Free Castles, Customs, and Kings: True Tales by English Historical Fiction Authors by English Historical Fiction Authors Page B

and perhaps had a reason for not pursuing the truth—perhaps he was complicit in his brother’s death, perhaps not.
    Later historians and fictional representations of the tale point the finger at Sir Walter Tyrell, Lord of Piox de Picardie in France and friend of the king. The night before the hunt Rufus is said to have presented Tyrell with two rather splendid arrows with the words “ to the good archer, the good arrows. ” It was one of these arrows that was later found embedded in the king’s heart. Allegedly, Tyrell shot at a stag but the arrow deflected and lodged in the king’s chest. Tyrell, on seeing what he’d done, fled to France.
    Tyrell was never pursued for his crime—perhaps it suited the new king that he was never found and questioned, perhaps he housed dangerous truths. Some say he was Henry’s man, paid well for his services, but, although Henry undoubtedly had the best motive, Tyrell spent his remaining years exiled in France, receiving no reward and never speaking out against the English king. Therefore, his involvement seems unlikely and one chronicler, Abbot Suger, maintained until he died that,
    It was laid to the charge of a certain noble, Walter Thurold, that he had shot the king with an arrow; but I have often heard him, when he had nothing to fear nor to hope, solemnly swear that on the day in question he was not in the part of the forest where the king was hunting, nor ever saw him in the forest at all.
    The fact remains that almost a thousand years have passed since that day and during those centuries, historians have been over and over the story, seeking a culprit, patching together fact and fiction, mismatching truth with legend until the real story is totally lost in speculation.
    I suppose the main message I want to make in The Forest Dwellers is this: the forest was teeming with people that day—it could have been anyone! The Forest Dwellers is an action-packed adventure, peopled with plausible characters. You will find no “goodies” and no “baddies”, just complex humans, struggling to survive in an unkind world.
    Monarchy: The Normans — Stephen and Matilda
    by Debra Brown
    F ollowing the early death of the only legitimate son of Henry I, William, few of the English and Norman barons were prepared to stand by their oath to him to support his daughter’s claim to the throne. Matilda was, after all, a woman, and was said to have been arrogant and unpopular. She was also married to the Count of Anjou. He was the ruler of Anjou—England and Normandy’s traditional enemy.
    When Henry died in 1135, the barons met to choose a king. Despite Matilda’s having an infant son, they chose Count Theobald of Blois, the grandson of William the Conqueror by his daughter, Adela.
    Negotiations were in progress when Stephen, Theobald’s younger brother, made himself King of England.
    Stephen had been brought up by Henry I, who had loved him and made him one of the richest men in England. Stephen now pointed to this as evidence that Henry had been grooming him to become the next king, despite Henry’s having obtained Stephen’s oath to support Matilda.
    As soon as Henry was dead, Stephen sailed for England. He obtained the support of his brother, whom Henry had created Bishop of Winchester, as well as the citizens of London. The Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him king on 22 December 1135.
    Stephen was charming, courageous, and chivalrous. He became the first English king to allow jousting. He had humbly earned the people’s affection and was generous toward the church. Most of the barons and even Henry’s favorite illegitimate son, Earl Robert of Gloucester, swore allegiance to him.
    Stephen was a brave soldier, but a failure as a king and commander. Because of it, Robert turned against him, and many followed. Matilda’s uncle, David I of Scotland, invaded England, and though Stephen defeated David, Matilda could see that Stephen’s support was bleeding away and that it was time for