ANVILS AND HAMMERS: Why John FitzGilbert Marshal's speech shouldn't be taken at face value.

With William Marshal being in the news again via Thomas Asbridge's BBC2 documentary which is to be broadcast on the 26th March, William Marshal The Greatest Knight I thought I'd write about the famous and infamous 'Anvils and Hammers' remark made by John FitzGilbert Marshal which is so often cited as a shocking example of how not to be a father!

There are the facts, and then the underlying facts, and one can't get a true reading of the first without an awareness of the second.

So lets have a look at the facts.
In the mid 12th century there was civil war in England.  King Henry I had died and his only legitimate child was a woman, Matilda, who had but recently returned from widowhood in Germany.  Henry had promised her the throne when he died.  Indeed, he had made his barons swear to uphold her - twice.  During the period between her return from Germany and his death, he married her to the 15 year old Geoffrey, son of the count of Anjou.  The count himself was about to head off to Jerusalem to become its king. What the 26 year old Matilda, an Empress, thought about marrying such a youth is not documented, although the couple separated shortly after their marriage for a while before getting back to together. Eighteen months later, Matilda produced her first son, the future Henry II, closely followed by Geoffrey and William.
Had Henry I lived, all would have been well in the world of the medieval monarchy.  Little Henry would have grown to manhood under his grandfather's tutelage and eventually have inherited the crown.  Unfortunately for all concerned, his grandfather died when Henry was only two and a half.  Matilda was in Anjou, pregnant with her third son, and in her absence, her cousin Stephen, who had also been in Henry's pocket so to speak as a candidate for the crown, claimed England and Normandy.  Most of the barons backed this move; they had no desire to be ruled by a woman, and even those who might have stood loyal to Matilda could do nothing because she was in Anjou having a baby.

John FitzGilbert was the royal marshal at the time of Henry I's death, and he was one of the majority of barons who swore for Stephen.  John would have been around the age of 30 at this time.  His task and dignity at court marked him out as a baron of middle rank.  He was married to a local Wiltshire heiress Aline Pipard whose wardship he had purchased, and he had two sons by her, Walter and Gilbert.  Stephen favoured John, granting him privileges and the royal town and castle of Marlborough and at Ludgershall to beef up his standing.
In 1139 the Empress came to England, landing at Arundel, and made her bid to take the crown that she claimed Stephen had usurped. For whatever reason, Stephen suspected John Marshal of duplicity and besieged him at Marlborough. 
A digression into speculation here: My personal opinion is that John had fallen foul of the factions at court who thought he had been receiving too many favours, and felt that he should be put in his place. He had no strong affinities at Stephen’s court and a man isolated was a man who could be picked off and brought down. I think John jumped before he was pushed. 

Back to the facts: What is known is that John swore for the Empress and adhered to her cause for the rest of the war.  His brother William joined her entourage as her chancellor.

Unfortunately for John, the Empress’s attempt to regain the throne was not plain sailing. To cut a long story short she lost her advantage and while besieging the Bishop of Winchester at his palace of Wolvesely, she was almost captured. John was a few miles out of Winchester, dealing with a supply problem, when he heard that the troops of William D’Ypres, a Flemish mercenary in the pay of Stephen’s queen, were coming down the Andover road straight for him. If D’Ypres managed to break through, John knew Winchester would be encircled and the Empress seized.  He could either run and save his own skin, or stand hard and give the others a chance to escape. He chose to stand at Wherwell where there was a ford over the river Teste.

The tranquil river Teste at Wherwell today

When D'Ypres arrived, fresh from sacking Andover, John engaged his troops and fought for as long as he could, but with D’Ypres’ numbers too great to withstand, John was eventually forced to retreat into the nunnery where he barricaded himself in. D’Ypres knew he couldn’t leave a man like John Marshal to create mayhem in his rear, so he ordered the nunnery to be burned along with the men inside it. There was destruction and chaos. Some of the troops fled the burning church only to meet their end on the edges of the mercenary’s swords. John barricaded himself in the tower with another knight and refused to come out. When his companion feared for their lives and wanted to surrender, John told him  he would kill him with his own hands if he mentioned that word again. They stayed put, but John paid the price when molten lead from the church roof landed on his face and burned out his eye. Once D’Ypres’ force had moved on, John staggered from the church with his companion, and the two of them made their way to safety. This must have been something of a feat because that safety was twenty five miles away at Marlborough; they were on foot, and John had suffered a terrible facial injury. Nevertheless, they made it and once recovered, John set out to recoup and regroup.

John’s most powerful neighbour in the region was Walter of Salisbury, hereditary sheriff of Salisbury (nowadays called Old Sarum). When Walter died, his son William replaced him, but died not long after the battle of Wilton in 1143. The second son, Patrick became lord of Salisbury and he supported Stephen. Looking to curtail his forceful neighbour in the Kennet valley, Patrick took up arms against John. John ably defended himself, although he had fewer resources than Patrick, and even if often on the back foot, it was never defeat. Eventually Robert Earl of Gloucester stepped between the men. He offered Patrick an earldom if he would come over to the Empress and he suggested that John divorce his wife and marry Patrick’s sister to make peace between them. The men agreed and sometime between 1144 and 1145, John Marshal annulled his marriage to Aline and took Sybilla FitzWalter to wife. 

Sheep grazing the Marlborough Downs not far from
John FitzGilbert's manor of Rockely.

John and Sybilla swiftly began a second family. It’s perhaps telling that he only had two sons by his first wife in the course of fifteen years and six (and perhaps seven) offspring with Sybilla over the same period. The first was born within a year of the marriage and christened John for his father. The second, (the fourth over all) destined for fame and legend was William, born in either 1146 or 1147.

The fighting continued and the Empress’s position grew more desperate as her adherents either gave up or died. She lost her stalwart supporter Miles of Gloucester when he was accidentally shot by one of his own men whilst out hunting. Her half-brother Robert of Gloucester died, and another mainstay Brian FitzCount retired to a monastery. The Empress herself departed England in 1148 and did not return, but her son Henry was waiting in the wings and growing up fast.

For John Marshal the period covered by the late 1140’s up to 1153 was a continuing dark time when he was involved in a war of slow grinding attrition. His lands were burned and ravaged by Eustace, the son of King Stephen and the best that John could manage was to grit his teeth and endure. He was known as a man of great cunning, a builder of castles ‘designed with wondrous skill’ and a man well able to attract men to his banner.  ‘He built castles designed with wondrous skill, in the places that best suited him; the lands and possessions of the churches he brought under his own lordship, driving out the owners whatever order they might belong to.’ 

At some point in the early 1150’s John built a castle at Newbury. The whereabouts of this place is now unknown and there has been much speculation as to where it was, including the manor at Hampstead Marshal which contains earthworks.  As far as I’m concerned, the answer is staring everyone in the face. It’s at Speen 1.4 miles from the centre of Newbury, standing on a high ridge overlooking the River Lambourn to the north and the Kennet to the south.  The Roman Road - Ermine street coming from Cirencester to Speen would have been close, and from the ridge viewpoint one can see for miles and miles. Interestingly the site used to be occupied by a house belonging to the Bishop of Salisbury. (see above quote in italics for why I find it particularly interesting). More on that in a blog post to follow.

Be that as it may, John fortified a position in the Newbury area and held it for the Empress. In the summer of 1152 King Stephen besieged it on his way to try and take Wallingford. The first assault battered John’s troops badly but they didn’t give in. Stephen didn’t want to sit down to besiege it. I suspect he knew how hard John Marshal could stand and that he would sell the castle very dearly. John in his turn, knew he was in a dire situation and couldn’t hold out for much longer. He didn’t have the men and supplies necessary.  He asked Stephen for time to gain honourable permission from the Empress to surrender the castle. Stephen agreed, but told John that he must provide hostages and pledges for his good word. John agreed to do so and handed over as one of them, his small son William, who would have been around five or six years old.

With the time he had been given, John set about stuffing his keep to the rafters with men and supplies. 

Stephen duly came on the appointed day to demand the surrender of the castle and John refused him and told him he would fight. When threatened with the execution of little William by hanging, John uttered those by now infamous words. ‘Il dist ken e li chaleit de l’enfant, quer encore aveit les enclumes e les marteals dunt forgereit de plus beals.’ ‘He said that he did not care about the child, since he still had the anvils and hammers to produce even finer ones.’   That statement, taken in modern context is utterly shocking to readers. What a callous father. What a vile parent. Who could say that about their own child!  Horrific!

Stephen could not bring himself to hang the boy, although for a time William became the plaything victim of the royal camp as he was also threatened with being flung from a catapult and squashed whilst strapped to a hurdle intended to attack the castle gate. This is often not mentioned in the various secondary source narratives concerning the incident. From what I have garnered elsewhere, young squires and captive sons were frequently subjected to such torments – rather like the traditional ‘punishment details’ for youths at public school.Stephen took William into his household and John Marshal’s son seems to have settled well in his new life. He was happy and confident enough despite his ordeal to want to play a game with King Stephen, involving jousting with plaintain leaves. A servant was sent to keep an eye on William, ‘because his family had great fears that he would come to harm’ (Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal) but was caught in the act and chased away.

John’s castle at Newbury eventually fell to Stephen, but John had managed to buy that extra time for Wallingford. Stephen moved up to invest the latter and Henry came from Normandy to oppose him. Eventually a treaty was agreed whereby Stephen would keep the throne in his lifetime and Henry would inherit it on his death. Althought there were a few more skirmishes, the long civil war was in essence over and little William returned to the bosom of his family where he was to remain until being sent away in his teens for military training with the great Norman magnate William de Tancarville who was a distant relative of William's mother. 

Those are the facts.  Now for the deeper facts.
1.That 'anvils and hammers' speech is only reported in a single source - The Histoire de Guillame le Mareschal.  The work is a poem of 20,000 lines detailing William Marshal's life story from cradle to grave -including some scene setting before the cradle.  It was intended as a work for the immediate family, to be read out on William's anniversary, or sung to music in the hall on appropriate occasions.  It's a pro Marshal work with members of the Marshal family all cast in a highly positive light. So there are no gasps of shock issuing from that direction concerning John Marshal's behaviour.  Rather, it's a celebration of his 'hammers and anvils' in the face of terrible odds. This was a man who had his balls and intended keeping them!

2. Since this is the only source of the story, there is no proof that it was ever actually said. The 'hammers and anvils' are symbols of the office of Marshal.  It was another word for a blacksmith.  If one  looks at charters and town ordinances you will find a plethora of Marshals involved in the blacksmith trade - so it's a pun on the Marshal name, and one that would have raised a rich chuckle as it was read out. Indeed, if you know your Marshals, the Histoire is a joy to read because it's so full of secret Marshally puns!

3. This child that John supposedly did not care about?  William is protrayed in the Histoire as a confident, chirpy, happy little chap, eager to play games with adults. Confident enough to ask a grown man (the Earl of Arundel) if he could play with his lance. No neglected, unvalued child is going to have that breeziness and confidence around men of rank and standing.  William is actively engaging with these men.  He's full of himself and he likes their weapons!

4. John Marshal had very little choice. If he'd yielded to King Stephen would have pushed through to Wallingford several weeks earlier than he did, and if Wallingford had fallen, then the entire Angevin cause would probably have toppled. Each day that John could withstand Stephen was an extra day gained for the Angevin cause. He was buying time. John Marshal hadn’t backed down at Wherwell, where his stand had allowed the Empress to escape. He hadn’t backed down before the superior strength of Patrick of Salisbury, and he wasn’t going to back down now, even if it meant gambling with his son’s life.

It's not just two sides to every story, but a case of multiple facets and complexity. First find the facts, and then dig for the facts behind the facts.  Quite often the shell is not the same as the kernel, even though both are related.

A PLACE BEYOND COURAGE THE OUT-TAKES.

As mentioned earlier this week, here are two out-takes from A PLACE BEYOND COURAGE. These scenes were included when I handed in the manuscript to my editor and publisher, but as we went through the editing process, we decided that they were not moving the novel forward in any way, but were just reporting incidents that happened and were a trifle repetitious in terms of the hero's story arc. It also had to do with word count, which we were trying to keep within bounds.

The first scene involves John Marshal taking Devizes from King Stephen's son in law Hervey de Leon. We know from history that de Leon was forced out of Devizes by the Empress's forces. It doesn't say who did the forcing, but I strongly suspect John had a hand in it since he had earlier been involved in a similar situation with the mercenary Robert FitzHubert. John had been instrumental in finishing his career. The scene in Savernake forest is taken mostly from the Akashic Records, as is much of the Devizes scene. There is a small piece before the main components of the scene where John's reasons for wanting rid of de Leon are set out.
The second scene is a straight out ambush and fight scene to show what John was doing in the latter part of the Stephen/Matilda war and looked at in hindsight, really was extraneous as other scenes in the novel were doing the work perfectly well, and this vignette was just overkill.
I will be putting them on the website in due course, but here they are as a blog post.

1. John FitzGilbert Marshal and the problem of unwelcome neighbour Hervey de Leon at Devizes

The prologue bit

‘I want to talk to you about Devizes,’ John said to Gloucester.

They were standing in the great hall waiting for the Empress to arrive from her chamber. Messengers had been coming and going all morning, bringing news, taking it out. Scribes frantically scratched at their lecterns, toiling over writs and letters.

Earl Robert nodded, looking preoccupied. ‘What of it?’

‘It’s about Hervey de Leon.’ John was infuriated that Stephen had appointed the husband of his illegitimate daughter to the position of ‘Earl of Wiltshire.’ and installed him at Devizes. De Leon was another who strutted about in silk braies, but he didn’t possess any of the low cunning and grounded soldiering abilities of the recently deceased FitzHubert. Gloucester had hanged the latter on a gibbet before the walls of Devizes when FitzHubert’s mercenaries had refused to open the gates. The men had watched him die, then promptly sold their loyalty to Stephen, who had installed Hervey de Leon as castellan, and given him the jumped up title of earl.

‘I trust you to keep him penned in.’ Gloucester made a visible effort to concentrate. ‘He’s no competition for you.’

John compressed his lips at the platitude. It might be true, but did not alter the fact that the new lord of Devizes was a nuisance. While the town was in enemy hands, it remained a threat to his north-eastern borders. ‘He is no competition for anyone,’ he said curtly. ‘Sooner or later he will lose Devizes and then the race will be to the quick.’

Robert’s gaze sharpened. ‘You would be lord of Devizes as well as my sister’s marshal?’

John gave a sour laugh. ‘What I desire and what happens are two different matters. I am saying it is ripe for the taking but you will need a better man than Hervey de Leon to hold it. The people want stability and the rule of a great lord. Much as it pains me to say so, I am not great enough – yet,’ he added with mordant humour.

Gloucester nodded dismissively. ‘I’ll give the matter some thought.’

‘Thank you sire,’ John said, knowing that with the crowded agenda in Gloucester’s mind, it might be weeks before the earl focused his attention, and even then he would need hints and reminders. One man’s big fish was another’s bucket of small bait.

Now to John's own plans to deal with the situation
Savernake Forest, Marlborough March 1141


Layers of smoke rose from the hearth in the centre of the hunting lodge floor and made a haphazard exit through the louvers in the roof. The fire cast a red glow upon the surrounding benches and the light was further augmented by lanterns suspended from beams, and flares placed in iron wall sockets.
Joints of boar glistened on a spit over the embers. Now and again, a knight would lean forward and carve himself a slice of meat, or else pick at the raisin and breadcrumb stuffing John’s cook had made to accompany the roast. John had provided a hogshead of good wine and his men were appreciative. Dublé, John’s young bitch, lay at his side, contentedly gnawing a raw bone between her forepaws.
Home from the overwhelming victory at Lincoln, John was not resting on his laurels. With Stephen imprisoned, Hervey de Leon at Devizes was vulnerable and John intended to be rid of him. This was part of what the hunting expedition was about. Beyond a chance for the men to relax and socialise after hard battle, it was an opportunity to mull over plans and ideas away from the eyes and ears of the world.
‘So, to business,’ John said as he cleaned his knife and replaced it in the sheath at his belt. ‘What shall we do about the ‘Earl of Wiltshire?’
‘Hang him from the walls of the keep,’ suggested his standard bearer, Jaston de Camville. ‘That’s what he deserves.’
Benet said with round eyes, ‘Invite him to dinner like you did the last one?’
Loud guffaws ensued.
‘I doubt he’d come,’ John said dryly.
‘Does he go to church to pray?’ asked Walchelin. ‘Could you catch him off his guard?’
John stroked Dublé’s head and she growled softly and increased worrying at her bone. ‘I gather he worships in the castle chapel and if he does go out he’s always well attended. Besides, he’d quickly become suspicious if a stranger approached him. There are some good fighters among the garrison. We haven’t got the resources to conduct a siege and the ruse with scaling ladders at night won’t work a second time so close to the first. The men will be wary. We need to get close to de Leon by using someone who knows him - someone who can be bribed.’
The flagon went round again. ‘Helias the farrier,’ said Walchelin. ‘He’s my nephew’s brother in law. You know him my lord. He’s shod our horses before.’
John narrowed his eyes. A cheerful dark-haired man came to mind, his muscles like smooth boulders under his skin. ‘Trustworthy?’
‘A rogue, but with his own code of honour my lord. He’s not bound in service to de Leon and he can be bought.’
John gave a grunt of cautious approval.
‘We’ll need more than one man, though,’ Benet said. ‘There’s the garrison to consider too.’
‘The garrison is only strong while it acts in unison,’ John replied. ‘Could Helias arrange more of the local men to help him out?’
Walchelin nodded. ‘I would say so – if the price was right.’
Jaston shook his head. ‘Such men are not warriors. A few might have had schooling in spear and shield, but none of them are trained to fight.’
John reached for the flagon. ‘They will only be the decoys - the ones to make the opening and gain the approach. Once that’s done, we’ll be waiting to take over – dressed like common farriers.’
His remark raised knowing laughter from his men, for John’s title in the Latin tongue of the Exchequer was Marescallus, the same as the word for a farrier. Once the amusement died down, they set about working out the plan in more detail and John calculated how much he could afford to pay Helias and the townsfolk he would recruit. The Empress would have to be told, but not until the last moment, because the less people who knew of the plan, the better the chances of it succeeding and it was certainly not without its risks. But if he could take Devizes for the Empress then all else would fall into place.

Getting into Devizes castle was simple enough, although it took a while, given that John and his men had had to enter through the gate a few at a time, dressed in coarse mantles, hoods and cloaks, all weaponry concealed. They had assembled in the stables, where the grooms and their lads had been recruited by Helias and were ready to do their part.
John drew a deep breath. Although not the biggest gamble of his life in terms of strategy, it came close. If he was captured, he knew he would probably be hanged like FitzHubert. At the very least, he would be cast into the undercroft cells and left to rot.
Helias the farrier arrived – a powerfully built man in early middle age with a thatch of dark hair and blunt features. Tension corded his thick neck and sweat shone on his brow. His farrier’s hammer was tucked through his belt beside his knife sheath. ‘Are you ready sire?’ he asked.
John gave a brusque nod. ‘If you are. We shouldn’t delay.’
Helias turned round and leaving the stables, headed for the hall with John and two grooms following in his wake. Around the castle buildings, others moved quietly into position.
The guards on duty at the hall door challenged Helias in desultory fashion and let him through when he insisted he had to see lord Hervey on an urgent matter pertaining to his destrier. John and the grooms, they gestured through as part of the deputation.
Hervey de Leon was sitting in the lord’s chair on the dais, drinking wine and picking at a dish of dried fruit. His receding blond hair was compensated by a fine set of bushy yellow whiskers. ‘What’s this?’ he asked, when Helias bowed before him. John and the grooms had not come all the way forward but were waiting respectfully at the back of the hall.
‘Sire, you must come and see. A knight has brought a fine Spanish destrier to me for shoeing. He says he desires to sell it – it looks to me like a horse worthy to carry a king.’
De Leon’s eyes gleamed with interest. ‘Well then I had better take a look.’ He left his seat and wallowed down the hall – a portly man, his belly drooping over his belt like half a sack of cabbabes. Helias bowed to him, straightened and as he came up, seized de Leon around the neck with his powerful blacksmith’s right arm, and laid the bare blade of a knife to his throat. ‘Make one false move, and I will give you a new mouth! Tell your men to leave their weapons and kneel.’
The few soldiers in the hall, present in a casual capacity were slow to move and react – disbelieving what they saw. John threw off his mantle, his sword already in his hand, his body protected by a short mail byrnie. One of the grooms brandished a club he had concealed under his cloak. The other dashed outside to give the signal.
‘Tell them!’ Helias repeated, pressing with the knife blade, raising a thin edge of blood.
De Leon swallowed against the grim edge of steel and squawked the order.
One of the guards chose to take his chance anyway and lunged, but John sprang across his path and brought him down, using the hilt of his sword as a club. ‘The next one I will kill!’ he snarled. ‘On your knees, all of you!’ He fixed them with his stare, holding them with the weight of his personality, bearing down on them until they yielded and sank to their knees.
The rest of John’s men, led by Jaston, ran into the hall, coarse mantles disposed of, and weapons drawn. Helias manhandled de Leon back to the lord’s chair and with help from another knight set about tying him to it.
Leaving Jaston to finish the operation in the hall, John strode outside. The castle gate and the guardroom had both been secured, but the clash of swords on the wall walk told of resistance. Sprawled on the ground at the base of the battlements, his head twisted at an impossible angle, was the corpse of one of de Leon’s men. John ran into the gatehouse, up the stairs and onto the wall where Benet was being hard-pressed by three determined soldiers.
‘Drop your weapons, the castle is taken!’ John bellowed. ‘Your lord is a prisoner and all other men have yielded.’
‘I would rather die than surrender to traitors!’ snarled one of them, his eyes ablaze. ‘Some of us still have our honour.’
John’s lips parted in a mirthless grin. ‘Indeed, some of us do, and the price we pay for keeping it when others do not, makes us destitute. If you’d rather die, then jump.’ He gestured over the wall. ‘Join your friend.’
The knight’s glance flew towards the crenel space and he hesitated.
John took a step forward. ‘I am no more a traitor than you are. We each do what we must. Jump, fight or yield. The choice is yours.’
The knight’s breath tore through his chest. He looked again at the wall, then at John, and threw down his sword. ‘I yield,’ he said as the blade clanged on the oak boards. ‘May God and my lord forgive me.’
The others followed suit, expressions of shame and relief on their faces. John accepted their surrender with professional courtesy. The trick was knowing each man’s breaking point and applying the correct pressure.
By the time John returned to the hall, Jaston was sitting with one haunch on the trestle, eating dried figs from the silver bowl set there, and studying Hervey de Leon like a cat with a bird. The latter’s knights were all trussed up like carcases after a hunt.
‘I was wondering what we should do with him, sire,’ he said as John came to the dais. ‘Hanging him from the walls still seems like a fine notion.’
John looked at de Leon who was shivering and sweating at the same time. ‘Jaston, you have no imagination,’ he said as if disappointed with his knight. ‘We did that to the last upstart lord of Devizes.’
‘You have something else in mind then sire? Perhaps the moat or the mill pond?’
John gave his standard bearer an amused glance. ‘Let us hope we have no need for either of those,’ he said. ‘Untie my lord Hervey’s bonds. I am sure he will be more than amenable to negotiation – hmmm?’
Hervey de Leon swallowed and gave a vigorous nod of approbation.


2. A deleted straight out fight scene
Oxfordshire August 1153


John drew rein and patted Aranais’s damp silver neck. The August day was sultry with thunderstorms threatening on a horizon darkening with fists of purple cloud. Twists of charcoal-dark smoke smudged the horizon and the direction of the wind sent the stench of burning towards John and his men. The horses flickered their ears and sidled. Unconsciously, John lifted his right hand off the bridle to rub his thumb over the thickened ridge of scar tissue around his left eye socket. He thought of the fields around Marlborough three summers since and the pall of smoke lying over the wasted harvest fields.
While Stephen continued to lay siege to Wallingford, Henry in his turn was harrying Stephen’s siege castles across the Thames at Crowmarsh. Stephen had increased the garrison at Oxford by three hundred knights and had been sending patrols out to devastate Henry’s resources and raid the villages on which he was depending for supplies.
‘That’ll be Martel and de Chesney, the bastards,’ said Benet. He spat over the side of his saddle.
‘Indeed,’ John said quietly, ‘and we’re going to do something about them.’ He was frustrated and angry that they had been chasing phantoms hither and yon for a week now – arriving too late to smoking, bloody devastation after the raiders had gone. At last though, he had found his quarry and blocked off the road to their Oxford bolt hole. De Chesney was constable of Oxford Castle and Martel, as one of Stephen’s senior commanders had joined him in the field. John was eager to make a reckoning - not just because of recent events or what Martel had done to William, but because of all the years of struggle that had begun with a single lamprey. John was ready to embrace peace, but first the scales had to be balanced.
He directed Benet to take half the men and the archers and conceal themselves among the trees lining the road. Then, he took the rest of the troop and set out to lure de Chesney and Martel into the ambush.
The smell of smoke grew stronger as John advanced towards the burning village. He rode at a moderate pace, knowing he would need speed from Aranais soon and he required energy in reserve for the fight to come. His hands were steady on the reins, his heart calm. He knew what he had to do. So did his men. At his nod, two of the more lightly armed split off and hid at the roadside.
Five furlongs…six. Thunder rumbled in the distance and as the sound died away, he heard the sound of horses on the hard-baked summer road. A large troop, but one whose members had already exerted themselves in battle and who would be burdened with loot. John drew his sword and signalled his troop to keep close order and be prepared to turn at a moment’s notice.
Round the next bend in the road, the two groups came face to face. John pricked Aranais lightly with the spur and the stallion reared and pawed the air. William Martel, who was heading the troop with de Chesney, reined back and the two companies stared at each other, dust swirling in misty puffs from under the horses’ hooves, thunder growling, and the wind of the imminent storm hissing through the trees.
De Chesney was already gesturing to his knights, bringing them forward, lances quivering, shields presented, weapons drawn.
‘John FitzGilbert!’ bellowed Martel across the lightning space between them, ‘You are outnumbered. Throw down your arms and yield, or come to death!’
John laughed. ‘The devil didn’t take me at Wherwell, and I afford him more respect than you! I won’t yield to a mere minion!’ He gave the signal, whirled Aranais and spurred him to a gallop.
De Chesney bellowed the command to charge and Martel drew his sword and pricked his stallion. John kept his head low and prayed he had judged the distance correctly. He had marked the wayside trees as they rode and counted them down now. A twisted oak, a tall young lime, and then two hoar apple trees. As the last man in his troop galloped reached the latter, the knights either side of the road, whipped up the rope they had laid across the road and brought down the horse of the knight leading the chase. Hard behind him, Martel almost tangled in the rope himself, but managed to wrench his mount aside and hang on by clinging to the chest strap.
‘Loose!’ John bellowed and his archers sent arrows whickering into the pursuing troop. Sword drawn, John turned Aranais and charged, turning route into attack.
De Chesney roared the order to retreat, but it was easier said than done with battle joined, and those who did manage to flee down the road found the trap sprung behind them. A second rope was lashed across the road at chest height and the road itself was strewn with dozens of caltrops – wicked three-pronged spikes to maim a horse in an instant. The only recourse was to scatter into the woods with each man for himself.
John fought with cold fire, his goal to reach Martel and either take him prisoner or render him hors de combat. If he killed him, he would not let it trouble his soul. However, Martel was protected by his knights and being an accomplished warriors himself, no helpless prey. When John finally did succeed in finding a gap and winning through to engage him, Martel fought back hard, teeth bared in a silent snarl, his determination the equal of John’s. Neither man wasted breath on words. Blood poured from Martel’s mouth where a tooth had cut his gum. John’s lungs were burning with effort and sweat was blurring his limited vision. One more blow. One more strike in the right place…. A knight attacked John on his blind left side, winning past his shield and splaying his hauberk rings with the force of the blow. John gasped. Jaston should have blocked the assault, but Jaston’s horse was down and the knight was staggering to his feet, blood pouring from a sword cut to his cheek. Benet spurred into the gap and laid about with his mace, forcing the knight to withdraw.
Martel disengaged, leaped his horse across the roadside ditch and disappeared into the trees. De Chesney had already fled the battleground.
‘Shall we chase?’ Benet wheezed.
John’s shoulder was numb where Martel’s knight had struck him and he suspected his collar bone was cracked if not broken. He glanced swiftly round, assessing who was still in a fit condition. ‘No,’ he gasped, ‘let them run. ‘We have their pack horses of booty and the arms and armour of their dead and wounded. Strip them to their braies and leave them. Benet, see the caltrops gathered up. We can use them again and I wouldn’t have innocent folk or our own men damaged by them.’
‘Sire.’ The knight swiftly relayed orders.
John turned to look at Jaston who was pressing a linen bandage hard against his wounded cheek. ‘Get that stitched as soon as we return to camp. Patrick’s physician is good and neat.’
‘I am sorry my lord. Bastard ran a lance straight into Ferrand’s chest. Nothing I could do. If I had…’
‘You did your best,’ John interrupted. ‘Skill in battle is one thing, but a man needs luck too.’ He switched the reins to his right hand. ‘Martel and de Chesney will return to Oxford minus two parties of men except for the few and without the supplies they set out to raid. It’ll stop them for a while.’ He pointed to a riderless stallion being held by one of their serjeants. ‘Take the chestnut for yourself. He looks lively enough.’
Jaston nodded. ‘You are all right sire?’
John gave him a mordant smile. ‘I’ll live,’ he said, which wasn’t quite the same thing.
Moving on, he assessed the damage. His own men had escaped lightly. No-one had been killed although there were a few nasty sword cuts, cracked bones and heavy bruising.
He studied the handful of prisoners. Those who could afford ransoms would be sold back to their families. Those who couldn’t…well it was up to Henry what he did with them. Hang a few to make an example. Cut off their right hands so they could no longer wield a weapon. As the lethargy of aftermath settled over him, and his shoulder began to throb with pain, he found that he did not much care at the moment whether the scales were balanced or not. He turned Aranais for Henry’s camp and it began to rain in hard, needle drops, while over his head lightning veined a sky that was as dark as Purbeck marble.

CASTLES IN THE ETHER: Finding Newbury Castle

A PLACE BEYOND COURAGE, published in paperback on October 16th, is based on the story of John FitzGilbert Marshal, father of the great William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England. Without John there would have been no William. Aside from John’s contribution of fifty per cent of William’s DNA, those all important formative years were of John’s moulding in the paternal role. The imprinting of behaviour patterns, of morals and social mores came from the family household.

Having said that, one has to add that John was also responsible for his son’s almost death in 1152 when he carried brinkmanship to extremes at the siege of Newbury Castle. The royalist forces attacked the stronghold during the struggle for the rule of England between King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda. Finding himself beleaguered, John requested permission to seek the Empress’s consent to yield the castle. Stephen agreed to give him time, but demanded hostages as security, including John’s son William, then a child of about five years old.

John handed over the boy and used the time, not to seek consent, but to stuff the threatened keep to the rafters with men and supplies. When the appointed day came to relinquish the castle, John refused, and told the king where he could go. Stephen retorted by threatening to hang little William. John apparently replied that Stephen must do as he saw fit because he (John) had the anvils and hammers to get better sons. ‘Mais il dist ke ne li chaleit de l’enfant, quer encore aveit les enclumes e les marteals dunt forgereit de plus beals’. William was threatened with all sorts of dire ends, including aforementioned hanging on the gallows, being hurled from a trebuchet and squashed against the castle walls. His father remained impervious to intimidation and it was Stephen who yielded and backed down, taking young William into his household where he stayed for the next 2 years as both continuing hostage and royal page.

When Stephen died in 1154, the Empress’s son, Henry II, came to the throne and the wounds of the devastating civil war began to grow scars. The adulterine castles hastily thrown up during the conflict were torn down by Henry’s order. There is no mention of Newbury, but historians speculate that it was one of these temporary fortifications. Suffice to say, no remains have ever been found. Newbury itself has yielded no evidence of any kind of fortification. There’s a traditional site called ‘the Castle’ but it is thought to refer to the ruins of a cloth factory and can’t be dated back beyond the Tudor period.

There are some mounds in the grounds of North Lodge at Hamstead Marshal, which stand upon the site where once John Marshal had a substantial manor - probably fortified. Again, historians have suggested that these mounds were the remnants of protective mottes built during the twelfth century civil war to protect the manor. Having personally visited these mounds and walked the grounds, my own feeling is that that this suggestion is a non starter. Stephen could easily have defeated John had he made a stand at Hamstead, and one of the things John wasn’t, was a fool when it came to building castles. He was known as a cunning builder. The Gesti Stephani says of him: castella miri artificii in locis sibi competentioribus construere.’ (he built castles, designed with wondrous skill in the places that best suited him). He was a thinker, a planner. A cool and calculating soldier. His nearest secure base of operations that we know about was at Marlborough. He also had a castle at Ludgershall. But the writer of the Histoire says that his castle was at Newbury. So where might it have been? I think I know….

At an Akashic Record session on the third of July 2007, I asked my friend, Akashic consultant, Alison King, if she could tune into John Marshal and ask him where the castle at Newbury had stood. I had come to this session armed with Ordnance Survey map 158 and as I struggled to open it out (the thing was as big as I was!), Alison urgently asked me to move because John had come through to her and was keen to guide her index finger to the place where the castle was on the map. Alison had her eyes closed. I managed to get the map laid out on the floor and she leaned over and put her finger decisively on a particular spot. ‘Here,’ she said. We did this more than once and each time Alison’s finger came down on the same precisely the same mark. I took a biro and marked a cross under her fingertip as best I could. Alison said that her finger was guided with the firm decision she has always been aware of in John’s character. A few days ago, I got my husband to stand in the garden with this same map opened out so you can get an idea of the size of it. I’ve used the paint programme to draw a ring around the original cross made by Alison in July of 2007. I’ve also cropped it down to a close up – see picture 2. The cross is towards the top right.

When I studied the map and checked it out on Google Map coordinates, I thought that it looked interesting.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=51.410289,-1.350149&spn=0.012046,0.027637&t=h&z=15

It was on the outskirts of Newbury and close to Hamstead Marshall, but my eye was untrained. I had corresponded briefly with a reader who lives in the area and who has an archaeology qualification. She had once e-mailed me wondering where the missing castle might be. I sent her a scan of the map with the ‘X’ marks the spot that John Marshal had shown us. The reader - S. was very interested to see it because she said that it was strategically a very important site, being the highest point on a ridge overlooking two rivers, the Lambourn to the north and the Kennet to the south. The Roman road - Ermine street coming from Cirencester to Speen, must have been very close by. Today the land forms part of the grounds of a private home called Speen House. Alison and I were excited and delighted at this news. Initially we didn’t take it further than that and just noted that it was circumstantial corroboration.

Then, in August of 2008, S. invited us to Berkshire as she lives more or less on top of where John Marshal, William Marshal and many of their kin and descendants used to call home. We were thrilled at the invitation and arranged to travel down there and spend a couple of days in ‘Marshal’ country. On day one, we went to Old Sarum. Our road took us down the Newbury Bypass and past part of the land John Marshal had told us was the site of his castle. As we were driving, Alison said she had John coming through saying, ‘You are coming to visit me.’ We thought at the time that it was a reference to our forthcoming meeting with S, however, that wasn’t the entire story.

When we did meet S. the next day, she showed us a close up of a different picture of the same area on the map I had sent her, showing clearly that there were ramparts on the spot at Speen. (I've drawn them in using the Paint programme again on the smaller closeup of the OS map). The county archaeologist had confirmed this. No one knows their dateline, but there have been Roman finds nearby. So why not medieval? Fortifications and ramparts are regularly adapted and reused down the centuries. John Marshal was renowned as a cunning builder of castles and Speen would have been tailor made for his skills, especially if he was throwing up defences in a hurry and this place was ‘a strategically important site.’

Another circumstantial point that backs up the Speen site theory is the detail that William Marshal granted himself a market at Speen in 1218, thus confirming strong Marshal interests in the place. We didn’t know any of this until our visit to see S.

S. was wonderful and managed to secure us permission to go and look at the ramparts at Speen House. This was a personal invitation and I didn’t feel it was appropriate to take photographs. However, while we were there, Alison’s psychic antennae went haywire - I have never seen her this way before and she had never experienced anything like it herself. She had John Marshal coming through powerfully and strongly, greeting us and saying that this was the place where he had made his stand. Although I sometimes share snippets of Akashic material with readers, what came through and what was said, was, I feel, very personal to John and not appropriate to the public domain. However, as far as confirmation that this was the place is concerned, we were left in absolutely no doubt, and also that the events were traumatic.

Whether evidence of 12^th century occupation will ever show up on a dig I don’t know, because the fortifications would not have stood for very long and the site is now private property and thick with rhododendron bushes and trees. Even so, I am convinced that Speen is the site of John’s castle at Newbury. It fits better than anything else that has yet come to light, and when the builder himself has crossed the divide of 800 years to show me in person as he best he can, then yes, I believe.

Elizabeth Chadwick on the publication date of A Place Beyond Courage.

October 16^th 2008

As a post script I have to add that when I was writing A Place Beyond Courage, I had no idea where the castle was myself, so I left it vague and open to conjecture. Owing to the publishing process, I can't go back and rewrite that part of the novel just now, but perhaps at some future point I will.

'Your instinct can't be wrong,

Separate the fiction from the fact'

Neil Finn

An Interview With John Marshal

It's the publication this week of A Place Beyond Courage: The story of William Marshal's father John FitzGilbert, so to mark the event I'm putting this interview with the protagonist on my blog.
I first became interested in John's story while writing The Greatest Knight, about his son, the legendary William Marshal. John himself is something of a legend too, having gone down in history as the callous father who said (to paraphrase) when his son was threatened with death 'Go ahead and hang him, I have the anvils and hammers to get better than him.' That speech set me to wondering about the man behind the words and led me to begin digging for details, as I felt there was far more to this than met the eye. I was right. What I have discovered is a man, who, rather like Richard III has been the victim of the spin of history. I hope that A Place Beyond Courage will help to redress the balance a little and allow him to stand in his own light.
As many of you know, I use psychic input as one of my research threads via the services of Akashic Record Consultant Alison King who has the ability to see back into the past. (she now has a blog here at http://ontheakashicrecord.blogspot.com/
To coincide with the publication of A Place Beyond Courage, Alison and I have conducted an interview with John Marshal. It's set out verbatim so that you can see that we do get some moments of 'white noise' and sometimes go off track. It's not always clear and exact, and we have to pick our way through what we receive. The extra sections following the interview are taken from much longer pieces obtained during sessions over the past two years and will, I hope give you an impression of John the man, his family, and the life and times in which they lived. There's quite a full selection, so do dib in and out as you please!

Interview with John Marshal: recorded on 27th September 2007

Alison tuned in and I asked the first question, but Alison wasn’t comfortable. We weren’t actually going to a specific incident in John’s life as we usually do, but to John now and Alison felt like a more conventional medium would and that John was actually trying to communicate through her body directly rather than them being separate. She’s not comfortable with this way of working, so said she would set up a room in the ether for John to sit in. Then we tried again.

Alison: That’s better, I’ve made a room for him to sit in. It’s a lovely medieval room. So the question:

Q. When you were royal Marshal to Henry I, what was the most satisfying part of the job?

The most satisfying was obviously when I got it right. When I sorted things out. (Alison says what she is getting is like a full chest – like the chest of a hen with the feathers puffed out) and everything was jogging along, when I knew what I was doing, and I could deal with anything that came up, when I had my finger on every mark. When I knew where the pressure was and I could put my finger on it and deflate it whenever it happened.

Can you give us any examples of that?

I can see a square like a square well or something with a hole going downwards. There’s hands coming up out of the square, being helped up and then a trap door being closed over it. I didn’t see the people actually come out of the square. It was as if they were actually shut in there. This was putting the prisoners away for the night so that there was no more rowdiness and all perfectly under control and no harm would come to them. (John was in charge of keeping noble prisoners under arrest when they failed to pay their debts at the exchequer, but it was a form of house arrest rather than in fetters, so this has a hint of that I think).

Q. And what was the most frustrating thing about being the Marshal?

I am seeing a crown put on someone’s head and it keeps being taken off and put on. And the arms of this person are stretched out and each are holding what look like gold candlesticks but with no candles in, so they’re carved staffs or something. It’s about not knowing who’s in charge. One person tells you to do one thing and someone else tells you to do something else. Sometimes it’s the same person telling you to do different things. Coping with that sort of thing is beyond endurance. Why can’t people just make up their minds and go through with it? It would make life so much simpler.

Q. And of those three kings you served, which one was the most likely to do this sort of thing?

The first one. He was always changing his mind. Vacillating because he was so lively. No sooner had he thought of one thing then he would think of another. He always had ideas coming for improvement and enhancement but never the first enhancement was finished before the next one was on its way and so the financing of it became complicated because if the first one wasn’t completed what was to be done with the rest of the money? It left scope for unscrupulous people. I was forever cleaning out those pustules of deceit. Nevertheless he was a good king and kept his honour to the end. But sometimes that did not assist others around him at keeping theirs.

Here John starts getting agitated. It doesn’t seem to be a line of questioning he’s appreciating. Alison says he’s got up from the chair and he’s pacing the room. I was going to ask how much difference there was being Marshal to the 3 kings, but abandoned that and asked instead what was the most satisfying time in his life?

Alison: I’m being drawn to two places. I’ll go with the second first because it’s bigger. It looks like a window ledge. He’s putting his hand on a stone window ledge. The light is golden. There’s a smell like ripe apples. There’s a key in his hand and the key’s on a chain. The key’s going into a lock. He’s opening the door. There’s golden light on the other side of the door and I can see I’m on a ridge of stone wall. It’s a big stone wall with a line of carving about 3ft up. He’s coming down some steps. He seems to have been in a tower. He’s going out onto the battlements. He feels really warm in the solar plexus area, really satisfied. He has shown me his wife (Sybilla) and a baby, and the walls feel really secure and solid, as if they’ll stand there for many generations, for the future of his children to come. He feels powerful. He knows now the purpose of his energy. It’s to secure this. He’s totally at peace and at one. Everything’s right.

The second incident? This is much earlier. I can see something that might be peas in a pod but it’s golden. You know those rods that people hold as badges of office and they’re very carved and of precious metal – that’s what I’m seeing. There’s a ball on it. He’s saying ‘That’s mine. That’s what I attained through my own efforts. The Marshal’s rod of office then? Yes, and my father’s efforts before me, and his father’s efforts also, not to mention my mother’s, for all go together in establishing the bloodline, the power of which goes beyond the generations. It is an entity in its own right and this I am proud to have been a part of it.

Q. You have left behind a reputation of cunning and skill when it came to building castles. Where did you learn this craft?

It’s not cunning, it’s cleverness. Skill I will own up to, but assisted by others of at least equal skill. It was not my own skill alone but a joint effort with many people. However, I had overall direction and management. The deployment of these things was in the hands of others. But if you ask about the design, then these are things we worked out in collaboration by playing through various scenarios of how we would attack such a stronghold and how it could then be defended. We would play through these scenarios for many days consecutively, thinking of new ways of attack and whatever fresh ideas we could think of. Then that spurred us into reaction and further development of the castle reaches, and refinements of our plans which if they were at all possible we then put into practise and made practical use of in the building. I also wished to view a building which was refined and honourable – of honourable estate and did not dilute the view but rather made it greater and fiercer and brought fire into men’s bellies. That is what I strove to do and in honour I believe I many times succeeded.

Q. Did you ever meet Queen Eleanor?

What I’m seeing here is the back of Queen Eleanor. She’s being carried into the room in a litter. Someone’s helping her out of the litter but she seems very cronky as if she’s an old lady, but I can only see the back. Alison says it doesn’t make sense. I agree. Although I have an afterthought that if Alison can only see the back, then the cronkiness might be due to heavy pregnancy? She was in the midst of her child-bearing season when she came to England. She’d be roughly the same age as John’s wife Sybilla. Try again. A repeat of the question receives a negative, but this is probably not right either, and I would say a moment of ‘white noise’ down to Alison doubting what she saw and everything going pear shaped. Abandon this one…

Alison. John wants to tell her something.

He says You must not take everything you see as the letter of the law. For you will see many things and some will be true and some will not. For truth you must test your heart. Right, thank you.

Q. Can you tell us about Sybilla?

Sybilla was my wife and my own chosen one. She was…(I am seeing a fairy flying scattering stardust.) He is saying ‘What more can I say? She was everything to me and I to her if I am not mistaken. Everything I could have wanted rolled into one. Everything I needed without any delays or obstication. And I loved and adored her with a passion. Anything you can share with us from that life? I am seeing cloth held up so that it hangs down, and at first I thought maybe it was a baby cradled but then I saw it was a person lying down below this cloth thing and there was a crown on their head or a coronet. That song Wake me up Inside came into my head. This is a woman. She’s sat up and then stood up. It doesn’t seem very realistic. I’m trying to do it with my heart, understand it with my heart. I’m doing it wrong. I should be feeling it with my solar plexus and understanding it with my heart. I think he’s getting annoyed with me. I feel as if the ground’s shaking a bit, and everything went light. I think when I got the Eleanor thing wrong my confidence went down a bit and I have to get my confidence back. I also misunderstood his instruction because I was doing it right before, but I needed to add on a bit not to do everything through the heart chakra, which is confusing because it becomes very vague. When he gets agitated, he gets up out of the chair and starts walking about. Right, can you please give us an example of a happy time spent with Sybilla? He says you have those already. So go onto next question.

Q. What were your impressions of Thomas Becket?

Thomas Becket is a fine man. It hoved him to serve himself well and then to serve the king well. It hoved him not to serve his king well first. In this position, a servant of the king, which we all are, we must not overshoot the mark and believe that we are further out than the king. We are still servants and we do his bidding, not the other way round, because then he becomes not a king but a man and that is not the correct way with these things, for if we have merely a man at the helm, we do not have a kingdom

Q. So what about your land dispute with Becket? (John had a dispute with Becket over a piece of land and used the dispute to get himself back into King Henry’s good graces, having been under something of a cloud in the 1160’s)

I do not decry this man. He is an able and gifted man and was doing what it behoved him to do for himself – as I also would have done for myself. These things have a political basis and as such should be treated as political matters. We are professional in our dealings, therefore I would not decry this man. But remember I am a professional. He seems quite pleased with himself about that. I get the impression it’s a good challenge to him, a worthy opponent.

Q. So allied to this can you tell us about the Merlin prophecies concerning King Henry II? (The cult of King Arthur was taking off and it was a popular aristocratic pastime to dabble in mystical prophecies concerning the future – a bit like we do with Nostradamus. John, disgruntled by Henry II having taken away Marlborough from him, was rather rash with these prophecies and went so far as to suggest that they hinted that Henry might not be king for much longer!)

The Merlin prophecies where they exist, exist for the eyes and ears of kings and their descendants, and I trust in their efficacy as one who should trust in the efficacy of the system of kingship, for it to be tried and tested. And if it is found wanting to be pushed aside or left hanging, not used. (a bit ambiguous, but fits in with what is known of John’s reasons for dabbling in the Merlin Prophecies).

Q. Is there anything you would change in hindsight if you had your life again?

He likes that question.

Yes indeed he would. I saw some steps leading up to a chair with carved arms and a wooden back bench and swords being put in at the side of chair, all around the sides. I think there’s a man sitting there with a crown on. And then I saw a table with metal goblets on and plates, overturned. Men in armour stamping around, fighting. Liquid on the floor. I think it’s blood. Now I can see from above, a round building with arches all around. I am seeing a religious procession. Lots of people in a wide procession. And there’s a coffin being carried with an effigy or body. I don’t know what this means. He says it means the end of kingship as it was. The end of honesty for deceit. I would have that time over again and I would do it differently. I would withhold the valour of the moment to maintain the steadiness of the kingdom, in order that we may go forward in greater strength and unity and in peace. For truly what is war but a blunting of the sword? It does not serve captain or captive. It does not serve the dead nor the living. It is a feast of wantonness and wastefulness. This and this alone I would change and bring peace to my country and happiness to my kin.

I then read out an assessment of John from professor Crouch’s biography of William Marshal and asked how much John agreed with it ‘John Marshal was a formidable model for his son: astute, physically powerful, an easy companion in the royal chambers, and a cool warrior in the field. In his days as castellan of Marlborough he was no coarse bandit. He was more of a baron than a robber. He played the great game of politics with talent and perception, rising rather than falling among the factions of the civil war. Giving ground when defiance would have been quixotic, he still ended up on the winning side. So far as his limited resources allowed, he was a generous patron of the church, a benefactor of abbeys and priories, particularly Bradenstoke priory, the Salisbury family foundation and mausoleum in Wiltshire, where he was buried himself.. He shared the aristocratic fascination of his day with the Knights Templar, to whom he devoted his manor of Rockley in Wiltshire….John Marshal was the first great exemplar of lordship in his son’s life and even at the distance of centuries we will see in his strengths and weaknesses how the son drew himself in some aspects from the pattern of his father, a definitive preudhomme, or man of standing in his son’s eyes.

He says ‘I am honoured indeed, all is true, yet I am honoured that you say so. And all from this distance seems perfect because it is long ago and done. At the time it was crude and unfinished and many a makeshift and many changes of heart and intent. Yet all this came to fruition, not entirely by my own power yet by the power of God from whom all good things come, and I wish you well my dear ones.

I ask Alison to thank John for his patience in answering my what might seem foolish questions.

I received a sardonic smile then! He says they are not foolish but they are overwrought somewhat in their delivery. Let you have a light touch. Let you make merry. Let us raise a toast together, neither the one higher nor the one lower. Let us be at one when we attain this work and let it be a joint effort equally. I bless you and yours. Alison says ‘I’d like to send our blessings to you then and yours and he says I thank you. I’d like to thank John for the interview which has been very interesting and has taught us much, not just for the information he gave but for a new way of working. It has been a bit of an experiment for us. We haven’t worked this way before’. He says you have, you just don’t recognise it.

Alison asks if he has anything to say.

Only that in the drawing of the latch from the door of history you unleash many strands, different voices, and to weave these together accurately and compellingly, requires great skill - as you have, and I ask you to continue this work to draw together the ages and to create understanding between those ages that all may be one and lessons may be learned in these times and in future times.

I am seeing a seal being put on a document and a signature as well. All is done now. Adieu. Then, Alison says, he left the room and went off to do something else. (which accords with his personality. As far as he’s concerned the book is finished and it’s the end of the project!)

After a long discussion about some of the strangeness of this session, we decided to ask Sybilla a couple of things, but went to her in situ in 1145 to ask them rather than bringing her to the interview room.

Alison asked if it was permitted and she received the response ‘Yes but tread with care because there are sensibilities involved. It’s not just for edification.’

We asked Sybilla what was special for her about John?

Alison: I’m seeing hair being combed. I’m seeing a plait being put in the top hair. It’s being plaited and a clasp thing put in across the plait. Sybilla’s been having her hair done and she’s turned to face us. I can’t actually see her face. I can see light where her face would be. It’s as if she’s saying ‘What do you want?’ I am explaining to her that we have come in order to gain more insight into her marriage with John Marshal for the purpose of promoting a Histoire – a romance that has been written in this century that his fame may live on. She’s says okay, but she’s busy.

So the first question is What made John so special to her?

Everything about him. He’s strong, he’s tall, he’s beautiful. I love his hair, I love his ear, I love his face, I love his neck, his shoulders, his arms. His arms have carried our baby – not for long I grant you but nevertheless… I love his respectfulness, his manners, his ease, and I love him most of all because he is mine. Because we have those intimate times together when we can know and appreciate each other without subterfuge. I can be myself and that is exactly what he wants and that makes me grow and be more of myself, and I love him for that. He allows me the space to be that. I like his strength and I like his ability to protect us and to do his duty.’

So is there an example of a particular high point in their life together?

I am seeing purple. Something that looks like an ear, and a branch going across the ear. Now I am seeing a bow and arrow. The bow is pointing upwards and the string is taut. It’s being released. I’m following it and it’s taking me through the countryside, of the meadow, the hill, between bushes, through hedges. It just seems to be going on and on forever. More fields, sheep, landscape, field after field. And even at the fence there’s a swing bridge and the fence is opening like a gate. I think it’s just to show me the immenseness of the land they had. She’s showing me her tummy pregnant, swollen stomach. She’s showing me her hair being trimmed. She’s still got a plait and it’s been put over her shoulder, and she’s got a baby on the other shoulder. Oh, the baby’s beautiful. She’s just loving that baby. I’m seeing what looks like a toilet seat cover, then it lifted and it just looked like going down a hole. So she’s showing you a toilet?! Yes, she is, and it’s all proper. Clean. She just feels so satisfied. Like someone getting a new house. Everything’s just right. I’m seeing a loom on someone’s knee with frets going down it and wool going across and someone putting the weft through with a ball of wool at the side. Now I’m seeing a curved bow or implement on a staff with wool at the top and bottom and a kind of thread of wool that comes backwards and forwards on this thing. So this is just daily life with John? Yes, having lands as far as you can send an arrow.

So the most difficult time they faced together?

Oh this is painful. She’s very miserable. We’ve lost it all. There’s a pain in her solar plexus. She’s quite hunched. I feel she’s a lot older. All those hopes and dreams. We can’t even afford a proper education for our child. What are we to do? She’s longing for Salisbury again. I’m saying what about John? There’s a smile. She says ‘he’s my stalwart, my saviour. She puts on a really brave face for John and they’ll face the world together. Brave, steadfast – and now at peace. All is well and those times have passed.

Does Sybilla have anything else to say?

Only that he was my hero, not fallen, never fallen. He was always my conquering hero, and I will have him remembered thus. I say to those who doubt, come hither and lead this life I led and espouse the experience, and see if you could have done better. For I say to you he did the utmost that a man could do and he assisted me to do my utmost also in all things. Test yourself against our mettle.

I honour you and bless you in your endeavour.

Now to some scenes from John's life and the lives of those around him

Much of this has not gone into the novel, but it has underpinned my assessment of John's character. I say 'much of this'. There are moments here and there that you will find while reading the story. From my viewpoint (non academic) these pieces definitely have a medieval mindset with reference to such conventions as love, marriage, patronage and duty.

I asked Alison to take a look at John Marshal and his father Gilbert at court in Windsor 1126 when John was about 21.

Alison: I can see people dancing. There are flurries of people circling, making archways, going in and out and underneath. It’s not only a dance but a way of meeting people. It’s a mixture of entertainment and socialisation. John’s watching all the interaction but he’s also involved in the dancing. He’s in the peripheral area of the dancing. He’s very proud of his….I don’t know you’d call them – stockings. They’re blue and tight-fitting. (hose or chausses. These were indeed a fairly tight fitting garment – Medieval equivalent of trousers. Think drainpipe jeans made of wool!). He keeps looking down at them. They’re a lightish blue, but not pastel. He’s wearing a silvery-grey tunic with blue trimmings. If he was a girl he’d be the belle of the ball! All the girls are looking at him and he’s able to give them his very sweet smile and return their looks with that twinkle in his eye. He has the right timing with his glances – not to long, not too short but enough to keep them looking and keep all of his options open. He’s getting more involved in the dancing. He’s good at dancing and quite enjoying it. He can dance with quite a bit of precision.
His father (Gilbert Giffard) is drinking with some of the older men. They all have flagons and are sitting on benches in what looks like an alcove – bit like an inglenook with no fire. The feeling among them is warm and friendly. They’re all in civvies so to speak, not on duty. They’ve got the day off and can relax. There’s a lot of bonhomie. John’s father is a wide man with thick, dark hair, greying at the edges and cut quite short. It’s so thick it stands up a bit. His face – full cheekbones, strong jaw. (Giffard was a common nick-name in the Norman period meaning ‘Chubby cheeks’) He has thick fingers. William Marshal has similar hands to his grandfather, but not as thick. Gilbert is another thinker – a wily man whose strength is more in his thinking ability than other things. His strength to his employer is in his thinking skills. He’s got his eye on his son. Even though he’s busy with his own companions, Gilbert’s still watching him. The reasons he’s watching John is that he’s assessing him, assessing his character and seeing what his motivation is like in a social setting. He wants to be in a position where he can let his son do things for himself and know he’ll be doing it right.

I know John and his father fought a duel over the Marshalsea. Checking my notes, I see it was against William de Hastings and Robert de Venoiz. De Venoiz’s father had once been a Marshal – Geoffrey the Marshal. Dare one think noses had been put out of joint?

Alison: Puffing and panting in panic or exertion. I’m with the father. It’s a big thing for a man of his age to do. He’s pleased his son is a healthy young man. All the lessons, all the training have been worthwhile. He’s got a helmet on and he’s looking around. There are rows of people watching and a fence in front of them. He’s taking a mouthful of liquid – it’s water – and just spitting it out. John is there. He’s a lot cooler than his father about this. He knows he has to protect his dad and keep his dad behind him. The other people have got a different sort of armour on. It’s burnished and bronzey while John’s and his father’s is that blackened silver colour. (burnished ‘goldy’ coloured armour was known). I’m with John now. He’s sizing up the field and his tactics. He thinks he’ll go for the older man, head him off and finish him quickly because he’s the better fighter, and then he can run round and get the younger man. If the younger man goes for his father, his father’s bulk will be able to hold him off until John can get to him. John acts as if he’s still nonchalantly taking a break, but then he suddenly turns round and with a roar, attacks. The other two are taken by surprise by the swiftness of John’s assault. They think he’s going for the younger man, but he crosses over in front of the older one. He’s using a morning star flail in one hand and a long dagger in the other – he’s going all or nothing for this. If he’s going to protect his father he’s got to fight for two of them. He’s using the morning star and he’s wrapped the chain round the older man’s neck. It’s not a killing blow, but it’s enough to bring him down, choking him and wounding his neck. (Alison makes choking sound) He might not be dead but he’s out of the fight. The younger one has been stopped in his tracks by what John’s done and the sight of the older, better fighter down. It’s what John wanted. Now John gets out his full sized sword and challenges the younger man. The younger man is swallowing after what he’s just seen. He’s a bit reluctant to take on John. He wanted the easier job of John’s dad. He has to face John….and he’s not doing it. He’s put his sword down – yes, he’s put his sword down. John is saying ‘Come on then, you coward, come on. He pokes him with his own sword. The other won’t rise to the challenge. The wounded man is being carried off the battlefield – it looks like a horse schooling field. The young man looks at all of this, seeing the odds. He keeps his sword down. The crowd are a bit disappointed. They’re shouting ‘Go on!’
John is so contemptuous that he turns half a shoulder to the other man and then fully turns his back just to show utter contempt. Then he suddenly whips round and rattles the blade at the other man in threat. This makes the challenger look even more stupid and the crowd starts laughing. John goes up to his father, puts his arm round him and they walk off the field to cheers, their position in the Marshalsea confirmed in public.

I asked about John's marriage contract with Aline. I had asked about this before but in passing. What made him marry her? He was the king’s marshal, could he not have done better?

Alison: He has satisfaction that he has the contract in his hand (it was the right to sell her in marriage to someone of his choosing, or to marry her himself. Basically he became her guardian.) It’s like something to put in his drawer for later. He’s glad he’s got it because he’s been in competition with quite a few others of his generation for it, all looking for suitable wives. The property goes to the male line and there are fewer women about with prospects than there are men seeking them. If he’s going to marry, he wants to marry well – not a liability, but a leg up the ladder. With Aline’s contract in his hands, he now has a failsafe option. It’s not ideal and he still thinks he could do better, but it’s a bird in the hand. Alison fast forwards to other times when he’s looking to upgrade his prospects with a better contract. It’s very difficult. He’s looking and looking but prospective women keep being whipped out from under his nose by other people. It’s like property development, a really speculative game and all the time he’s watching and waiting his chance, but is never quite quick enough. There’s some laughter at his expense because of his reputation at court. ‘Jack with all the ladies, but nee’r a wife. Alison says she gets the impression that some families have actually been put off by his reputation as a stud on the loose. They’re not keen to ally their womenfolk with a man of that reputation. There’s also the possibility that he might have to provide for children of these casual matings should they turn up. (not that he had any, but prospective families weren’t going to take the chance). Also, they question what else John has to offer. No more than other available marriage partners. Why give the nod to John when they could have someone of a purer reputation? A lot of it is about who you know. That’s one of the frustrations about Henry’s court for John. He has no other avenue to better himself. He’s a loyal servant, but still a servant when all’s said and done. He sees no room to gain lands and the opportunity to do so is slipping away along with his youth. He’s getting older and more hardened – slightly bitter even. He needs to get proper heirs. He makes a few last ditch attempts to seek out prospective brides where he hasn’t been before. He’s welcomed socially but not as a marriage partner. This gives him a cold feeling in his stomach. Since his plan has failed he will have to go ahead with the contingency plan and marry Aline. He doesn’t want to settle for a younger, penniless daughter.

Alison on Aline:
Ah, I initially felt that her heart was full, that she was happy. I can see a large circle – might be a round church window. Now I can see hens running across open ground between buildings. She’s feeding the hens. She’s happy. She likes her husband but it’s like a foreign land to her. He’s a big man, very different to what she knows. He treats her like a little girl. He’s by far the boss in the relationship and not willing to share anything of himself properly with her. Because of this, Aline can’t develop easily herself. He won’t give her anything. He sees her as a resource – something that he needs to have around, but he hasn’t connected to her on an emotional level. They don’t have a real relationship. However there’s no rancour and no argument. She sometimes feels a bit miffed with him, but she doesn’t take it far. She’s too young, too naive and doesn’t question it. As far as she knows, it’s just the way all men are. She has no expectation of anything different. But she does love him and he gives her a warm feeling in her heart. She’s willing to do her duty.
John is not good at bringing her out of her shell. Indeed, he has no interest in doing so. He’s always off doing his own thing. She’s happy enough for him to do this, but she’s not good at looking after the household things in his absence. She’s not organised or forceful enough to make other people do their work. She’s very quiet – like a little mouse really.

John served Stephen loyally for 4 years, but then defected to the Empress’s cause and stayed there until the end of the war. I wanted to get to the bottom of why he defected. Stephen felt it necessary to come and besiege him at Marlborough. He had given John custody of this strategic castle but was now, in September 1139 trying to take it back.

Alison: Mmmmm. John seems to be enjoying the siege. It’s a military challenge. He’s never had the opportunity before to see how good (or bad!) Stephen is. He’s cool, collected, calculating.

Turning against Stephen was not something he chose. There has been politicking against John amidst the barons of Stephen’s faction. Some barons feels that John is too up himself and is threatening their position in favour. Ah, there’s been some brinkmanship going on. Ambition is rife. Some of Stephen’s faction want everything. They would swallow the world if they could. Because of John’s dignity and ability, he has risen to a position of responsibility in Stephen’s household and his position of responsibility has enlarged his own power. There’s potential for him to own things that they feel are theirs by right and they want him out. Things have been done to get him out – suggestions of disloyalty, and that he’s had spies working for the opposition. Alison gasps. Oh God, they’ve set him up. They’ve pretended he has divulged information to the opposition in order to further his own cause.

John had no option but to go to the other side, otherwise he would have been left out in the cold. He wouldn’t have gone over of his own accord because it wouldn’t have been honourable.

But surely his good friend Robert of Gloucester was the opposition leader?
Alison listens. Everyone has friends on the other side in a war, but you don’t desert for them.

So why did he declare for Stephen when he had sworn for the Empress before Henry I died.
He thought it better for the country as a whole to be with Stephen and went along with the argument about it being an oath to God. Also he rescinded his oath to Matilda before he gave his word to Stephen. He felt that if Matilda ruled the country it would be in a state of statis – detrimental. Everything held in check. He wanted something dynamic and prosperous.

So why did he stay loyal after he swore for Matilda in 1139?

He says it’s like the devil and the deep blue sea. Going back to Stephen would have put him in a dangerous situation. He doubts he’d have survived it. He didn’t like Matilda and her ideas, but at least there was no back biting and he knew where he was with her. It wasn’t a warm relationship though. However he could function as his own person and not be in danger from his own side. No choice really. He estimated the odds and didn’t believe he could win the war of intrigue in Stephen’s court. There were too many people against him.

John was wounded in the face fighting a rearguard action in defence of the Empress Maude. Trapped in a burning church, lead from the roof dripped onto his face. He had to walk home twenty five miles with this injury. I asked about this journey and the moments after.

Alison makes a face. He’s gritting his teeth. Occasionally he’s having to be supported by someone else but then he pushes them off. Arrives home and falls on his bed. Everything’s white on the bed and he is filthy – makes a mess of everything. He feels as if everything is melting inside him, running down. There’s a horrible taste in his mouth. He can’t move the side of his face, it feels all swollen. He can’t see in that eye; everything looks black. He has no strength left. Aline is totally appalled. She’s standing in the doorway biting on her forefinger. Oh God, what do I do now? Fortunately for John there are more practical people about who know what to do. Her women bustle around, seeing to John while Aline just stands there, rooted to the spot, still biting her finger. One of the more kindly women draws her away. ‘Come and sit down, Madam.’ But when they are treating John, he makes noises and Aline has to flee the room. Not because she’s worried for him but because she’s squeamish. It’s not a close marriage. She still seems very much like a little girl in personality. They have two sons. She likes the look of them but she doesn’t get close to them, lets others do the looking after. She would rather go to church and listen to the priest. It makes her feel better. She explains all of her life through the terms of the church and the bible. She doesn’t explain it through her own feelings but relies on religion to explain them for her.

We know from the records that John’s troops were devoted to him and had immense respect and loyalty towards him. They’d fight to the last man. I asked why this was?

Alison: He’s very fair with the men. He doesn’t allow back-biting in his domains. He always pays them. If any money comes in then the first priority is to pay the men in full before anything else comes out. No laxity is permitted with the equipment it’s all kept in good order. No one is allowed to slack on the job and no bad atmosphere is allowed. Everyone must do their job to the utmost. Even the auxiliary people have to theirs well. For example the cooks have to provide good food. He goes to the kitchens and sees to it personally that people do their jobs properly to the last detail. If a cook serves badly prepared food then the cook knows about it. He doesn’t allow any pilfering. He’s not ever so affectionate with the men but in comparison to other employers he looks after his men and their families. It’s not a brilliant deal by modern standards but if something happens to the breadwinner, his dependants are not slung on the heap. They’re given something to survive. Wounded soldiers are helped out. All his retainers and cooks are ex soldiers who can’t fight any longer. The bottom line is that his men have respect for him. They wouldn’t get a better deal anywhere else. There’s no point in leaving him.

I wanted to know about the dispute between John Marshal and Patrick of Salisbury that eventually led to them agreeing a truce and sealing it with the marriage of John and Sybilla. I asked Alison to go to John Marshal after the death of William of Salisbury in 1143, when Patrick would have taken over the Salisbury family reins.

Alison: I can feel John on horseback. He’s carrying a lance. I’m not quite sure if he’s practising or using it for real. He’s riding along with it and speeding up. I can’t see where he’s going with it. Ah, I think it’s for real; he’s got a helmet on. It seems to be stuck, the neck-piece is not moving round properly and he can’t see very well. He’s got to keep his whole body straight and it’s very difficult to do. (we realised afterwards that the helmet wasn’t stuck at all. Where John was having difficulties was that he was one-eyed and therefore had to turn his whole head to bring his right vision to bear on his missing left side. He had to be careful when turning his head because of giving the horse the wrong impression of what he wanted it to do)

He’s got to go for something in front of him and hope for the best. He’s going full speed ahead and hoping he’s frightening enough to the opposition. He takes a person off his horse and this gives him time to adjust. He’s hot. Got to get on now. He’s getting another weapon out – a sword, he’s got a sword. He wants to move ahead and fight three men who are on the periphery of the fighting, but someone is coming in at him from the side. He’s having to manoeuvre the horse around. I’m trying to fast forward but he won’t let me – wants me to stay. There’s a movement to his side. His opponent is fighting hard and John can’t get the killer blow on because his opponent is holding him. It drives John wild and he redoubles his efforts but to no avail. He’s afraid for his horse because the other’s blade is coming very close to its neck. He’s fighting, still fighting. Then someone comes up from behind and hits the other bloke with a mace and puts him down. Phew, and none too soon. John nods a brief thanks to the knight – his second in command. His name’s something like Jason….Jaston, pronounced with soft J. He’s dark haired (I can sense who he is even inside his armour, so know what he looks like) and has brown eyes, very bright and sparky – fine features. A nice lad, a fighter.

Now the pair of them are off and routing the enemy, coming round the edges, driving them off and capturing what’s left. John is very frustrated because one of the three men who wouldn’t fight him was Patrick of Salisbury.

So what has Patrick been doing to John? He’s been going for soft targets – running away with pigs, smashing up houses, hectoring and bullying the population. ‘Who do you serve? Whom do you owe rent and fealty? I’m the rightful landlord round here and you owe me your rent and fealty. If you haven’t got it, then I’ll have this instead. So he’s been taking things and smashing things up.

Alison had mentioned previously that John's second wife, Sybilla had the knack of making John laugh and lightening his mood so I asked her for a couple of examples. We went to the end of 1144 when they would have been married but without children as yet.

Alison: Laughing, then laughing harder. I can’t see anything yet, but I can feel the mirth. She’s got him in stitches, he’s almost choking. Alison continues to laugh. I get the feeling that Sybilla is being an actress. She’s taking off someone they know and being very witty too. She’s a brilliant mimic. The character is a woman who’s name begins with an ‘F’ sound. Sybilla’s describing by words and actions how ‘F’ behaves when in the company of those of higher rank than herself. ‘Oh my lady, my lady, my lady, Oh my lord, my lord, my lord.’ Her mimicry makes John roar with laughter and especially the way that Sybilla shows ‘F’ turning to talk to people on the same footing or below her rank and how she suddenly changes her manner. It’s a bit like the scenario we have today with Hyacinth Bouquet. Sybilla’s so witty with it, seeing all the little nuances and making up little bits that are nevertheless entirely true to the character – such as. ‘F’ kicks over a slop bucket and says ‘You can clear this up for me John.’ This causes John’s eyebrow to rise. They’re in hysterics together when someone comes into the room and they have to sober up, but if they hadn’t been interrupted John would have liked to have done something else (nuff said!)

Another incident: It involves fruit – might be something like plums. They’re round and orangey in colour. Like small tangerines and soft. (I strongly suspect they would be yellow bullaces, a native type of wild plum from which I have made jam having picked the fruits from a local hedgerow. They are round rather than official plum shape) I can see it in a sort of catapult or a toy siege device. Alison is almost helpless with laughter. Sybilla is catapulting these plums at John and they’re going all over the place. He has either to catch them or dodge them. No! she’s saying. ‘No! I’m protecting myself! It’s a come and get me game. He has to catch her but he’s being distracted by dodging the plums…or not. He’s been got a few times and they’re squishy because it’s the end of the harvest. Plus there’s the other distraction of eating some of them! Ah, now she’s run out of plums and he’s chasing her around the room – and now it’s up with the drawbridge! Alison says ‘should be down with the drawbridge,’ but John says nope, definitely up! There are plums (quite tasty) all over the place, it’s really funny. This time they’re not disturbed. (nuff said again!)

I asked Alison to fast forward a little to John’s relationship with his son William (the future great William Marshal) as he grows from baby to small boy.

Alison laughs. William is as playful as a puppy. He wears John out he’s so indefatigable. William rugby tackles John’s legs, pulls at the hem of his gown. He likes to be turned over and tickled. For John it’s a bit like playing with an animal. He can play fight with William with one hand. William’s always cheerful. That makes him appealing to be played with. There’s no mardiness or whining, so it gives John pleasure to play with him. William’s very affectionate. He will climb on John and give him a kiss, but he won’t settle for a minute, climbing here there and everywhere. He’s always trying to pull out his dad’s sword and weapons, John is saying ‘Wait a minute, wait,’ but before he’s caught up with the last demand, William has run off elsewhere. He does a similar thing to his brothers. He thinks he’s as big and good as his full-blood older brother John. He plays with his half-brothers the way he plays with his dad, but sometimes with more success. He’s funny when he tries their hats on. He’s very biddable. He’ll bring logs for the fire and wants to put them on the fire. He likes poking the fire too, ever so exciting to make big flares.

And how John feels about his older son by Sybilla?

John just takes him for granted. He knows he’s there, knows he’s his son. It’s a steady, straight relationship. He has a strong reliance on him.

His older sons? They’ve got Aline’s blood. He doesn’t quite feel the same about them. There might be some genetic weakness there. Push them too hard and they might fall over. He doesn’t actively dislike them – not exactly a lack of warmth, but they don’t fit the bill. They haven’t got the characers for the particular sort of work they’ll need to do i.e. being secure leaders and lords of the castle. They’re better in supporting roles – administration etc, but they’re not real leaders.

And his daughters. How does he feel towards his female children. Little Sybilla for example.

Alison: Oh, what a darling! Alison says she got a strong emotional feeling. He feels towards his daughter the way he feels about women but obviously in a non sexual way in this case. He likes the company of women, can work with them and can appreciate femininity. He thinks his little daughter’s wonderful – she jumps, she skips, her dress shakes, she’s lovely. She has Sybilla’s hair and eyes. Looks like her mother. She makes him laugh with her funny way of saying things and the way she acts. She’s very much a little girl.

I asked Alison to move on to 1152 when John had to give up William as a hostage to Stephen.

Alison: John feels boxed in. There is no way forward. He can’t go anywhere. There’s no way to go. He knows he’s got to wait for them to make their demands. It’s not his position to send terms to them. Some men on horseback are coming to him. Very smartly dressed. The demands on him have come in written form. He’s handed a letter. He wants to take it away to read but no. Read it now, he is told.
He is to give up something beginning with Ch – for one year. A holding. Some flocks are to be given up and some women to go with the flocks to do the weaving of the wool.
Also a manor and the income from it. He is pledged not to raise arms against Stephen and your surety for all will be on the life of your son. John is sure that they are going to demand his eldest son, but it’s not, it’s William they want, and it’s very strange for John.
He’d been prepared for them to take his eldest, but it’s a kind of concession that they’re taking the youngest one. Since the younger is the lesser, it’s a form of amelioration on the side of the king. John had come to terms with giving up his eldest son so it’s a shock when they ask for William. He will miss him and his playfulness. John is really sad about this but he can’t show his dismay to a bunch of soldiers, so he says ‘Thank Stephen for his mercy. All will be done in due time.’
‘You haven’t got time. You do it now.’
That’s when John sees William with the blue ribbons at his wrists that Sybilla has tied there. John is proud of his son. He knew he would show mettle when the time came. William’s holding his face very straight. A true Marshal. John knows his son will ride with his back straight. But he doesn’t want to look at him riding away. He looks at the men taking him. When he goes back into the castle something is missing. The real sense of joy has gone. John is going to miss him….but that’s life, and this is what he has had to do – no choice. He has a lot of planning to do. Organising those weavers is going to cause problems.

I wanted to see the 5 or 6 yr William as a hostage from William’s viewpoint, being as I’ve seen Sybilla’s and John’s.

Alison: I’m seeing a target with a sword thrust through the middle and William is trying to tug it out with might and main. She laughs. He’s even putting his feet on the target and tugging and pulling. Finally he succeeds but the sword’s bigger than he is. The young men who have been training (squires and junior knights) are laughing at his antics so hard that they’re holding their stomachs. But then they realise they have to go and get the sword off him before he damages himself or someone else with it. That’s not so funny…or easy, because William doesn’t want to give it up and they have to get quite brutal with him to make him let go. Finally they have to knock him down on the ground and they give each other looks. ‘Phew, more than we expected of a small boy. What’s going to happen when he gets to be a bigger boy or perhaps becomes our boss in the fullness of time?’ However, having trampled him in the dust they feel sorry for him and pick him up, brush him down, carry him on their shoulders and give him a drink of beer. William is happy and pleased with himself because of it.

Then it’s time to go in to his mother so that the knights can carry on their evening in a male way. Back in the domestic quarters, William is different – a meek and mild small child doing domestic things. It’s like from one extreme to the other. He’s soft and compliant, but the sparky humour’s still there. And his mother is just stroking his hair and they’re sitting in front of the fire. His older brother’s doing things in the corner – active, playing with things. Any other children around? There’s a baby, and a little girl I think. Definitely a baby. There’s a man playing music on something that looks like a mandolin (would be a lute I think) and they’re all singing. The man has ribbons tied to the end of it and hanging down. There are candles above them and a candelarbra. It’s all very nice.

William’s going to bed. Sybilla pulls the covers over him, kisses him. He can still hear the music.

Suddenly he’s being woken up. Someone’s shaking him. ‘Wake up, wake up!’

He sits bolt upright because he wants to be like a soldier chosen for a special mission. His mother’s there but someone else is explaining what’s required. Not his dad. It’s the chaplain. William feels very important and looks at his brother as if to say ‘I’m the important one here.’ John junior has had to get himself up, and is all bleary eyed. William is deciding what to pack. His weapons. His toy sword and shield. He asks his mum if he can take his kitten with him, but she says no, that she will take care of the kitten. William says the kitten will be grown up when he comes back, and his mother says he can have another one. William says goodbye to his kitten. Alison starts filling up. Very moving. William swallows hard and toughs it out. He’s going to be a man.

He feels superior to his brother who hasn’t been chosen for this special mission but pushes down the feeling and tries to be magnanimous and manly. He goes to John and embraces him. Then he goes to his mother and says that he will be her champion. She says ‘Indeed you will my little one,’ and goes to her coffer and takes out some blue ribbons. She ties these to his wrists so they dangle down. When she packs his clothes, she packs extra fabric. He’ll need it because he grows quickly and she doesn’t want him to look a fright. There’s no excuse if he’s got cloth for new clothes. She feels so sad that she won’t be the one sewing them. She touches his hair too, knowing that she won’t be able to touch it again for a long time. He holds her hand and kisses it. He’s putting on an air of strength for her so he hopes she won’t be so sad.
He sees the horses are ready. This is exciting, truly exciting. He salutes his father and tries to mount his horse on his own, but still needs a boost up. It’s not his usual horse, it’s slightly fatter. Why’s it not his usual horse? The King has sent it for him. As he rides away with all the men around him, he is very conscious of the jangle of all the harness and the weapons. He loves that. It’s very exciting for him to be in the middle of this troop of soldiers. He’s never been allowed to do this before. He feels like a real man and uses all he’s learned from his riding lessons to make the best fist of it he can. The horse is fat and will need to go on a diet. He turns round and sees his parents, although he sees his mother more vividly than his father. They wave to him and off he goes.
He arrives at a wooden castle – wooden outer wall. He’s surprised because he thinks it’s not as good as his own house and wouldn’t expect a king to live like this. He’s even more surprised when he’s given a tent to sleep in. Never mind, make the best of it. Like royalty he goes into the tent and asks for water to be brought for washing. This makes the men laugh at his way, but they indulge him. It’s better than having a whingeing screaming child on their hands. It makes it easier for the men that he’s diverting and amenable.
Once settled in, he’s always out and about in the camp, asking questions about weapons, looking at them, making comparisons of craftsmanship, and every type of weapon comes under his scrutiny. William keeps asking when he’s going to be allowed to see the king, but it’s not an urgent priority and he’s just told ‘later’ whenever he asks. A young lad has been assigned to take care of him – a nice youth, placid and with a sense of humour. He’s of rural origins but not a country bumpkin. He gets on well with William. In fact, although William’s not aware of it, the King has seen him around the camp (can hardly be missed!) and had reports about him from the men. Stephen’s also seen him do things. For instance William loves performing horse races with the younger squires. He’s always challenging them and it’s very funny to see. In fact he’s become something of a celebrity because of this.

In 1156, John sold his manor of Nettlecombe to another baron. A charter was issued to which John’s sons, including William, were witnesses. I asked to see William at the occasion as I wanted to see the dynamic between father and son. William would be about 9.
We had a funny moment here. I wanted to see the occasion in the viewpoints of both father and son. I was going to take William’s first and Alison said that John wasn’t happy about such an order of batting. He was the senior member and should go first! Alison also said that she likes the character of John and that it’s a very strong one. If he wants to say something, he’ll do so and no one will stop him!

So, over to John first

Alison:

I can see water – a moat? I’m at a height and don’t know if I’m floating above or on a hill. I saw someone on horseback. I get the feeling it’s not just about signing a contract. It’s a show thing as well and people are done up to the nines; they’ve brought their best to the event. John is thinking that William had better keep himself in order. He should be seen and not heard. He’d better not fall off his horse or do anything silly like that. John has put him in charge of his older brothers. William’s a bit of a scamp, a clown, a joker. It’s like training a young puppy. You have to persevere to get what you want.
The door is opening and they’re going in. They’re not signing the charter, but attending a feast first. There’s a lot of politicking going on beforehand.

I asked about John’s older sons from his first marriage – now just about adult.

Alison: They’re good young men. Behave themselves, do their job. They’re not yet in their full prime but they know what to do. Reliable, trustworthy. John’s a bit worried about the older one who has an eye for the girls. (wonder who he got that from?). When John is in a cortege, he doesn’t have to look behind to check on them. He knows they’ll be doing the right thing.
William is big-eyed. He thinks it’s all quite exciting and wonderful. Alison begins to laugh. He gets to eat some things he’s never tried before. Alison laughs harder. He’s small enough to be able to go and pinch things off other tables when the one he’s on runs out of the things he likes. The knights indulge him and even offer him alcoholic drink, which his father disapproves of them doing. John thinks William is being a bit of a monkey and sends one of his older sons to fetch him and make him sit down and behave himself.
There is singing too and William goes and joins the musicians. Here Alison smiles and goes all gooey. Oh, the little darling. He’s giving them a song with his little boy’s voice. It’s very beautiful. He’s puffed out his chest and stands like a singer. John can’t complain about that. He gets a lot of compliments from others about his son and his singing and William is given another little cake, so he (William) is pleased about that too.
It’s not exactly John’s idea though, of what a little boy should be doing. He should be sitting down, behaving himself and learning, NOT being the centre of attention himself.
But you have to give it to John. I can see that he’s in charge. He intends to bring up his sons properly with a correct sense of duty. He’s not cross with William, in fact he’s amused and slightly embarrassed, but he doesn’t show it on his face. (Without such early structure in his life, William’s traits might have developed in a less positive way. Words in brackets said afterwards by Alison on reflection)
John’s lightest moments are with Sybilla. That’s when he’s at his most cheerful. He likes the company of women (physically rather than intellectually) and he likes the company of his wife who doesn’t judge him harshly. With Sybilla it goes much deeper than the physical. She’s got male qualities that appeal to him – a sense of detail, duty and honour and he knows he can rely on her. He can talk to her on the strategic level and be comfortable and domestic at the same time, so it’s a good combination.

I hope you've enjoyed these moments from my Akashic Record researches. They are part of a much greater body of work and by necessity I've selected just a few snapshot moments. I don't rely on them alone, but blend them with other strands of historical research and where possible I corroborate the material with the primary sources or through people working in the field of Medieval history. Whatever one may think or believe, wherever it comes from, it's a fabulous resource - and one for which I have the utmost respect.