The man from Bayeux - England AAR

**Jingles** · August 13, 2008, 12:49 PM

This is my new English/Norman AAR for chivalry total war. I'll be playing with Very Hard campaign difficulty, and medium battle difficulty..As England - As you might have guessed. It takes place in the form of a story/biography of the (For now) elusive 'Man from Bayeux', set during the dawn of the middle ages, 7 years after William the Bastard's conquest of England.

I'll try to make it as entertaining as possible, with a generous helping of screenshots to go with it. Hopefully my respectable knowledge of Medieval Normandy and the Normans should help to provide an interesting and dare I say it, Educational read (Now if that didn't put you off, I don't know what will

). I'll try and get the first two updates up as quick as possible, so I can enter for the AAR comps.

**Jingles** · August 13, 2008, 04:06 PM

Author's note:

You, the reader will no doubt remember 2010's freak earthquake in Northwestern Europe. It broke all records held previously for earthquakes in the region and caused millions of pounds worth of damage. The epicentre was reported to have been somehere in the english channel, not far from the Pas de Calais, and much of the British and French coast suffered heavily as a result, with mass landslides, and huge portions of the coast being reclaimed by the sea. Villages and towns in the surrounding regions suffered greatly, in particularly, farmers found their crops ruined, as the ground had been badly disrupted by the tremors.

In the tourist town of Bayeux, the old cathedral there suffered a great deal of damage, principally it's remaining beautiful stained glass windows were smashed beyond repair. The graveyard, however remained the single most grisly spectacle, as the graves themselves along with those who were buried in them were, in a number of cases, upturned, surfacing at ground level. The mess was quickly dealt with by the Cathedral caretakers. Amongst this mess, however, they found quite a treasure. One of the graves, a very old one, belonging to a medieval noble, appeared to contain not just the noble himself, but a small stone sarcophagus-like box. The caretakers took it away, and thinking it may contain medieval riches, they smashed it open, only to be disappointed by its contents. Inside were a set of old texts dating from the 11th century AD, that had been quite uniquely preserved within the vacuum that had existed within the sarcophagus.

The texts were taken to Cambridge where scholars of the medieval period began to translate the old Latin scripts - It turned out to be a yet more remarkable discovery. It was some form of biography, of a man, who it claimed at first only to be called 'A man from Bayeux', hence the title of this humble volume. It went on to reveal that the subject of this biography or story was known as Thomas of Bayeux, a soldier, and knight who had served in the army of Tancrede D'Hauteville (the first Norman conquerer of Sicily) and then served in the army under Duke William of Normandy that fought at Hastings. The man, though interesting, seems fairly unremarkable in his life and deeds, until we read further, and the author, who remains unknown, reveals more of Thomas's past, which shows him to be quite a rarity among knights. Thomas, as other records confirm, died peniless at the age of 55 in Antioch in Syria, so it seems as if this text was composed out of genuine admiration, towards Thomas, rather than a work commissioned by an arrogant and rich noble, and so proves to be quite a rarity among perhaps all medieval scriptures, let alone just the 11th Century. This account gives us a unique insight into the world of 11th century medieval Europe. And so, without further ado, I give you the full translation of those parts of the Bayeux text that were found by Cambridge scholars to be readable, along with notes of my own here and there.

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the first real update will follow tommorow, or later this evening

All feedback would be greatly appreciated

**Cathar1209** · August 13, 2008, 06:30 PM

Good setting, one of my favourite mods... I'll be following this one!

**Jingles** · August 14, 2008, 05:50 AM

Thanks for the feedback. I'm just working on the next update now.

**Aldgarkalaughskel** · August 14, 2008, 06:02 AM

Good background story. I'm tuned in, Jingles!

**Confederate Jeb** · August 14, 2008, 07:20 AM

They had cars back when William the Conqueror was alive?!?! No wonder he won all the time.

Great job so far.

**Jingles** · August 14, 2008, 07:41 AM

Author's note: The texts seemed, on close examination to lack any form of introduction, lending to the theory that the work was abandoned, or was never finished, as no fragments of the earlier sections were found, so it is assumed they were never written, or are yet to be found in another location. This also raises the question as to wether the noble the texts were buried with was in fact Thomas himself. The book is quite clearly written from the point of view of an admirer or associate of Thomas, so it is plausible to assume that the body in the grave was not that of Thomas, but that of the author, hence the book's unfinished state. However, it does not answer the mysterious question of why he should be buried with his work. Another problem that some eminent scholars have pointed out is that the work itself looks more to be the work of a priest, hence it's carefully crafted Latin script, which would dispel the theory that the body was that of the author. For these reasons, the identities of the Author and the man the work was buried with remain a mystery.

The earliest ledgible parts of the work begin with a description from what appears to be a soldier or noble's point of view of the battle of Hastings, at which it is believed Thomas fought. It is not a tactical or indeed historical account of the battle, as is depicted on the Bayeux Embroidery (pictured below), but of an insider's view of the experience that Hastings was to those who fought in it, as such, many of the major events, such as Harold's death and the debatable feigned Norman retreat, do not appear here.

Whether this account is reliable or not, in fact is quite debateable, and still as a result offers no clue as to the author's identity.

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THE BATTLE

Thomas felt cold, damp and miserable as he rode astride his heavy destrier, alongside the other cavalrymen. He certainly did not like this new country, and its foul weather and climate were, he thought, testimony to the savage people that lived here. His chainmail weighed heavily down upon him, and droplets of water dripped down from his helmet rim, pattering away gently on his chainmail and damp trousers.He gripped his reigns tightly and his spear yet tighter as they rode towards the hill ahead, upon which The saxon army awaited them. He, despite how he felt about the wretchedness of the situation, felt a certain patriotic pride as he looked out upon the mighty Norman force that was arrayed before them.