Footsteps in Time (35 page)

As to the fate of the Jews,
they’d lived in England during the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods,
but not as an organized community. King John confirmed a charter in
1201 (for which he received 4000 marks) that stated: “John, by the
grace of God, &c. Know that we have granted to all the Jews of
England and Normandy to have freely and honourably residence in our
land, and to hold all that from us, which they held from King
Henry, our father’s grandfather, and all that now they reasonably
hold in land and fees and mortgages and goods, and that they have
all their liberties and customs just as they had them in the time
of the aforesaid King Henry, our father’s grandfather, better and
more quietly and more honourably.”

This goodwill, if it ever
existed, had disintegrated by the time of Edward I. As king, he
cast a long shadow over the thirteenth century and historians have
generally viewed him favorably, in large part because they see his
reign as good for England as a country (meaning he was stubborn,
vibrant, and never backed down from a fight), if not anyone else.
But one of his most heinous acts, in addition to conquering Wales,
was the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290.

Edward, and his father
before him, began with a series of pogroms designed to reduce the
Jews’ ability to secure a livelihood. He and his predecessors
encouraged the Jews to become physicians, merchants, bankers, and
traders but they were not allowed to own land. Through
apprenticeship and education, which was of supreme importance to
the Jewish community, many Jews accumulated a great deal of wealth,
in disproportion to their routinely uneducated gentile
counterparts. Of course, this engendered animosity among gentiles,
who saw only the wealth, and not the effort to attain
it.

This did not stop the
gentiles from borrowing money from the Jews, however, and Edward
allowed the Jews in England to charge interest on loans. In turn,
Edward would exact huge taxes from them. As the taxes became more
burdensome, it forced them to both raise the interest rates which
they charged their debtors, and to call in those loans when taxed
to excess. If the Jews refused to pay Edward, they were punished.
In 1278, Edward arrested 600 Jewish men upon charges of coin
clipping and hanged 270 of them. Edward then claimed their wealth
for himself, to the tune of over 16,000 pounds.

That equaled 10% of the annual income
of the entire realm. The money Edward took from the Jews
compensated for the huge expenses involved in the 1277 war against
Prince Llywelyn (see how this is all related?).

Once Edward had taken
all their money, he had no more use for them, and began to pass
more laws restricting their activities. They had to wear specific
clothing and badges, could not own land, practice money lending,
join any guild or business, or pass on their assets to their
children. England was the first country to complete the pogrom by
expelling the Jews from the country (though some did pay bribes to
stay). France and Germany followed suit in short order. (see my web
page for citations:
http://www.sarahwoodbury.com/?p=179
)

* * * * *

My sources in writing this book are
many, both traditional and online, and include:

A History of
Wales
, John Davies.

Castles of the Welsh
Princes
, Paul R. Davis

An Imperial
Possession: Britain in the Roman Empire
,
David Mattingly

Welsh
Castles
, Adrian Pettifer

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd:
Prince of Wales
, J. Beverley
Smith.

Smith’s book, in
particular, is an exhaustive and meticulous accounting of Prince
Llywelyn’s life. Any discrepancies between the events described in
his book and my own, are a result of my error or embellishment, not
his.

No understanding of the
history of this era of Wales would be complete without the novels
of Edith Pargeter (also writing as Ellis Peters) and Sharon Kay
Penman:

The Brothers Gwynedd
of Quartet
, Edith
Pargeter

Falls the
Shadow
, Sharon Kay Penman

The
Reckoning
, Sharon Kay
Penman

For sources online, see:

http://www.castlewales.com/

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/index.html

http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/index_welsh.html

http://www.garthcelyn.com/index.html

http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp

* * * * *

Thank you so much for
reading
Footsteps in
Time
! If you would like to know when I have
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Continue reading for
an excerpt from
Prince of
Time
, the next book in the
After Cilmeri
Series
available in ebook and paperback wherever books are
sold.

Excerpt from: Prince of
Time

Chapter One

2 August 1285

David

I
euan hung over the side off the boat, heaving his guts out. No
doubt he’d long since stopped caring if anyone saw him, but hoped
now that I would change my mind, turn this God-forsaken bucket
around, and head for Wales.

I watched from the cabin
doorway as Aaron, my friend and physician, stepped beside him.
“Only another few hours, Ieuan. The captain says we’ll reach port
long before dark.”

“
But when is dark in this
land?” Ieuan moaned, resting his head on the rail of the boat. “It
stays light for hours longer than it should.”

As a matter of fact, from
my position I could see our destination. The Irish Sea was fickle
at the best of times, but in this case, I assumed we would reach
port as the captain promised.

Aaron patted him on the
shoulder and continued towards my cabin. “I gave Ieuan one of my
remedies,” he said when he reached me, “but his stomach dispensed
with it before it had time to take effect.”

I debated whether to go to
Ieuan, but decided he’d prefer that I didn’t. He was proud, and for
his lord to hold his head while he upended his innards over the
side of the boat was probably not what he wanted. Quite naturally
too, under the circumstances, Ieuan was exaggerating about the
light. It wasn’t as if southern Scotland were in the arctic and
Wales in the tropics. Still, at this latitude and longitude (which
admittedly hadn’t been discovered yet) we could expect to see the
sun for nearly sixteen hours a day, which meant that it wasn’t full
dark until ten in the evening, and it started to get light before
five. Unless it was raining, of course, in which case it was dark
all day and I had the dark moods of my men as well as the dark
skies to contend with. Fortunately, at the moment the sky was free
of clouds.

We docked a few hours later
near the town of Annan in Scotland, northwest of the English city
of Carlisle.

“
Why here?” Ieuan asked
Aaron, but as I’d instructed, Aaron looked blankly at him and said
that when and if Prince Dafydd chose to tell him, he would know the
reason. My men were used to following orders, but in recent weeks
I’d entrusted Ieuan with more responsibility. Bevyn was getting
older and he and I agreed that Ieuan should take his place as my
first captain when the time came. Ieuan was young, in his
mid-twenties, but smart—clever even—and the other men respected
him.

As we docked, I emerged
from my cabin in cloak and boots I’d borrowed from one of my men
who shared my height. The clothes were plainer than any I’d worn
since I’d become a Prince of Wales two and a half years before. In
keeping with my disguise, I didn’t wear my mail, but instead wore
heavy leather armor under a plain, brown cloak. I looked very much
like a third son of a minor house, which was my intent.

My men were either on shore
already or crowded onto the deck of the boat when I came out, and
they stared at me, surprise showing on their faces. I knew, then,
that I’d made the right decision when I’d sent Sir Nicholas de
Carew home ahead of me in a different boat. He would have counseled
against what I was about to do.

I gazed back at my men and
smiled, feeling light-hearted and free for the first time in many
months. “Aaron and Ieuan, with me,” I said. “The rest of you must
stay here.”

I strode towards the
gangplank. Before I reached it, Bevyn blocked my path and tried
once again to dissuade me. “My lord,” he said. “You know this is
unwise.”

“
I know it,” I said. “But
more unwise would be riding with a dozen men through the English
countryside. Three are less noticeable, quicker, and more able to
outrun any attackers.”

“
That was not what I
meant,” Bevyn growled. “This entire expedition is ill-advised. I do
not like it.”

I rested my right hand on
Bevyn’s shoulder. “I have a vision for Wales, Bevyn,” I said. “What
comes next is part of it.”

Bevyn bowed his head and
gave way, but grasped Ieuan’s arm as he passed him. “You understand
your charge, man? What I will do to you if anything happens to
him?”

My impulse was to interfere
but I didn’t. Bevyn would give his life for me. He expected the
same of Ieuan. Ieuan nodded and Bevyn released him.

I stepped off the boat,
relieved to feel soil under my boots at last. Three horses waited
for us and I mounted mine, Bedwyr. Cadwallon, acting as groom,
boosted Aaron onto his mare, and then brought Ieuan his Llwyd,
“Grey”, named not very creatively by his little sister.

“
You know that I agree
with Bevyn,” Aaron said. “Are you sure this journey is
necessary?”

“
I’m loath to leave bits
and pieces of the twenty-first century lying around unattended,” I
said, keeping my voice low so Ieuan couldn’t overhear. “I wouldn’t
want them to fall into the wrong hands—or anyone’s hands. They’re
too distinctive and remarkable. You’ll see what I mean when we find
them.”

“
Yes, my lord,” Aaron
acquiesced.

We rode away from the boats
and left the town behind us. It was time to tell Ieuan something,
and I weighed how much he could handle. “You’ve seen the vehicle,
of course,” I said.

“
Yes,” Ieuan said. “It
came from the lands of Madoc the explorer.”

Aaron breathed in through
his nose and let the breath out. As it had Aaron, Ieuan’s statement
set me back a pace. It was an explanation for our presence in Wales
that my father had latched upon a month ago, and it seemed to
satisfy everyone. No mention of time travel was necessary if we
could explain twenty-first century technology as simply being from
a more advanced civilization.

“
The prince and his mother
brought more from that land,” Aaron said. “More possessions that
they’ve had to hide, lest others brand them witches.”

“
It does take very little
to arouse the passions of the people,” Ieuan said carefully. “Or
the priests.”

Aaron’s mouth twitched. “So
you understand the problem,” he said. “But do others see as
clearly? What of Princess Marged? When others become jealous of
another’s talents, they can fall back on suspicion and
superstition. Even had she raised our Prince in this country, she
is still a most unusual woman. How much more so if she possessed .
. . unusual artifacts.”

“
What kind of artifacts?”
Ieuan said, ever the pragmatic thinker.

I leaned forward so I could
see Ieuan across Aaron’s mount. “If they’re where she left them,
I’ll tell you. If others have discovered them before us, then
there’s no need for me to explain just yet. Suffice to say they are
of metals and quality that you’ve never seen, nor will ever see
again, I dare say.”

“
Even were you to take me
to Madoc’s land?” Ieuan said.

“
I don’t want to imagine
the circumstances under which I would be forced to take you there.
I hope never to see it again. I’m afraid if we went there, we’d
find it difficult to return.”

“
You’ve traveled that
distance once,” Ieuan said.

“
And I dare not risk it a
second time,” I said. “Come. We have some way to ride before
nightfall. Aaron thinks it’s at least twenty miles to our
destination. We have a few hours before full dark and I want to
have ridden past Carlisle before we rest.”

“
Can you at least tell me
where we’re going?” Ieuan said.