Saxon Fall (26 page)
Authors: Griff Hosker
The Frankish Empire (Frankia)
Map courtesy of Wikipedia
Brittany in the 6
th
-8
th
centuries
Courtesy of Wikipedia
There is evidence that the Saxons withdrew from Rheged in the early years of the seventh century and never dominated that land again. It seems that warriors from Wales reclaimed that land. I have used Lord Lann as that instrument. King Edwin did usurp Aethelfrith. Edwin was allied to both Mercia and East Anglia.
There is a cave in North Yorkshire called Mother Shipton’s cave. It has a petrifying well within. Objects left there become covered, over time, with a stone exterior. In the seventeenth century a witch was reputed to live there. I created an earlier witch to allow the Roman sword to be discovered and to create a link with my earlier Roman series.
The Saxons and Britons all valued swords and cherished them. They were passed from father to son. The use of rings on the hilts of great swords was a common practice and showed the prowess of the warrior in battle. I do not subscribe to Brian Sykes’ theory that the Saxons merely assimilated into the existing people. One only has to look at the place names and listen to the language of the north and north western part of England. You can still hear anomalies. Perhaps that is because I come from the north but all of my reading leads me to believe that the Anglo-Saxons were intent upon conquest. The Norse invaders were different and they did assimilate but the Saxons were fighting for their lives and it did not pay to be kind. The people of Rheged were the last survivors of Roman Britain and I have given them all of the characteristics they would have had. They were educated and ingenious. The Dark Ages was the time when much knowledge was lost and would not reappear until Constantinople fell. This period was also the time when the old ways changed and Britain became Christian. This was a source of conflict as well as growth.
It was at the beginning of the sixth century that King Aethelfrith was killed in battle. His sons, Eanforth, Oswiu and Oswald became famous and outshone both their father and King Edwin. Although Edwin became king he did not have the three brothers killed and they had an uneasy alliance.
King Cadwallon became the last great British leader until modern times. Alfred ruled the Saxons but no one held such sway over the country from Scotland to Cornwall in the same way that King Cadwallon did. He did this not by feat of arms alone but by using alliances. He even allied with the Mercians to ensure security for his land. His death saw the end of the hopes of the native Britons. They would survive but they would never reconquer their land. I have invented a Warlord to aid him but that is backed up by the few writings we have. Dux Britannicus and Arthur are both shadowy figures who crop up in what we now term, the Dark Ages.
King Edwin’s life was saved by Bishop Paulinus who had been sent by the Pope to convert the Northumbrians to Christianity. The act made King Edwin order all of his people to convert. I have used Paulinus as a sort of villain. I have no doubt that the Church at the time thought they were doing good work but like the Spanish Inquisition a thousand years later they were not averse to suing any means possible when dealing with what they deemed pagans. King Cadwallon did convert to Christianity but still fought King Edwin. Bede, the Northumbrian propagandist, portrayed Cadwallon as a cruel man who destroyed the Christian kingdom of Northumbria. Perhaps that was because King Edwin became an early Christian martyr. History is written by the winners and the Anglo-Saxons did win, albeit briefly before the Norse and the Bretons combined to reconquer England in 1066.
The people of Brittany did arrive there as stated in the novel. I have obviously invented both names and events to suit my story but the background is accurate. They spoke a variation of Welsh/Cornish. There was a famous witch who lived on one of the islands of Scilly. Although this was in the Viking age a century or so later I can see no reason why mystics did not choose to live there.
The horses used by William the Conqueror at Hastings were about fifteen and a half hands high. The largest contingent of non-Norman knights who accompanies him were the Bretons and their horses were marginally bigger. It is ironical that the people of Britain came back to defeat the Saxons. It was a mixture of Briton and Viking (Norman) who finally conquered Britain. (
Wyrd
!)
The battle of Hatfield took place on the River Don close to Doncaster. It was fought on a swamp in a bend of the river. It was in the early 630s. King Edwin was killed at the battle and the leaders of the victorious armies were named as Penda and Cadwallon. It marked a reversal in fortunes for the Saxons. They were forced to retreat further north and Eanfrith, the eldest of Aethelfrith’s children became king of Deira. He was also killed by Cadwallon and Oswald became king. The kingdom of Northumbria would never be as powerful again until the Vikings conquered it in the ninth century. Bernicia and Deira emerged as minor kingdoms. King Cadwallon had a brief year of glory when he rampaged through the land of Bernicia. It was not to last.
I used many books to research the material. The first was the excellent Michael Wood’s book “
In Search of the Dark Ages
” and the second was “
The Middle Ages
” Edited by Robert Fossier. The third was the Osprey Book- “
Saxon, Viking and Norman”
by Terence Wise. I also used Brian Sykes book, “
Blood of the Isles
” for reference. “
Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars”
by David Nicholle was also useful. In addition, I searched on line for more obscure information. All the place names are accurate, as far as I know, and I have researched the names of the characters to reflect the period. My apologies if I have made a mistake.
The Warlord and King Cadwallon will return and they will meet the Saxons once more on the field of battle.
Griff Hosker December 2014
By
Griff Hosker
If you enjoyed reading this book then why not read another one by the author?
Ancient History
The Sword of Cartimandua Series
(Germania and Britannia 50A.D. – 128 A.D.)
Ulpius Felix- Roman Warrior (prequel)
Book 1 The Sword of Cartimandua
Book 2 The Horse Warriors
Book 3 Invasion Caledonia
Book 4 Roman Retreat
Book 5 Revolt of the Red Witch
Book 6 Druid’s Gold
Book 7 Trajan’s Hunters
Book 8 The Last Frontier
Book 9 Hero of Rome
Book 10 Roman Hawk
Book 11Roman Treachery
Book 12 Roman Wall
The Aelfraed Series
(Britain and Byzantium 1050 A.D. - 1085 A.D.
Book 1 Housecarl
Book 2 Outlaw
Book 3 Varangian
The Wolf Warrior series
(Britain in the late 6
th
Century)
Book 1 Saxon Dawn
Book 2 Saxon Revenge
Book 3 Saxon England
Book 4 Saxon Blood
Book 5 Saxon Slayer
Book 6 Saxon Slaughter
Book 7 Saxon Bane
Book 8 Saxon Fall: Rise of the Warlord
The Dragon Heart Series
Book 1 Viking Slave
Book 2 Viking Warrior
Book 3 Viking Jarl
Book 4 Viking Kingdom
Book 5 Viking Wolf
Modern History
The Napoleonic Horseman Series
Book 1 Chasseurs à Cheval
Book 2 Napoleon’s Guard
Book 3 British Light Dragoon
Book 4 Soldier Spy
Book 5 1808: The Road to Corunna
The Lucky Jack American Civil War
series
Rebel Raiders
Confederate Rangers
The Road to Gettysburg
1808: The Road to Corunna
The British Ace Series
1914
1915 Fokker Scourge
1916 Angels over the Somme
1917 Eagles Fall
Other Books
Great Granny’s Ghost
(Aimed at 9-14 year old young people)
Adventure at 63-Backpacking to Istanbul
For more information on all of the books then please visit the author’s web site at
http://www.griffhosker.com
where there is a link to contact him.