Crusade

‘Exactly! He still wants the throne of Rome — and de facto rule of England from Westminster would go a long way to securing that. He would have the money and the influence to buy himself the papacy. But don’t worry, Edgar, you are just the messenger.’

‘Thank you for that reassuring crumb of comfort. I suppose I have done worse things in life.’

I decided it was wise to travel with Edwin and Adela and leave Sweyn behind, given that he had already crossed swords with Odo six years earlier when he arrested him at Rochester. We arrived at our clandestine rendezvous in Upchurch, a small settlement near the Medway, one of Odo’s many manors in Kent. With guards all around and the local peasants dismissed to their fields, we met in a small barn, hardly big enough and certainly not grand enough for the elite of the Norman aristocracy.

The Bishop was in his pomp, clearly overjoyed at playing the role of kingmaker. His entourage — big, burly men who could easily have been mistaken for housecarls had they not been wearing their fine armour and gleaming weapons — stood around him in a brooding arc that made the three of us seem like a tiny morsel about to be snapped up in the jaws of a huge beast.

Odo wasted no time in telling us of his intent.

‘Your loyalty to Duke Robert is well known. Carry this message to him. We will raise a rebellion here in England to install him as King. The only condition is that during his reign he rules from Rouen, where he will continue as Duke of Normandy. He will come here for only four crown-wearings every year — at York, Winchester, Gloucester and Westminster.’

‘My Lord Bishop, do you expect him to accept that?’

‘I expect you to carry my message.’

With that I was dismissed like a pageboy.

Our journey to England had been uneventful — not so the return to Rouen.

It was May and the weather had been mild but, in mid-Channel, our ship suddenly hit a wall of heavy mist. Our captain, one of Robert’s most experienced sailors, tried to stay calm, but I could see that he was concerned. From the helmsman’s position it was only just possible to see the curve of the prow; beyond it was a void.

The captain ordered our sail to be lowered, a torch lit and our horn sounded, but it was too late. We heard the wash of the other ship before we saw it, only seconds before it hit us. I saw the serpent prow first, high above my head. Seconds later, it rammed us amidships. A large Norman merchantman, fully laden, low in the water in full sail, she split us almost in half.

We were all in the water in an instant. Thankfully, spring had warmed the sea sufficiently so that our lives were not under imminent threat, but it was vital that we look for something to cling to and then try to retrieve our armour and weapons.

We were carrying little cargo so, although badly holed, we did not sink immediately. Two of the captain’s crew were killed in the impact and Edwin seemed badly dazed. With our captain’s help Adela and I managed to pull him on to the merchantman, which, apart from some sprung timbers along her prow, seemed seaworthy.

Adela then jumped into the water again and swam back to our ship, now sitting very low in the water. The captain of the merchantman steered his ship alongside our stricken vessel and Adela started to throw our armour, weapons and anything else she could find on to its deck. But I soon became alarmed as our ship began to list to port and rapidly take on water.

‘Adela, get off the ship! She’s going down — you must swim for it!’

‘Not without my seax!’

She dived beneath the waves just as the ship slipped quietly beneath the surface. I immediately dived in after her, knowing that she could easily become entangled in the rigging or be enveloped by the sail. The sea was calm but I was not a strong swimmer and, still wearing my leather jerkin and heavy boots, I soon began to flounder.

I swallowed water and was fighting for air when I saw Adela’s shiny seax within inches of my face. Its blade was catching the light of a torch that had been lit to help search for us. Adela had found her weapon at the last moment and was now holding it in her teeth as she pulled me towards the safety of the merchantman.

Once aboard, she turned to me. ‘You can’t swim, can you?’

Somewhat embarrassed, I had to confess that it had been many years since I had tried to swim — and that was only in a shallow pond in Hungary.

‘Then you are very brave. Thank you for trying to help me. You nearly drowned!’

‘It should be me thanking you. I would have drowned had you not appeared from the depths!’