Author’s Note
As always, it is one of my great joys in writing historical romance to combine a fictional romantic storyline with real historical details. Plus, it’s such a treat to share not only a thrilling, passionate, and emotional love story with you, lovely readers, but to give you a glimpse at my research into the history surrounding this book as well.
And when it comes to research and real history…this book is a doozy! While this is a work of fiction, it is probably my most historically-informed book to date.
If you’ve read the other books in the Highland Bodyguards series (particularly and ), then you’ve already had an introduction to King Edward II, his cousin the Earl of Lancaster, Andrew Harclay, King Robert the Bruce, and the intricate schemes that bind them all together. The events in this book mark a culmination—and in some cases a spectacular collapse—of those schemes.
Lancaster began plotting against his cousin the King almost as soon as Edward took the throne in 1307. He picked up his efforts after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, which was a disastrous failure for the English under Edward. Lancaster rallied several nobles to him, questioning Edward’s decision-making and working to limit his power. He also entered into communication with the Bruce, looking to secure an alliance with the Scottish King against Edward. By 1321, there were rumblings of an all-out civil war. And in early 1322, they became a reality.
With Pontefract Castle as his base of operations, Lancaster began gathering an army against Edward with the aim of taking the throne for himself. Pontefract was a massive stronghold in its day, practically impenetrable and built with every defensive capability in mind, including two outer baileys, a double wall, and multiple towers (plus the massive multi-lobed mega-tower I described in the book).
Edward, who was furious at Lancaster and the rebel nobles for holding Pontefract against him, and sieging several more castles as well (including Doncaster and Tickhill), sent his own army northward to put an end to the rebellion.
Lancaster set out to meet Edward, but due to severe rain and swollen rivers, his march from Pontefract southward resulted in the loss of men and supplies. It was a portentous sign and the beginning of the end of his rebellion.
The two armies met at the River Trent, where a three-day stalemate ensued for control of Burton Bridge. During that time, Lancaster hoped more reinforcements would join him, including Richard de Holland’s five hundred men, but de Holland remained about six miles away from the bridge, biding his time to see which side would be victorious. He may have even sent messages to Lancaster trying to draw him away from the river in order to give Edward the upper hand.
After three days, the high-running river began to recede, and Edward managed to cross not far away at Walton-on-Trent. Lancaster quickly realized he was not only outpositioned, but severely outnumbered. He withdrew northward, firing the town of Burton as he went to prevent Edward from using the village’s supplies to his advantage as he pursued the rebels. Sir Roger Damory was gravely injured and died a few days after the Battle of Burton Bridge.
Lancaster was pursued north by Edward’s army, along with the forces of the Earls of Kent and Surrey. As the rebels fled to Pontefract, Edward was able to reclaim the castles that Lancaster had briefly held. Lancaster had hoped to regroup and gain reinforcements at Pontefract, but after the disaster at Burton, not only were his men deserting, but others who’d pledged to join him backed out.
Robert de Ferrers was one such noble to withdraw his support of Lancaster. Earlier in 1322, a black calf was born in de Ferrers’ herd of black-eared white cattle. It was said to foretell the outcome of the Battle of Burton Bridge and the ensuing downfall of the de Ferrers house. Ever since then, whenever a dark-colored calf was born into the de Ferrers herd, it was believed to portend a death in the de Ferrers family within the year. Interestingly, the appearance of a black calf is linked with at least seven deaths in the de Ferrers house over the centuries.
Left with only about seven hundred men against the rising tide of Edward’s army, Lancaster briefly considered holing up at Pontefract. But shortly, it became clear that he wouldn’t be able to hold the castle against such a large force. He decided to retreat farther north to Dunstanburgh (which was one of the locations in The Lady’s Protector), perhaps to either wait Edward out, or to call upon the Bruce for aid.
But at Boroughbridge, just thirty or so miles north of Pontefract, Lancaster was stopped in his tracks. Andrew Harclay had received word that Lancaster was on the move and cut off his flight north.
Harclay was the warden of Carlisle Castle (which the Bruce unsuccessfully sieged in 1315). He had at one point been close to Lancaster—it had been Lancaster who’d knighted Harclay many years before. Though Harclay was disaffected with Edward’s reign, he ultimately chose not to join the rebels. Instead, he seized the opportunity to put an end to the rebellion.
And this is where things get really interesting. It is believed a spy from Lancaster’s army was the one to alert Harclay that Lancaster was passing through Boroughbridge. It is also unclear just how loyal Harclay really was to Edward, for the Bruce did indeed kidnap and ransom Harclay in 1315, and later, he would work directly with the Bruce—treasonously sidestepping Edward—to negotiate peace for the Borderlands.
Harclay’s fortune took a turn for the worse after that, but I won’t say more for now, as that history will be featured in Book 10 of the Highland Bodyguards series (Will Sinclair’s story). But Harclay did successfully halt Lancaster’s progress at Boroughbridge. When Harclay’s four thousand men faced Lancaster’s seven hundred, the battle was short and swift.
Harclay’s men held the bridge with a shield wall (a tactic they learned from the Scots). He also positioned men with spears under the bridge. When they drove their spears up through the planks, the Earl of Hereford was said to have been skewered through his *ahem* rear end. Unfortunately for Hereford, his gruesome and embarrassing death has been memorialized in history.
With his army falling apart, Lancaster fled to the nearby village and tried to take sanctuary in the chapel, but he was taken by the loyalists. Several other rebel leaders were said to have dressed as peasants in an attempt to slip away unnoticed, but just about all the nobles and commanders who’d joined Lancaster were captured.
They were taken to Pontefract, where Edward passed swift and merciless judgement on them. Their trial was more for show, and they weren’t allowed to speak in their own defense. To make matters worse for Lancaster, Archbishop Melton of York had (mysteriously) come into the possession of Lancaster’s messages with the Bruce, proving irrefutably that Lancaster had acted treasonously. Lancaster did in fact sign his letters “King Arthur,” a sign that he believed himself on a mythical quest toward sovereignty. The lines “Come to our aid, and to go with us in England and Wales” and “live and die with us in our quarrel” actually came from his missives with the Bruce.
On the morning of his execution, Lancaster was dressed in the clothes of his lowliest servants and marched up a hill outside Pontefract. The villagers threw snowballs at him, called him a traitor, and someone apparently shouted “Now shall you have the reward that long you have deserved” or thereabouts. In light of the fact that they were first cousins, Edward granted Lancaster death by beheading rather than the usual drawing and quartering for traitors.
Roughly thirty more of Lancaster’s sympathizers were also executed, including Bartholomew de Badlesmere, who was drawn, quartered, and dragged three miles behind a horse before being beheaded. Hugh Audley was spared execution thanks to the pleas of his wife, who happened to be the King’s niece. For his part, Harclay won praise and the title of Earl of Carlisle from Edward for his loyalty.
Historical research doesn’t get much juicier than that! Thank you for journeying back in time with me to medieval England and Scotland, and look for more riveting history and unforgettable romance in the tenth book in the Highland Bodyguards series, Will’s story, coming in 2019!