Review: Lions of the Grail by Tim Hodkinson

Synopsis: First in an adventure-filled historical series following Irish Knight Templar, Richard Savage, as he is forced to spy on his homeland for the King of England.

1315 AD. Ireland and England are ravaged by bitter war. Rotting in an English prison, condemned as a heretic, Irish Knight Templar Richard Savage is given one chance of reprieve. But there is a catch. He must return to Ireland as a traitor, and work as a spy there for the King of England.

Savage returns to his homeland, but even here he can trust no one. He soon discovers the Scots intend to invade and someone in Ireland is helping them. The King of Scotland also claims to possess a mysterious holy treasure, and many are flocking to his cause. And what's more, Savage discovers he left more than just memories behind in Ireland...

Amid feasts, tournaments, invasion and war, can Savage decide whose side he is really on, discover whether this holy relic is real and, above all, stay alive?

As an avid reader of Hodkinson's Whale Road Chronicles, and having some fore-knowledge of the period in history, I was interested to see how the Scottish invasion of Ireland under the Bruces would pan out under Hodkinson's skillful narration.

This is the first in the series. So for those unfamiliar with the era, Edward Bruce fought alongside his brother Robert throughout his struggle for the Scottish throne, which culminated in the battle of Bannockburn, in which the Scots were victorious (1315). Continuing their war against England, especially after the Isle of Man fell under Scots loyal to England, Robert Bruce decided to open a second front in Ulster. As there had been no High King in Ireland for some time, Bruce figured that in making Edward King of Ireland, concessions could be made in return for localised support.  The Annals of Ulster record the event as follows:

U1314.2

Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, came to Ireland along with many gallowglasses in aid of Edward, his brother, to expel the Foreigners from Ireland.

This is where our story opens, in the events leading up to the invasion of Ireland by the Scots. Our protagonist, Richard Savage, is a Templar of Irish descent, imprisoned in England after the decimation of the Order by Philip of France in 1314. When the King of England, Edward II, needs to get a feel for what is happening in Ireland, he drags Savage out of his imprisonment and sends him across to Ulster to gauge the loyalty of those there and to scupper any plans for "a grand Gaelic alliance against England". As Savage is trusted by neither side, there is plenty of action, battles, captures, escapes, rescues, disguises, secret codes, assassins, an old enemy AND a holy relic.  There is enough to keep the reader entertained, much being centered around the town and castle of Carrickfergus, and ais is duly noted in the narrative "... one thing was sure - there would be more fighting ...".

Now, there has been plenty of speculation as to the relationship between the Knights Templars and Scotland. Treasure hunters claim that in the 14th century, the Knights Templar fled to Scotland with a trove of valuables because they received support and protection from King Robert the Bruce. Templar scholar and medieval historian Helen Nicholson said that any remaining Knights Templar were more likely to be found in Cyprus. One of the first to link the Templar fleet to Scotland was George Frederick Johnson, a Scottish exile in Germany in the mid-18th Century, who said that the Templars had sailed to Scotland. However, Johnson's claims proved to be as fraudulent as he himself was later discovered to be.

A number of actual historical figures make their appearance throughout, including the likes of Roger Mortimer, Richard de Burgh, Thomas de Mandeville, John de Bermingham and the Bruces - Robert and Edward. There is, of course, Edward II - though based upon the description of him in this instance, I find myself imagining him as Claude Rains in his role as Prince John in the 1938 adaption of Robin Hood. Similarly, I picture Lancaster as Basil Rathbone in his role from the same film.

Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone

The female character - to be honest - I could take or leave. Sometimes they are not necessary to the narrative - the cast of characters does not - in my opinion - always need to be "inclusive" or "politically correct" to tell a good story. There does not always have to be some "love interest" to lure in the female reader - sometimes their inclusion feels forced and detracts from the storyline. However, as one continues reading, the female character does have some sort of role.

What I find rather poignant about this whole episode can be summed up in this quote:

"   it's sad that a country that has struggled so long to gain it's own freedom should so soon seek to visit war and oppression on another ... "

I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the series progresses.

Warriors of the Pale: An Irish Saga by Raymond Reagan Butler

In 1185, King Henry II of England sent a messenger to Rome, requesting that his youngest son, Prince John, should be recognised as King of Ireland. With the request granted, John went to Ireland to fight for his dominion and with him went Theobald Walter, the first of the warriors of the Pale - that part of Ireland completely under English rule in the Medieval period. The Butlers would produce an unbroken succession of male heirs right down to 1515.

For the first two centuries the military struggle between the native Irish and the Normans was a bloody stalemate; then in 1399 Richard II attempted to quell the Irish chieftains once and for all, but was pushed back to the Pale - and in the process lost the English throne to Henry IV. Raymond Butler follows the fascinating and not always well documented military struggle in Ireland, focussing upon the extraordinary Butler dynasty, who supported the English kings and were duly rewarded, the eighth earl being made Chief Governor of Ireland by Henry VIII.

The last of the great warriors of The Pale, the 'Black Earl', was Lieutenant-General of Ireland at his death in 1614, still loyal to the English King James I: though the Butlers had not always been loyal, not when their vast lands and wealth had been threatened. This is a 400-year-long story of pitched battles, shifting loyalties, political confusion, assimilation, treachery and military prowess that sheds new light on the entwined histories of England and Ireland.

The Sassana Stone Pentalogy by James Vella Bardon

Synopsis: the adventures of Spaniard Abel de Santiago are told in five volumes by author James Vella-Barden: The Sheriff's Catch; A Rebel North; Hero of Rossclogher; Trials in Tumult; Ring of Ruse.

Army deserter Abel de Santiago has all but avenged his murdered wife, when he is captured and sold as a galley slave as part of the the Spanish Armada bound for England (May 1588). After a crushing defeat, the Spanish ships are battered by extraordinary storms. Santiago soon finds himself washed ashore in Ireland, a country terrorised by men that the natives call Sassenachs. Santiago’s faint hopes of survival appear dashed when he is captured by the brutal Sheriff of Sligo, who has orders from Dublin to torture and kill all Spanish castaways. An unlikely twist of fate leaves Santiago fleeing Sligo with a jewelled ring worth a King’s ransom. His escape leads to a desperate chase across a strange and stunning land, where danger lurks at every turn.

It was the real events of the fate of the Spanish Armada that first drew me to the first in the series - The Sheriff's Catch. I was familiar enough with the basic history of Ireland in the 16th Century to be aware of the links between the "native" Irish and the Spanish, particularly those post-Armada. So my curiosity was piqued and lead to my own discovery of the events which form the backdrop of Valla Barden's series.

In Ireland, the last Desmond rebellion had been crushed around 1583, by Elizabeth’s army, their lands were confiscated and planted with English settlers. The defeated chieftains of Munster and their compatriots went into exile in Spain, many working in navy and army. These Irish exiles hoped that a Spanish victory might restore their lands. The first Irish regiment in Spanish service was born in 1587 when an Irish unit raised under an English Catholic, William Stanley and sent to the Netherlands, defected to the Spanish side. As a result Ireland appeared to the Spanish to be an obvious weak point for England, with a restive Catholic population that could be mobilized in their favour. 

The Spanish Armada was the largest naval invasion fleet ever known at the time, consisting of 130 ships and 29,450 men of various nationalities, including soldiers, sailors, a large number of priests and servants, all under command of Duke of Medina Sidonia, who ruled with an iron fist.

The historical events of the Spanish Armada of 1588, Spain’s great naval effort to conquer Protestant England, and the devastating consequences off the Irish coast have been well documented and as such will not be covered off here. Suffice to say that the decision to return home through North Atlantic proved fatal as they were driven off-course by bad weather and close on 24 ships were wrecked off the Irish coast from Antrim in the north to Kerry in the south (September 1588). 

The Annals of the Fours Masters says: 

Great numbers of the Spaniards were drowned, and their ships were totally wrecked in those places. The smaller part of them returned to Spain; and some say that nine thousand of them were lost on this occasion. 

In Dublin, Elizabeth’s government issued dire warnings about how Spanish were to be dealt with, along with any Irish who attempted to aid them immediate death. The English Lord Deputy of Ireland, Fitzwilliam, issued a proclamation whereby ‘Harbouring Castaways’ was punishable by death. To his own officers he wrote; 

‘Whereas the distressed fleet of the Spaniards by tempest and contrary winds, though the providence of God have been driven on the coast… where it is thought, great treasure and also ordinance, munitions [and] armour hath been cast. We authorize you to… to haul all hulls and to apprehend and execute all Spaniards found there of any quality soever. Torture May be used in prosecuting this inquiry.’ (source: Calendar of Carew Manuscripts 1575-1588) 

This chilling order, not to spare prisoners ‘of any quality [i.e. rank or social status] whatsoever’ was startlingly ruthless. Accordingly, Richard Bingham, the President of Connacht, and his brother George Bingham, executed up to 1,100 Spanish survivors of the wrecks who made it ashore in the western province. For instance, at Galway city, 300 Spanish prisoners including 40 aristocrats were beheaded on Fitzwilliam’s orders – though Bingham apparently regretted the loss of ransom money. Only a handful such as Don Luis de Cordoba, managed to secretly buy their way to safety in Scotland.

 

Native Irish treatment of the Spanish survivors was extremely varied. In Connacht, most Irish lords cooperated with Bingham, particularly the largest lords O’Brien, Earl of Thomond, and Burke, Earl of Clanricarde. Other clans such as the O’Flahertys also handed over Spanish prisoners. Others, seem simply to have seen the Armada as an opportunity for personal gain. Dubhdarach O’Malley Roe, on Clare Island, for instance killed the Spanish survivors and kept their gold for himself. However, in modern north Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim, areas which had very recently been in armed revolt against the English Crown – chieftains such as MacWilliam Burke, and Brian O’Rourke harboured Spaniards. 

In County Sligo, where three ships of fleet - La Lavia, La Juliana, and Santa Maria de Vision - sunk off the coast in a treacherous gale on September 25, 1588, a recent exciting discovery has confirmed their existence at bottom of the sea in Streedagh Strand which is near the village of Grange. 

The three ships had become detached from their squadron and drifted off the coast of Streedagh. A westward wind was howling and ships had few anchors, having cut them at English fire ship attack near Calais. They were hit by Atlantic storm and lifted as pounding waves on seaward side forced them over and eventually, the vessels rapidly broke up. 

A series of letters of one of Spanish aboard La Lavia who escaped subsequent massacre ashore, provides us with evidence of what occurred and is an important social and historical document detailing often horrific events he witnessed as he journeyed throughout areas of north Sligo, Leitrim and on Causeway coast of north Antrim. 

Francisco de Cúellar’s record of events when he was washed up, exhausted and broken, in Streedagh and his subsequent travels until he eventually got back to Spain survives. De Cúellar, a native of Castille-Y-Leon in Spain originally joined the fleet as captain of galleon San Pedro which was part of the squadron of Castille (he lost his rank and was transferred to La Lavia for disobeying orders). 

It is estimated that from three vessels about 1,800 men drowned and the rest came ashore at Streedagh. The English George Bingham’s army killed 140-150 Spanish at Streedagh. However, even before English forces arrived, surviving Spanish had to deal with Irish. Thousands of Irish natives gathered in sparsely populated Streedagh, beach now littered with bodies, flotsam and injured. Several Irish attacked (but contrary to popular view at the time, did not kill) Spanish, instead they took their money, clothes, jewellry and whatever could be salvaged from ships. 

Captain Francisco de Cuellar later wrote that, as a survivor, he found: “the land and shore were full of enemies, who went dancing with delight at our misfortune; and when any one of our people reached the beach, two hundred savages and other enemies fell upon him and stripped him of what he had.” 

Having escaped, de Cúellar’s now famous testimony records his epic journey. He found refuge from friendly chieftains of Sligo & Leitrim - De Cúellar wrote of ‘passing seven months among mountains and woods with savages’. 

O’Rourke of Breifne, whom he described as ‘a savage but a very good Christian and an enemy of the heretics, always carrying on war with them’, sent him through the territory of several other friendly clans including McClancy of Rosclogher and Redmond O’Gallagher, Bishop of Derry and the O’Cahans. 

De Cúellar also witnessed much cruelty, arriving at nearby Staid Abbey he found "twelve Spaniards hanging within the church by act of Lutheran English." Later, after being forced to work as a blacksmith in Glenade valley de Cúellar fetches up at McClancy castle at Rossclogher, Lough Melvin, County Leitrim. After defending McClancy’s castle from English forces, de Cúellar was offered, as a token of gratitude, hand in marriage of McClancy’s sister. However, de Cúellar slipped away quietly and secretly took ship back to the Spanish Netherlands. - 

Subsequently, Brian O’Rourke, Prince of Breffni (who was said to have fled to Scotland before being handed over to the English) and McClancy who had helped not only de Cúellar but other Spanish survivors, were both executed by the English crown. 

In Ulster, which was still largely outside of English control, the Spaniards seem to have fared somewhat better, at least if they survived shipwreck. In Antrim the Scottish/Irish MacDonnell clan led by Sorley Boy (Somhairle Buidh) helped up to 500 Spaniards escape to Scotland. 

The position of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, the most powerful northern leader, at this point still proclaiming himself a loyal subject to Elizabeth I, was hard to pin down. He sheltered and kept on a number of Spanish commanders to train his own forces, whom he was soon to lead in a war against the Elizabethan state. Nevertheless, he also reported to Fitzwilliam the Lord Deputy that he had ‘put a large number of Spaniards to the sword’ in Inishowen (modern Donegal). During Hugh O’Neill and Hugh O’Donnell’s Nine Years War (1595-1603) against the English Crown, both lords were in constant communication with Phillip II, who aided them with weapons, money and finally a landing of Spanish troops at Kinsale in 1601-2. 

Ironically enough, those Spaniards lucky enough to be shipwrecked in England itself were generally treated much more leniently. Most were taken prisoner and eventually repatriated.

As I said, what better backdrop of an epic series with all the essential elements: an quest for vengeance; a priceless treasure; an emotional journey; a desperate escape; a daring and exciting adventure.

further reading & sources:

Ireland: Graveyard of the Spanish Armada by TP Kilfeather

Captain Cuellar’sLetters

Carew Manuscript

Calendar of theState Papers relating to Ireland, of the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI.,Mary, and Elizabeth

Spanish Armada In Ireland

Francisco de Cuellar

Rónán Gearóid Ó Domhnaill's Blog Post: 1588 - A Dark Year For Galway

Brian Boru didn’t save Ireland from the Vikings

From the Irish Times:

A gorgeous new book, Dublin and the Viking World, introduces readers to the period when Dublin became Ireland’s first fully functioning town. Written by Prof Clarke, a director of the Medieval Trust (the parent body of Dublinia, the Viking and medieval museum near Christchurch, Dublin) and formerly a historian at UCD, Sheila Dooley who was curator and educational officer in Dublinia, and Dr Ruth Johnson, city archaeologist for Dublin City Council, it will be published just after Easter weekend’s first Viking festival, hosted by Dublinia.

The big surprise for us is that Brian Boru didn’t actually save Ireland from the Vikings, and the prevailing wisdom about the Battle of Clontarf is based on propaganda.

Dublin and the Viking World is handsomely illustrated and accessible, drawing on a tremendous amount of research. Clarke makes the point that it represents “the best possible attempt anyone can make to demonstrate the nature of a major Viking settlement anywhere in Europe”.

See also: Melisende's Library - The Battle of Clontarf, Ireland's Troy?

More than just one invasion after another: Medieval Ireland

From Irish World:

A new book seeks to challenge that assumption, providing a look at a thousand years of the history of the island of Ireland, from the arrival of St Patrick in the 5th century to the political and religious events of the late 14th century.

The book, by Dr Clare Downham of the University of Liverpool, resists the tendency to define Irish medieval history by certain landmark dates, such as the arrival of the Vikings c.800, or the invasion of Ireland by Henry II of England in 1171.

Dr Downham’s reasons for this are compelling: an Irish person in 1175 is unlikely to have viewed them self as in a fundamentally different society as someone ten years before, and many of the changes in medieval Ireland, such as the increase in literacy and improvements in farming technology, were both far more gradual and far more wide reaching than the events of any single date.

Links:

* University of Liverpool

* The Conversation

The Battle of Clontarf - Ireland’s Troy?

New research suggests that the standard account of the Battle of Clontarf - Cogadh Gáedhel re Gallaibh (“The War Of The Irish Against The Foreigners”) – was partly a literary history borrowed from a classic tale of the Trojan Wars.

In Classical Literature and Learning in Medieval Irish Narrative edited by Ralph O'Connor, a chapter by Maire Ni Mhaonaigh - The metaphorical Hector': the literary portrayal of Murchad mac Bríain - relooks at the historical accounts of the Battle of Contarf, the legendary battle between the Irish and the Vikings in 1014.

Through a close study of the text, Dr Ní Mhaonaigh found that the imagery, terminology and ideas draw inspiration from a range of earlier sources – in particular Togail Troí (The Destruction of Troy), an eleventh-century translation of a fifth-century account of the battle for Troy.

In popular history, the battle has been characterised as an epic and violent clash between the army of the Christian Irish High King, Brian Boru, and a combined force led by the rebel king of the territory of Leinster, Máel Mórda, and Sitric, leader of the Dublin-based Vikings. The disputed outcome saw the Vikings beaten off, but at huge cost. Brian himself was killed, and became an iconic figure and Irish martyr.

“Academics have long accepted that Cogadh couldn’t be taken as reliable evidence but that hasn’t stopped some of them from continuing to draw on it to portray the encounter. What this research shows is that its account of the battle was crafted, at least in part, to create a version of events that was the equivalent of Troy. This was more than a literary flourish, it was a work of a superb, sophisticated and learned author.”

read more here @ University of Cambridge

Classical Literature and Learning in Medieval Irish Narrative edited by Ralph O'Connor

From the tenth century onwards, Irish scholars adapted Latin epics and legendary histories into the Irish language, including the Imtheachta Aeniasa, the earliest known adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid into any European vernacular; Togail Troí, a grand epic reworking of the decidedly prosaic history of the fall of Troy attributed to Dares Phrygius; and, at the other extreme, the remarkable Merugud Uilixis meic Leirtis, a fable-like retelling of Ulysses's homecoming boiled down to a few hundred lines of lapidary prose.