William will always be a bastard...
- Thread starter Zirantun
- Start date
Zirantun
Banned
I was completely unaware of Herbert IV of Vermandois' lineage. Thank you for the suggestion. The next update is on the British Isles, as France updates will now be tied to Germany/Italy updates. I should also do an update about Spain, since the Sanchos have tried to block their sister from marrying the Duke of Aquitaine... that kinda changes things up a bit. What to call this war over the papacy? Perhaps we could replace the House of Capet with Herbert and his progeny?
AtriumCarceris
Banned
I just want to point out that at this point in time, what happened in 1054 is irrelevant. Both sides considered the events completely unimportant and the two churches are not yet two churches.
Zirantun
Banned
Well I'm not sure about Russian influence, but I had a few thoughts.
First of all, the 2nd person plural article 'you' never comes to be used for the singular. Second, many of the old plurals are preserved and not weakened. Hence the plural of 'dwarf' will still be something like 'dwerowes' are opposed to 'dwarves'. Third, past participles do not regularize and weaken to the same extend, so older forms like 'lorn' for 'lost' would still be the norm. Fourth, a different vowel shift in the late medieval period that is not quite as severe. Fifth, I really like the idea of English developing some sort of pitch accent system like Danish, Norwegian, or Scottish Gaelic.
First of all, the 2nd person plural article 'you' never comes to be used for the singular. Second, many of the old plurals are preserved and not weakened. Hence the plural of 'dwarf' will still be something like 'dwerowes' are opposed to 'dwarves'. Third, past participles do not regularize and weaken to the same extend, so older forms like 'lorn' for 'lost' would still be the norm. Fourth, a different vowel shift in the late medieval period that is not quite as severe. Fifth, I really like the idea of English developing some sort of pitch accent system like Danish, Norwegian, or Scottish Gaelic.
Dwarfs.
Dwarves was purely Tolkein's invention as he thought it sounded more noble than the former.
Dwarves was purely Tolkein's invention as he thought it sounded more noble than the former.
Zirantun
Banned
Ummm.... I'm actually kind of stuck.
I don't wanna tell you guys too much before I actually post it, but as far as the succession of Harold's throne is concerned... he has 3 sons who are old enough to inherit the throne at this point. From all accounts, Godwine and Edmund are both born in 1049, which tells me that they were twins, and Magnus is born in 1051. What do you do when you have twin boys as your oldest male heirs? Would it be plausible for him to divide England between the two boys, perhaps between the Danelaw, and the rest of England proper? Or do you guys think that he'd name Magnus as his heir?
Also, there aren't a lot of European princesses available for marriage either... not that come from houses that presently want anything to do with England. So wives for the heir would probably be coming out of the English nobility, or perhaps from High-King Diarmait's supply of unnamed grandchildren. Idk though. I've hit a block.
I don't wanna tell you guys too much before I actually post it, but as far as the succession of Harold's throne is concerned... he has 3 sons who are old enough to inherit the throne at this point. From all accounts, Godwine and Edmund are both born in 1049, which tells me that they were twins, and Magnus is born in 1051. What do you do when you have twin boys as your oldest male heirs? Would it be plausible for him to divide England between the two boys, perhaps between the Danelaw, and the rest of England proper? Or do you guys think that he'd name Magnus as his heir?
Also, there aren't a lot of European princesses available for marriage either... not that come from houses that presently want anything to do with England. So wives for the heir would probably be coming out of the English nobility, or perhaps from High-King Diarmait's supply of unnamed grandchildren. Idk though. I've hit a block.
Are you sure both sons came from the same relationship? Nobles in Anglo-Saxon period would often have a legal wife and a common-law wife, resulting in the possibility of two children being born in the same year.
Alternately, one could have been born in February and the other in December...
Alternately, one could have been born in February and the other in December...
Zirantun
Banned
Gowine and and Edmund are both from Edith Swanneck, but perhaps they were born at different times of the year. I can't find anything on the net about the family besides speculation that they were twins though. Also, the other two boys from Edith of Mercia, Ulf and Harold, are speculated to have been twins as well...
This page shows Godwin as born in 1047 and Edmund in 1049.
Crusader Kings II has Godwin born in 1049 and Edmund in 1051 (and the authors really did their research). So I'd go with the second option.
Unless you really want both born in the same year. I have no idea what would happen in a primo kingdom when the king's oldest offspring are twins.
Crusader Kings II has Godwin born in 1049 and Edmund in 1051 (and the authors really did their research). So I'd go with the second option.
Unless you really want both born in the same year. I have no idea what would happen in a primo kingdom when the king's oldest offspring are twins.
About potential marriages; is a Swedish princess out of the question? Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like they'd have some common enemies in Scandinavia, if nothing else.
Its technically elective, longterm that likely means that they pick whichever one is more favored by the previous king.
Zirantun,
You've got Jonathan Edelstein's attention, which in my book is worth quite a lot. I'm intrigued myself, but kind of lost, 2 ways.
1) I'm afraid that the intricate dynastic politics makes my head spin. This is inherent and proper in a High Middle Ages timeline, which is probably why I don't actually follow any of them!
I think I'll subscribe anyway, and might get back into it someday. And just maybe, I'd have made the effort to try to follow the web of betrothals, marriages, imprisonment of brothers, etc, were it not for 2):
2) You lost me when Harold decided, in remarkably quick time, to invade Normandy but not plan to stay there.
I guess I follow the logic of scorching Norman earth, but I've never imagined that's what Harold would do if he won at Hastings. Going through all the trouble of upgrading his armies by developing a competent horse cavalry (and can that really be done in just a year or so?) I'd think he'd want more return on his risk than just a big raid. OTOH, trying to stay on the Continent would be some level of expensive quagmire to be sure.
I'd think that he'd face a choice between 1) going ahead and developing cavalry all right, and otherwise upgrading England's defenses, putting the case for a standing army, an enhanced navy, etc to the Witan and probably winning the day there--but holding back and concentrating on keeping order in England, with a watchful eye on possible foes who might try to pull another round of 1066. Remember--he wasn't just invaded by William; Harald Hardrada had also attacked, with Scottish help. I think were I in Harold's position, I'd reason that the English forces could have repelled William handily, and thus possibly deterred him from even trying, were it not for the second threat of invasion from the north hanging over them. Thus settling scores with Scotland would take priority over bashing Normandy. Especially because attacking overseas is a risky gamble--before even facing the defenders on the shore, who ITTL ("in this timeline," just as OTL stands for "Our Timeline") the evidence of experience tends to favor, there's the uncertainties of the sea passage to worry about; the sea can swallow up a force that otherwise would be sure to win. William was greedy and ambitious and had what he fancied were claims on the English throne as well as Papal backing; he gambled everything--OTL he won, ITTL he lost, and in other timelines he might have lost due to a sudden storm before ever making landfall. The prize was worth the risk in his view.
But here he lost, and with him went much of the leadership of Normandy. The duchy is politically decapitated and weakened already; there is little need to worry about another attack from Normandy in the near future. There's a lot more cause to worry about the Norwegians, the Danes, the Flemings... hence the need to subdue both Wales and Scotland taking priority over messing with Normandy.
2) On the other hand, given that Harold has gotten the notion that Normandy must suffer somehow, I'd think he'd want to sweeten the pot for himself a bit. Harold was not William, I don't believe he'd gamble everything the Kingdom of England has just for some speculative gains, and I think he'd have an exit strategy in mind too. Given that he's built up a new cavalry and mustered sufficient ships and regular fyrd forces to contemplate landing in France, I'd think he'd play it by ear but be cautiously optimistic that if the dice fall right, he can take at least part of Normandy and hold it.
Decimating Normandy might be a way of buying some insurance that the duchy won't be the base of the next Continental invasion of England--for a while. Probably the rest of Harold's life and reign, maybe another generation after that too. But Harold strikes me as an English kind in the mold of Alfred the Great; he'd be thinking beyond his reign, into the future, and if he can do better than that at an acceptable cost, he'd go for it.
Better would be to have a foothold on the coast, all of Normandy if possible, a big piece of it, or even just an enclave--if something on the Continent is loyal to the English crown, then he and his successors have got a listening post to get earliest warning of some new grandiose scheme against England, and a base from which to threaten any power mustering such a force with counterattack by land (as well as sea; Anglo-Saxon England did maintain a navy). It might also be profitable.
Also, the process of first taking and then holding such an enclave will give his brand new cavalry forces and the rest of his army practice in honing their tactics and integrating their forces to make them truly the equal, and conceivably the superior, of the long-developed chivalry of France.
Against this--holding an enclave would be a constant drain; that might be more than OK if the enclave yields profit in excess of its cost. It would entangle England in continental politics--but William, and Harald, demonstrated, as Canute had before them, that England was embroiled, like it or not.
So--I disbelieve Harold would launch an invasion of Normandy with the pre-determined, fixed intention of simply racing in, pillaging and torching it, and running away again. That course could most certainly be an option, one that Harold would accept as something of a win anyway, but I don't think he'd be wise to limit himself to that ambition alone. I'd think he'd come in with some hope of actually securing Normandy or parts of it for his own crown, permanently. He would be more cold-blooded about it than William was, he's not prepared to gamble everything for the big win and he doesn't have to either--William wanted to promote himself from Duke to King, Harold is already a king and giving homage to Philip to become Duke of Normandy would be a demotion for him. He'll measure each possible gain against its cost, immediate and long-run, and decline risks that aren't likely to pay off.
The question of whether Harold could have carved out an addition to the English kingdom in Normandy is a tricky one I have no informed opinion on. I do think that with the decapitation of much of Normandy's nobility in the failed invasion attempt, Normandy is already in disarray, and that gives him an edge. I suspect the baronial class is thin on the ground and disproportionately composed of mavericks who were out of step with Robert the Devil and William the Bastard's schemes for centralizing control of the duchy in themselves, that the most loyal allies of the powerful new duchy administration perished with William on the beach at Hastings, and so Harold might well be able to coopt quite a few of the remaining Norman nobility, while ruthlessly expelling and eradicating others--to the joy of the Norman peasantry, who are hardly represented by their overlords! Even if new overlords Harold installs from among his new-found Continental allies or the English themselves are rather harsh and in the case of the English, not even familiar with the local language--they still might be a visible improvement over their former masters in the eyes of the peasants, and thus it might not prove that hard to get civil order and obedience from the Norman land Harold takes--and proposes to hold.
So now he has the problem of being attacked from outside, by loyalists to William's house and by ambitious other French houses acting in the name of the King of France to expel a foreign invader. This is his second hurdle (or third, if we don't take as rosy a view of the Normans greeting him as liberator as I just did!) to reckon into the cost of the enterprise, versus the profits to be had by long-term staying.
Will Harold offer to do homage to Philip to get legal title to the Duchy of Normandy? It seems unlikely to me he'd pay this price; if Philip sends angry messages to him about how dare he seek to take land from a fellow Christian king, Harold can reply "Aha, so if you were William's overlord when he invaded my peaceful Christian kingdom, I guess that means the King of France was the true invader?" Perhaps if the military force Harold can land and maintain in Normandy is strong enough, in view of keeping that embarrassing exchange off the official record, Philip will simply cede Normandy, or a portion of it, to England, and Harold will withdraw into whatever bounds he is conceded. Then the other French lords will not have the pretext to attack--being feudal lords they'll probably attack on some other made-up pretext, or none at all, but they won't have the blessing of their feudal duty to the French King, their overlord, to justify them. If Harold's forces are sufficient, his legitimacy in the lands he holds is firm enough, and the holdings yield enough revenue to cover the cost of their defense (and other brouhahas Harold's venture onto the Continent entangles him and his successors in) then he and his appointed regime can stay, thus permanently removing the Norman threat and deterring other Continental powers from contemplating their own invasions.
This is the prize--it might not work out that well for Harold. He might fail to find any basis for civil order in any part of Normandy, not one that doesn't cost more than it is worth anyway. He might meet the implacable hostility of the French king and decide homage to him as a mere Duke is an unbearable humiliation. Harold might of course nominate some loyal agent of his to be the one to swear fealty to Philip as Duke, but surely Philip will demand this would-be puppet of Harold's swear no oaths to the English king, and frankly the whole deal of pawning off Normandy to English control on any terms seems unlikely to be put on the table in the first place. Can Harold muster and maintain so much force he can shrug off the worst that feudal France can throw at him?
If not--then back to your plan A, which I merely dispute would not be Harold's Plan A--which is, having invaded (I'm pretty sure that barring bad luck on the high seas, Harold can do this) and found the situation on the ground to be less than optimal, Harold then decides that they will withdraw in good order--leaving the province in very bad order, the worst scorched earth they can arrange. Looting everything they can, burning the rest, they fall back on your idea.
I just can't believe it would be Harold's only idea, and that he'd wreck Normandy even if in fact it turns out he can hold it instead. If it's the best he can do to avenge Hastings and blunt the Continental sword at England's neck, sure he'll do it. But if he could have more--why wouldn't he?
And so, with Harold's firm and one-track decision to simply raid Normandy rather than invade with a somewhat more open mind, you lost me.
You've got Jonathan Edelstein's attention, which in my book is worth quite a lot. I'm intrigued myself, but kind of lost, 2 ways.
1) I'm afraid that the intricate dynastic politics makes my head spin. This is inherent and proper in a High Middle Ages timeline, which is probably why I don't actually follow any of them!
I think I'll subscribe anyway, and might get back into it someday. And just maybe, I'd have made the effort to try to follow the web of betrothals, marriages, imprisonment of brothers, etc, were it not for 2):2) You lost me when Harold decided, in remarkably quick time, to invade Normandy but not plan to stay there.
I guess I follow the logic of scorching Norman earth, but I've never imagined that's what Harold would do if he won at Hastings. Going through all the trouble of upgrading his armies by developing a competent horse cavalry (and can that really be done in just a year or so?) I'd think he'd want more return on his risk than just a big raid. OTOH, trying to stay on the Continent would be some level of expensive quagmire to be sure.
I'd think that he'd face a choice between 1) going ahead and developing cavalry all right, and otherwise upgrading England's defenses, putting the case for a standing army, an enhanced navy, etc to the Witan and probably winning the day there--but holding back and concentrating on keeping order in England, with a watchful eye on possible foes who might try to pull another round of 1066. Remember--he wasn't just invaded by William; Harald Hardrada had also attacked, with Scottish help. I think were I in Harold's position, I'd reason that the English forces could have repelled William handily, and thus possibly deterred him from even trying, were it not for the second threat of invasion from the north hanging over them. Thus settling scores with Scotland would take priority over bashing Normandy. Especially because attacking overseas is a risky gamble--before even facing the defenders on the shore, who ITTL ("in this timeline," just as OTL stands for "Our Timeline") the evidence of experience tends to favor, there's the uncertainties of the sea passage to worry about; the sea can swallow up a force that otherwise would be sure to win. William was greedy and ambitious and had what he fancied were claims on the English throne as well as Papal backing; he gambled everything--OTL he won, ITTL he lost, and in other timelines he might have lost due to a sudden storm before ever making landfall. The prize was worth the risk in his view.
But here he lost, and with him went much of the leadership of Normandy. The duchy is politically decapitated and weakened already; there is little need to worry about another attack from Normandy in the near future. There's a lot more cause to worry about the Norwegians, the Danes, the Flemings... hence the need to subdue both Wales and Scotland taking priority over messing with Normandy.
2) On the other hand, given that Harold has gotten the notion that Normandy must suffer somehow, I'd think he'd want to sweeten the pot for himself a bit. Harold was not William, I don't believe he'd gamble everything the Kingdom of England has just for some speculative gains, and I think he'd have an exit strategy in mind too. Given that he's built up a new cavalry and mustered sufficient ships and regular fyrd forces to contemplate landing in France, I'd think he'd play it by ear but be cautiously optimistic that if the dice fall right, he can take at least part of Normandy and hold it.
Decimating Normandy might be a way of buying some insurance that the duchy won't be the base of the next Continental invasion of England--for a while. Probably the rest of Harold's life and reign, maybe another generation after that too. But Harold strikes me as an English kind in the mold of Alfred the Great; he'd be thinking beyond his reign, into the future, and if he can do better than that at an acceptable cost, he'd go for it.
Better would be to have a foothold on the coast, all of Normandy if possible, a big piece of it, or even just an enclave--if something on the Continent is loyal to the English crown, then he and his successors have got a listening post to get earliest warning of some new grandiose scheme against England, and a base from which to threaten any power mustering such a force with counterattack by land (as well as sea; Anglo-Saxon England did maintain a navy). It might also be profitable.
Also, the process of first taking and then holding such an enclave will give his brand new cavalry forces and the rest of his army practice in honing their tactics and integrating their forces to make them truly the equal, and conceivably the superior, of the long-developed chivalry of France.
Against this--holding an enclave would be a constant drain; that might be more than OK if the enclave yields profit in excess of its cost. It would entangle England in continental politics--but William, and Harald, demonstrated, as Canute had before them, that England was embroiled, like it or not.
So--I disbelieve Harold would launch an invasion of Normandy with the pre-determined, fixed intention of simply racing in, pillaging and torching it, and running away again. That course could most certainly be an option, one that Harold would accept as something of a win anyway, but I don't think he'd be wise to limit himself to that ambition alone. I'd think he'd come in with some hope of actually securing Normandy or parts of it for his own crown, permanently. He would be more cold-blooded about it than William was, he's not prepared to gamble everything for the big win and he doesn't have to either--William wanted to promote himself from Duke to King, Harold is already a king and giving homage to Philip to become Duke of Normandy would be a demotion for him. He'll measure each possible gain against its cost, immediate and long-run, and decline risks that aren't likely to pay off.
The question of whether Harold could have carved out an addition to the English kingdom in Normandy is a tricky one I have no informed opinion on. I do think that with the decapitation of much of Normandy's nobility in the failed invasion attempt, Normandy is already in disarray, and that gives him an edge. I suspect the baronial class is thin on the ground and disproportionately composed of mavericks who were out of step with Robert the Devil and William the Bastard's schemes for centralizing control of the duchy in themselves, that the most loyal allies of the powerful new duchy administration perished with William on the beach at Hastings, and so Harold might well be able to coopt quite a few of the remaining Norman nobility, while ruthlessly expelling and eradicating others--to the joy of the Norman peasantry, who are hardly represented by their overlords! Even if new overlords Harold installs from among his new-found Continental allies or the English themselves are rather harsh and in the case of the English, not even familiar with the local language--they still might be a visible improvement over their former masters in the eyes of the peasants, and thus it might not prove that hard to get civil order and obedience from the Norman land Harold takes--and proposes to hold.
So now he has the problem of being attacked from outside, by loyalists to William's house and by ambitious other French houses acting in the name of the King of France to expel a foreign invader. This is his second hurdle (or third, if we don't take as rosy a view of the Normans greeting him as liberator as I just did!
) to reckon into the cost of the enterprise, versus the profits to be had by long-term staying.Will Harold offer to do homage to Philip to get legal title to the Duchy of Normandy? It seems unlikely to me he'd pay this price; if Philip sends angry messages to him about how dare he seek to take land from a fellow Christian king, Harold can reply "Aha, so if you were William's overlord when he invaded my peaceful Christian kingdom, I guess that means the King of France was the true invader?" Perhaps if the military force Harold can land and maintain in Normandy is strong enough, in view of keeping that embarrassing exchange off the official record, Philip will simply cede Normandy, or a portion of it, to England, and Harold will withdraw into whatever bounds he is conceded. Then the other French lords will not have the pretext to attack--being feudal lords they'll probably attack on some other made-up pretext, or none at all, but they won't have the blessing of their feudal duty to the French King, their overlord, to justify them. If Harold's forces are sufficient, his legitimacy in the lands he holds is firm enough, and the holdings yield enough revenue to cover the cost of their defense (and other brouhahas Harold's venture onto the Continent entangles him and his successors in) then he and his appointed regime can stay, thus permanently removing the Norman threat and deterring other Continental powers from contemplating their own invasions.
This is the prize--it might not work out that well for Harold. He might fail to find any basis for civil order in any part of Normandy, not one that doesn't cost more than it is worth anyway. He might meet the implacable hostility of the French king and decide homage to him as a mere Duke is an unbearable humiliation. Harold might of course nominate some loyal agent of his to be the one to swear fealty to Philip as Duke, but surely Philip will demand this would-be puppet of Harold's swear no oaths to the English king, and frankly the whole deal of pawning off Normandy to English control on any terms seems unlikely to be put on the table in the first place. Can Harold muster and maintain so much force he can shrug off the worst that feudal France can throw at him?
If not--then back to your plan A, which I merely dispute would not be Harold's Plan A--which is, having invaded (I'm pretty sure that barring bad luck on the high seas, Harold can do this) and found the situation on the ground to be less than optimal, Harold then decides that they will withdraw in good order--leaving the province in very bad order, the worst scorched earth they can arrange. Looting everything they can, burning the rest, they fall back on your idea.
I just can't believe it would be Harold's only idea, and that he'd wreck Normandy even if in fact it turns out he can hold it instead. If it's the best he can do to avenge Hastings and blunt the Continental sword at England's neck, sure he'll do it. But if he could have more--why wouldn't he?
And so, with Harold's firm and one-track decision to simply raid Normandy rather than invade with a somewhat more open mind, you lost me.
Zirantun
Banned
I really do appreciate the input here. Thank you.
First of all, as an avid horse rider, it doesn't take a very long time to teach people to effectively ride horses. It took me a few weeks to learn the basics, and I imagine in a military setting under more pressure I would've learned better much faster.
I don't think that it would've been Harold's ONLY idea, nor do I necessarily think it would've been his primary idea. However in this timeline, the fact that England is not stable as a nation becomes his primary concern. You're right that holding Normandy would be an enormous cost, but the risk he's taking is to permanently (or at least semi-permanently) subdue an enemy to the strong England he wants to create. Not only that, but the loot from this large scale raid brings in important wealth. So he gets the money without the drain of holding the land, as well as the victory, which helps bind him to the nobility and improve his image as king.
And we'll get to Scotland, trust me. But you're perhaps right that he may want to settle the score with Scotland sooner. However, settling that score is costly, and the new cavalry wouldn't do all that well in the Scottish Highlands. After handling Normandy with an iron fist, I think that it would be wiser to try and play politics for a little while, forging alliances where possible.
There are also resourceful parts of the country that are still not under his direct control, like Cornwall.
I also highly doubt that he would be worried about doing homage to Philip. The House of Capet, especially under Philip, had very poor control over the duchies and counties of France. Although Philip was the 'overlord' and 'king', he controlled relatively little land and had very little real influence. The real player in France at the time was the Duke of Aquitaine, who literally controlled half the country.
First of all, as an avid horse rider, it doesn't take a very long time to teach people to effectively ride horses. It took me a few weeks to learn the basics, and I imagine in a military setting under more pressure I would've learned better much faster.
I don't think that it would've been Harold's ONLY idea, nor do I necessarily think it would've been his primary idea. However in this timeline, the fact that England is not stable as a nation becomes his primary concern. You're right that holding Normandy would be an enormous cost, but the risk he's taking is to permanently (or at least semi-permanently) subdue an enemy to the strong England he wants to create. Not only that, but the loot from this large scale raid brings in important wealth. So he gets the money without the drain of holding the land, as well as the victory, which helps bind him to the nobility and improve his image as king.
And we'll get to Scotland, trust me. But you're perhaps right that he may want to settle the score with Scotland sooner. However, settling that score is costly, and the new cavalry wouldn't do all that well in the Scottish Highlands. After handling Normandy with an iron fist, I think that it would be wiser to try and play politics for a little while, forging alliances where possible.
There are also resourceful parts of the country that are still not under his direct control, like Cornwall.
I also highly doubt that he would be worried about doing homage to Philip. The House of Capet, especially under Philip, had very poor control over the duchies and counties of France. Although Philip was the 'overlord' and 'king', he controlled relatively little land and had very little real influence. The real player in France at the time was the Duke of Aquitaine, who literally controlled half the country.
Zirantun
Banned
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]An Rí na hAlba agus an Rí Sasainnach [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] So, while Máel Coluim III hasn't been raiding across the Anglo-Scottish border himself, as England is doing considerably better in 1070 than it was in our timeline, that hasn't stopped his barons from doing so. Morcær of York has been putting up with Scottish raids for nearly 5 years now, and he's getting tired of it. Particularly when he was away in Normandy, a Scottish raid had nearly killed his brother Eadwine. So Morcær and his brother decided to do a little raiding of their own, and when they did, they hit the jackpot – they captured Máel Coluim's young son, Donnchadh. Oops! Because Donnchadh wasn't really dressed royally when they picked him up, they didn't realize who he was at first, but 'oops' was definitely the right word when the boy revealed his identity to his captors. Harold Godwinson had previously been occupied trying to subjugate Welsh raiders and with his castle-building program, so there wasn't a lot of time for him to send armies into Northumbria to keep the Scots in check. Plus, earlier in the year, he had been seeking an alliance with the King of Scotland in the hopes of creating a strong and united British Isles despite the fact that they had allied themselves with Norway and his brother Tostig, as he had come to view them as distinct from the European Continent. That was all pissed away when Máel Coluim refused to see his envoys, and so at this point in time he had every intention of replacing him on the Scottish throne with Máel Snechtai, who was married to his daughter Gytha. However, relations with the incumbent Scottish monarch were quite obviously worsened when Morcær and Eadwine captured Donnchadh at the start of the summer of 1070. Now this may seem uncharacteristically stupid, but the Scottish support against Harold was something that the two brothers felt warranted some score settling. Likewise, Morcær had been fending off Scottish raids with nearly no attention to the matter from his king, who had seemingly all but forgotten his northern borders. On the contrary, Harold was just busy, but he did fully intend to deal with Máel Coluim when the time was right. At this point however, he didn't get to choose when the times was. News traveled on the other side of the border within a matter of hours, and when Máel Coluim was interrupted while fishing outside Dùn Èidean (Edinburgh) he was more than a little upset. See, because he wasn't having tons of bouncing baby boys as he did in our own timeline with the lovely Saint Margaret, Donnchadh was his only heir, and he wasn't about to pay a ransom for him and allow the cruel English earls to perform savage acts on him the way they had on Matilda of Normandy. No... if Morcær and Eadwine wanted to play kidnappers, then Máel Coluim was going to play army, even if it meant full-blown war with England.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] It doesn't even take him the whole summer to annex the entire northeastern portion of the earldom, and by the time he's done, Morcær and Eadwine try to give young Donnchadh back without a ransom, just as long as Máel Coluim will leave. Máel Coluim accepts his son at Stamford Bridge, but instead of agreeing to leave, he fights the English out of principal at the Second Battle of Stamford Bridge, and this time, the English are defeated. Eadwine, whose idea it was to hold Donnchadh for ransom in the first place, is killed by Máel Coluim personally, who runs him through and into a tree. Eadwine of course will be left at that tree for everyone to see, hanging from Máel Coluim's sword, which over time gives birth to the saying 'to hang an Edwin', which will be used whenever messages are posted in a public place. With his death, the title of Earl of Mercia will go to Morcær, putting Morc[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r in control of half the country. The problem was, that he was a prisoner of the Scottish King, who could very well just behead him and be done with it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Now, what was previously a hostage crisis turned into a very, very, very interesting situation the moment Máel Coluim hung Eadwine on a tree. Morcær, the extant brother of Eadwine and the last male heir to Ælfgar of Mercia was now in a very good position to be placed on the throne as King of England. So, should Máel Coluim just invade the rest of England with Morcær at his side, put him on the English throne, make him do homage, and rain as High-King of Britain? Well, it certainly did sound seductive, but it wasn't as close to being a reality as one would think. Maybe if such an opportunity had presented itself earlier, like 4 years earlier, however at this point in time, the English nobility, the English clergy, and the English people had a very strong sense of English independence. Harold had done wonders in a very short time in inspiring confidence in his people of their own identity as Englishmen, and not as the subjects of Danes, Normans, or in this case Scots. The idea that the whole of England might answer to a High-King in Scotland was a lot less plausible than it may have seemed with Morcær's newly inherited title. But one could always dream, right? Besides, Máel Coluim would have to subdue the Mormaer of Moireabh before he could attempt anything serious like that, and he knew he didn't really have the money or the means for a war on that scale. So, he made Morcær do him homage, which meant that he was now a subordinate of the Scottish King, and that both Northumbria and Mercia were technically under Scottish overlordship. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] The hell they were! At least in the case of Mercia. Unlike the Northumbrians, they hadn't just seen their armies decimated by very angry Gaels, and so when news got to Mercia that Morcær had done homage to Máel Coluim III (and to Harold, who was in Mercia at the time)... well let's just say it wasn't taken well. Mercia was not a Scottish territory, not as far as the Mercians were concerned anyways. Their rightful rulers were the children and grandchildren of Ælfgar, and no 3 year old (the age of Harold's twin boys by Ældgyth) was going to be appointed earl. If the situation was not fixed immediately, then a succession crisis could ensue over the earldom that not only had the potential to rip up the country, but also Harold's marriage. Let's not forget that Harold had taken Ældgyth as a prize when he defeated and deposed her husband, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd and Powys, and she already had two sons by him that had been welcomed to her brother's court in Mercia in 1067. If Máel Coluim was not subdued, then many of the thegns believed that the earldom should fall either to one of Ældgyth's Welsh sons, or to Ældgyth herself and a husband of her choosing, and there were clergy prepared to go to request a formal divorce from Rome if need be. Now, the idea of a woman inheriting an earldom was just batshit wild at the time, but despite what Harold had done for England, many Mercians were not willing to submit that much of England to his absolute rule – at least not while there were still heirs to the royal bloodline of the Hwicce. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] The whole situation is enough to nearly give Harold an embolism. The primary focus of his castle-building and military retraining programs had been in the south, where England had nearly lost everything, and where he was dealing with the Welsh. He had never thought that Morcær and Eadwine could fumble the ball as badly as they had just done. Not after their long track record with him.Who the fuck did Máel Coluim think he was? Did he honestly think he could hold Northumbria? What with the armies of the south, and a possible impending invasion from Scandinavia? Or was he perhaps in in league with the Danes, doing part of the job for them? You may be wondering what Harold was actually doing while all of this was going on. Well, when I say he was 'busy' in Wales, I mean, he was trying to calm down the chaos that already existed and had been further inflamed when he took control of a portion of Gwent to built his hunting lodge at Porthsgewin (Portskewett). [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] See, Harold had won a decisive victory against one Cadwgan ap Meurig, which ended up upsetting the 'balance' of Welsh power about 5 years earlier a little more than it was upset in our own timeline. For us, Cadwgan was killed in 1074 by an ambitious Caradog ap Gruffudd whose lineage had once controlled the neighboring kingdom of Deheubarth. But because Cadwgan is defeated before Caradog can rally enough Welsh warriors to him, Maredudd ap Owain ap Edwin has taken control of Gwent and united Gwent and Deheubarth, leaving Caradog prancing around the heath with his little warrior band on the run. Now, the last thing Harold wants is a united Wales. Why? Because ethnic 'Cymry' (the term the Welsh were using for themselves at the time) still lived all over much of what was considered to be England and Scotland. They still made up much of the population of Mercia, Northumbria, and the Scottish Lowlands. If Wales came under one ruler, then that ruler might get the hair-brained idea of campaigning outside of what Harold and the rest of the Saxons considered to be Welsh territory, rallying lots of little Cymry to his cause. This had happened before, and while it had never been that big of a deal, Harold was paranoid after the First Battle at Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings. And it also didn't help that his wife who hated his guts still held influence in Wales. If she should decide to runaway and marry a Welsh king... she was the Queen Consort of England and still the quasi-favorite of the clergy. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] So by 'calming down the chaos', I mean he was trying to make more chaos, but 'chaos' for Harold meant the idea of Wales under one ruler. He was trying, and quite successfully building a strong Kingdom of England, and nobody was going to fuck it up. So, Harold had been campaigning in Wales on the side of Caradog ap Gruffudd because Caradog ap Gruffudd had very scattered support in the area and seemed to have a good chance of undermining this silly Deheubarth and Gwent as one kingdom idea. This Welsh campaign of undermining wasn't anything particularly expensive until Morcar and Eadwine were stupid enough to hold the King of Scotland's son for ransom. Now, although York hadn't been sacked, the whole of Northumbria was under sovereign Scottish control, and Máel Coluim seemed to mean it, as he wasn't returning home, but staying self-invited at court in York. The Welsh campaign was now very expensive, as Harold was going to have to divert his attention to beating the Scottish out of the north of England while angry Welshmen raided Mercia over a dynastic claim to the earldom. Two words were going through Harold's continually at this point – why me? Indeed, why him? That was a question a few uppity bishops had started asking and even given answer for at their pulpits: clearly, Harold was not God's choice for king. Only a few bishops had actually preached these damning sermons, but rumors began circling around the English countryside that this conquest of the North was in fact God's punishment for England's 'vanity'. Of course, much of the nobility was still very thoroughly under Harold's thumb, but the common folk were beginning to get uneasy, specifically the Cymry that were living within England's borders and the Mercians. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] So the first thing that he does to calm his wife down, who really fucking hates him, is welcome her two sons to the English court proper. The next thing he does? Well, Northumbria has to be liberated, and he has plans for its liberation so that Morcær doesn't get any bright ideas after the whole situation is repaired. Specifically, he plans to divide the Earldom of Northumbria into Yorkshire, Bamburgh, and Northumbria so that Morcær isn't in direct control of so much land. Yorkshire will go to his son, Edmund, and Bamburgh to Oswulf Uctredson, whose family had controlled the area for some time. Northumbria would be reduced into a fraction of its original size, and would not share a border with Mercia. But before he can do all of this, he has to make sure that Máel Coluim won't be winning any more battle at Stamford Bridge, and the best way to do that is get him the hell off of the Scottish throne. So Harold is going to engage in his own little Harrying of the North, and its going to start with a full on three front invasion of the Kingdom of Scotland. How? Well, Mael Snechtai is the Mormaer of Moireabh in the Scottish Highlands, and Fingal Mac Gofraid Uí Ímair is the King of the Isles. Harold has made sure to cement alliances with both of these men by marrying his young daughters to them. He has both their ears if need be, and in point of fact, both of them fancy themselves as kings of Scotland. So once the messengers are sent, Harold begins marching with his full force to York, where Máel Coluim has taken up residence for the moment. The plan will go as follows:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Harold will defeat Máel Coluim at York, and if possible, take him hostage. However, that possibility is rather slight, so it will suffice to push him north, as close to being back in Scotland as humanly possible. Fingal mac Gofraid has a lot of men in the town of Sruighlea (Stirling), and although it is not under his control, it wouldn't take much for it to be. Also, one of his own, one Harailt mac Torcail, actually took control of the town of Dùn Dèagh in 1068. Fingal also rules Gall-Ghaidhealaibh (Galloway), and has men deposited in Glaschu under Nechtan mac S[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]í[/FONT]thig. So it will be up to the Norse-Gaels to take control of Southern Scotland while Harold chases Mael Coluim up to the border and Máel Snechtai distracts the king's brother, Máel Muire of Ath-fhotla by invading his highland territories. Easy peasy, right? Well, not really.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Harold is able to get to York before the onset of autumn, but by the time he gets there, Máel Coluim has fortified his position fairly well and does not go easily. In fact, he doesn't break until autumn has nearly turned to winter. Furthermore, when Sruighlea is over taken by one Rónán mac C[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]á[/FONT]i Uí Garrchon, born to Laigin parents on the island of Di[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ù[/FONT]ra, the Norse-Gaels attempt to seize Dùn Èidean, and lose Sruighlea when Mael Muire sends troops to the area from Dùn Chailleann. Dùn Èidean is taken by Rónán, but Harailt is unable to take Scoine, even with reinforcements from the Hebrides. Máel Snechtai is a little slow on his part as well, so Máel Muire's men are able to hold Scoine even if they lose Sruighlea that winter. When Máel Snechtai does show up (it is kind of his party), he takes the castle at Cinn Drochaid, which is an important border stronghold between Moireabh and the Kingdom of Scotland. The war lasts into 1073, and Máel Coluim and his brother Máel Muire put up a very noble fight, but it just isn't enough with the three way onslaught. The battle that decides Scotland's fate here is the Battle of Cill Saidhe between Glaschu and Dùn Èidean. From this point on, Scotland's fortune falls like dominoes as Dùn Chailleann, Ath-fhotla, and Scoine all fall to the Anglo/Highlander/Hebridean onslaught. Máel Snechtai is officially crowned at Scoine on May 8th of 1073, and Fingal bights the bullet with mere control of the northern region of Ros. Máel Muire, a man in his mid 30s would spend the next 18 years in prison, while his 42 year old brother Máel Coluim III, was welcomed at at Ailech by none other than Áed Mac Néill of the Uí Néill. And who did he take with him? Well, he took his son, Donnchadh, but also a daughter, Seonaid. Who was the mother of the daughter? When Máel Coluim killed Eadwine and forced Morcær into submission, he welcomed Matilda of Normandy (Flanders), the former Duchess of Normandy, into his court. Although it was believed that she was pregnant before the Second Battle of Stamford Bridge, her daughter was named in Gaelic, which suggests to many that she might have had an affair with Máel Coluim III. The truth of the matter is however, that the baby was in fact Morcær's, but as she died in childbirth, Máel Coluim took her daughter in and named it in his own tongue. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Máel Coluim's stepsons, Paul and Erlend Thorfinnsson are killed after having retaken Sruighlea in 1072 before Harold takes it back. Scotland itself is now under one ruler, but control of the Orkney Isles, which belong to Norway, sparks yet another conflict, but this time between Norway and the Isles. Olaf Kyrre's botched attempt to assert Norwegian control in the Orkneys was that summer was the final blow to Norwegian sovereignty in the North Sea. Olaf would pursue is policy of domestic reform afterward, and Fingal would continue north, taking the Faroe Islands, and eventually initiating Gaelic settlement of Iceland. A new Gaelic Age had begun.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Back home in England, Harold's health was failing. Ever since Harold's run in with young Robert FitzGuilliol, he has been developing a very bad case of frozen shoulder – in both shoulders. The right shoulder, and his sword arm are the worst, and are now nearly immobile, but years of fighting are taking their tole on his left shoulder as well, and it's getting difficult to even get himself on his horse.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] He's only 52 years old, but he knows his days of campaigning should be over, because he can't fend off enemies the way he used to. But they can't be, because England still has interests in securing Kernow (Cornwall), and Cumbria, the no man's land between England and Scotland. It's totally unorganized with wandering war bands ricking havoc on the local populace. Guerilla warfare in this area is the preferred method, and the king can't handle an ambush. He can command his troops efficiently, but if Cumbrians come springing from the trees at him, if they get through his personal guard, he's just about defenseless. Still, Harold has to maintain an image to his people, and so in the spring of 1074, he continues this timeline's Harrying of the North. But the campaign lasts a little longer than expected. The Cumbrians are pretty vicious, and it's more difficult because of the sheer lack of organization in the area. It's nothing like Wales. He can't kill or exile a king and claim any territory. Most of the 'kings' here don't even have actual uncontested claims to any land, so it's about tracking them through the Cumbrian wilderness and forcing their submission to the English king. It's no walk in the park, and 1074 is actually spent subjugating Cumbrian 'kings'. However there are several that he doesn't get a hold of, but by the end of the year, the problem seems to be so insignificant that it doesn't warrant his stay. Cumbria officially becomes the Earldom of Cumberland under Sihtric Fyrenson, the thegn that saved his son Godwin at Caen. The north is divided up in such a way that leaves Morcær's lands distant enough that he shouldn't be any trouble to the king, as unlikely as that is considering their long friendship. But by the end of the year long subjugation of Cumbria, Harold is just out of gas. He doesn't have any more left in him, and so returns home to London to live out the rest of his days. In his time, he has defeated Haralðr Har[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT]r[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]áð[/FONT]i and his brother Tostig, defeated William the Bastard, subdued any future threat from Normandy, ensured continued chaos in Wales, put a new king on the Scottish throne, modernized England's military and defenses, and created an over all strong, independent Kingdom of England. He will go down in History as Harold II the Strong. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] So, while Máel Coluim III hasn't been raiding across the Anglo-Scottish border himself, as England is doing considerably better in 1070 than it was in our timeline, that hasn't stopped his barons from doing so. Morcær of York has been putting up with Scottish raids for nearly 5 years now, and he's getting tired of it. Particularly when he was away in Normandy, a Scottish raid had nearly killed his brother Eadwine. So Morcær and his brother decided to do a little raiding of their own, and when they did, they hit the jackpot – they captured Máel Coluim's young son, Donnchadh. Oops! Because Donnchadh wasn't really dressed royally when they picked him up, they didn't realize who he was at first, but 'oops' was definitely the right word when the boy revealed his identity to his captors. Harold Godwinson had previously been occupied trying to subjugate Welsh raiders and with his castle-building program, so there wasn't a lot of time for him to send armies into Northumbria to keep the Scots in check. Plus, earlier in the year, he had been seeking an alliance with the King of Scotland in the hopes of creating a strong and united British Isles despite the fact that they had allied themselves with Norway and his brother Tostig, as he had come to view them as distinct from the European Continent. That was all pissed away when Máel Coluim refused to see his envoys, and so at this point in time he had every intention of replacing him on the Scottish throne with Máel Snechtai, who was married to his daughter Gytha. However, relations with the incumbent Scottish monarch were quite obviously worsened when Morcær and Eadwine captured Donnchadh at the start of the summer of 1070. Now this may seem uncharacteristically stupid, but the Scottish support against Harold was something that the two brothers felt warranted some score settling. Likewise, Morcær had been fending off Scottish raids with nearly no attention to the matter from his king, who had seemingly all but forgotten his northern borders. On the contrary, Harold was just busy, but he did fully intend to deal with Máel Coluim when the time was right. At this point however, he didn't get to choose when the times was. News traveled on the other side of the border within a matter of hours, and when Máel Coluim was interrupted while fishing outside Dùn Èidean (Edinburgh) he was more than a little upset. See, because he wasn't having tons of bouncing baby boys as he did in our own timeline with the lovely Saint Margaret, Donnchadh was his only heir, and he wasn't about to pay a ransom for him and allow the cruel English earls to perform savage acts on him the way they had on Matilda of Normandy. No... if Morcær and Eadwine wanted to play kidnappers, then Máel Coluim was going to play army, even if it meant full-blown war with England.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] It doesn't even take him the whole summer to annex the entire northeastern portion of the earldom, and by the time he's done, Morcær and Eadwine try to give young Donnchadh back without a ransom, just as long as Máel Coluim will leave. Máel Coluim accepts his son at Stamford Bridge, but instead of agreeing to leave, he fights the English out of principal at the Second Battle of Stamford Bridge, and this time, the English are defeated. Eadwine, whose idea it was to hold Donnchadh for ransom in the first place, is killed by Máel Coluim personally, who runs him through and into a tree. Eadwine of course will be left at that tree for everyone to see, hanging from Máel Coluim's sword, which over time gives birth to the saying 'to hang an Edwin', which will be used whenever messages are posted in a public place. With his death, the title of Earl of Mercia will go to Morcær, putting Morc[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r in control of half the country. The problem was, that he was a prisoner of the Scottish King, who could very well just behead him and be done with it.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Now, what was previously a hostage crisis turned into a very, very, very interesting situation the moment Máel Coluim hung Eadwine on a tree. Morcær, the extant brother of Eadwine and the last male heir to Ælfgar of Mercia was now in a very good position to be placed on the throne as King of England. So, should Máel Coluim just invade the rest of England with Morcær at his side, put him on the English throne, make him do homage, and rain as High-King of Britain? Well, it certainly did sound seductive, but it wasn't as close to being a reality as one would think. Maybe if such an opportunity had presented itself earlier, like 4 years earlier, however at this point in time, the English nobility, the English clergy, and the English people had a very strong sense of English independence. Harold had done wonders in a very short time in inspiring confidence in his people of their own identity as Englishmen, and not as the subjects of Danes, Normans, or in this case Scots. The idea that the whole of England might answer to a High-King in Scotland was a lot less plausible than it may have seemed with Morcær's newly inherited title. But one could always dream, right? Besides, Máel Coluim would have to subdue the Mormaer of Moireabh before he could attempt anything serious like that, and he knew he didn't really have the money or the means for a war on that scale. So, he made Morcær do him homage, which meant that he was now a subordinate of the Scottish King, and that both Northumbria and Mercia were technically under Scottish overlordship. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] The hell they were! At least in the case of Mercia. Unlike the Northumbrians, they hadn't just seen their armies decimated by very angry Gaels, and so when news got to Mercia that Morcær had done homage to Máel Coluim III (and to Harold, who was in Mercia at the time)... well let's just say it wasn't taken well. Mercia was not a Scottish territory, not as far as the Mercians were concerned anyways. Their rightful rulers were the children and grandchildren of Ælfgar, and no 3 year old (the age of Harold's twin boys by Ældgyth) was going to be appointed earl. If the situation was not fixed immediately, then a succession crisis could ensue over the earldom that not only had the potential to rip up the country, but also Harold's marriage. Let's not forget that Harold had taken Ældgyth as a prize when he defeated and deposed her husband, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd and Powys, and she already had two sons by him that had been welcomed to her brother's court in Mercia in 1067. If Máel Coluim was not subdued, then many of the thegns believed that the earldom should fall either to one of Ældgyth's Welsh sons, or to Ældgyth herself and a husband of her choosing, and there were clergy prepared to go to request a formal divorce from Rome if need be. Now, the idea of a woman inheriting an earldom was just batshit wild at the time, but despite what Harold had done for England, many Mercians were not willing to submit that much of England to his absolute rule – at least not while there were still heirs to the royal bloodline of the Hwicce. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] The whole situation is enough to nearly give Harold an embolism. The primary focus of his castle-building and military retraining programs had been in the south, where England had nearly lost everything, and where he was dealing with the Welsh. He had never thought that Morcær and Eadwine could fumble the ball as badly as they had just done. Not after their long track record with him.Who the fuck did Máel Coluim think he was? Did he honestly think he could hold Northumbria? What with the armies of the south, and a possible impending invasion from Scandinavia? Or was he perhaps in in league with the Danes, doing part of the job for them? You may be wondering what Harold was actually doing while all of this was going on. Well, when I say he was 'busy' in Wales, I mean, he was trying to calm down the chaos that already existed and had been further inflamed when he took control of a portion of Gwent to built his hunting lodge at Porthsgewin (Portskewett). [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] See, Harold had won a decisive victory against one Cadwgan ap Meurig, which ended up upsetting the 'balance' of Welsh power about 5 years earlier a little more than it was upset in our own timeline. For us, Cadwgan was killed in 1074 by an ambitious Caradog ap Gruffudd whose lineage had once controlled the neighboring kingdom of Deheubarth. But because Cadwgan is defeated before Caradog can rally enough Welsh warriors to him, Maredudd ap Owain ap Edwin has taken control of Gwent and united Gwent and Deheubarth, leaving Caradog prancing around the heath with his little warrior band on the run. Now, the last thing Harold wants is a united Wales. Why? Because ethnic 'Cymry' (the term the Welsh were using for themselves at the time) still lived all over much of what was considered to be England and Scotland. They still made up much of the population of Mercia, Northumbria, and the Scottish Lowlands. If Wales came under one ruler, then that ruler might get the hair-brained idea of campaigning outside of what Harold and the rest of the Saxons considered to be Welsh territory, rallying lots of little Cymry to his cause. This had happened before, and while it had never been that big of a deal, Harold was paranoid after the First Battle at Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings. And it also didn't help that his wife who hated his guts still held influence in Wales. If she should decide to runaway and marry a Welsh king... she was the Queen Consort of England and still the quasi-favorite of the clergy. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] So by 'calming down the chaos', I mean he was trying to make more chaos, but 'chaos' for Harold meant the idea of Wales under one ruler. He was trying, and quite successfully building a strong Kingdom of England, and nobody was going to fuck it up. So, Harold had been campaigning in Wales on the side of Caradog ap Gruffudd because Caradog ap Gruffudd had very scattered support in the area and seemed to have a good chance of undermining this silly Deheubarth and Gwent as one kingdom idea. This Welsh campaign of undermining wasn't anything particularly expensive until Morcar and Eadwine were stupid enough to hold the King of Scotland's son for ransom. Now, although York hadn't been sacked, the whole of Northumbria was under sovereign Scottish control, and Máel Coluim seemed to mean it, as he wasn't returning home, but staying self-invited at court in York. The Welsh campaign was now very expensive, as Harold was going to have to divert his attention to beating the Scottish out of the north of England while angry Welshmen raided Mercia over a dynastic claim to the earldom. Two words were going through Harold's continually at this point – why me? Indeed, why him? That was a question a few uppity bishops had started asking and even given answer for at their pulpits: clearly, Harold was not God's choice for king. Only a few bishops had actually preached these damning sermons, but rumors began circling around the English countryside that this conquest of the North was in fact God's punishment for England's 'vanity'. Of course, much of the nobility was still very thoroughly under Harold's thumb, but the common folk were beginning to get uneasy, specifically the Cymry that were living within England's borders and the Mercians. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] So the first thing that he does to calm his wife down, who really fucking hates him, is welcome her two sons to the English court proper. The next thing he does? Well, Northumbria has to be liberated, and he has plans for its liberation so that Morcær doesn't get any bright ideas after the whole situation is repaired. Specifically, he plans to divide the Earldom of Northumbria into Yorkshire, Bamburgh, and Northumbria so that Morcær isn't in direct control of so much land. Yorkshire will go to his son, Edmund, and Bamburgh to Oswulf Uctredson, whose family had controlled the area for some time. Northumbria would be reduced into a fraction of its original size, and would not share a border with Mercia. But before he can do all of this, he has to make sure that Máel Coluim won't be winning any more battle at Stamford Bridge, and the best way to do that is get him the hell off of the Scottish throne. So Harold is going to engage in his own little Harrying of the North, and its going to start with a full on three front invasion of the Kingdom of Scotland. How? Well, Mael Snechtai is the Mormaer of Moireabh in the Scottish Highlands, and Fingal Mac Gofraid Uí Ímair is the King of the Isles. Harold has made sure to cement alliances with both of these men by marrying his young daughters to them. He has both their ears if need be, and in point of fact, both of them fancy themselves as kings of Scotland. So once the messengers are sent, Harold begins marching with his full force to York, where Máel Coluim has taken up residence for the moment. The plan will go as follows:[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Harold will defeat Máel Coluim at York, and if possible, take him hostage. However, that possibility is rather slight, so it will suffice to push him north, as close to being back in Scotland as humanly possible. Fingal mac Gofraid has a lot of men in the town of Sruighlea (Stirling), and although it is not under his control, it wouldn't take much for it to be. Also, one of his own, one Harailt mac Torcail, actually took control of the town of Dùn Dèagh in 1068. Fingal also rules Gall-Ghaidhealaibh (Galloway), and has men deposited in Glaschu under Nechtan mac S[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]í[/FONT]thig. So it will be up to the Norse-Gaels to take control of Southern Scotland while Harold chases Mael Coluim up to the border and Máel Snechtai distracts the king's brother, Máel Muire of Ath-fhotla by invading his highland territories. Easy peasy, right? Well, not really.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Harold is able to get to York before the onset of autumn, but by the time he gets there, Máel Coluim has fortified his position fairly well and does not go easily. In fact, he doesn't break until autumn has nearly turned to winter. Furthermore, when Sruighlea is over taken by one Rónán mac C[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]á[/FONT]i Uí Garrchon, born to Laigin parents on the island of Di[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ù[/FONT]ra, the Norse-Gaels attempt to seize Dùn Èidean, and lose Sruighlea when Mael Muire sends troops to the area from Dùn Chailleann. Dùn Èidean is taken by Rónán, but Harailt is unable to take Scoine, even with reinforcements from the Hebrides. Máel Snechtai is a little slow on his part as well, so Máel Muire's men are able to hold Scoine even if they lose Sruighlea that winter. When Máel Snechtai does show up (it is kind of his party), he takes the castle at Cinn Drochaid, which is an important border stronghold between Moireabh and the Kingdom of Scotland. The war lasts into 1073, and Máel Coluim and his brother Máel Muire put up a very noble fight, but it just isn't enough with the three way onslaught. The battle that decides Scotland's fate here is the Battle of Cill Saidhe between Glaschu and Dùn Èidean. From this point on, Scotland's fortune falls like dominoes as Dùn Chailleann, Ath-fhotla, and Scoine all fall to the Anglo/Highlander/Hebridean onslaught. Máel Snechtai is officially crowned at Scoine on May 8th of 1073, and Fingal bights the bullet with mere control of the northern region of Ros. Máel Muire, a man in his mid 30s would spend the next 18 years in prison, while his 42 year old brother Máel Coluim III, was welcomed at at Ailech by none other than Áed Mac Néill of the Uí Néill. And who did he take with him? Well, he took his son, Donnchadh, but also a daughter, Seonaid. Who was the mother of the daughter? When Máel Coluim killed Eadwine and forced Morcær into submission, he welcomed Matilda of Normandy (Flanders), the former Duchess of Normandy, into his court. Although it was believed that she was pregnant before the Second Battle of Stamford Bridge, her daughter was named in Gaelic, which suggests to many that she might have had an affair with Máel Coluim III. The truth of the matter is however, that the baby was in fact Morcær's, but as she died in childbirth, Máel Coluim took her daughter in and named it in his own tongue. [/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Máel Coluim's stepsons, Paul and Erlend Thorfinnsson are killed after having retaken Sruighlea in 1072 before Harold takes it back. Scotland itself is now under one ruler, but control of the Orkney Isles, which belong to Norway, sparks yet another conflict, but this time between Norway and the Isles. Olaf Kyrre's botched attempt to assert Norwegian control in the Orkneys was that summer was the final blow to Norwegian sovereignty in the North Sea. Olaf would pursue is policy of domestic reform afterward, and Fingal would continue north, taking the Faroe Islands, and eventually initiating Gaelic settlement of Iceland. A new Gaelic Age had begun.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] Back home in England, Harold's health was failing. Ever since Harold's run in with young Robert FitzGuilliol, he has been developing a very bad case of frozen shoulder – in both shoulders. The right shoulder, and his sword arm are the worst, and are now nearly immobile, but years of fighting are taking their tole on his left shoulder as well, and it's getting difficult to even get himself on his horse.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif] He's only 52 years old, but he knows his days of campaigning should be over, because he can't fend off enemies the way he used to. But they can't be, because England still has interests in securing Kernow (Cornwall), and Cumbria, the no man's land between England and Scotland. It's totally unorganized with wandering war bands ricking havoc on the local populace. Guerilla warfare in this area is the preferred method, and the king can't handle an ambush. He can command his troops efficiently, but if Cumbrians come springing from the trees at him, if they get through his personal guard, he's just about defenseless. Still, Harold has to maintain an image to his people, and so in the spring of 1074, he continues this timeline's Harrying of the North. But the campaign lasts a little longer than expected. The Cumbrians are pretty vicious, and it's more difficult because of the sheer lack of organization in the area. It's nothing like Wales. He can't kill or exile a king and claim any territory. Most of the 'kings' here don't even have actual uncontested claims to any land, so it's about tracking them through the Cumbrian wilderness and forcing their submission to the English king. It's no walk in the park, and 1074 is actually spent subjugating Cumbrian 'kings'. However there are several that he doesn't get a hold of, but by the end of the year, the problem seems to be so insignificant that it doesn't warrant his stay. Cumbria officially becomes the Earldom of Cumberland under Sihtric Fyrenson, the thegn that saved his son Godwin at Caen. The north is divided up in such a way that leaves Morcær's lands distant enough that he shouldn't be any trouble to the king, as unlikely as that is considering their long friendship. But by the end of the year long subjugation of Cumbria, Harold is just out of gas. He doesn't have any more left in him, and so returns home to London to live out the rest of his days. In his time, he has defeated Haralðr Har[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT]r[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]áð[/FONT]i and his brother Tostig, defeated William the Bastard, subdued any future threat from Normandy, ensured continued chaos in Wales, put a new king on the Scottish throne, modernized England's military and defenses, and created an over all strong, independent Kingdom of England. He will go down in History as Harold II the Strong. [/FONT]