Hoodsman: Courtesans and Exiles Read online

  THE HOODSMAN

  Courtesans and Exiles

  (Book Seven of the Series)

  By Skye Smith

  Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Skye Smith

  All rights reserved including all rights of authorship.

  Cover Illustration is ‘Hereward lands in Flanders’

  by H. C. Selous (1870)

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Revision 2 . . . . . ISBN: 978-1-927699-06-5

  Cover Flap

  By 1072, after six years of rebellion against the Normans, the defeated Anglo-Danish nobility of England were either dead or in exile. Some exiles accepted young Philip of France’s offer to be his mercenaries on Normandy’s northern border, much to the annoyance of the Conqueror.

  Meanwhile life was good for Raynar and Hereward in Flanders. Their ships plied the trade route between the Fens and Brugge. They had the backing of the Count of Flanders and allies in great Danish fleet that controlled the North Sea.

  * * * * *

  Early in 1102, Duke Robert and his barons went back to Normandy, so England became less risky for travelers. Eustace did not return to Boulogne, as his new wife Mary wanted to linger until Queen Edith’s baby was born. It was an opportunity for him to visit the Honours of Boulogne.

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  The Hoodsman - Courtesans and Exiles 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 seventh 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 - Courtesans and Exiles 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 also half of all the villages in the kingdom 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. The Danelaw was more Danish than Denmark, and larger, and wealthier, and more populated.

  By 1072 the effects of the genocidal Harrowing of the North were very evident in the northern Danelaw. It was not recovering because the ravage of the Normans had turned it into a huge wasteland. The Anglo-Dane folk had died from starvation, exposure, and disease, or had fled. Those who fled south were forced into serfdom, while those who fled north to Scotland were forced into peonage.

  By 1072 there were few Anglo-Danish lords left anywhere in England. Those who had been killed, had been replaced on their estates by Norman knights, who gained the property right by betrothing the new widow by rape. The rest were in exile in Brittany, Wales, Scotland, Denmark, and Flanders.

  By 1072 William the Conqueror was cursing that he ever invaded England because it had cost him an army, which weakened his position on the continent. He left the crushed English under the vicious regency of his half brother Bishop Odo, and went back to Normandy to rebuild his continental army. Brittany and Maine, which he had conquered before crossing to England, were now taking advantage of his weak army and rebelling.

  William had missed the opportunity of taking the throne of Flanders because while he was ravaging England, the Danish-backed Robert the Frisian took that throne. Robert was the brother of William's wife, Mathilde. The new and young King Philip of France was eager to reclaim lands lost by his incompetant father, many of which had been taken over by William, or had allied to him, such as the counties of Lens and
Boulogne. These counties would give Paris access to the English Channel.

  Meanwhile, the Norman lords, whom William had exiled in order to become the Duke of Normandy, were sacking wealthy Byzantine cities on the borders of that Empire. While William was being chastised by the Pope for the peasant rebellions that his harrowings had caused, the Norman Duke Guiscard of Southern Italy was being praised for harrowing Orthodox Christians in places like Apulia and Sicily.

  In the Byzantine, the Seljuk Turks had not only blocked the Empire’s trade routes to the far east but had captured Jerusalem, thus putting an end to a profitable pilgrimage industry. By 1073 the Empire was broke and bleeding financially and had withdrawn their excomunication of the Pope in hopes that he would help them reopen the pilgrimage and trade routes.

  The viciousness of Norman knights was now feared from Wales to the Byzantine, so the English who the Conqueror had exiled were offered work as mercenaries to fight Normans, not in England, but in Scotland, France, and the Byzantine.

  * * * * *

  By early 1102, Robert, the Duke of Normandy, had cleared up his affairs in England and transferred all of his English estates to his younger brother King Henry, and had taken his army back to Normandy. The threat of a Norman civil war in England went with him.

  Henry’s Queen Edith (Mathilde) was heavy with child and due in February. The Treaty of Alton, which had set the terms between the brothers Duke Robert and King Henry, stipulated that they were each other’s heirs unless there was another legal heir. If Edith bore a son, it could easily cause a rebellion with all of the Norman barons who would much rather have Robert as king.

  Now that Duke Robert and his barons were back in Normandy, King Henry could deal with the powerful barons in England who had sided with Robert at Alton. These included the two most powerful of the barons: William Mortain, the Earl of Cornwall and Robert Belleme, the Earl of Shrewsbury. Each of them had huge estates and wealth on both sides of the channel, and ruled their Earldoms as if they were Princes.

  Meanwhile, Eustace and Mary, the Count and Countess of Boulogne took control of the Honour of Boulogne. This was a rich collection of widespread estates from Wessex to Lincoln. They had been originally given as honours to Eustace’s father for being one of the Conqueror's staunchest allies in 1066. They had been taken away from the father when he helped the folk of Dover rebel against Odo, the Earl of Kent. The Counts of Boulogne had long wanted control of both Boulogne and Dover, the shortest route across the Channel.

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  The Hoodsman - Courtesans and Exiles by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Cover Flap

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 - With Eustace and Mary, London dockside in January 1102

  Chapter 2 - Learning to be skipper in Oudenburg, Flanders in June 1072

  Chapter 3 - The crossing from Flanders to the Wash in June 1072

  Chapter 4 - With the Boulonnais near Favreshant in January 1102

  Chapter 5 - With the countess in Spalding, Lincolnshire in July 1072

  Chapter 6 - Meeting Gesa in Spalding in July 1072

  Chapter 7 - Seduced in Spalding in July 1072

  Chapter 8 - With the courtesan in Favreshant in January 1102

  Chapter 9 - The mushroom magic in the Fens in July 1072

  Chapter 10 - Collecting the treasure from Surfleet in July 1072

  Chapter 11 - Escaping from the longship in the Wash in July 1072

  Chapter 12 - With a courtesan in Brugge, Flanders in August 1072

  Chapter 13 - Investigating trade banking in Brugge in August 1072

  Chapter 14 - Gesa meets Gertrude in Brugge in August 1072

  Chapter 15 - Pilgrim banking in Brugge in August 1072

  Chapter 16 - An invitation to a wedding in August 1072

  Chapter 17 - Gesa befriends Bertha in Brugge in August 1072

  Chapter 18 - Ships from Scotland in Oudenburg in September 1072

  Chapter 19 - A wedding procession to Paris in September 1072

  Chapter 20 - Paris welcomes their Queen Bertha in September 1072

  Chapter 21 - The courtesan spy in Paris in September 1072

  Chapter 22 - Captain of a ship again in the Thames in January 1102

  Chapter 23 - Rousting raiders in Montreuil sur Mer in October 1072

  Chapter 24 - English castellan for Montreuil sur Mer in October 1072

  Chapter 25 - English court at Montreuil sur Mer in October 1072

  Chapter 26 - Captain of a ship to Malduna, Essex in January 1102

  Chapter 27 - Court at Witham, Essex in January 1102

  Chapter 28 - The English exiles leave for Constantinople in June 1074

  Chapter 29 - Prince Edgar goes missing in August 1074

  Chapter 30 - Prince Edgar is found in Huntingdon in September 1074

  Chapter 31 - Taking Edgar to Montreuil sur Mer in September 1074

  Chapter 32 - Taking Edgar to Caen, Normandy in September 1074

  Chapter 33 - In the house of the enemy in Caen in October 1074

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  The Hoodsman - Courtesans and Exiles by Skye Smith Copyright 2010-13

  Chapter 1 - With Eustace and Mary, London dockside in January 1102

  Mary, the new Countess of Boulogne, stood by herself on the small aft castle of the medium-sized ship and looked in wonder at the busy tidal pool and wharfs of Ethelred's Hythe, the main dock area of London. There were a dozen ships and barges tied up, and more at anchor in the river awaiting their turn alongside. The odd collection of folk who were walking about were amazing to watch, for they were all so focused on what they were doing or where they were going.

  "Any sign of him yet?" her husband Eustace called up to her.

  Oops. She went back to scanning the streets of London that poured into this area, searching for Raynar. He should have been here by now. With all the confusion of clothing and faces it was more difficult than she had imagined to pick out just one man, especially when that one man often wore disguises. She told herself to stop searching for the robes of a tax collector, a normal disguise for him, as tax collectors would not be welcome at this hythe.

  There he was. Well, actually, there were some men that looked like they would know Raynar. Tall fair men with beards and dressed in the long vests of leather and sheepskin that the northern seamen preferred, and each with a loosely-strung longbow across his shoulders. Yes, there he was, trailing them. Not so tall as the rest of the bowmen, and much older.

  She called down to Eustace, and had to call twice because he was deep in conversation with Captain Henryk. It was no use. The noise of the busy docks was hiding her calls, so she went down the steps to the body of the ship, and dodged between oars and the seaman’s chests to reach him.

  After blowing lightly into his ear to get his attention away from the captain, she said, "He has come." All her efforts had been for naught, because one of the bowmen was already beside the ship and hailing in a seaman's no-nonsense voice for permission to come aboard. Raynar was first across the gang plank.

  "Why, it's Captain Raynar," Henryk called out and immediately left his passengers to grab the hand of the man who was coming aboard.

  "Henryk, you old sea dog, I thought you had retired to your village and your three wives." In the seafaring villages along the North Sea it was common for men to take the widows of their brothers as second wives to keep them safe from other men.

  "Three wives now, yes," replied Henryk glumly, "for both of my brothers were lost at sea. That is why I try never to be more than a few days at a time in my home. This ship is a quiet place in comparison."

  Eustace had heard the greeting of 'captain' used for Raynar and was now staring at the man and searching his memory. Of course. How had he missed it? This was Captain Raynar, not Raynar the tax man, or Raynar the bowman, or Raynar t
he uppity peasant with deep pockets. Captain Raynar. "Why didn't you tell me that Raynar was a ship's captain?" he asked his young and comely wife.

  "You did not know?" replied Mary with a smile. "To me he has always been Captain Raynar, ever since he took us aboard his ship and brought my sister and I safely from Scotland to England."

  "But now it all makes sense," said Eustace with a low whistle. "It has taken someone to actually call him captain to bring his face out from my memories. He must think me a right fool not to have remembered him."

  "He thinks you a fool to be taking this trip to visit your estates here in England in the middle of winter," she said half under her breath. A breath she could see. She shivered.

  "It had to be done before we left for Boulogne, and Henry demanded my presence at court until Count Robert took his barons back to Normandy. That took us until after Saint Nicholas day. And you, dear heart, want to be at Edith's bedside when she gives birth, which means we have only until February. The best time was now, since we were at Westminster anyway for the nativity, and while Henry is busy moving his court back to Winchester for Easter.

  Besides, there was the other thing," Eustace said as he grabbed her around her thin waist and tickled her. "Oh!" he said in mocking falsetto, "I'm not yet ready to meet your mother Ida. Give me a month or two more of freedom before you throw me to the women of her court."

  Not that she was paying her husband much attention. She was busy watching the two Captains work together to yell the dozens of orders that needed saying to get this ship under way. She loved Ray like a father, and it pleased her to see how happy he was to have a ship under his feet again, after being so long on dry land and spending too much time in a saddle.

  The bowmen who had come with Raynar were obviously seamen, because some jumped to ease the lines with the rest of the hands, while others picked up free oars and began to push the ship away from the wharf. In almost no time at all they were rowing underneath the highest span of London Bridge and waving to the river guards standing on the bridge deck above.