Blood Lance (35 page)

But this lance point, even though it
appeared
old enough and housed what was believed to be one of the nails from the crucifixion in its blade, was dated only to the seventh century when extensive metallurgical tests were done on it in 2003. So this clearly could not be the right spear that Crispin was involved with, even if Hitler thought it was and supposedly wanted to get his hands on it, too. (Although, it appears to have its own pre-Christian history of having belonged to, or being a copy of the one belonging to Odin himself and hence gave credence to the German kings’ claim to be descended from Odin. I’m hearing Valkyries singing in the background. Can
you
hear them?)

There was also the relic of just the point of the spear, known as the Vatican Lance. In
AD
570, a pilgrim called Antoninus of Piacenza described an object he saw in Jerusalem in the Basilica of Mount Zion. In his writings, he claims to have seen the Crown of Thorns and the spear that pierced the side of Christ. Gregory of Tours also attested to the spear’s location, though he was
not
an eyewitness and had
never
been to Jerusalem. He must have just read the brochure.

Such is the written record of history.

This lance, or at least its point, left the Basilica when the Persian King Khousrau II captured Jerusalem. The point got broken off of the spear and it was
this
relic that made its way to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, where many Christian relics seem to end up. The point was later set into an icon and sold in 1244 to Louis IX of France where, along with the Crown of Thorns, it was enshrined in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris. But this is not the one we are after either.

Then there is the Holy Lance of Echmiadzin of Armenia. In 1098, crusader Peter Bartholomew claimed that he received a vision from St. Andrew showing him where the lance was buried—which happened to be in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Antioch. Handy, that. He excavated, and lo and behold, found it! It gave the crusaders the oomph they needed to rout the Muslims and capture Antioch. No one really knows what happened to it after that. But many believe it is the one that fell into the hands of the Turks and is now housed in the Vatican. Is it? Or is it the one that Crispin found?

Remember that lance that was in the Mount Zion Basilica? The point broke off and was sent on to Constantinople. But what about the bigger piece left behind? This part ended up in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem in
AD
670. Somehow, it, too, appears to have arrived in Constantinople, because fourteenth-century pilgrims claim to have seen it in both Constantinople
and
Paris. Point and larger piece? Hard to say. (Do you see why Crispin is so skeptical?) During the French Revolution, the point was removed from Sainte Chapelle and taken to Bibliothèque Nationale, where it promptly vanished.

Whatever piece the Vatican still has, they are not necessarily claiming it as genuine. It would have to undergo scientific tests for that—to at least date it to the proper era—and the Vatican is famously reluctant to do such tests on any of its relics.

The Acta Pilati, one of many noncanonical gospels, has given us a great deal of information regarding events, people, and relics not necessarily backed up by canonical accounts. It gave us the name of the centurion who pierced Jesus’s side as Longinus, but since it wasn’t considered part of the canon it is hard to take it—indeed, any of the gospels—as a record of strictly historical facts. Nevertheless, it is an interesting document that throws some light on ancient events and sometimes offers more speculation than answers.

We also bid a fond farewell to Abbot Nicholas, who gave up the ghost on November 29, 1386. He was responsible for a great deal of the rebuilding and redesign of Westminster Abbey itself, and is credited with the building of the south and west sides of the great cloister, the Jerusalem Chamber, the abbot’s dining hall, and the Deanery. He also seemed like a crusty bird with a lot of pluck, for among the effects in his will he left a lot of battle accoutrements to various beneficiaries, including six hauberks, eight helmets, a pair of steel gloves, some “leg-harneys”, and four lance heads. He was well prepared to defend the abbey in more than just letters to Rome, or so it appeared. This is, after all, a society where anyone and everyone is armed in some way and is fully expected to defend the home turf.

As for the joust on London Bridge, there is precedent for that. Indeed, there had been jousts on the bridge and elsewhere both in and around the immediate outskirts of London. Jousts are fabulously entertaining and if you ever get a chance to see a real one I urge you to go. They stir the blood, that’s for sure.

And by the way, Lancaster did indeed have a Spanish secretary, bishop of Dax, Juan Gutierrez, along with a retainer, the knight Dom Lope Perez. Though Lancaster claimed the title as King of Castile and Leon because of his marriage to Costanza, the daughter of Pedro the Cruel who was the former King of Castile, the Spanish don’t bother listing Lancaster on their rolls. King Richard may have crowned him King of Spain, but the Spanish didn’t. His military campaign in Spain—which was to last until 1389—was unsuccessful. Alas.

Henry, earl of Derby, also called Henry Bolingbroke for where he was born (Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire), was the firstborn legitimate son of John of Gaunt from his first wife Blanche. Henry, barely a year older than his cousin King Richard, would eventually lead an army against said cousin, sending him fleeing, and then seize the throne for himself, becoming Henry IV.

Because Lancaster is absent in Spain for the next few years, expect to see Henry hanging around and bedeviling Crispin.

And finally, the idea of knights suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, fascinated me. I wondered if throughout history, in the days before modern artillery, combatants suffered from it. After all, it is a malady that manifests once a soldier returns home to “normal” life and many soldiers and knights were away from home for years and years. Even though there is little in the way of discussion about it in old documents because of the cultural and sociological differences between then and now, I didn’t suppose it was a modern phenomenon, though we have given it fancy modern names.

In World War I, they talked of being “shell shocked” from the nature of the new style of warfare where soldiers huddled in trenches while being barraged by exploding shells. By World War II it was called “battle fatigue.” General Patton famously slapped a soldier suffering from this. “Battlefield stress” is yet another term.

But in the Middle Ages it could only be recognized as a failure on the part of the soldier and labeled as cowardice. Interestingly enough, some parchment was given to the problem of cowardice. The idea, then as now, was to train the soldier so thoroughly that the “flight” part of the natural “fight or flight” response would be eliminated. Drill, discipline, and group bonding went a long way toward shaping the mind (though the medieval foot soldier wasn’t drilled in the sense of practicing formations, not like their ancient ancestors in Greece or Rome. It was an impracticality. They had to rely on the discipline of the knights, those in the front lines, to form strategies for the foot soldiers to follow. However, infantry was able to save the day over the mounted knight many a time, including in the battle of Courtrai in 1302 and Bannockburn in 1314).

Instilling a greater fear in one’s commander than in the enemy also proved optimal. In ancient China, for example, generals would maneuver their armies in such a way as to make retreat impossible thus making the advance the only option. Religious fervor, too, offered a standard under which one could fight while also offering ultimate rewards if death should strike.

There was a reason for rallying the troops before a battle with a stirring speech. From ancient Greece and probably before, generals and kings gave battle orations meant to bond, to encourage, and to remind the men of their reasons for fighting and for their ultimate rewards if they succeeded. Think of the St. Crispin’s Day speech in Shakespeare’s
Henry V.
I don’t know about you, but it makes
me
want to take up arms!

Combined, this is what made up the “band of brothers,” where even the general or, in some instances, the castellan of a fortress, feels close to his men in a way that defies the social classes.

Still, even with all this training and discipline, with the subsequent shame in society associated with cowardice, there were certainly soldiers and knights who succumbed to the rigors of war. A knight on a horse could flee a lot easier than a man on the ground, and there were instances where generals insisted the knights dismount in order to make fleeing more difficult. Early flight of the knights lost many a battle, including King Stephen’s battle at Lincoln and Robert Curthose’s battle at Tinchebrai. Are these instances of cowardice as we might understand it, or of a man cutting his losses and getting the heck out of there?

Battle stress manifests itself in running away in the face of battle, sleeplessness, irritability, irrational anger, mood swings, and thoughts of suicide. Sir Thomas in this piece suffers from these symptoms and can’t understand why. All his training and discipline failed him in the face of the constant barrage of the battle royale. What’s a knight to do? As he said, they can’t all be Crispin Guests.

Next, the brave Sir Crispin returns in a new adventure during the turbulent years of the late 1380s. King Richard’s trials have only begun and Crispin will, no doubt, be in the thick of it. But down on the mean streets of London, Crispin still has to make a living. He and his cadre of friends and acquaintances will return to hunt for a new venerated object in
Shadow of the Alchemist
.

Glossary

AKETON
    padded tunic worn under armor

BALLISTA
    a war machine made like a giant crossbow for shooting arrow-like projectiles

BESAGUES
    disk-shaped armor to protect the armpit

BOSS
    a metal convex projection in the center of a buckler. Or the central ornamental design at the conjuncture of a ribbed vault ceiling

BUCKLER
    small, round shield

CAMAIL
    a mail collar sometimes connected to the mail head covering (coif), or sometimes connected to the helm, that falls from the chin and spreads over the chest and shoulders

CAPARISON
    a garment for one’s horse, displaying the color of one’s arms

COIF
    mail head covering fitting the head and open at the face

CUISSES
    armor for the thigh

FETLOCK FEATHERS
    the long hair that grows on the fetlocks of horses (think Clydesdale)

HABERGEON
    a mail shirt that falls to the upper thigh (one that falls to the knees is called a
HAUBERK
)

KAYLES
    a game of nine pins

GREAVES
    armor for the shins

PIG-FACED BASCINET
    a helm with the visor shaped like a sharp snout

POLEYNS
    armor for the knees

POULAINES
    shoes with exaggeratedly long toes. Stylish for the fourteenth century

SABATONS
    armor for the feet. Sometimes shaped like poulaines

SCRIP
    a small bag used for carrying items like documents, food, or money pouch

TASSETS
    plate armor hanging from the breastplate like a skirt

TRAPPER
    a horse covering displaying one’s colors and arms

TRIVET
    a three-legged stand for a pot over a fire

VAMPLATE
    conical hand protector on a lance

WATTLE
    interlaced stakes or twigs used for fences, walls, or roofs

Acknowledgments

As always, none of this happens without the careful work and mentoring from my agent, Joshua Bilmes, my editor, Keith Kahla, the proofreading and fact-checking team at St. Martin’s Press, my Vicious Circle, Ana Brazil and Bobbie Gosnell, and my husband—my first reader—Craig. But I would also like to acknowledge the loyal following of my mystery Readers who go out of their way to get my books, to come to my events, to send me notes and e-mails, who support me by reading my blogs, sign up for my newsletter, show up on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads, and who just generally send out their love and encouragement from afar. To all of you, a very heartfelt Thank You!

The Crispin Guest Novels by Jeri Westerson

Veil of Lies

Serpent in the Thorns

The Demon’s Parchment

Troubled Bones

About the Author

Jeri Westerson
is the author of several previous books featuring Crispin Guest, most recently Troubled Bones. These novels have been finalists for several major mystery awards, including the Agatha, the Macavity, and the Shamus. Visit the author’s Web site at
www.jeriwesterson.com
and find Crispin Guest on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/crispin.guest
.