The Hoodsman: Popes and Emperors

By Skye Smith

This is the eleventh in the Hoodsman series. You should read the first of the series before you read any of the rest.

By 1081 the Conqueror and most Normans are ignoring England and are keeping to the continent where the latest action is. Robert of Guiscard, the Norman duke of the southern half of Italy, is invading Byzantine Illyria (now Albania). Norman warriors are flocking to him eager for the rich spoils expected from sacking wealthy and civilized Byzantine cities.

The unexpected consequence of this invasion was the last great battle of Anglo-Danish warriors against the Normans. This battle was fought not in England, but in Dyrrhachium near what is now Durres, Albania. It was a huge battle and pivotal not just to the history of Britain, but to the history of Venice, Europe, and the Middle East.

* * * * *

By 1104, while King Henry is creating a stable and peaceful economy in England, Normandy is being shredded by the vicious Norman barons who have been exiled by Henry. Raynar converts a Norse style longship into a Venetian style galley to help Henry cross to Normandy.

* * * * *
About The Author

Skye Smith is my pen name. My ancestors were miners and shepherds near Castleton in the Peaks District of Derbyshire. I have been told by some readers that this series reminds them of Bernard Cornwell’s historical novels, and have always been delighted by the comparison.

This is the eleventh of my Hoodsman series of books, and you should read the first “Killing Kings” before you read this book. All of the books contain two timelines linked by characters and places. The “current” story is set in the era of King Henry I in the 1100’s, while the longer “flashback” story is set in the era of King William I after 1066.

I have self-published twelve "The Hoodsman ..." books and they are:
1. Killing Kings
2. Hunting Kings
3. Frisians of the Fens
4. Saving Princesses
5. Blackstone Edge
6. Ely Wakes
7. Courtesans and Exiles
8. The Revolt of the Earls
9. Forest Law
10. Queens and Widows
11. Popes and Emperors
12. The Second Invasion

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skye Smith
• Release date: May 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781927699102

Book preview

THE HOODSMAN

Popes and Emperors

(Book 11 of the Series)

By Skye Smith

Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Skye Smith

All rights reserved including all rights of authorship.

Cover Illustration is based upon a map

by Wikimedia User MapMaster

distributed under his Creative Commons license (2007)

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Revision 2 . . . . . ISBN: 978-1-927699-10-2

Cover Flap

By 1081 the Conqueror rarely visits England. Norman knights are no longer interested in that cold kingdom because there are better prospects on the continent. Robert of Guiscard, the Norman duke of the southern half of Italy, is invading Byzantine Illyria (now Albania). Normans are flocking to him eager for a share in the rich spoils expected from sacking wealthy and civilized Byzantine cities.

An unexpected consequence of this invasion was the last great battle of Anglo-Danish lords against the Normans. This battle was fought not in England, but in Dyrrhachium near what is now Durres, Albania. It was a huge battle and pivotal not just to the history of Britain, but to the history of Venice, Europe, and the Middle East.

* * * * *

By 1104, while King Henry is creating a stable and peaceful economy in England, Normandy is being shredded by the vicious Norman barons who have been exiled by Henry. Raynar converts a Norse style longship into a Venetian style galley to help Henry cross to Normandy.

* * * * *

* * * * *

The Hoodsman - Popes and Emperors by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

About The Author

Skye Smith is my pen name. My ancestors were miners and shepherds near Castleton in the Peaks District of Derbyshire. I have been told by some readers that this series reminds them of Bernard Cornwell’s historical novels, and have always been delighted by the comparison.

This is the eleventh of my Hoodsman series of books, and you should read the first Killing Kings before you read this book. All of the books contain two timelines linked by characters and places. The current story is set in the era of King Henry I in the 1100’s, while the longer flashback story is set in the era of King William I after 1066.

I have self-published twelve The Hoodsman ... books and they are:

# - SubTitle

. . . . . . . . . . . . William I Timeline

. . . . . . . . . . . . Henry I Timeline

1. Killing Kings

. . . . . . . . . . . . 1066 killing King Harald of Norway (Battle of Stamford Bridge)

. . . . . . . . . . . . 1100 killing King William II of England. Henry claims the throne.

2. Hunting Kings

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1066 hunting the Conqueror (Battle of Hastings Road)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100 hunting Henry I (Coronation Charter)

3. Frisians of the Fens

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067/68 rebellions. Edgar Aetheling flees north with Margaret.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100 amnesty and peace. Henry recruits English bowmen.

4. Saving Princesses

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1068/69 rebellions. Margaret weds Scotland (Battle of Durham)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100/01 Edith of Scotland weds Henry (Battle of Alton)

5. Blackstone Edge

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069/70 rebellions (The Harrowing of the North)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101 peace while the economy is saved from the bankers

6. Ely Wakes

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1070/71 Frisian rebellion (Battles of Ely and Cassel)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101 Henry collects allies. Mary of Scotland weds Boulogne.

7. Courtesans and Exiles

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1072/74 English lords flee abroad (Battle of Montreuil, Edgar surrenders)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Henry collects allies (the Honor of Boulogne)

8. The Revolt of the Earls

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075/76 Earls revolt (Battles of Worchester and Fagaduna)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Earls revolt (Battles of Arundel, Bridgnorth, Shropshire)

9. Forest Law

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076/79 fighting Normans in France (London Burned, Battle of Gerberoi)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103 fighting Normans in Cornwall (Battle of Tamara Sound)

10. Queens and Widows

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1079/81 rebellions (Gateshead, Judith of Lens)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103 Edith made Regent (Force 5 Hurricane)

11. Popes and Emperors

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1081 Normans slaughter English exiles (Battle of Dyrrhachium)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104 Henry visits Normandy (Duchy run by warlords)

12. The Second Invasion

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1082/85 power vacuum, peaceful anarchy (Regent Odo arrested enroute to Rome)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1085/87 Re-invasion and Harrowing of all England (Battle of Mantes, Conqueror dies)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104/05 Henry invades Normandy twice (Battle of Tinchebray).

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The Hoodsman - Popes and Emperors by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

Prologue

Writing historical novels about the twenty year conquest of England by a culture of vicious slave masters, requires describing England as it was before the era of the Anglo-Normans. It is difficult to separate reality from all of the popular misconceptions about the era. For example, think of all of the connotations and misconceptions attached to just one phrase: Anglo-Saxon.

Pre-Norman England was very much an Anglo-Danish kingdom. Not only were most of the nobles and lords Anglo-Danes, but half of the villages were Anglo-Danish. York was the second largest Danish city in the world, after London, and was a wealthy place because of the wealth of the Anglo-Dane farms of the Danelaw. Before the Normans, the Danelaw was more Danish than Denmark, and larger, and wealthier, and more populated.

By 1081, Bishop Odo, the Regent of England, (the Conqueror’s half brother) was ignoring the North. Denmark had a new king, Canute the Holy, who had sworn he would recapture the Danelaw, and Odo did not have the will, or the men to stop him. Instead the Normans withdrew from the North except for some formidable garrison castles.

Odo did not have the men because Normans were flocking to Italy to join Duke Robert Guiscard’s invasion of the Byzantine. Robert, the ruler of southern Italy, was assembling a fleet to invade Illyria, a Byzantine kingdom now called Albania. To do this they had to cross the Straits of Otranto, the fifty mile wide throat of the Adriatic Sea. The invading Norman army was larger than the one that had invaded England in 1066.

The shipping and trading city-republic of Venice was watching in horror because most of their trade passed through the Straits. Gregory the Pope-Bishop-King of Rome, Henry the Holy Roman Emperor, and Alexius the Byzantine Emperor, were watching in horror. The Normans were vicious and completely out of control.

After the Normans made a beachhead, they marched on the wealthy trading city of Dyrrhachium. This port was at one end of a main highway to Constantinople. There they suffered a setback. The Venetians fleet set sail in force and captured the Norman fleet. The Norman army was now stranded in Illyria.

As a reward for that stunning victory, Venice was given free trade privileges throughout the Byzantine Empire. This one act quickly turned Venice into the trading superpower of the Mediterranean, a position she held until Portuguese and Dutch ships began sailing around Africa four centuries later.

Now that the Normans were stranded in Illyria, Emperor Alexius marched the Byzantine army along the main highway to drive the Normans into the sea. Leading the march were the elite and famous Varangian Guards. The Varangians were an army corps made up of Baltic and North Sea warriors, but trained in modern Byzantine warcraft.

This Varangian army was filled with exiled English lords and warriors who had been pushed out of England by the Normans. They not only wanted revenge, but they wanted to keep these Normans far away from England so that Canute could invade and throw the Conqueror off the English throne.

* * * * *

By 1104, England was beginning to emerge from the horrific era of the two king Williams. The economy had been stabilized by ridding the kingdom of the corrupt practices of minters and bankers. The most foul of the Norman barons had been defeated and exiled. The rule of law had replaced the rule of warlords. English law once more ruled the courts. The Norman version of feudalism and serfdom was being dismantled.

King Henry was replacing incompetent nobles who had inherited official positions, with competent administrators, even if they were not of the nobility. No one was above the law, not even nobles. If the English did not yet trust the Norman Henry, they certainly trusted his English queen, Edith.

Normandy, however, was being ripped to pieces by the very barons who Henry had exiled from England. Henry’s brother Duke Robert was afraid of them, and could not control them. It was only a matter of time before Robert must ask Henry for his help.

* * * * *

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The Hoodsman - Popes and Emperors by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

Table of Contents

Title Page

Cover Flap

About the Author

Prologue

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - Claiming a longship in London in January 1104

Chapter 2 - With Robert the Frisian in Brugge in March 1081

Chapter 3 - At the abbey outside of Brugge in March 1081

Chapter 4 - The armoury at Oudenburg, near Brugge in March 1081

Chapter 5 - The Tauern Pass south of Salzburg in April 1081

Chapter 6 - Southwards to Villach in April 1081

Chapter 7 - Arriving in Venice in April 1081

Chapter 8 - With Maria in Venice in April 1081

Chapter 9 - With Maria at Venice arsenal in April 1081

Chapter 10 - An English galley in London in January 1104

Chapter 11 - Romancing Maria in Venice in May 1081

Chapter 12 - Maria's brother returns to Venice in May 1081

Chapter 13 - The call to arms in Venice in July 1081

Chapter 14 - Stranding the Normans at Dyrrhachium in July 1081

Chapter 15 - The summer long festival in Venice in 1081

Chapter 16 - Waiting for Alexius in Patok, Illyria in October 1081

Chapter 17 - Meeting an Emperor near Dyrrhachium in October 1081

Chapter 18 - The Battle of Dyrrhachium in October 1081

Chapter 19 - The retreat from Dyrrhachium in October 1081

Chapter 20 - The woolsorter's curse in Illyria in October 1081

Chapter 21 - Launching an English galley in London in February 1104

Chapter 22 - A pilgrim again in Rome in November 1081

Chapter 23 - The bishop's palace in Rome in November 1081

Chapter 24 - Ambushed in the Camargue in November 1081

Chapter 25 - The children of Jesus in the Camargue in December 1081

Chapter 26 - To Caen in a galley in March 1104

Chapter 27 - Traveling through Languedoc in December 1081

Chapter 28 - The blind seer of Le Puy in December 1081

Chapter 29 - The journey to Le Puy in December 1081

Chapter 30 - Gregos of Cordoba in Le Puy in December 1081

* * * * *

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The Hoodsman - Popes and Emperors by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

Chapter 1 - Claiming a longship in London in January 1104

I didn't say no, Edith soothed her favourite old man. I just said that I will need confirmation.

Confirmation of what? replied Raynar, calming himself. After all, it is not seemly to yell at your queen, even if she is a close relative. It was my ship that captured Mortain's big cog in Cornwall. The cog is therefore mine, but Henry gave it to his brother Duke Robert to use to go back to Normandy. In it's place I claim the ship that Robert came to Southampton on. All I need is something in writing from you to hand to the captain to prove that I am not insane to ask for it.

Edith calmed his irritation by stroking his cheek. Henry is a successful ruler, she said softly, because each of his projects has three main parts. She counted on her fingers. The plan, the doing, and the confirmation. A smile lit her face. And the plan and the confirmation are the things you set up first.

Raynar nodded. She was right of course. Before he or his partners in Flanders join any venture they always demanded a detailed plan, and a way of judging how well the plan was working at any point in the doing. What Edith called confirmation, the French would call audit. The first audit is whether you need the plan at all. The next is whether it is a good plan. The next is when to begin the doing.

Of course, it was always more expensive to audit as you go, but in a costly venture, the extra cost was outweighed by the risk of not auditing. He had seen ventures go wrong and beggar the partners before they even knew that there was a problem. For that matter, he had seen battles go wrong and be lost before the general knew that there was a problem. He looked at Edith. She was writing something down. That was hopeful.

Edith at twenty four was a very educated and knowledgeable woman. She had read entire books. Probably more than a dozen of them. Not many noblemen, never mind noblewomen, could read and write, and do it in English, French, and Latin. Her skills were no surprise considering that her mother, Margaret of Scotland and her aunt Cristina had both been well educated, and also considering that Edith had spent half of her life in a convent run by Cristina.

Edith passed him the letter she had just written. It was in French. It made her smile to see him read it. Raynar was a very educated and knowledgeable man. He had read entire books. Probably more than a dozen of them. Not many noblemen, never mind peasant men, could read and write, and do it in English, French, Greek, and Welsh. His skills always amazed her. He put most of the palace's clerics to shame. Well, that is, except for his penmanship. His letters were always a mess of ink blots and scrawl.

Raynar almost crumpled her letter up in anger after reading it, but calmed himself. It was indeed a letter to the captain of Duke Robert's ship the Mora in Southampton, but it was just an invitation for him to attend her in court at Westminster, at his earliest convenience.

You cannot complain, dear, she said putting a hand on top of his. This invitation will be in his hands in two days, and he will be here at court within five. Then we will see. In court vernacular 'his earliest convenience' was the polite form of 'get your ass here now'.

Fine. But add one more line, he said with a smile. Tell him to bring his famous ship with him. It needs work and I would rather have that done here in London, so that I can stay with you at the palace while Henry is away. Besides, your shipyard in Wapping needs the work.

And do I have a shipyard in Wapping? she asked. She had never been to Wapping. That was the rough end of London, downstream from the tower.

Aye, lass. It is in the same Demesne as Queenhithe. The earnings of the main docks of London are yours, as are those of the main shipyard.

Good Queen Edith of the English added another line to the letter and then signed it and sealed it with her personal signet ring, and then picked up the small bell from the edge of her desk and made it tinkle. A clerk came into the room immediately, so fast that he surely must have had his ear to the keyhole. As he picked up the letter, and read it to make sure he understood who it was for, Edith told him to send it immediately. As an afterthought she asked him to send in her children. Business was over for this day.

Sending in her children, of course, did not mean just her own two babies. At court now there were six of Henry's children, four from other women, and another almost due from the resident Welsh princess Nest. Raynar liked them all, even the eldest boy Robert, who was about twelve. The first to come through the door were the eldest girls, Juliana and Matilda, both twelve or thirteen going on twenty and already promised for future marriages.

Juliana had just been betrothed to Eustace de Pacy, Lord of Bréteuil and Pacy, who was about twenty years older than her. Matilda had just been betrothed to Rotrou, the Count of Perche, who was about a dozen years older than her. Though already betrothed, Edith refused to have them join their husbands until they were of age.

Edith was a thoroughly modern noblewoman. She herself had not been wed until the age of twenty. Henry, however, needed some allies in Normandy, and betrothing these two daughters was a political move. He had cursed that they weren't two years older so the marriage bed could seal the contract.

Raynar was an old fashioned northerner from a peasant hamlet. Noble marriages had never made much sense to him. It would be better if all marriages intermixed poor and rich, so that the wealth would be distributed more evenly. These Norman marriages kept the riches locked in a close circle. Of course, he didn't believe in land ownership either. In his way of thinking all land should be held in-common by an entire community, and leased from that community when there was a reasonable need.

When all was said and done, no matter how many similarities and differences there were between the Normans and the English, the ultimate shield crasher was that Norman culture thrived by standing on the heads of the poor, whereas English culture thrived because so much property was held in-common.

Are you day dreaming again, uncle Ray? asked young Robert. You promised to show me the plans of your new ship, remember.

Raynar opened his eyes just in time to steady baby William as Nest plunked him down on his lap. Nest was almost due now and was very rotund, especially for her diminutive height. She was the last of a royal Welsh bloodline, and looked very different from all the others in the room. She had fine, elfin features, with skin so fair that it was like chalk, and red cheeks and jet black hair and eyes.

Ugh, yes, ugh, Nest, he stammered as he pushed the baby back towards Nest. I promised to spend some time with Robert, so you must give Will to someone else. Nest pulled away and arched her back to make it clear that she couldn't carry the little tike. Juliana rescued Will and swept him away in a twirl.

The room was filling with women and children. The womenfolk were all dressed like rich nuns, covered head to foot with fine woolens in natural, somber colours. Before the horrendous storm of Saint Lawrence day in August, they would have been dressed more like colorful butterflies, flitting around provocatively in gowns of silk.

That ferocious wind storm had changed everything. It sank ships and fishing boats. It blew down roofs and buildings. It flattened and then flooded the August crops. The damp since then had sickened the farm animals. Edith had decided that it was not proper for noblewomen to parade their wealth in silk and jewels when so many of her folk, the English folk, were having such a hard winter.

The devastation of the storm was why Henry, the king, was still in the West Country with his army. They were still bringing to heel all of the minor lords who had sworn fealty to Mortain of Cornwall and Belleme of Shrewsbury, who were both now exiled and in Normandy. This meant occupying the castles and bailey forts. Since the army's men were posted there anyway, they had been set to work helping the folk to rebuild roofs and fishing boats and roads.

Mortain and Belleme were devilishly cruel, and hated, but very rich, so many of their greater lords had followed them into exile. Others were now locked up, like Jorwerth and his two brothers, who had being ruling, ugh, ruining, Powys in Wales as vassals of Belleme. Raynar cursed at the thought of Jorwerth being nice and safe in a cell. A more fitting punishment would have been to throw them to the Welsh women they had so abused.

Uncle, sighed Robert as he shook him. The plans.

Everyone away from my desk, Edith shouted, especially those with sticky fingers. What are you doing eating honey cakes right before supper. Away from my desk. She stamped her feet in baby stamps and pretended to chase the little ones. Robert and Uncle Ray need to use it.

Raynar waited until all the sticky fingers were well away, and then he passed a scroll pipe to young Robert and had him stretch out the contents. They held the corners down with the desk's paper weights. I will explain it in English, but I will speak slowly, Raynar told him.

Robert's education had been organized by the Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Bloet, may he rot in hell someday soon. After being the Bishop of English folk for over twenty years, and at times the Lord Chancellor to three kings of the English, he still did not speak much English. Raynar was not trying to teach young Robert about ships, as much as he was trying to teach him English.

Oh not English, again, Robert complained in halting English. Oh, all right. I suppose it is useful to know. Latin so I can read laws. French so I can speak in court. English so I can order my servants about. He poked Raynar with his finger to signal that he was jesting.

Raynar accepted it as an apology, but the truth of the boy's words hurt. That the English folk were servants in their own kingdom, was a truly hateful thought. He turned around because someone had stroked his back. Darling Lucy. Or rather, Lucy, Countess of Bolingbroke and Chester. She saw the plans of the ship and her hand stopped stroking his back and she bent over them.

What kind of ship is this? she asked, flipping the pages carefully. The scroll was old and weathered. Having grown up in Spalding, a port on the Wash in the middle of the Fens, she knew ships, and owned a few. The hull looks like a longship, but the planking is not overlapped. It is all wrong.

Aw, Lucy, complained Robert. This is my time with him.

Oh dear, sorry, she said softly. Lucy could do 'softly' if she tried. When she wasn't trying to be soft, she was a tall, strong woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes who had been nursed on the back of a Frisian stallion, and had been taught every weapon that she could lift, swing, or draw. May I stay if I stand to one side and don't say a word?

She backed a step away from the desk and smiled at the boy. He was at that lovely age that boys go through where they want to help with everything and have boundless healthy energy. Too bad that age is so quickly finished and replaced with a smelly, pimply, moody teenager.

Raynar moved the pillow he had been sitting on, and placed it on Edith's chair and sat at the center of the desk. He looked at Robert's pout, and Lucy's keen interest and told them, I will send Lucy away if she asks silly questions. Robert nodded. Lucy winked.

This is the plans to a Venetian Galley, Raynar saw Robert cross himself, Not Venus the god. Venice the city state. He pointed to the hull. What we call a longship, they call a galley. It is a long low narrow ship designed to be fast under oar, and the longer it is, the more oars it has, and the faster it goes. When I was your age, almost all ships were longships. Now all the newest ones are round ships.

He thumbed to the last scroll and showed it to the lad. It was the plan of a Frisian Cog. A typical round ship. See. A round ship is shorter, and fatter and higher and depends on the sail to move it along. The traders all want round ships these days because they hold more cargo, and need fewer crew, and have the advantage of height when attacked at sea.

But it has oars too, said Robert.

Only a few oars. Just for emergencies, and tight places like harbours. Every oarsman is also an archer. See the platforms fore and aft. Ugh, front and back. Those are called castles, and the archers can stand on them and fire arrows down into any attacking longships.

So are you going to build a galley? asked Robert. Is that why you have these plans?

Not build one, so much as convert one, he flipped the scrolls back. See what is built on top of the Venetian longship. A platform like on the roundship, but it goes all the way around the ship, not just the front and the back. The platform on each side sticks out over the water. They are called the outriggers. That is where the oarsmen sit. Up high, rather than down low.

So it is a longship made higher, said Robert as he leaned over the drawing. And the oarsmen don't take up cargo space. I get it.

Oh, it will never be used as a cargo ship, Raynar replied. It will have thirty or forty oarsmen, so carrying cargo would not pay the costs. It will be for carrying warriors. A war ship, or a patrol ship.

Why do you need a war .... began Lucy.

Shhh, Raynar interrupted, later.

Well it seems easy enough, said Robert, now looking at the second scroll and following the lines on the pictures that showed the beams that held the outriggers. Just get one of our longships, and add all this wood on top of it, and you have a galley.

That is what I plan to do, but easy, no. If it were easy, then you would see them on the North Sea or the Celtic Sea. They are converting longships to galleys in Venice, but they are the experts. Some of the captains I sailed with in Flanders make a living by buying old unwanted longships in the North Sea, filling them with cargo and pilgrims and sailing them to Venice, where they are turned into outrigger galleys.