Tudor Spy (Tudor Warrior Book 2), page 1
.
Tudor Spy
Book 2 in the Tudor Warrior series
By
Griff Hosker
Published by Sword Books Ltd 2022
Copyright ©Griff Hosker First Edition
The author has asserted their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the copyright holder, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
Thanks to Design for Writers for the cover and logo.
Dedication
Adam Pendlebury- you have been dealt a rough hand but your grandad would have been proud of how you dealt with it, as am I. Hang in there kid and know that the family is all with you and we are a powerful force
Contents
.
Tudor Spy
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Glossary
Historical Background
Other books by Griff Hosker
Historical characters
King Henry VII of England
Arthur Prince of Wales
King Henry VIII of England
Queen Elizabeth (Woodville)
Jasper Tudor- Duke of Bedford and the uncle of King Henry VII
Margaret Beaufort- wife of the Earl of Derby and mother of King Henry VII
Margaret of York, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy
Richard de la Pole- the last claimant to the Yorkist/Plantagenet crown
King Philip of Castile-Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy
Lord Thomas Stanley- Earl of Derby
King Louis XII of France
Sir Henry Clifford- Lord of Craven
King James IV of Scotland
Donald Dubh -Lord of the Isles
Lord Huntly- A Scottish noble
Lord Home- a Scottish Border lord
John ‘Bastard’ Heron of Ford- a Northumbrian knight
Sir Robert Kerr- a Scottish Border lord
Prologue
Ecclestone 1500
After the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck had been quashed, I returned to life as a billman serving Sir Edward at Hedingham. I had a good life. Stephen, my best friend in the world, was my sergeant and my old comrade in arms, Sam and his wife, not to mention his children, lived so close that I was able to enjoy their lives too. Stephen and I were like favourite uncles who could drift in, be adored and then leave again without any of the effort or duties of a parent. Sir Edward was a bachelor in a bachelor's house and the visits to Sam were a visit to a family and that did both of us good.
We drilled our men and I became even more skilled with the billhook. My father had fought for King Henry at Bosworth Field and had been a renowned billman. I had a good reputation. Not all of us had the same type of billhook. Some liked the simple pole with a curved blade and a hook while others favoured one that had a spike in addition to a hook. Some thought that was like a poleaxe without the hammer. I preferred the small spike as it gave me an additional weapon to use in battle. I had money enough and I had the blacksmith make me a langet to protect the head of my weapon. The wooden shaft was vulnerable to slashes and hacks from bladed weapons. The langet helped to protect. Stephen and I worked well together but I felt guilty that I was the captain and he was just my subordinate but he did not seem to mind. I had learned my trade under Sam when we had fought against the Yorkist rebels supporting Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel. I knew the value of training and Sir Edward’s company of billmen and the men from his manor were amongst the best-trained billmen in the land.
It was a sad day when I left Hedingham and the service of both Sir Edward and the king. I was sad to leave my friends but also because my mother sent me a letter to tell me that my father, Walter of Ecclestone, was ill and that she needed my help. He had been a billman for King Henry and fought at Bosworth Field. As with all such warriors, there are wounds and hurts that cannot be seen. He was an old warrior and my mother’s missive suggested he was close to death. Sir Edward was understanding for I had done both him and England a great service when I had helped thwart the foreign governments that tried to ferment rebellion in England. He was sad to see me go and I could see that in his face. Stephen and I were as surrogate sons. He would be lonelier when I left. My dearest friend, Stephen was appointed Captain of Billmen in my place and the night before I left for my home in the north, I enjoyed one last night with my two former comrades, Captain Sam and Stephen.
“When my father is well again, I shall return and ask for a place here.”
Stephen shook his head, “We both know that you will not return but if you should then I will stand aside for you. You are the superior leader in battle. I can wield a billhook as well as you but I cannot lead as you do.”
Sam was older and wiser, “You cannot do that, Stephen. James here is quite right to go and I do not think he will return here to Hedingham but you are your own man and must become a leader.” He waved a hand to the north, “I think our old friend has more adventures left in him. After all, he was the one who spent years in Flanders and France as a spy. This life,” Sam was very expressive with his hands, especially when he had been drinking and he made a grand gesture, “this manor is too small for James. Besides, he has money.”
I nodded, “And I will use that money to make my home more comfortable for my parents. As for my life of adventure…I have had enough of playing the part of spy for the king. You may be right and it might be hard for me to return here. I will fight for him and my country but I need no more adventures. I would have what you have, Sam, I would have a wife and a family.”
I left the next day with the gift of a fine horse from Sir Edward, Calliope, and with a chest of coins I had accumulated. I was a frugal Captain of Billmen and I had saved my earnings and treasure well. With armour on a sumpter I bought, I rode north able to stay in inns and enjoy stabling for my animals and comfortable beds for myself. I had left my home in Ecclestone many years earlier and tramped to war almost as a pauper but I would return as a man with money. When I had been Perkin Warbeck’s companion I had dressed and lived as one of the nobility and I could not change my past. I knew I was not yet a gentleman but I had lived the life of one and that had changed me for I knew the good life and wanted that for me and my family. I had never even courted but I knew that one day I would wed and my life had shown me what I wanted. I had left Ecclestone as a wastrel but I would be returning as a chastened and changed man.
Chapter 1
Ecclestone
My father had been laid low by some affliction that had the doctors mystified. He could not use his right arm and the right side of his face appeared almost frozen. His speech was slurred and, at times, so was his thinking. I was shaken when I saw him. I had left him money when I had last visited so that he and my mother were comfortable but the smallholding had been allowed to deteriorate. That first night, as I sat before the fire in the house of my parents, I spoke with them about my life and what I had done. The last time I had been too close to the rebellions of Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel but now I could talk. I was as honest with them as my oath to King Henry would allow. My mother took it all in but my father’s illness meant it was difficult to tell the depth of his understanding.
“Have my sisters and their husbands not offered to help?”
My two sisters had left home some years earlier. They lived at Parr and Pendlebury. Although not on Ecclestone’s doorstep, they were much closer than Hedingham.
My mother shook her head. “Your sisters made their bed and they have their own families. I was loath to ask you for help, my son, for I know you have a good life in Hedingham but when I wrote I thought that your father did not have long for this world.” She shook her head and smiled, “He is a tough old man, is he not? If you wish to return to Hedingham then we would understand.”
Her words belied the look on her face and I shook my head, “I will stay at home now that my adventures are done and make improvements to the smallholding for it needs much work.”
My mother flashed me an irritated look, “Your father has done all that he could, James.”
I smiled, “And I do not criticise but you are not trying to tell me that my father is happy with the state of his land?” In the short time I had been home I had seen how much the smallholding had been neglected. He had not grown new crops and the ones that were in the ground had gone to seed. The few animals he had were thin and undernourished. Had I not come then they would have struggled to eat. I was needed here.
I knew my father had been aware of my words when he attempted a grin but it came out as some sort of grisly grimace. His words were slurred but I heard my old father beneath the words. He was still a great man in my eyes, “You are right, James. Do what you will for this is all the inheritance that I can leave you.”
“You have given me more than that for Walter of Ecclestone still has a reputation and men know what you did for the king, the country and this land.”
My father shook his head. I could see that it was a real effort, “That is the past and those that commanded me have now forgotten that I even exist. Most of those alongside whom I fought are now dead and soon I will be.”
My mother shook her head for she had to have the last word, “You will not and you, James, now that you have stopped your gallivanting when will you seek a bride? We would have grandchildren!”
I laughed, “Let me get my feet under the table first. I have come home to be the son you deserve and I will put this home back on its feet.” I hauled my chest of coins onto the table. “I have made money while I served Sir Edward but it will not last. This is where I shall invest it. I intend to buy more land and hire men. I am no farmer but I know how to command men. I shall hire men who are young and ambitious. When we are in a better position and my father is well again then I will give thought to marriage but for the moment my plans are to become the owner of the best farm in Ecclestone.”
I opened it and I saw both my parents’ eyes widen when they saw the number of coins within. I had been frugal in my spending and saved. I was a successful warrior and such men always collect coins and treasure from their fallen foes. It was a fortune for people such as us. I doubted that the coins of everyone who lived in Windle and Ecclestone would equal half of what I had accumulated serving the king, the Earl of Oxford and Sir Edward. I spoke with both of them about my plans. On my way north I had visualised the property and the village and, after I had seen the state of the place, I had modified my vision of the future. My mother did not really understand what I planned but I saw the twinkle in my father’s eyes. He did. I believe that he began to improve from that moment. He did not regain the use of the right arm and his voice remained slurred but he became, somehow, more alert and, as my mother commented, he ate more and his frame began to look healthier.
That night as I lay in my old bed, I actually believed my words. Those were my plans but many hundreds of miles away there were events that would shape my life. I could do nothing about them. When I had first left my home and started my journey the steps I took would form the rest of my life. I had, through the intervention of fate, become not only a billman but also a spy for King Henry.
I had never been lazy even when my parents had despaired of me and thought me, as the rest of the manor did, as a wild and wilful youth. I began as I meant to go on and I went, first to the steward of the Earl of Derby, Lord Stanley to seek land purchases. All the land in a manor was owned by the lord of the manor or the church. Ultimately it was the king who owned almost everything. The lord of our manor was the earl who had changed sides at the Battle of Bosworth and gained the throne for King Henry. The earl was one of the most powerful men in the land and the stepfather of King Henry Tudor. I went, therefore, with some trepidation to Lathom, where he lived. Thankfully, my name was known by the steward and I was received with more kindness than most men who were yet to be made gentlemen could expect. The steward listened to my request. I had thought it all through and made what I hoped was a worthy request. Most of the land was already farmed and owned. There was however one farm without owners and I managed to buy the derelict farm in Ecclestone. It had belonged to a foolish farmer who had followed Perkin Warbeck. Whilst fighting him had brought me riches, following that misguided youth had cost the farmer and his family their farm. Once he had been executed his family had been ejected from the land and they had headed to Chorley where they had family. As the farmer had also neglected the farm when he fought for the pretender, I was able to buy it for less than its true value. Of course, one never truly owned the land one farmed. It was always the property of the lord of the manor and a tenant farmer, no matter how prosperous, could lose his land on the whim of a new lord. You had taxes to pay and service to give.
I returned to Lathom where, a week after steward, Thomas Crouchley, had listened to my request he handed me the deeds. The deed cost me coins as did the purchase of the land. The steward, who seemed to me a kind man also gave me a warning, “This is all dependent upon his lordship agreeing to the price. When he returns to Lathom I will send for you so that he can confirm the sale. I know that thanks to your service to the king, he thinks highly of you and I am confident that he will concur with my decision. He would have loyal men owning his land but I cannot guarantee that you will be allowed to farm.”
As I headed back to the farm, I knew what he alluded to. The earl’s brother had foolishly sided with the rebels and had been executed five years earlier. Families had been divided in the civil war that men now referred to as the Wars of the Roses. I had been close to the rebels and knew that it was not as simple as Lancastrians and Yorkists. Families were torn between supporting one of the many claimants to the throne. Henry Tudor had put an end to that but he was still threatened by enemies, foreign and domestic. I knew what the steward meant by loyal men. Each of us would have to serve Lord Stanley and the king. We could be called to war for forty days each year.
The farm was close enough to our smallholding so that I did not need to move to work the land. The house although much larger was in a worse condition than ours and so I decided to demolish the poorer parts of the building, leaving just the living quarters and to put up more buildings for animals. With my shirt removed I laboured alone to move fences so that I had larger fields. The work was exhausting and, when I collapsed into my bed each night, I knew that I had to hire men to labour for me. I could not improve my father’s smallholding and clear the new fields without help. The best place to do so would be after weapon practice on Sunday morning. My mother and I attended Christchurch and then I stayed to work with the billmen. My experience meant that they had elected me captain upon my return. My father might have been forgotten by the nobles of England but the men of Ecclestone knew what he had done. Although none knew of my life as a spy all knew that I had fought at Stoke Field and that I had been a captain of billmen in Hedingham. There was, thankfully, no resentment from Old John who had commanded the company. In truth, I think he was glad to be rid of the responsibility. There were more archers than billmen and I was soon elected as captain of the billmen. That was partly because my father had been my predecessor but I liked to think that I had a reputation too. The fact that I still carried what I called the Perkin Warbeck sword, also made me seem like an officer. As we practised, I watched and studied every one of the billmen. I was looking at their skills as a billman but, as a landowner, I was looking for workers and I knew what I sought. I wanted younger men who had few prospects. They would be as I had been before I left home on that fateful day all those years ago. I did not care if they were wild for none had been wilder than I had been.
There were two men who seemed perfect: Thomas Blundell was the third son of a farmer who had a smallholding the same size as my father’s and lived in the village at the far end. Robert Mawdesley and his widowed mother lived in the smallest and meanest house in the village. Thomas’ father’s farm barely generated enough money and food to feed him, his wife and his family while Robert worked as a casual labourer when farmers needed extra hands at harvest time. That they were both poor was an understatement. Both young men were aggressive and had been in trouble for drunken behaviour. They had been hauled before the local magistrate and punished on more than one occasion for riotous behaviour. I had been the same. I had got into fights in Windle and learned to use my fists. While such behaviour put many prospective employers off, I knew that I had the strength of mind to overcome the behaviour and put them on the right path. There were few farmers who could afford to employ men and the only hope for the two men was for them to leave Ecclestone and seek their fortune elsewhere. For all their wildness they both loved the village. I believed that I could change their lives. I smiled to myself as the thought came into my head. I was glad that I had not voiced such a statement before Captain Sam. I know what he would have said, ‘What an arrogant man you are, James!’
