievales de CHAUCONIN-NEUFMONTIERS http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=241449812568063

June 2nd & 3rd De Quaeye Werelt, Sterckshof, Belgium http://www.delegendevzw.be/ 24

9th Boerderij aan de Giessen, Grotewaard 38, Noordeloos, Netherlands http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158081454283009&notif_t=event_invite 16th The Minstrels Court, St. John’s Church, Chester, UK www.pilgrimsandposies.co.uk 16th & 17th Tatton Park Medieval Fair http://www.plantagenet-events.co.uk/ 18th & 19th Waterloo Major European Event Belgium www.2ndfoot.org.uk 23rd & 24th Wartime Clumber (1940s event), Clumber Park, Notts, UK www.eventplan.co.uk 23rd & 24th The Yorkshire Museum of Farming, Murton Park, Yorkshire, UK www.mitlivinghistory.co.uk 30th &1st Medieval Festival, Harewood House, Yorkshire, UK www.eventplan.co.uk

July 2nd & 3rd Cheriton Battle Display Weekend Hampshire www.2ndfoot.org.uk 7th & 8th The Romans are Coming! Burgh-le-Marsh, Lincolnshire www.eventplan.co.uk 14th & 15th The Battle of Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury, UK http://www.tewkesburymedievalfestival.org/ 14th & 15th The Festival of History, Kelmarsh Hall, Northamptonshire, UK http://www.kelmarsh.com/ 21st & 22nd Victorians at Hughenden, Hughenden Manor, Bucks www.eventplan.co.uk 21st & 22nd Berkeley Skirmish, Berkeley castle, Gloucestershire, UK http://www.plantagenet-events.co.uk/ 21st & 22nd The Battle of Azincourt, Azincourt, France. http://www.azincourt-alliance.org.uk/ 22nd The Battle of Salamanca, 200th anniversary http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=183242878392002&notif_t=event_invite 27th – 30th C13th Event at The Arthurian Centre. Slaughterbridge, Camelford, Cornwall, UK https://www.facebook.com/groups/36242274237/ 25

28th & 29th Tournement of Walraversijde, Belgium http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=252511704798690&notif_t=event_invite 30th Highclere Castle Battle Prom Berkshire www.2ndfoot.org.uk

August 4th & 5th The Second Annual GREAT ROAD ENCAMPMENT 18th Century Encampment 1700-1799, Elliston, VA, USA Contact Henry Bryant at fortvauseoutfitters@gmail.co 6th & 7th Broadlands Blasts From The Past - Battle Display Weekend Hampshire www.2ndfoot.org.uk 10th – 14th Robin Hood Festival, Sherwood Forest, Notts, UK www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk 11th – 13th The Battle of Camlann, The Arthurian Centre, Slaughterbridge, Cornwall, uk https://www.facebook.com/groups/36242274237/ 13th & 14th Lincoln Castle Medieval Market, UK http://www.plantagenet-events.co.uk/Events.html 21st & 22nd Battle of Clontarf, St Ann's park Dublin https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10150614131419800&id=307994099799

26th & 27th Multi-period re-enactments at The Sheffield Fayre, Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield www.eventplan.co.uk 27th – 29th Loseley House Battle Display Weekend (NA) Nr Guildford, Surrey www.2ndfoot.org.uk

September 1st & 2nd Ayscoughfee Hall, Tudor Weekend medievalcooking@gmail.com 1st & 2nd On the Home Front 1939-45, Rufford Abbey Country Park, Notts, UK www.eventplan.co.uk 8th & 9th EMA weekend at Caldicot Castle, wales http://www.theema.co.uk/ 15th & 16th The Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, Leominster, Herefordshire, UK www.mortimerscross.co.uk

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22nd & 23rd Wimpole at War (1940s event), The Wimpole Estate, Cambs, UK www.eventplan.co.uk 22nd & 23rd Blasts from the Past multi-period show, Broadlands, Romsey, Hampshire www.blastfromthepast.co.uk 29th & 30th Sherwood through the Ages multi-period, Sherwood Forest, Nott, UK www.eventplan.co.uk

October 6th & 7th Hughenden’s Wartime Weekend, Hughenden Manor, Bucks, UK www.eventplan.co.uk

November 9th – 11th The Original Re-Enactors Market, Ryton, Near Coventry, UK www.reenactorsmarket.co.uk 24th & 25th Ludlow Castle Medieval Christmas Fair, Ludlow, Shropshire, UK http://www.ludlowcastle.com/

FOLVILLE'S LAW

by David Pilling (Goodreads Author) 4.33

A novel set in the closing years of Edward II's reign, following the adventures of Sir John Swale, knight of Cumberland, as he investigates a murder in the Midlands that threatens to destabilize the kingdom. Along the way he meets a widow, Elizabeth Clinton, and makes an enemy of the ruthless outlaw Eustace Folville. Meanwhile, England is threatened by invasion and civil war, and it remains to be seen who will survive and who will perish in the brutal game of 14th century war and politics.

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Duke of Wellington 1769-1852 ‘He never lost a battle,’ noted a recent study of the first Duke of Wellington’s generalship, ‘which is rather more than we can say of Frederick, Napoleon or Lee… [His] political understanding was excellent, his logistics were superb and his intelligence work was magnificent. As a disciplinarian he was legendary, while as a tactician he was unsurpassed. In practically every branch of the military art, it would appear, he was unsurpassed.’

Born the Honourable Arthur Wellesley on 1 May 1769, the son of the first Earl of Mornington, he came from a wealthy and prominent Anglo-Norman family that had lived in Ireland since the 14th Century. Of the earl’s five surviving sons, four were brilliant scholars; the exception was Arthur who did little work during his school years, later describing himself as a ‘dreamy, idle and shy lad’ whose chief love (like his father’s) was playing the violin, though he never came close to his father’s virtuosity.

He did not come from a military family and had no desire to join the army. But his mother and eldest brother Richard, who became the second Earl of Mornington on the death of their father in 1781, thought differently. The countess described her ‘awkward son Arthur’ as ‘food for powder and nothing more’ – in other words cannon-fodder.

Unable to buy a commission for Arthur, they eventually used their connections to obtain one for free. And in the meantime they sent him to the Royal Academy of Equitation at Angers in France where, for two centuries, the ruling classes of Europe had learnt the art of horsemanship, fencing, mathematics and the humanities. An initially unenthusiastic Arthur thrived, learning French, becoming an expert (if not a graceful) rider, and gaining in both self-confidence and stature. ‘I do believe,’ his mother explained on seeing the taller, smarter version of her son in late 1786, ‘there is my ugly boy Arthur.’

In March 1787, shortly before his 18th birthday, Arthur was gazetted an ensign in the 73 rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot. He later told a friend that it was not a career he would have chosen, but ‘since I have undertaken a profession I had better try to understand it’. In truth, he spent most of the first six years of his military service trying to avoid soldiering, serving instead as aide-de-camp to the lord lieutenant of Ireland (a friend of his brother Richard’s), and regularly swapping regiments (he went through six in five years) to secure promotion and avoid service abroad.

It was not until the outbreak of Britain’s war with revolutionary France in 1793 – following the French Revolution, the establishment of the 1st French Republic and the execution of former King Louis XVI – that Wellesley was forced to take his soldiering more seriously. He began by burning his violins and persuading his brother Richard to buy him successive promotions in the 33rd (West Riding) Regiment of Foot. He thus became, at the age of twenty-four, the lieutenant-colonel of an infantry corps of 500 men. Wholly unqualified as he was for such a responsibility, he worked hard to master the internal workings of the battalion, ‘immersing himself in the minutiae of its accounts and preparing standing orders that became a model of their kind’. But it says everything about the parlous state of the army in 1793 and the importance of connections that he had gained the command of a battalion without any formal training.

In June 1794 he sailed with the 33rd from Cork to Ostend as part of a division sent to reinforce the Duke of York’s battered army in Flanders. It was not a propitious moment for 28

Wellesley to go to war. He and his men were poorly trained, there was no adequate food supply, and the Allies were in retreat. In mid-September, near Breda in Holland, he received his baptism of fire when his battalion helped to check a French attack, an action for which the Duke of York commended the 33rd for its ‘good conduct’. The praise was deserved as the battalion had coolly obeyed Wellesley’s orders to hold its fire until the French column – a solid formation of up to a thousand men – was almost upon it; thus, from the time of his first action, Wellesley was convinced of the superiority that a line formation had over a column.

After a chaotic retreat through Belgium the army was eventually evacuated from the German port of Bremen in the spring of 1795, having lost 6,000 of its 21,000 men, most to disease and cold. Yet, as Wellesley told a friend many years later, the lessons of the campaign were useful: ‘Why – I learnt what one ought not to do, and that is always something.’

For a time, Wellesley resumed his duties as an Irish MP and aide to the lord lieutenant, and lobbied for a permanent place in the Irish government. But nothing suitable was offered and, with his political hopes dashed, he turned his mind back to soldiering. In early 1796, the recently promoted Colonel Wellesley and his battalion were posted to the West Indies where, had they arrived, many would have perished of a tropical fever. But a violent, and ultimately propitious, storm blew the battalion’s transports back to port, and when it resumed its voyage the posting had been changed to India.

Wellesley helped to pass these many months at sea by reading several works of military history, including Julius Caesar’s Commentaries (in Latin), fifteen volumes on Frederick the Great and Major-General Henry Lloyd’s Reflections on the Principles of the Art of War. His library also included works by Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke and Adam Smith, and, for lighter reading, ten volumes of Louvet de Couvray’s erotic Les Aventures du Chevalier de Faublas.

Wellesley finally reached Calcutta in February1797. But it was not until the arrival of his brother Mornington as the new governor-general of India, in May 1798, that Wellesley’s military career began to prosper. This was chiefly because Mornington (later the first Marquess Wellesley) had arrived in India with a fixed determination to expand British rule – partly for the benefit of British trade, and partly to deny other European powers, particularly France, the chance to re-establish their own influence in the region. By the end of Mornington’s seven-year term of office, British India had expanded from a third to a half of the subcontinent; and no soldier played a more prominent role than Arthur Wellesley.

During the first of Mornington’s conflicts – against Tipu Sultan, the pro-French Muslim ruler of Mysore in southern India in 1799 – Wellesley displayed a mastery of logistics that would become his trademark. Aware that the invading Anglo-Indian army had to cross more than 250 miles of jungle and hill terrain to reach the Mysorean capital of Seringapatam, and would not be able to live off the land, he encouraged merchants to bring in their produce from a wide area, and arranged for them to accompany the columns. He also assembled a siege train of heavy artillery, with 1,200 rounds a gun, for the final assault; and he drilled the battalions in brigade formation with live firing exercises. So impressed was the commander of the invading force, Lieutenant-General Sir George Harris, that he congratulated Wellesley in a general order for bringing the invasion force to such an admirable state of organization and discipline.

But the war in general, and the siege of Tipu’s capital in particular, was not Wellesley’s finest hour. A preliminary assault by Wellesley’s 33rd Foot on an enemy outpost was poorly planned – Wellesley did not even bother to reconnoitre – and ended in ignominious flight.

This was one of the few reverses of Wellesley’s military career and its lesson stayed with him. Never again, he told his brother, would he ‘suffer an attack to be made by night upon an enemy who is…strongly posted, and whose posts have not been reconnoitred by daylight’. It was a blunder that would probably have ended the career of a less well-connected officer; as it was, Wellesley was denied a proper share of the laurels the army would receive for 29

storming Seringapatam, on 4 May 1799, because he had been given command of the reserve which was not called into action.

Wellesley’s chance for redemption came in 1803 when war broke out between the British and the Hindu princes of the Maratha Confederacy. Anticipating a conflict, Wellesley had made a detailed study of the terrain and the supplies needed to cross it. They included, in his estimation, 90,000 lb. of salted meat, ‘packed in kegs well fortified, 54 lb. in each keg, besides pickle, etc; and the same quantity of biscuits in round baskets, containing 60 lb. each’.

On 23 September, having already captured the hill fortress of Ahmednuggur, Wellesley stumbled upon the main Maratha army in a strong position near the village of Assaye, in central India, its front protected by the River Kaitna. Though outnumbered by at least seven to one – the enemy had 50,000 men and 128 guns to his 7,000 and 22 guns, and of that 7,000 only 1,800 were British – he chose to attack because he believed aggression was the only way to defeat a numerically superior Indian foe. He later acknowledged the risk he was taking when he described the attack as ‘certainly a most desperate one’.

With a frontal attack ruled out by the steep-sided River Kaitna and its two heavily defended fords, he hoped to turn the enemy’s left flank by crossing the river close to its junction with the Juah. The plan was almost scuppered when his guides insisted there was no ford in the vicinity. But, as he surveyed the area through his spyglass, he spotted two villages on either side of the river and came to the obvious conclusion that they had been built near a ford. He wrote later: I was right. I found a passage, crossed my army over, had no more to fear from the enemy’s cloud of cavalry, and my army, small as it was, was just enough to fill the space between the two streams, so that my flanks were secure.

Wellesley had intended to outflank the Marathas’ line by marching his right wing past Assaye. But the enemy’s well-drilled change of front – made possible by years of Frenchsupervised training – made him alter his point of attack away from Assaye, which was well defended and bristling with cannon, to his left wing near the River Kaitna. He instructed Lieutenant-Colonel William Orrock, commanding the picquets on the right, not to stray too close to the village. But for some reason Orrock ignored the order and attacked Assaye with his picquets and support from the 74th Foot. ‘There was a large break in our line,’ recalled Wellesley, ‘between these corps and those on our left. They were exposed to a most terrible cannonade from Assaye, and were charged by the [enemy] cavalry.’

For a time, thanks to Orrock’s incompetence, the battle hung in the balance. If the main attack on the left had also been repulsed, Wellesley and his small army would have been doomed. But though the Marathas in that sector fought well and inflicted many casualties, they could not hold their line.

The Maratha centre eventually reformed a little further back on the Juah, from where they repulsed a charge by the British cavalry, killing the colonel of the 19th Light Dragoons in the process. But already the Maratha horse had left the field and, with the 78th Highlanders moving up to attack, the infantry fled across the Juah, leaving the ‘whole country strewn with killed and wounded, both European and natives, ours as well as the enemy’s’. Among the weapons abandoned by the Marathas were more than 90 cannon.

Appalled by the carnage, and no doubt shocked by how close he had come to disaster, Wellesley sank to the ground and sat with his head between his knees. His small army of 7,000 had suffered a crippling 1,584 casualties, 650 of them British; the enemy dead and wounded were more than 6,000. ‘I should not like to see again such loss as I sustained on the 23rd September,’ he wrote a month later, ‘even if attended by such a gain.’

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That night he would have a recurring nightmare that all his men had been killed. When asked, years later, what was the ‘best thing’ he ever did in the way of fighting, he replied with one word: ‘Assaye.’ He knew he had taken a fearful risk and only narrowly come through it.

During the fighting, one charger was killed under him and another piked. Yet, when faced with each new setback, he had refused to panic. ‘I never saw a man so cool and collected as he was,’ wrote Colin Campbell of the 78th, ‘though I can assure you, till our troops got the orders to advance the fate of the day seemed doubtful.’

Wellesley followed up Assaye with another hard fought victory at Argaum where again – very much in the style of Frederick the Great’s celebrated ‘oblique order’ – he brought up his troops in echelon to one flank and was ‘able to concentrate a powerful spearhead against a single point in the opposing line’. He eventually returned to Britain in March 1805 with a knighthood, the local rank of major general and a fortune of £42,000 – chiefly his share of prize money – that made him ‘independent of all office or employment’.

In a tactical sense, India taught Wellesley that aggression and risk were the keys to winning battles. He would learn soon enough that veteran French troops did not buckle quite as easily as Indian sepoys, and would have to adapt his tactics accordingly. But one area of his Indian experience required no fine-tuning, and that was his expertise in matters of logistics. ‘He was a logistician par excellence,’ wrote a recent biographer, ‘and he repeatedly overturned accepted wisdoms by the speed with which he could bring together a moving bazaar – actually a sort of free-enterprise “rolling magazine” – to keep his forces fed while they operated far from their base.’

Once back in England, Wellesley was not best pleased to be given a minor command on the south coast. So he turned his attention back to politics and entered government for the first time in March 1807 as chief secretary for Ireland in the Duke of Portland’s new Tory administration. But word soon reached him in Dublin that the government was planning an expedition to Copenhagen to seize the Danish fleet, lest if fall into French hands, and he at once volunteered. He commanded only a brigade, but still won the lion’s share of the laurels by defeating an attempt by a numerically superior Danish force to raise the siege of Copenhagen at Köge on 26 August. Just over a week later the city surrendered and the powerful Danish fleet was safely in British hands.

In July 1808, by then a lieutenant-general, Wellesley led 15,000 men to the Iberian peninsular to support Spanish and Portuguese rebellions against French rule. Shortly before his departure, he confided his hopes and fears to his friend, the MP and diarist John Wilson Croker: [The French] may overwhelm me, but I don’t think they will out-manoeuvre me. First, because I am not afraid of them, as everybody else seems to be; and secondly, because if what I hear of their system of manoeuvre, is true, I think it a false one as against steady troops. I suspect all the continental armies were more than half beaten before the battle was begun – I, at least, will not be frightened beforehand.

He was as good as his word. Having landed at Mondego Bay, Portugal, in early August 1808, Wellesley defeated the French general Junot in the battles of Roliça and Vimeiro. The latter engagement saw the first use of what became his trademark defensive tactic: placing the main body of his troops behind a ridge line to protect them from artillery, and putting light infantry and riflemen on the forward slopes to counter the tirailleurs that led French attacks. Unlike the French, who tended to concentrate their artillery in grand batteries, Wellesley spread his guns along his front to hamper the enemy approach.

The favoured French infantry tactic was to use the more manoeuvrable column to approach an enemy position, and then deploy it into line for greater firepower if they met stubborn 31

resistance. But, like Marlborough and Wolfe before him, Wellesley had the answer to this.

His infantry battalions were drawn up in two ranks and, before the French could form line, would fire a close-range rolling volley, company by company, into the head and flanks of the column. Then they would let out a great cheer and charge the enemy with fixed bayonets. At Vimeiro this tactic worked to perfection. Wellesley had won the first significant British land victory over French troops in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars, and in the process destroyed the aura of invincibility that the French Army had possessed since Bonaparte’s success at Marengo in 1800.

But Wellesley was unable to follow up this success because, even before the battle, he had received word that the army in Portugal was about to be doubled in size, causing him to be superseded by two more senior lieutenant-generals, Hew Dalrymple and Harry Burrard.

Between them they concluded a peace treaty with Junot, known as the Convention of Cintra, that included the clause that all French troops in Portugal would be shipped home by the Royal Navy, and would take with them ‘their arms and baggage, with their personal property of every kind’ (which, in practice, meant booty that included a Bible from the royal library and two carriages belonging to the Duke of Sussex). When these overly generous terms were published in the London Gazette on 16 September they provoked an outcry. Portland, the prime minister, thought them so disadvantageous that it was hard to believe any English officer ‘could have sanctioned them’.

All three lieutenant-generals were recalled from Portugal in semi-disgrace, leaving Sir John Moore to take command of the expanded army. But Moore overreached himself by advancing too deeply into Spain and, pursued for a time by Napoleon himself, was forced to retreat through the mountains in the height of winter to the port of Corunna in northwest Spain.

Moore was killed in the victorious battle outside the port on 16 January 1809 that enabled the surviving 28,000 men of his army – including around 6,000 sick and wounded – to escape onto waiting ships.

Two months after Moore’s death, Wellesley urged Lord Castlereagh, the War Secretary, not to abandon the Iberians. ‘I have,’ he wrote, ‘always been of opinion that Portugal might be defended whatever the result of the contest in Spain.’ But to do so, he added, would require a British force of 30,000 men, including 4,000 cavalry; a Portuguese Army restructured under British command; and a concerted effort by the Spaniards to keep at least some of the French pinned down in their country.

Castlereagh was persuaded and, thanks to his strong advocacy, so were his Cabinet colleagues. Wellesley’s instructions were to consider the defence of Portugal ‘as the first and most immediate object of your attention’. He was to use his discretion on when and how to cooperate with the Spanish, but only after receiving the sanction of the British government.

This suited Wellesley. Having studied the Corunna campaign in detail, he had come to the conclusion that the Spanish armies were too disorganized, and the British too few in number, to take on the French in open battle on the great plains of the Peninsula. He felt, on the other hand, that the rugged mountainous terrain, especially in Portugal, offered good opportunities for defence. He thus conceived what he would later describe as his ‘cautious system’, building up British troop strength in Portugal, nurturing the infant Portuguese Army and striking at the French from a secure base. The war, he believed, would be ended not by a single brilliant campaign but by a long process of attrition.

The next three years proved that Wellesley was right to be cautious, as hard fought defensive victories at Talavera (1809), Busaco (1810) and Fuentes de Onoro (1811) were followed by strategic withdrawals. Even after the great encounter victory of Salamanca in July 1812, one of the finest of his career, he overreached himself by laying siege to Burgos and, once again, had to withdraw back to the Portuguese border with French armies in pursuit.

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For his victory at Talavera, Wellesley was ennobled as Viscount Wellington (a title chosen for him by his younger brother William because the Somerset town of Wellington was near a village called Welleslie.) He became the Earl of Wellington after the capture of the fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo in January 1812, a marquess after Salamanca, and was made a field marshal – a new rank created especially for him – after arguably his greatest victory, at Vitoria in August 1813.

The Vitoria campaign was arguably the finest of his career. In just two months he had comprehensively out-generalled both King Joseph and Marshal Jourdan, driving the bulk of French troops in Spain to the very borders of France where, outside the town of Vitoria, he inflicted another stinging defeat. Not that victory had come cheap. He lost almost 5,000 men; the French 7,000, all but two of 153 guns and all of their baggage. But this time Wellington’s success on the field of battle would not be followed by a strategic retreat. The French had no more reinforcements to send to Spain and defeat at Vitoria marked the end of Napoleon’s long, costly and ultimately futile campaign to conquer the Iberian Peninsula.

By the time Napoleon abdicated in April 1814 – he had been on the back foot since his disastrous invasion of Russia two years earlier – Wellington had invaded France and captured Toulouse. He was rewarded with a dukedom and appointed the British ambassador in Paris.

The Battle of Waterloo, fought near Brussels on 18 June 1815 after Napoleon had escaped from exile and returned to power, is generally thought of as Wellington’s crowning glory, an affirmation that he and not his opponent was the finest general of his era. But in some ways it was one of his least convincing victories.

In his dispatch of the battle, written in the early hours of 19 June, Wellington attributed the ‘successful result of this arduous day to the cordial and timely assistance’ he had received from Marshal Blücher and the Prussians. Later that morning he wrote to his brother William: ‘You’ll see the account of our desperate battle and victory over Boney!! It was the most desperate business I ever was in; I never took so much trouble about any battle; and never was so near being beat. Our loss is immense particularly in that best of all instruments British Infantry. I never saw the Infantry behave so well.’

Within these two documents – written while Wellington’s memory was at its freshest – lies the essential truth of the battle: that he almost lost it, and certainly would have done but for two crucial factors – the timely arrival of the Prussians; and the fighting quality of his British redcoats, who, time and again, plugged gaps in his line and pushed the French back. Many historians regard the first point as irrelevant, insisting that Wellington fought at Waterloo only because he knew the Prussians would come to his assistance. That may be true. But when we come to assess Wellington’s skill as a general, it is hard to see the Waterloo campaign in general, and the final battle in particular, as strong evidence of his military genius.

Yes, he was up against the finest captain of his era, and one of the greatest of all time; but had Napoleon and his marshals been on form they would surely have taken advantage of Wellington’s many errors. The first and most serious was strategic. Wellington had concentrated his polyglot army of 114,000 men, only a third of whom were British, in and around Brussels; while the slightly larger Prussian army of his ally, Marshal Blücher, was stationed on his left. But so convinced was Wellington that Napoleon was planning to cut off his retreat from the Channel ports by advancing along the Mons axis, he ignored all the intelligence reaching him in Brussels prior to and during 15 June that the main French attack would be against the junction of the two Allied armies in the vicinity of Charleroi. Only by 10 p.m. on 15 June did he finally accept the truth and order his troops to move towards the pre-arranged concentration point at Quatre Bras. But they had to wait for daylight to advance, and by then it was too late to assist the Prussians who had to face the main French attack at Ligny on the 16 th alone. Wellington acknowledged this error, shortly after midnight on 15 33

June, when he remarked to the Duke of Richmond: ‘Napoleon has humbugged me, by God! He has gained twenty-four hours on me.’

This error allowed Napoleon to drive a wedge between the two Allied armies, and gave him the opportunity to defeat them one by one; but for Marshal Ney’s interference on the 16 June, recalling d’Erlon’s corps in defiance of the Napoleon’s express orders, the Prussian army would have been destroyed at Ligny and Napoleon free to turn on Wellington without fear of interruption. As it was the Prussians were forced to retreat towards Wavre and away from Wellington.

There were further opportunities: for Napoleon to strike a decisive blow against Wellington at Quatre Bras in the morning of the 17th (when, for some reason, the duke delayed his withdrawal back to Waterloo until mid-morning); and for Grouchy to prevent the Prussians from reaching Waterloo on the 18th. But neither was taken. ‘The plain truth,’ wrote Frank McLynn, ‘seems to be that Napoleon performed far below his best form, and that something happened to his martial talents in general during the lacklustre four-day Belgian campaign.’

And yet, by Wellington’s own admission, the emperor almost pulled off an unlikely victory at Waterloo, fighting uphill against a general who was an acknowledged master of the defensive battle.

There is no doubt that Wellington performed well at Waterloo by criss-crossing the battlefield, inspiring his troops and moving reserves to threatened sectors. But if he had had to fight the whole battle against an evenly matched opponent – in other words without the support of the Prussians – this might not have been enough. His decision to leave 17,000 valuable troops at Hal and Tubize – again because he believed Napoleon would try an outflanking manoeuvre – was yet another error that, fortunately for him, he was not made to pay for because the Prussians reached Waterloo in the nick of time.

At the time the British public were unaware of these near fatal errors, and Wellington made strenuous efforts to keep it that way. His reward for helping to save Europe from Napoleon was the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order – the Prince Regent had no other honours left to give him – while a grateful King William I of the Netherlands made him the Prince of Waterloo.

It was Wellington’s last battle. He would devote most of the remaining thirty-seven years of his long and illustrious career as a public servant to politics and military administration, reaching the pinnacle of both as prime minister (1828-30, and again briefly in 1834) and commander-in-chief of the British Army (1827-8 and 1842-52). His time in office was not particularly successful, as Wellington’s natural conservatism had little sympathy with the growing public clamour for political, social and military reform.

The most balanced recent assessment of Wellington as a commander was by the historian Paddy Griffith: ‘He reached his ultimate stature as a general only through a lengthy and often painful process of trial and error. His rise to the final glory was by no means uninterrupted or free from acrimony, and although he certainly did not lose any battle along the way, it is scarcely correct to claim that he was victorious in every campaign. His achievement was not that he was infallible, but rather that he knew how to weather his mistakes and make the best out of a bad job.’

Extract of Greatest Military Commanders by Saul David Published 26th January 2012 available in kindle format £3.99. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Military-Commanders-Marlboroughebook/dp/B0072KRRC0/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1328522952&sr=8-17

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Interview with Kristal McKerrington

Tell me a little bit about your life?

Gosh, well I suppose you could say I'm a normal Scottish woman. I drink tea, write my books. I suppose what makes me stand out, is that a lot of my work comes to me when I'm in the bath with hundreds of candles around me.

I am a huge fan of Wrestling. I have some serious soft spots for the men that go out there and risk their lives to entertain us.

I'm 23 years old and have eight books on sale in major retailers of Ebooks. Including Amazon. I'm a bestseller in Amazons Reference and Collection. I even got into the top 200,000 on Amazon's paid best sellers list in the UK. I never thought I would get there.

I'm a full time writer of Wrestling Romance, Young Adult Romance, Erotica, Hip Hop, Paranormal and some alternative books.

When did you start to write?

I started to write when I was a child, I actually started writing a story one night ‘cause my Auntie was coming to visit me in the hospital. I didn't have anything for her. I wanted her to come back and visit me again. I wrote her a story and it was the first time I ever wrote a story. I believe she still has it. All I can remember about it was that it had a Giraffe in it and a man called Shane Helms.

Who inspires you?

I have to spilt this answer into two. For writing it’s easy Rachel Caine, Catherine Cookson and Celia Reece. Those three women gave me the inspiration to continue on writing when things are too hard to keep picking up the pen and seeing where it would take me.

In the sense of Wrestling, I have to say Kid Kash, Shane Helms, The Hardy Boys for without them I wouldn't have been such a fighter against my Arthritics as I am now.

What are you working on now?

Working on the second book of my telling of dealing with Arthritics. It’s called “RA Saviours Guilt: How I Wanted To Die”, which follows the successful book called 'Burning From Within: Inside Kristal McKerrington, Conquering RA and Dyslexia'.

We are also working on Wrestling Romance still. We are coming to the end of the A Different Life series. We are doing three short spin off series and these are going into Print in March. No fix dates yet. We have also got some more Young Adult stuff coming that isn't Wrestling Romance related.

Shetlands Immortals is also looking to be in print very shortly. We are starting with the first four ebooks and will be doing every four ebooks into one big print book. It will be the longest series I do.

We have a map that states it will be over 32 ebooks.

Are there any future projects in the works?

With any future projects then you need to know there set in stone, as of yet Writing is my main goal. I love writing and hope to see some of it going towards film in the near future, but nothing is set in stone. We are also working on other things. I hope by the end of 2013 I'll be a screenplay Writer Professionally and an Author. That's the goal anyway.

For more information on Kristel check out her blog: http://kristalmckerringtons.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/happy-new-year.html?zx=ff79865f1aa74f9c Interview by Tony Angelo 35

Historic Battlefield Tours Discover 800 years of conflict in the heart of Scotland Welcome to Historic Battlefield Tours. Based in Cumbernauld we offer short two day trips to some of the most famous battlefields in Central Scotland.

As well as visiting sites where well-known heroes such as Wallace and the Bruce fought against the English during the Wars of Independence you'll discover some of the other, less celebrated battles and conflict sites that also helped to shape the Scotland we know today.

Your guide, Jim, is a former infantry soldier and a graduate of the University of Glasgow where at the world renowned Centre for Battlefield Archaeology, he gained his Master of Letters in Battlefield and Conflict Archaeology. By using a combination of his expertise and knowledge in these fields and the latest historical and archaeological perspectives, he can guide you through over eight hundred years of conflict in the heart of Scotland.

All of our trips are available to individuals and small groups of no more than 8 people, however, if you are from the military or other organisation and wish to book a trip for more than this number simply visit our website page to let us know your requirements and we will send you a group booking information pack - discounts are available for groups of more than 8 people.

We also offer heavily discounted group tours for schools and other accredited educational institutions such as colleges and universities. If you are a student and wish to go on one of our tours please visit our website for individual student prices.

http://www.historicbattlefieldtours.co.uk/

Historic Battlefield Tours, PO Box 29988, Cumbernauld, G67 9EL Tel: 07758 096830

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