Chronicles of the Caseres of Engaland- Anglo-Saxon victory in 1066

[[totally a legit person]]

Chapter 1

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It is the night, of the year 1066, all is quiet in the Norman camp, then a charge of troops rush into the camp, slaughtering many of the invaders of Engeland, leaving many dead bodies in their wake. Norman knights, under their bastard leader, William the Bastard, are organized, and they charge through the Englisc lines, though they're dealt massive casualties whilst doing so, the Norman knights whirl around and charge once again at the Englisc lines. But the Englisc have been reformed into semi-cohesive lines under their leader to meet the new threat these Norman knights present to them, and he is using the Norman camp as a defensive structure for his troops.


The battle rages on for the good part of the night, the knights are forced to dismount halfway through, and it turns into a giant brawl, where all are bitting and fighting for their lives. The Englisc peasant levies have been exhausted from a forced-march from Stamford Bridge, a battle there, and a force-march preceding the battle by Harold Godwinson. But the morale of their enemies is much worse, the camp isn't supporting the knights, any space for mobility is taken, forcing their charge, and also, their only advantage of mobility, to be null and void. They did not have armor, since they did not sleep in it, and they did not have the necessary time to put it on during the surprise charge by the troops of the Englisc. The leaders of both sides were fighting, to motivate and spur on their troops to fight more, which was working out fairly well for both of the sides. Unfortunately for William, during the fight he was cornered and then captured, being the final nail in the coffin for the Norman army's morale. They break apart and were chased, captured, and slaughtered by the Englisc, most were killed in the beginning, but the slaughter afterward, killed the last remnants.


William was brought before the leader of the Englisc, who he expected to be the new king, Harold Godwinson, but upon this man lifting up his helmet, he was surprised to find a 16-year-old. He was guessing that this is the youngest of the new princes, son of Harold Godwinson and Matilda of Flanders, Alfwin Haroldson, later historians would say of house Godwin. He was the brother of Mildritha of Wessex, who is married to the prince, and future king of France Philip I, whose marriage produced an alliance. This alliance had affectively forced the king to denounce William as an overly-ambitious man, who has no right to wear the crown of Engaland, and then also claimed that Normandy no longer belonged to William, but none had listened to him, as the Capetian monarchs had held no sway over their many vassals.


Alfwin had persuaded his father to allow him to force-march the troops south, to prepare for William the Bastard, and said that he'd wait for his father, but upon hearing news of the enemy landing, and making a camp, he struck upon it, forcing his troops to strike in a surprise attack in the middle of the pitch-black den of the night, which had worked out in his favor surprisingly well. Now the Bastard who tried to take his father's throne, no- his throne, was kneeling right before him, in chains, it did not take long for his head to be prepared on a pike. This fate then befell all of his troops who were captured, but their clothes and armor were made to be kept clean and tidy, they are to be executed without any clothes, to add some insult to injury.


After William's execution, he seized the ships used to invade Engaland, took the cloths of the Normans, and then took a day to rest up. After that, he used the previously Norman ships, and embarked for Normandy's coast, in hopes of finishing a short campaign, then return after a month, though if he proves successful in this matter, it will be the matter of the next chapter.

This is considered the first battle of the first Caseres' first step into his career, and we will be chronicling it, alongside many of the other Caezeres, in very vivid detail.

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Casere is pronounced (kai-zere) by the Anglo-Saxon. Harold Godwinson was single at the same time as Matilda of Flanders, who was the wife of William the Conqueror, I then thought up two of their potential kids, Mildritha was the daughter, she and Prince Philip would be around the same age, so I married them, and Alfwin is the son, the youngest of Harold's sons.

 

[Black Prince of Britannia]

e was surprised to find a 16-year-old. He was guessing this is the new prince, son of Harold Godwinson and Matilda of Flanders, brother of Mildred of Wessex, who is married to the prince, and future king of France Philip I,

I'm rather confused as to who this "Arthur" is, or who Mildred is, and why the choice of such a non-Anglo-Saxon name

 

[[totally a legit person]]

I'm rather confused as to who this "Arthur" is, or who Mildred is, and why the choice of such a non-Anglo-Saxon name

Eh, I found out that Harold Godwinson was single at the same time as Matilda of Flanders, who was the wife of William the Conqueror, then I thought up two kids, and Mildred was the daughter, I got Mildritha confused with it, so I'll change it, and she and Prince Philip would be around the same age, and Arthur is the prince, who's name is Celtic, so not too out of place, and there was an actual prince, Arthur Tudor.

 

[Black Prince of Britannia]

Eh, I found out that Harold Godwinson was single at the same time as Matilda of Flanders, who was the wife of William the Conqueror, then I thought up two kids, and Mildred was the daughter, I got Mildritha confused with it, so I'll change it, and she and Prince Philip would be around the same age, and Arthur is the prince, who's name is Celtic, so not too out of place, and there was an actual prince, Arthur Tudor.

Yes but Henry VII was of Welsh stock and wanted to hark back to the Arthurian legend, which would not have been popularized at the time of 1066 (nor associated with the Kings of England).
Point is, Arthur devoted his life to fight the Saxons which was the basis of Harold's kingship, so to the Anglo-Saxons at the time, it would just be weird to name a prince after an obscure heroic figure of the Welsh whom they only relaxed relations in the recent years

 

[Eparkhos]

The name is weird, but the PoD is interesting. Watched.

 

[[totally a legit person]]

Yes but Henry VII was of Welsh stock and wanted to hark back to the Arthurian legend, which would not have been popularized at the time of 1066 (nor associated with the Kings of England).
Point is, Arthur devoted his life to fight the Saxons which was the basis of Harold's kingship, so to the Anglo-Saxons at the time, it would just be weird to name a prince after an obscure heroic figure of the Welsh whom they only relaxed relations in the recent years

Well, thank for bringing this problem to my attention, I can change the name, the only name that will count for this TL is his baptismal name, so I'll just change it, how does Alfwin Godwinson sound?

 

[[totally a legit person]]

The name is weird, but the PoD is interesting. Watched.

Thank you, and I hope it doesn't disappoint you then.

 

[Black Prince of Britannia]

so I'll just change it, how does Alfwin Godwinson sound?

Yes that's great! And anything beginning with Alf- Al-/Ethel- and Ed- would really hammer home the idea of a Godwinson family related to the Wessex dynasty.

 

[The Professor]

Caezere (kai-zere) was the Anglo-Saxon word for Caesar

What's your source on that? The "z" was rare in the Angle and Saxon dialects.
The more usual form of Caesar is Cāsere.

 

[von Adler]

Well, thank for bringing this problem to my attention, I can change the name, the only name that will count for this TL is his baptismal name, so I'll just change it, how does Alfwin Godwinson sound?

It would be Alfwin Haroldson - both the Anglosaxons and Scandinavians used patronymicons at this time. Harold Godwinson had the name Godwinson because his father's first name was Godwin. At the time neither Anglosaxos nor Scandinavians used House names, but later chroniclers might attribute one to them as they are the ancestors of people who did start to use House names.

Alfwin Haroldson of House Godwin might be a later name for the man.

OTL Harold five sons that were born from around late 1030s to around the laste 1040s, wo they would all be older and grown men by the time of Hastings, maybe with the exception of the last one. They were named Godwin, Edmund, Magnus, Harold and Ulf.

 

[[totally a legit person]]

Yes that's great! And anything beginning with Alf- Al-/Ethel- and Ed- would really hammer home the idea of a Godwinson family related to the Wessex dynasty.

Cool, I'll keep that in mind when I'm making the future Caezeres.

What's your source on that? The "z" was rare in the Angle and Saxon dialects.
The more usual form of Caesar is Cāsere.

I read something a long time ago saying that it was written like the way you are writing it, this is a little intentional on my part, since he's not the one who will make the name, nor will he have any say in history in how they will write it, nor will it be officially written by an Anglo-Saxon's hands, I'll elaborate later.

It would be Alfwin Haroldson - both the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians used patronymicons at this time. Harold Godwinson had the name Godwinson because his father's first name was Godwin. At the time neither Anglosaxos nor Scandinavians used House names, but later chroniclers might attribute one to them as they are the ancestors of people who did start to use House names.

Alfwin Haroldson of House Godwin might be a later name for the man.

OTL Harold five sons that were born from around late 1030s to around the laste 1040s, wo they would all be older and grown men by the time of Hastings, maybe with the exception of the last one. They were named Godwin, Edmund, Magnus, Harold and Ulf.

Huh, Alfwin Haroldson of house Godwin sounds great, thank you, I know about his sons, though I should've made that much more obvious from the chapter, so I'll add some stuff. It's just that the youngest son was a lot more ambitious and persuasive than his other brothers, and let's just say Alfwin has no love for his brothers, wasn't Harold born in 1067, to Ealdgyth?

 

[The Professor]

I read something a long time ago saying that it was written like the way you are writing it, this is a little intentional on my part, since he's not the one who will make the name, nor will he have any say in history in how they will write it, nor will it be officially written by an Anglo-Saxon's hands, I'll elaborate later.

You can't just make things up on footnotes from our perspective though. Which is what you did. Caezere isn't the Old English or AS for Caesar and is unlikely to ever be described that way.

 

[[totally a legit person]]

You can't just make things up on footnotes from our perspective though. Which is what you did. Caezere isn't the Old English or AS for Caesar and is unlikely to ever be described that way.

Yeah, you're completely right, I'll just edit it, I'm sorry for wasting your time with this conversation.

 

[perdu42]

As @Eparkhos_Ton_Trapezous said “the PoD is interesting.” And I have a number of questions about the PoD but I’ll restrict myself to two:
How? (As in how did the marriage of Harold and Matilda come about?)
When? (As in when did the marriage of Harold and Matilda take place?)

this fate befell all of his troops who were captured, but their clothes were made to be kept clean.

What is the significance of this? Did you mean armour? Or were William's troops executed once they were naked?

 

[Some Bloke]

Do the Scots and the Welsh try to invade while the English are busy with the Normans?

 

[[totally a legit person]]

As @Eparkhos_Ton_Trapezous said “the PoD is interesting.” And I have a number of questions about the PoD but I’ll restrict myself to two:
How? (As in how did the marriage of Harold and Matilda come about?)
When? (As in when did the marriage of Harold and Matilda take place?)



What is the significance of this? Did you mean armour? Or were William's troops executed once they were naked?

Harold Godwinson decides to remarry, unlike OTL, and the Duke of Flanders, Balwin V, doesn't want his daughter to marry a bastard, like in OTL. You see, in OTL, Baldwin had exhausted all other options, so he hears that a prominent foreigner wants a new bride, so he sends his daughter. Harold accepts this because she is descended from both Alfred the Great of the ancient Wessex monarchs of England, of Charlemagne, and of the current Capetian monarchs.
1049, when Matilda is around eighteen, right around when her father was running out of suitable candidates, within France that is, to marry her off to. Also, two-three years before she is married to William, who had been trying to court her up to that point. this would be a nice time for their marriage.
This significance will be explored later, of both bodies and clothing. I had meant both clothing and armor, I should probably add that in to avoid further confusion. They were executed whilst naked, as to add salt to their wounds in the form of humiliation, I should probably add that in too, to further avoid confusion. Sorry for any unnecessary confusion that I caused on your part.

Do the Scots and the Welsh try to invade while the English are busy with the Normans?

Yes, they will invade, and the Cornish and Irish will too, because of their independence and proximity. Though technically it's not because of the English being preoccupied with the Normans per se, but that is a reason for the reason.

 

[Eparkhos]

Harold Godwinson decides to remarry, unlike OTL, and the Duke of Flanders, Balwin V, doesn't want his daughter to marry a bastard, like in OTL, in OTL Baldwin exhausted all other options, so he hears that a prominent foreigner wants a new bride, so he sends his daughter, Harold accepts because she is descended from both Alfred the Great and Charlemagne.
1049, when Matilda is around eighteen, right around when her father was running out of suitable candidates, within France, to marry her off to, and two-three years before she is married to William, who had been trying to court her up to that point, so this would be a nice time for their marriage.
This significance will be explored later, of both bodies and clothing, I meant both clothing and armor, I should probably add that in to avoid further confusion, they were executed whilst naked, as to add salt to their wounds in form of humiliation, I should probably add that in too, to further avoid confusion, sorry for any unnecessary confusion that I caused on your part.



Yes, they will invade, the Scots are first among them all, and also, the Cornish and Irish will too, because of their independence and proximity, though technically it's not because of the English being preoccupied with the Normans per se.

Will you please use periods? I was somewhat confused by how that (those?) sentence(s) were structured.

 

[[totally a legit person]]

Will you please use periods? I was somewhat confused by how that (those?) sentence(s) were structured.

Harold Godwinson decides to remarry, unlike OTL, and the Duke of Flanders, Balwin V, doesn't want his daughter to marry a bastard, like in OTL. You see, in OTL, Baldwin had exhausted all other options, so he hears that a prominent foreigner wants a new bride, so he sends his daughter. Harold accepts this because she is descended from both Alfred the Great of the ancient Wessex monarchs of England, of Charlemagne, and of the current Capetian monarchs.
1049, when Matilda is around eighteen, right around when her father was running out of suitable candidates, within France that is, to marry her off to. Also, two-three years before she is married to William, who had been trying to court her up to that point. this would be a nice time for their marriage.
This significance will be explored later, of both bodies and clothing. I had meant both clothing and armor, I should probably add that in to avoid further confusion. They were executed whilst naked, as to add salt to their wounds in the form of humiliation, I should probably add that in too, to further avoid confusion. Sorry for any unnecessary confusion that I caused on your part.



Yes, they will invade, and the Cornish and Irish will too, because of their independence and proximity. Though technically it's not because of the English being preoccupied with the Normans per se, but that is a reason for the reason.

does that fix it? I think it's "those", though this is not my first nor even my second language, so I have no idea if that is the right use of grammar. Sorry for the confusion I caused you.

 

[Eparkhos]

does that fix it? I think it's "those", though this is not my first nor even my second language, so I have no idea if that is the right use of grammar. Sorry for the confusion I caused you.

No problem, it does read much better now. Thank you.

 

[[totally a legit person]]

Chapter 2

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After he had landed upon the Norman coast, it was counted that many of the previously Norman ships were damaged or had been sunk during storms, or scattered by winds, though many of their passengers were able to make it unto the shore, and to the main host, which had saved the campaign from being abandoned. But since most of the people of the middle ages were superstitious, they had said that this was a warning sent from God, that he was not on their side and that they should abandon this risky campaign. Most commanders would've listened, whether out of fear of superstitions or of the army shattering within enemy territory, but Alfwin was determined to succeed, he had gone on this campaign out of wanting a territory outside of Engaland. Whether that was to have a great conquest under his belt for prestige or revenge against William, or more likely, to have a power base outside Engaland to usurp his brothers in the future, but either way, he could not abandon this campaign.


He made a rousing speech, saying that God had sent these storms, not to warn them, but to warn their enemies, saying nothing could break them, that their resistance was shatterproof. He then promised all of his men a raise to their pay, but, only if they were all to be very loyal and useful to him. While these did not stop the splintering of his army completely, these promises and his own oratory skills did help to stop his army from completely abandoning him in the heart of his enemy's territory, which he would take full advantage of before they changed their minds.


When he got the situation under control, he immediately forced-marched his troops to Rouen, the capital of Normandy, to take full advantage of their surprise. He found an army, on their way back to the capitol after dealing with an unruly, and very dumb, vassal who wanted to take advantage of William being gone to usurp him, once he was upon them, he fought them until they retreated into Rouen. But there were to many troops in the city and the walls too strong, so he made some of his troops wear the clothing and armor of the Normans, which he had taken from the last battle that he had fought in, and made the rest march within the view of the city. Then, whilst leading the disguised troops, he went up to the city's walls and said that he was William, that the Englisc had beaten him and followed him south, and had then implored them to let him in, which they had. He then had his troops take ahold the gate and keep it open so that his troops who were outside of the city were able to enter it, what followed was a quick melee, after it, his troops were able to take the city.


What followed after the taking of the city is known collectively as the "harrowing of Rouen", where every soldier and the leaders of the city were killed for resistance, their homes raided for all of their valuables, and then a small part of the city was burned to the ground. This was done to scare the Norman nobles into line, which after a castle surrendered, and was given full mercy, saw every noble surrender before he even had to ask, each one traveling and then pledging their undying loyalty, after around a week or so, Alfwin declared that his conquest of Normandy was over, he then used the Norman treasury to pay off his troops, keeping his promise, and then gathered the troops who deserted, who had abandoned him, their commander, in enemy territory, and so for their insubordination, had them all killed.


Once he was done he began a venture down the river Seine, to Paris, where he was met with jubilation. He had gone there to visit his sister, Mildritha, and more importantly for these tomes, his brother-in-law, the prince of France, Philip I, who he made a deep friendship with, though the main reason he was visiting was to affirm his control over Normandy as it's grand-duke. To which the king had done happily, as Alfwin was his son's brother-in-law, in exchange for this his new vassal would affirm that he was serving his king, and then he paid his relief, a tax for acquiring a fief, to his new king.


When he was done, he returned back to his newly acquired duchy, where he began his consolidation of it. He had left most of the Norman lords alone, but, for those he deemed to be either too powerful or unloyal, he stripped them of their lands, and then gave them to their rivals, vassals, or relatives who would've inherited nothing otherwise, replacing them with new loyal lords. None wished to go against these policies, for they either did not want to be the next Rouen, or they were apart of the lords were unaffected by this policy, so they saw this as unimportant to them, something they didn't care about.


Whilst Alfwin was conquering and consolidating his new domain, his father was not having much luck with his own lands. A pretender to his throne had risen up, Edgar æthling, nephew of the previous king, Edward the confessor, and he was his favored heir, he had married the sister of the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, and also, married his sister to the Scottish king, which garnered their support. There was also, a new invader, Sweyne II, king of Denmark, pushing his own weak claim, announced that the Englisc throne was his, right by his mother, Estrid, by whom he had taken the matronymic name Estridson, who was the sister of Cnut the Great, king of Denmark, Norway, and all of Engaland. Seeking to take full advantage of the chaos caused by Edgar ætheling, and also, he was seeking the power and prestige that uniting all of Cnut's empire would bring to him, and since Harald Hardrada, his rival, died, he had no obstacles to contend with at home.


Once Alfwin had heard the news of this, he put a couple of a thousand of his forces all over Normandy, in key areas, and told the most loyal of his vassals to support them with their own troops, he hoped this could stop any Norman rebellion that would happen. He left with the remainder of his army, around two weeks to a month after he had landed onto the coast of Normandy, he had left, he would not allow these usurpers take his father's, no, he would not allow these usurpers take his throne.


This was the first of the Caseres' conquests, and now he will be returning to Engaland his home.


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Hope this was as great a chapter to read as it was to write.


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