Of a sign which was seen in the heavens, and of the storming of certain castles

                This is the History of English Affairs again. William of Newburgh finds himself utterly speechless in this episode, and this from a man that by all accounts has his head screwed on tighter than the lid of a pickle jar.

Aumale, France. Now.



Twin Suns



Nonancourt, France. Now.

In the octaves of Pentecost [16 June 1196], and in the first hour of the day, two suns appeared in the heavens; namely, the true sun and a second, its equal in size and brilliancy. Nor was it easy to discern which of them was the true one, unless by its regular course; for the other appeared to follow it at a little higher elevation -- a presage, perchance, of the evils, which ensued: and this sign I beheld with my own eyes, with some others who were with me. After we had for some time stood gazing at so unusual a spectacle in suspense and amazement, of a sudden, like men overcome with fatigue we were casting down our eyes, the counterfeit of the true sun vanished away. Nor was it long after this that, the period of the truce which had slightly cheered the harassed people being completed, the bloodthirsty rage of the princes once more broke out. To arms rushed everyone at full speed; and the provinces lately so flourishing was devastated by fire and sword.

The king of France with his forces besieged Aumale, and the king of England that castle which is called Nonancourt, which was formerly in his possession, but which some time since had been seized by the French monarch. Having quickly gained possession of it, he was besought by his people to undertake the task of repelling the enemy and raising the siege; but he paid no heed to their requests, either dreading a battle, which must have been bloody to the last degree, or trusting with confidence in the valour of his men who were gallantly defending the beleaguered fortress. Turning about, with the intention of laying waste the hostile frontiers, he studiously endeavoured to draw off the besiegers without mutual bloodshed; but persisting with stubborn determination in effecting his purpose, at last, after much labour and loss to his army, he obtained possession of the castle by surrender, and razed it to the ground. This loss but little afflicted the king of England, who was compensated for it by the possession of a more renowned castle; which, however, fell not long after once more into the hands of the French king, having been surprised at a moment when it was inadequately defended. The enmity between the princes waxing fiercer and fiercer, the task of restoring peace was undertaken in vain by the well-disposed and prudent, for they closed their ears to all peaceful counsel. For, as it is written, "They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of the charmers" [Psalm 8: 4, 5.]

In this matter the cause of the king of England, who was only seeking his own right, was the more powerful, and his wrath beyond a doubt the juster, as has been shown above. Peace being thus despaired of -- since neither the one could by any reasoning be induced to give up that which he held unlawfully, nor the other to rest until his right was re-established, -- the more these proud princes chafed at one another, so much the more did the unhappy people lament; for whenever kings rage, the innocent people suffer for it.

Salutations All!

Here’s a Derbyshire fairy tale from SO Addy’s, the collector of local stories. This is a story is said to have originated in the Derbyshire town of Eckington and in true fairy tale tradition it’s thought that this story was a morality tale told to young children.

It tells of a young girl with a golden cup. One day, her mother told her that she was going out and that the girl could while away the time playing with the cup. The girl asked a servant to get the cup for her from a cupboard, but the maid was too busy. The girl kept asking the servant over and over again whether she could have her cup.

But what happened next? The servant, infuriated with the girl’s constant nagging, murdered her and buried the girl’s body under one of the flagstones in the cellar. The mother returned later that day and asked the servant where her daughter was. The servant claimed that she’d not seen the daughter in hours. The mother looked for a while but couldn’t find her.

Now, I’ll let SO Addy finish off the tale in his own words:

Then the mother was deeply grieved, and she sat up all that night and all the next. On the third night as she sat alone and wide awake she heard the voice of her daughter outside the door saying, “Can I have my golden cup?” the mother opened the door, and when her daughter had repeated the question three times she saw her spirit, but the spirit vanished at once, and she never saw it more.

Of the prodigy of the dead man, who wandered about after burial

Salutations all!

Here's the next in my brief series on William of Newburgh and the 'true medieval horror' in his History of English Affairs.

Again, I will be adding this to the pages on the right named after the writer.

Of the prodigy of the dead man, who wandered about after burial

                This is the first of the segments from the History of English Affairs by William of Newburgh. This history, written over the period of a couple of decades, always surprises me. If you can get a copy of the original text and read the introduction, William tries to stand by the facts as they’re presented to him with very little speculation. His neutrality is more comparable with academic texts of a much more modern age than the 12^th century that this was written in; yet, it does have the feel of a Hammer Horror film.

I hope that you enjoy it.

In these days a wonderful event befell in the county of Buckingham, which I, in the first instance, partially heard from certain friends, and was afterwards more fully informed of by Stephen, the venerable archdeacon of that province. A certain man died, and, according to custom, by the honourable exertion of his wife arid kindred, was laid in the tomb on the eve of the Lord's Ascension. On the following night, however, having entered the bed where his wife was reposing, he not only terrified her on awaking, but nearly crushed her by the insupportable weight of his body. The next night, also, he afflicted the astonished woman in the same manner, who, frightened at the danger, as the struggle of the third night drew near, took care to remain awake herself, and surround herself with watchful companions. Still he came; but being repulsed by the shouts of the watchers, and seeing that he was prevented from doing mischief, he departed. Thus driven off from his wife, he harassed in a similar manner his own brothers, who were dwelling in the same street; but they, following the cautious example of the woman, passed the nights in wakefulness with their companions, ready to meet and repel the expected danger. He appeared, notwithstanding, as if with the hope of surprising them should they be overcome with drowsiness; but being repelled by the carefulness and valour of the watchers, he rioted among the animals, both indoors and outdoors, as their wildness and unwonted movements testified.

Having thus become a like serious nuisance to his friends and neighbours, he imposed upon all the same necessity for nocturnal watchfulness; and in that very street a general watch was kept in every house, each being fearful of his approach unawares. After having for some time rioted in this manner during the night-time alone, he began to wander abroad in daylight, formidable indeed to all, but visible only to a few; for oftentimes, on his encountering a number of persons, he would appear to one or two only though at the same time his presence was not concealed from the rest. At length the inhabitants, alarmed beyond measure, thought it advisable to seek counsel of the church; and they detailed the whole affair, with tearful lamentation, to the above-mentioned archdeacon, at a meeting of the clergy over which he was solemnly presiding. Whereupon he immediately intimated in writing the whole circumstances of the case to the venerable bishop of Lincoln, who was then resident in London, whose opinion and judgment on so unwonted a matter he was very properly of opinion should be waited for: but the bishop, being amazed at his account, held a searching investigation with his companions; and there were some who said that such things had often befallen in England, and cited frequent examples to show that tranquillity could not be restored to the people until the body of this most wretched man were dug up and burnt. This proceeding, however, appeared indecent and improper in the last degree to the reverend bishop, who shortly after addressed a letter of absolution, written with his own hand, to the archdeacon, in order that it might be demonstrated by inspection in what state the body of that man really was; and he commanded his tomb to be opened, and the letter having been laid upon his breast, to be again closed: so the sepulchre having been opened, the corpse was found as it had been placed there, and the charter of absolution having been deposited upon its breast, and the tomb once more closed, he was thenceforth never more seen to wander, nor permitted to inflict annoyance or terror upon any one.

Salutations all!

Here's a book shop dear to my heart. It's Scarthin Books in Cromford, Derbyshire. I remember visiting it as a child, where I would search through the books that sprawled over the three floors - including the stairwells - of the shop. Even the café was filled with them. I even go up now with the same sense of childlike glee - I found my first set of Sexton Blake originals there over Christmas. But they need help. Check out http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/scarthin-books-needs-your-help/ and for more information about the shop itself, visit www.scarthinbooks.com