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Into the Breach THE MARCHER LORD IN HIS T ORY By Lise Hull INTO THE BREACH : THE MARCHER LORD I N HI STORY by Lise Hull Published by Marcher Lord Press 8345 Pepperridge Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80920 www.marcherlordpress.com This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechani- cal, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. MARCHER LORD PRESS and the MARCHER LORD PRESS logo are trademarks of Marcher Lord Press. Absence of TM in connection with marks of Marcher Lord Press or other parties does not indicate an absence of trademark protection of those marks. Photos and Maps: Lise Hull Copyright © 2008 by Marcher Lord Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data An application to register this book for cataloging has been filed with the Li- brary of Congress. International Standard Book Number: Into the Breach The Marcher Lord in History By Lise Hull Other Books by Lise Hull Britain’s Medieval Castles The Great Castles of Britain and Ireland Understanding the Castle Ruins of England and Wales Foreword by Jeff Gerke Publisher, Marcher Lord Press When I was young I played a roleplaying game called Dungeons & Dragons. You’ve probably heard of it. Back then, when you purchased the starter set you got this game module called “A Keep on the Borderlands.” The Keep on the Borderlands was a small fortress standing at the very edge of the known world. It was the last bastion of safety and civilization. Beyond it, there was only chaos, an untamed wildland inhabited by monsters, demons, and worse. Brave adventurers like me would travel to the Keep. And then, when they were fully provisioned and feeling a little reckless, they would strike out beyond the safety of the stone walls and go see what trouble they could find. I can’t tell you how that simple premise fired my imagination: a fortified stronghold on the edge of the badlands. That idea was very much in my mind when, in 2006, I created a Web page dedicated to a certain kind of Christian fiction. I wanted to celebrate the Christian fiction that was well beyond the boundaries of the safe books being published at the time. I wanted to create, if you will, a keep on the borderlands, a striking-out place for explorations into the unknown. I called it WhereTheMapEnds.com because, in my mind, the most exciting kind of fiction happens not in the well- known garden paths of the heartland, but out on the fringes, out beyond the place where the last map finally fails. Over the years I have studied medieval history. In my reading I came across a little-known character: the marcher lord. The marcher lord, I learned, maintained the outer perimeter of the realm. He was tasked with patrolling the borderlands to stem any enemy attack and to protect those who lived safely in the interior. He was, in short, the lord of the Keep on the Borderlands. When I decided to go forward with my vision of creating an independent Christian press that would stand on the perimeter of publishing to produce Christian fantasy and science fiction, all of this was in my mind. Marcher Lord Press is the Keep on the Borderlands. It is the place from which brave adventurers can explore and discover, and fight for all that is Good. Enjoy this book, for in it, castles expert Lise Hull explains what it was like to be a marcher lord in history. —Jeff Gerke INTO THE BREACH The Marcher Lord in History By Lise Hull Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility, But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger. Stiffen the sinews, conjure up the blood, Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage. —William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 3, Scene 1 HAKESPEARE was REFERRING to Henry V’s approach-ing assault on Harfleur, in France, but Sthe quote equally applies to the development of Marcher lordships on the borders of his beloved England. Marcher lordships were buffer zones between England and Wales and between England and Scotland. They effectively controlled the intrusion of native populations into England from across its borders. And the men who ruled these buffer zones were called Marcher lords. The 1 Lise Hull Marcher lord stood in the breach against all attacks to protect the kingdom. The primary means of taking and keeping control of these areas in the decades immediately after the Normans conquered England in 1066 was the castle. Just what is a castle? Most of us visualize sights such as Cinderella’s fanciful turreted palace at Disneyland as the archetypal castle. Movies and advertising can reinforce this notion. However, these images can misguide us, so much so that when we see a real castle, particularly when it’s ruined, we mistakenly think we have been led in the wrong direction. Castles flourished during the Middle Ages. Some were huge, while others were quite compact. Some were built with earth and timber; others with rubble and imported stone. Most were status symbols, but not necessarily furnished with the flamboyance we have come to associate with these structures. Still, they all shared the same basic purposes: they were the private residences of the upper crust and they ensured dominance over an area and its population by projecting intimidation, wealth, and power. Constructing castles in border regions was meant to keep the locals at bay. This strategy was replayed over and over in medieval Britain and on the European continent. Whenever a kingdom extended its reach into new territory, castles were among the first structures to be built. 2 Into the Breach: The Marcher Lord in History Most people easily recognize that royal fortresses such as Windsor, Edinburgh, and the Tower of London, are castles. In fact, these three sites still retain military as well as residential roles and are flamboyant in their own ways. Yet throughout Great Britain castles were built to center lordships, to emphasize the power and grandeur of their owners, and to wield control over the land and its people. Scores of lesser-known castles survive to this day in the British countryside. Among the most important were the castles of the Marcher Lords. A Pocket History of Pre-Conquest Britain From our perspective in the twenty-first century, it’s often easy to think of the population of the British Isles as fairly uniform. In the minds of most North Americans, especially, British people are simply British, and things have always been so. But in truth, the population of the British Isles has always been quite diverse. Waves of immigrants established themselves in various parts of the island nation ever since the first prehistoric peoples arrived there well over two thousand years ago. Each of these people groups has left permanent marks on the landscape. Ruins of structures built by Celts, Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Picts, Britons, Romans, and Scots dot the Isles, even today. These monuments range from modest homesteads and huts to imposing earthwork forts, 3 Lise Hull dykes, walls, and substantial stone fortifications. These groups also left their mark in the gene pool that survives to this day in Great Britain. In 1066 Duke William of Normandy brought his army across the English Channel and defeated Harold II, the Anglo-Saxon king of England. When Duke William, “the Conqueror” —now King William I—established his new kingdom, his citizenry consisted of three main ethnic groups: the Anglo-Saxons, who populated most of England; the Welsh, whose native princes ruled distinct areas of Wales on the western side of Offa’s Dyke; and the Scots, who lived on the northern side of Hadrian’s Wall. Conquering the Anglo-Saxons William had his hands full contending with the Saxons. Some submitted to his rule with little opposition but many others continued to resist the imposition of feudalism and Norman subjugation. In order to solidify his new kingdom, William and his men began constructing castles. The first new castles were in southern England, not too far from London, his capitol. He built a few farther away, at important sites in the midlands and the north of England. With these fortresses, William slowly extended his rule into Anglo-Saxon lands. The majority of these castles were simple structures known as motte and bailey or ringwork castles. Built primarily with earth and timber, these strongholds were 4 Into the Breach: The Marcher Lord in History unlike any other structure the Anglo-Saxons had seen to that point Not only were these castles easy and fairly inexpensive to construct, they visibly reiterated that the Normans had come as conquerors and that they now occupied lands formerly held by the Saxons. Saxon rebels continued to fight against Norman rule. In 1068 this resistance prompted William to lead his army in a deadly campaign called the “Harrying of the North”. William and his men ravaged the countryside—burning crops, destroying houses, and once and for all squashing Saxon hopes for independence. This done, feudalism was set in place in England. William parcelled out the land to his most important soldiers in exchange for their fealty (loyalty) and military obligation. William and his Normans continued to extend their rule.