Shadows on the queen, p.1
Shadows on the Queen, page 1
Shadows on the Queen
Shadows on the Queen
A St Albans Medieval Mystery
M A Long
Apsley Press
For Elaine
Shadows on the Queen is a work of fiction inspired by actual events. Names, characters and events other than those in the public domain are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2022 by M. A. Long. All rights reserved
Published by Apsley Press
ISBN 978-1-3999-2371-2
Cover design by @coverbookdesigns
Glossary
A note on dates: dates in medieval England were determined by the year a monarch acceded to the throne and its proximity to Saints’ days. Edward, I became king on November 20th 1270. So, November 19th 1273, would be eight days after the Feast of Martinmas (November 11th) in the first year of the reign of King Edward, son of King Henry. Likewise, just a few days later, November 22nd 1273, would be the Feast of St. Cecilia in the second year of the reign of King Edward, son of King Henry. Kings of England were not classified as Henry I, Henry II etc., but by who their father was. Edward, I was Edward, son of King Henry. His son, Edward II, was Edward, son of King Edward, but this would change with Edward III, who was also Edward, son of King Edward. Hence, a different form of the designation was needed.
Abroad – a medieval expression meaning beyond one’s home
Arbalest – a small hand-held crossbow
Archdeacon – a high-ranking clergyman who serves as an assistant to a bishop
Ave Maria – Hail Mary – a common prayer to the mother of Jesus
Barons’ War – the civil war in England between King John and his nobles 1216-17
Baselard – a heavy, short, tapered dagger
Benedictine – monks who followed the Rule of St. Benedict
Bothelyngstock – the butcher’s area of St. Albans, located at the far end of the town
Brabant – a medieval duchy in present-day Belgium
Ca de Bou – Spanish mastiff bred originally for defending cattle against wolves
Chancery – the medieval department responsible for the production of royal documents
Chapman – a medieval seller of goods, usually itinerant
Compline – the last Church service of the day, around 9 p.m.
Coney – a rabbit
Cotehardie/cote – a long-sleeved outer garment worn by both men and women
Curia Regis – the King’s Court
Curfew bell – a bell rung to signal that all were to be in their homes around 9 p.m.
Darnells – present-day Radlett in Hertfordshire
Deep in cups – drunk
Deodand – a payment to the Crown based on the value of whatever had caused a death
Dominicans – monks who were preachers and followed the teachings of St. Dominic
Dryghten – a pagan satanic deity
Eggeswer – Edgware, a village north of London on Watling Street
Elsterre – Elstree, a village north of London on Watling Street
Exacted and waived – a summons to appear in court; declared as being outside the law
Excommunicant – someone excluded from receiving the sacraments of the Church
Feast Day of St. Aurelian – May 10th
Feast of St. Bartholomew – August 24th
Feast Day of St. Chad – March 2nd
Feast Day of St. Christina the Martyr – July 24th
Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene - July 22nd
Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist – June 24th
French Chord – a medieval term for a garotte
Friar – an itinerant preacher who has taken a vow of poverty
Gascony – Province in south-west France that was under the control of England
Hippocras – a sweet wine infused with sugar and spices
Holy Blood – a vial containing the true blood of Jesus
Household Knights – royal bodyguard
Hue & Cry – the process where bystanders were summoned to apprehend a criminal
Huckster – a female peddler
Hutch – a wooden chest
In his cups – drunk
Jakes – toilet
Kelebourne – Kilburn, a village north of London on Watling Street
Kermes – vibrant red dye made from crushed beetles
King of the Germans – an honorific title given to the next Holy Roman Emperor
Knight’s Fee – a payment by a knight to the king based on the amount of land held
Knights of St. John – The Knights Hospitalers
Liegeman – a vassal who owes allegiance and service to a lord
Le Straunde – the Strand on the banks of the Thames
Lorteburn ditch – an ancient London stream that ran from Aldgate to the Walbrook
Lord Edward - sons of a monarch, were not called ‘Prince’ but ‘the lord —’
Magsman – a confidence trickster
Mendicant – usually a monk who relies on begging to survive
Mercartix – female merchant
Necromancy – the practice of magic through communication with the dead
Nones – the ninth hour after sunrise, about 3 p.m.
Nuncio - a messenger on horseback
Obedientiaries – the holder of a position of responsibility in a monastery
Oblate – a person, given to the Church as a nun or a monk, often a younger child
Oubliette – a single cell for holding prisoners
Outremer – the land beyond the sea; the medieval name for the Holy Land
Oymelor, Demefin, Lamair, Masair, Symofor, Rimasor – satanic deities
Palfrey – a riding horse suitable for long-distance travel
Paternoster – the Lord’s prayer in Latin
Pontiff – the Pope
Porta Pomarii – orchard gate
Prie Dieu – a prayer desk
Prime – the first hour of daylight
Quarrel – the bolt of a crossbow
Queen’s Gold – an arbitrary tax levied on England’s Jews that went to the Queen
Quillon – a dagger with a small guard to protect the hand of its holder
Reeve –a local official responsible for oversight of a manor or village
Riffler – a common thief
Royal writ – a written order issued in the King’s name
Sacrist - a senior monk responsible for the monastic Church and its contents.
Saint Edward – King Edward the Confessor, died 1066
Savoyard – from the medieval duchy of Savoy
Scriptorium – monastic writing room
Seneschal – a royal governor
Sext – the sixth hour of the day, i.e. noon
Sexton – responsible for the maintenance of a church and its graveyard
Scrip – medieval satchel
Serjeant at Law – a man of law
Shambles – an open-air slaughterhouse and meat market
Shift – an undergarment
Signum Crucis – the Christian sign of the cross
Sopwellstrete – present-day Sopwell Lane, St. Albans
Statute of Jewry – placed restrictions on England’s Jews, including lending money
Stanmere – Stanmore, a village north of London close to Watling Street
Sumpter Yard – where pack animals and carts offloaded their goods
Super visum corporis – an inquest held in the presence of the dead body
Supplicant – one who asks God for something to be granted
Te Deum Laudamus – ‘God, we praise you’ – a Latin hymn
Terce – the third hour after the dawn
Terce bell – a monastic bell rung to summon the monks to service
Thaumaturgy – the manifestation of magical spells
Thurible – an incense holder, used in church services
Usurer – money lender
Vespers – the service of evening prayer, around 6 p.m.
Vicar General – from Latin vicarius, ‘substitute’ – one with delegated authority
Virii Hereditarri – the hereditary, powerful merchant families
Watlingstrete – Roman Watling Street running from London to the north-west
Wherry – a wide, flat-bottomed cargo or passenger boat
Wimple – a head covering draped over the head and around the neck and chin
Wolf’s Head – an outlaw
Yester-ba-ra – a satanic deity
Prologue
Edem anno, cum anno quarto regni regis Edwardi filii regis Henrici, in festo sancte Marie Magdalene, regina et filia eius, domina Eleonora, venit ad devotionem suam ante beatam. Sancte. Cum eleemosynis egenis et manibus impositis infirmis, gratia eius in magna pietate ad septentrionem iter faciebat ad iter faciendum cum Fratribus Sancti Petri in Dunstaplia.
(In that same year, being the fourth year of the reign of King Edward, son of King Henry, on the Feast day St. Mary Magdalene, her grace, the queen and her daughter, the lady Eleanora did come to pay her devotion before the blessed Saint. Having given alms to the poor and laid hands upon the sick, her grace journeyed north in great piety to progress her pilgrimage with the Brothers of St. Peter’s in Dunstable.)
St. Albani Chronica et Annales (The Chronicle of St. Albans Abbey) - William of Rishanger
1
Fulelane, The City of London, November 1275
Across the city, late autumn rain lash ed doors and window frames, seeping into cracks and crevices and pooling on windowsills. Rushlights flickering at this late hour threw tall dancing shadows onto the clean lime-washed walls of the house in Fulelane north of the Tower. Inside, three figures huddled close, facing each other in the centre of a downstairs room. The clattering of shutters against a window frame barely interrupted the hushed conversation.
The man’s bearded face showed many scars on his rough, worn skin. Dark hair hung long to his shoulders, framing dark and deep-set eyes. He was a warrior, a mercenary, the sort of man you didn’t cross. Only a few trusted souls knew he was here, that he was back in England, where he was both a declared traitor to the Crown and an excommunicant from the Church.
The property where the three now sat was old, but in a good state of repair. The house was well known to the wealthier merchants and officials in the city. They frequented it regularly in the evenings before returning home to their wives. Its owner, the older woman, now seated in the room downstairs, ensured that was always the case. Across from her sat her daughter, not yet thirty summers. The girl’s face reminded her so much of the father, the man she had lost.
She knew the man seated across from her of old. He, too, had once pledged fealty to the man she had served and loved. A powerful lord feared and revered in equal measure when he lived, and one whose reputation and legacy lived on since his death these ten years since. Now,
loyal followers of his son, these three met up on this wild November night plotting revenge.
The warrior spoke. “I am told that who we seek may be found in Flanders, in Ghent. Our lord has gone there and put the word about that we wish the services of Benuic.”
“Does that not carry a danger that the King’s agents there will discover what we are about? “The woman’s tone was concerned.
“Nay, the places he shall spread word have no loyalty to any king of England.”
The older woman fixed the man with a penetrating gaze.
“No one must be privy to what we do here. No one must know that we have met. There must be no connection between us.”
The daughter’s eyes met the man, and the woman went on.
“And you and your master must be obscure in what you plot. There are spies everywhere who would betray us for a few coins.”
There was an understanding between the three as to what had to be done. Each knew the risk they took and the fate that awaited them were they to be caught. Longstanding malevolence burned deep in their hearts—hatred of the man who had taken their lord’s life.
They made strange bedfellows: the excommunicated warrior; a man whose sword was for sale to the highest bidder; the High Priestess of a covenstead of witches and her daughter, a common whore of the city of London. Each had a separate part to play in achieving their common goal of vengeance. The mercenary stood to make his leave, and the younger woman reached out a hand to stay him.
“Do you cross the sea now?
“Nay, I shall stay in England and await instructions from our Lord.”
The younger woman smiled wanly.
“May Dryghten walk with you,” she said in a low voice
He thought for a moment. “As good-a God as any, but I won’t need him.”
Each of the three regarded the other before the mercenary departed. No one broke the silence giving an acknowledgement of understanding. Each had a role to ensure success as they hatched their plan to exact vengeance upon King Edward of England.
2
Marthe Lane, City of London, November 1275
Long afternoon shadows gradually grew to darkness as the dying winter sun slowly dipped below the city walls. A cold northerly breeze stirred and rippled the dark waters of the river. It struck the vessels moored in the packed wharves, causing them to twist and strain their ropes in protest, creaking a ghoulish chorus to accompany the stiffening wind.
The chilled air pierced the city’s alleys, lanes and runnels, turning the whispered breath into a shriek as it penetrated deep into the murk of twilight London. It drove those human predators of the shadows deeper into the city streets’ recesses as they waited for any unfortunate abroad on such a dark and miserable November night.
The biting cold of the winter evening caused the two figures to draw their cloaks closer, tight around their necks. Neither would have considered themselves ‘unfortunates abroad’ this night. Roger le Stedeman and Henry Pelliors were making for Fulelane and the house of Alice la Blunde. Beneath their cloaks, their hands rested on daggers, ready to confront rifflers, thieves or ruffians lurking in the shadowed doorways. In the stillness, a clink-clink sound came from the tools of Pelliors’ trade, a circlet of lock rakes tied to his belt. These were unfamiliar streets for Henry Pelliors. Much more familiar were the lanes and alleys of Gloucester, where the dwellers of the night knew him better as ‘Picklock’.
St. Paul’s lay a few streets west; its precincts and churchyard were the sanctuaries for every villain, murderer and thief in London seeking to evade the law. The streets and alleys were dangerous after dark. Still, any unease Pelliors felt was tempered by the prospect of an evening of pleasure this night.’ That would be a fitting reward for the dangers and hardships he had put himself through over the past weeks.
They picked their way up Marthe Lane, trying their best to avoid the patchwork of ruts and water-filled holes in the stinking mire of mud and faeces that was a London street. The bells of the Church of All-Hallows de Berkingecherch had rung for Vespers long since, and the flickering flames of its burning sconces threw just enough light to guide their way. Ahead, pinpricks of brightness indicated the lit torches of St. Olave towards the Tower, where the two men would turn onto Olafstrete. Both men knew that the darkness surrounding them was home to the creatures of the night, both animal and human. But the only company they sensed was the scurrying of predatory rodents, their bright eyes occasionally reflecting in the lit torches of the churches. But in the darkened shadows off Marthe Lane, another predatory pair of eyes followed the two men as they disappeared into the dark void of a city alley towards Fulelane.
3
Fulelane, City of London, November 1275
The bustle and noise of early morning traders assaulted the ears of Henry Frowyke, the Under-Sheriff of the city, as he made his way along Cornhulle. The ale from the night before made his head throb. His mood was not helped by having his first meal interrupted to summon him to a house in Fulelane in the parish of All Hallows Colemanscherche. He had enjoyed what he had eaten of that coney pie. And the ale, freshly made by Edith, his housekeeper, was particularly good this morning. And it would be again, he thought, after he had dealt with the business at Fulelane. Yes, he was looking forward to that. As he approached Alegatestrete, the city was stirring from its night slumber. All around him were the cries of apprentices, water carriers and costers. The beggars had appeared early. A dishevelled man on a wooden sledge grabbed at his ankle, only to receive the Under-Sheriff’s right boot to the side of his face.
The icy wind of the previous evening had not relented. It nipped at his nose, watered his eyes and bit hard at his exposed cheeks. Between teeth gritted from the cold, Henry Frowyke cursed the inadequacy of his fur-trimmed woollen robe. He doubly cursed the Flemish Street merchant who had sold to him with promises that it would keep him warm in the worst of winter. He quickened his step, hoping the increased movement would warm him up. His detachment of men-at-arms, even less well garbed for the chilly November weather, appreciated the increase in pace and the body heat it eventually produced.
Frowyke had been undersheriff for just under two years. He had accepted the role because of the potential for advancement in the future. He, not London’s two Sheriffs, Robert Basyng and Wyllyam Meyre, did the daily grind of investigation. It was Frowyke whose days were filled investigating homicides and robbery in the seedy, murky side of the city. His nights were no better, being summoned at all hours to look into unexplained deaths. To him and his men-at-arms fell the daily duty of keeping the public peace, including presiding over executions. In time, Frowyke would assume the higher office of Sheriff and, with it, the perks and financial rewards that would make him both rich and respected within the city community.
