[Norman Conquest 01] Wolves in Armour

ISBN- 13 978-148232179 ISBN-10 14823217X

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NORMAN CONQUEST SERIES

Wolves in Armour

 
Winter of Discontent

Fire in the North

NIKOLAS OF KYDONIA MURDER MYSTERIES

Murder in the Palace

The Tomb Robbers

 
The Memphis Murders

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GLOSSARY

Chapter 1- St ValerY Sur Somme September 1066

Chapter 2- Pevensey September 1066

Chapter 3- Caldbec Hill Hastings October 1066

Chapter 4- Hastings October 1066

Chapter 5- London December 1066

Chapter 6- Thorrington Essex January 1067

Chapter 7- Thorrington Essex February 1067

Chapter 8- Military Service April 1067

Chapter 9- Wivenhoe Late May 1067

Chapter 10- Thorrington June 1067

Chapter 11- London August 1067

Chapter 12- Thorrington August 1067

Chapter 13- London November 1067

Chapter 14- London Late November 1067

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY & links

OTHER BOOKS BY
THE AU
T
HOR

Ballista
- a siege or field weapon of Roman design, shooting a bolt similar to a small spear.

Barrels
-
Firkin
(ale), 9 gallons.
Kilderkin
, 18 gallons
. Barrel
, 36 gallons.
Hogshead
, 52 gallons.
Tun
, 256 gallons.

Bot
- compensation payable under the West Saxon legal system.

Byrnie
- a sleeveless waist-length vest of armour, usually chain mail.

Chain-mail
- a series of round links joined together, each riveted to four others, which when made into sections were sewn onto a leather undergarment. This provided good protection against cuts and reasonable protection against thrusts or arrows. Hauberk and coif weighed about 40 pounds.

Charger
- a large and strong horse used in battle.

Church Services
-
Matins
midnight;
Lauds
dawn;
Prime
6.00am;
Terce
9.00am;
Sext
12.00noon;
Nones
3.00pm;
Vespers
6.00pm;
Compline
Sunset. Hours varied depending on season (ie the length of the day). Used as a standard statement of a specific time (eg ‘an hour before Vespers’).

Coif
- a piece of chain mail that covered the neck and head, leaving the face clear.

Cog
- a smallish single-masted merchant vessel- the standard marine transport of the Middle Ages.

Curia Regis
- the Council advising the Norman kings, successor to the
Witenagemot.

Destrier
- large French-bred trained warhorse.

Ealdor-
English word for chief.

Fyrd
- English militia comprised of freemen who were not professional fighters.

Gambeson
- quilted padded jacket worn under armour, to absorb the force of a blow. Frequently used without over-armour by archers.

Gebur-
Generic term for
English freeman/freewoman.

Hackney-
a medium sized multi-purpose horse, usually a cheaper horse of lesser quality.

Hauberk
- a sleeved or partially-sleeved chain mail garment of mid-thigh to knee length.

Heriot
- a fee payable to secure the right of succession to land under English law. Similar charge under Norman law was a
Relief
.

Hide
- an area of measurement of land (similar sized parcels were called carucates in some shires) comprised of 4 virgates. A hide theoretically comprised 120 acres although this was somewhat variable. 100 hides made up the shire division of 100, although again this was not immutable.

Huscarle
- professional English warrior.

Landboc
- the book of ownership that proved ownership of the land.

Laen
- a form of land ownership by long-term lease on varying conditions. Usually for life, or ‘for three lives’ (that of the recipient, his widow and heir).

Longbow-
a bow of Welsh derivation made of yew wood in a way that made it a naturally composite bow, providing greater power. Depending on the size of the archer, the longbow was usually 5-6 feet long and fired an arrow 39 inches long- a ‘cloth yard’.

Money. English.
Pounds, shillings and pence. A gold Mark
(not English currency) equaled
£12, or 240 shillings.
French.
The same system. The denier equaled a penny, 12 deniers to the sou, 20 sous to the livre.

Onager
- a simple catapult of Roman design throwing rocks around the size of a man’s head. Used as a siege weapon.

Palfrey
- a smallish horse suitable for riding by women.

Pontage
- toll fee payable to use a bridge.

Rouncey
- an all-round horse, suitable for many uses including general riding and also as light cavalry.

Scale-armour
- small plates, usually metal, sewn in an overlapping fashion onto a leather jacket. Provided reasonable protection at lower cost than chain mail, due to the lower labour content.

Seax
- English fighting knife, usually large, worn by freemen and freewomen as a sign of their status.

Snekke
- Norse word for the normal-sized longship. A fast and maneuverable warship 60 feet long by 9 feet wide with a crew of about fifty, usually with 10 oars a side. Powered by a large square sail or oars.

Tabula
- Roman board game similar to Backgammon.

Taxes & Charges.
Danegeld
, English tax levied to bribe the Danes and Norwegians not to attack- levied at t
wo shillings per hide of land prior to 1051
.
Corvee
- unpaid labour provided in lieu of payment.
Banalities
, fees charged by a lord for use facilities such as a mill.
Estovers
(the fee for the right to gather wood).
Pannage
(fee for the right to have pigs eat the acorns in the local forest).

Wergild
- The value placed on a life for compensation purposes in England. 200 shillings for a freeman or freewoman, 1,200 shillings for a thegn. No wergild was paid for death of a slave, but compensation of va
lue of the slave was paid.

Witenagemot
- Council advising the English king.

Other English words used in this book
.

cifes
- whore

c
ifesboren
-
bastard/ whoreson

galdricge
- immodest

grim
- fierce

hererǽswa
- commander

Hlaford
- gentlemen

Horsbealdor
- Horse-
master

nýdhǽmestre
- mistress

scamléast
- enchantress

unfrod -
inexperienced

ungesælig
- accursed

ungleaw - s
tupid

wealh
–
foreigner

English social classes
.
Slaves
(theows) at the bottom of the ladder, somewhat less than ten percent of the rural populati
on. Freemen, known collectively as
geburs
, comprised, in ascending order
cottars
(who held a cottage from the laenholder or bokholder, in return for 1-2 days a week of labour, and usually worked for pay for the rest of the week). No right of occupation passed on the death of the cottar.
Sokemen
, held the right to farm collectively-owned village land, and usually also land in his own right, and able to sell or pass this to his family.
Cheorls
were usually moderately wealthy men with the right to farm a substantial amount of communal land and privately owned land. Owed the lord work-rent or paid cash for the ongoing right to use the privately owned land.
Thegn
- a man who usually owned his land owed military service for the land he held. Uniquely, a merchant who engaged in foreign trade could be deemed thegn-worthy (ie of equal social status as a thegn).
Earl
- holder of large parcels of land, usually geographically based, and who administered a geographical area. Equivalent to a French duke.

French Social Classes.
The Norman system was based on a hierarchical system with lower members holding (but not owning) land in return for either military or financial obligations to their superiors, as vassals. The lowest level were the
villeins
, who held no hereditary rights to the land they laboured to farm. A villein was free in that he could abandon his land, but could not sell, gift or will it.
Freemen
were essentially rent-paying tenant farmer who owed little or no service to the lord, but formed only a small portion of the rural population, usually specialists such as blacksmiths etc.
Knight
-
a man who owed military service for the land he held but usually did not own it.
Baron
- held land from the king or duke in return for substantial military obligations. Some of his land may be owned by him as a hereditary entitlement, or
alod
. Townsfolk were generally deemed to be freemen.

Alan de Gauville looked down from the crest of the hill overlooking the township of St Valery-sur-Somme one mile to the northwest. The town had been invaded, but by a friendly army- insofar as any army could be called friendly. The small town was comprised of perhaps eighty houses along three dirt streets, which were crowded with men wearing weapons. The abbey, built of weathered grey stone, stood outside the activity like an island of tranquillity, with scarcely a figure to be seen moving on its grounds.