The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
David, congratulations on your latest book, Sword of Aragon: A Champion Tale. This is a prequel to your Champion series, which is set in France and Spain – what is it about this area of Medieval Europe that fascinates you? My interest stems from a childhood dragging...
The Oak Door of Aberffraw In spring 1283 the armies of Edward I stormed into Gwynedd. This was the final drama in a very long war: for 200 years, the princes of Gwynedd had attempted to forge a united Wales in the teeth of resistance from the English crown. They...
Edward I & Wales After two centuries of conflict between the Welsh princes and the English crown, Edward I finally conquered Wales in the latter half of the 13th century. Edward – better known to many by the epithet ‘Longshanks’ – had accomplished something which...
In July 1274 the Little Battle or Little War of Chalon took place on the Saone in Burgundy-Franche-Comté. This was a tournament that turned nasty when the host, the Count of Chalon, tried in vain to unhorse Edward I. The tourney at Chalon was a strange affair. Walter...
In the autumn of 1266 Henry III was bogged down at Kenilworth castle in Warwickshire, besieging the Montfortian garrison. While focused on crushing the revolt in England, the king also had other pressing business to attend to. While the siege was in progress, he...
Robin Hood and the Disinherited The story of Robin Hood as we know it today is usually set in the reigns of Richard the Lionheart (1189-1199) and King John (1199-1216). This tradition goes back no further than 1521 and the work of John Major, a Scottish theologian,...
16 June is the anniversary of the Battle of Llandeilo Fawr in 1282. Piecing together the various accounts of this battle was quite fun: there is no lack of chronicle and administrative evidence, though as usual we are left with gaps and speculation. In April 1282...
David Pilling is a prolific author of historical fiction. With interests ranging from the Byzantine Empire, the post-Roman period in Britain and the British and Irish Civil Wars, he has written numerous tales of blood and chivalry across these eras. Caesar’s Sword:...
Among the knights of Edward I there was a certain Pascual de Valencia, called the 'Adalide'. Pascual, a knight of Aragon in modern-day Spain, was just one of several foreign knights serving in the household of the English king. There were also several Germans, any...
Over the winter of 1282-3, a new kind of soldier arrived in the British Isles. These were men of Gascony, part of the ancient duchy of Aquitaine in south-west France. They had been summoned by the King of England, Edward I, who was also (among other titles) the...
