[Norman Conquest 02] Winter of Discontent (30 page)

Early on Wednesday 27th August 1068 the blessed event that Alan and Anne had been awaiting took place. Anne had been unable to sleep, with increasingly powerful cramps in her abdomen. The last few hours, with Alan snoring
gently
next to her, had been really annoying. If she was awake, why should he be asleep…. After a sharp contraction and a grunt, Anne elbowed Alan and said
,
“It’s time. Get the midwife.”

After a delay of several seconds as he came awake and gathered his thoughts, Alan lit a candle for light and did as he was bid, shouting
,
“Synne! Call for the midwife, boil some water and let’s get on with the rest of it!”

Alan had not been in Anne’s good books for several weeks. She’d been grumpy about lack of sleep, the discomfort of the child moving within her, particularly when the active child kicked her bladder, and dissatisfaction as to the restrictions imposed on her by her gravid state. She
’
d been spending several hours a day soaking in the hot-tub to help with the pain and aching in her lower back. While she had appreciated his regular anointing of her swollen belly with an
expensive oil imported from the Levant and his delight in feeling the child move within her belly, the comments he had made to try to encourage her had not been welcome. Statements such as ‘easy as shelling peas’ or ‘the village ladies give birth and are back out in the fields within a couple of hours’ had struck entirely the wrong note. As a result Anne had told him she would follow normal practice and he would be banished from the birth-chamber.

As the ladies hurried in
to the room
Alan
was unceremoniously ejected and wandered out into the Hall, where most of the household were still asleep lying on straw-filled
palliases
. He sat leaning back against the warmth of the hollow brick wall which formed part of the innovative central-heating system in the building, just
one
of the details incorporated into the complex of buildings wh
ich
Alan had designed and built just under two years
previously
,
in part
using ancient Roman technology. He dozed fitfully until the Hall slowly came awake with the approach of dawn. First the kitchen staff rose
from their beds
and departed to the kitchen,
which
as tradition dictated
was
located in a nearby building to minimise the risk of fire, then the stable-hands and other servants b
egan to go about their duties.
The trestle tables and benches were set up and the servants
were
provided with the
ir
usual light breakfast of day-old bread with a sop of ale or mead and cheese and butter. Alan broke his fast on buttered toasted bread with strawberry jam washed down with diluted mead.

Alan was aware that
in birthing
prolonged
labour
periods were not unusual, but when the cries of pain and distress could be heard from the bedroom upstairs continued through to midday he decided that action on his part was required. Not wanting to burst in where he may be neither wanted or needed, he called for his body-servant Leof, who had been sitting nearby since Alan had been roused, to brin
g the maid Synne from upstairs.

Synne appeared moments later, looking tired and worn. “How go things?” demanded Alan.

“Lady Anne is having… a difficult labour and is in some pain. There appears to be some problem with the child’s passage, but the midwife is confident,” she replied with obvious concern.

Alan nodded and
announced
,
“Enough is enough,” rising and going
from
the Hall into his study
. T
here he rifled through his medical textbooks and then spent several minutes studying a scroll written by Hippocrates.
I
n the
summer sunlight of
late morning he
then
walked the few steps to the building that served as his workshop where he gathered several surgical instruments and placed them and half a dozen small jars of herbs
, unguents
and potions into a
bag, washed his hands in alcohol and marched resolutely back into the Hall. After ascending the staircase to the upstairs family living area, he pushed past the female servant by the door.

Anne was sitting naked on a birthing chair, with her feet drawn up and placed on footrests on either side. She was covered in a sheen of sweat and her long auburn hair was
wet and
matted. The midwife named Rowena, as white-haired as her name indicated, crouched between Anne’s spread legs, her arms bloody to the elbows. There was a pool of blood on the wooden floor.

Alan elbowed
t
he
midwife
aside and crouched in her place. The child’s head projected beyond the cervix and Alan used his left hand to support its weight. “What’s the problem? Obviously not a breech!” he demanded.

“The shoulders won’t come through… I’ve tried several ways to ease the
shoulders
through. We just need to let the contractions push the child through,” replied Rowena in a peevish tone.

“Contractions and gravity obviously aren’t working,”
said
Alan with annoyance. While he had no practical experience of child delivery, he’d made a point to carefully read and note the details in the medical tracts he owned and had just refreshed his memory. “You four, pick Lady Anne up and place her on the bed. Slowly
,
as I have to support the child’s head as we move… That’s better. Now, Anne, legs up and
lift
the knees
up to
your belly. This widens the pelvis and flattens the spine. Goo
d… good.”

After several minutes without success he continued
,
“Rowena,
put
pressure on the belly above the child, pushing gently down
wards
, while I pull gently on the head. Good… Try again. And again. Now stop the pressure. I’m going to manipulate the shoulders. Rowena, hold the child’s head.” Here Alan pressed the child’s forward shoulder towards its chest and the rearmost shoulder towards its back, the baby’s head turning to face its mother’s rectum. Alan
resumed
supporting the head. “Now, Anne, you push, and Rowena
place
pressure again on the belly.” Alan exerted gentle pulling pressure on the head, and with a corkscrew motion first one and then the other shoulder slipped through and the baby was in Alan’s hands. “Thanks be to God! A daughter!” he continued. “Now Rowena, please continue as normal.”

With a sigh of annoyance the midwife took the child from Alan, turned her upside down and smacked her bottom with a hard slap to make her suck air as she howled in protest, before handing her back and clamping and cutting the umbilical
cord
. Bowls of warm water were at hand and Alan used one
bowl
to wash the blood and fluids off his daughter, her arms and legs jerking convulsively as she continued to squall, before wrapping her in a warmed soft blanket handed to him. On instruction from the midwife the maids washed Anne with cloths and warm water, changed the bed linen and slipped a nightgown around her, before Alan handed the
baby
girl to her mother. After a suggestion from Rowena, Anne slid a nipple into the little pouting mouth, stilling the cries.

Alan looked
on
happily, gave a big sigh or relief and pointed at the midwife. “I suggest that you and the lass you are training come to see me on Sunday afternoon for some instruction. I have several books with illustrations that you need to look at.” After a tight smile and a nod he han
ded a small leather purse made heavy by
a dozen silver pennies. Rowena hefted the purse in her hand and with a satisfied smile sketched a brief and somewhat ironical curtsey, issued some rapid
instructions to the maids and
departed.

*
*
  *
  *

It was Monday 1
st
September
, two days before the Day of St Gregory
. The crops had been harvested and much of the harvest had
already
been threshed to separate the grain, although this work was not yet complete. Alan had declared the day a feast
-day
to celebrate both the successful harvest and the birth of his daughter. Oxen had been roasting over fires since the previous
evening
and sheep and swine since early that morning. A mountain of fresh bread had been baked and was sitting together with fresh-churned butter and cheeses on several
tables. The villagers from Thorrington, nearby Great Bentley and Wivenhoe were taking advantage of the
largess provided by their l
ord and thronged the
v
illage
g
reen.

Brother Wacian celebrated Mass at mid-day, which the size of the crowd dictated be
held
outdoors. Given the good weather
t
he
priest
had arranged for the altar and the lectern to be brought onto the Green. In the bright sunlight he conducted a moving ceremony of thanks for the joint joys bestowed. He particularly enjoyed reading from the beautiful leather-bound bible and
Psalter
in
Anglo-Saxon
English that Alan had bestowed on the Church, his hands almost fondling the books as he turned the pages. The books were beautifully written and bound, although absent of extensive illumination as they were meant to be working tools and not works of art.

With Mass said
,
the congregation joined the children who had been playing noisily nearby and Alan’s servants rolled out the barrels of ale and mead to be placed next to two drink
-
serving tables. Alan had not seen any need to provide wine for the villagers, although several jugs were available for the thegns and their sons who had attended. Not long after
wards
other servants carried in huge joints of meat
.
Otha the c
ook and several assistants
,
including the village butcher
,
set to carving
meat
for the assembled villagers. Otha knew what the villagers wanted- lots of the red meat that they had so little opportunity to enjoy and plenty of simple fare, with quantity bei
ng more important than quality.

Alan and Anne had invited the local thegns from Alresford and Tendring, and Leofstan of Great and Little Holland. From Alresford had come
Algar, Edward and Edwold, and from Tendring
came
Frewin, Ednoth
and Alfred, together with their wives and children, most of the latter being
young
adults. A number of uninvited villagers from Alresford, St Osyth and
Tendring
had attended
and were partaking of the feast provided
but
,
given their small numbers and his good humour from a successful harvest and the birth of his daughter
,
Alan made no issue of this.

Anne, still worn from the ordeal of the birth, circulated only briefly before returning to the Hall with the more noble guests. Alan spent several hours moving amongst the cheorls, sokemen and cottars and their families, receiving their good wishes. He also noticed a number of slaves present with their families, all of whom kept well out of his way knowing that they should not be there, and also chose to ignore them.

The food disappeared as quickly as it could be brought, as did the drink. Later
,
in the early evening sunlight, as the consumption of provender slowed
,
the villagers began to dance and carouse to the music provided by a few of the local villagers with suitable talent. Periodically Alan appeared from the Hall and circulated amongst the villagers.

Inside the Hall the windows were open to allow the cooling breeze from the nearby sea to circulate and the fire was unlit. The seven thegns and their six wives, Alfred of Tendring recently becoming a widower,
together with
a dozen sons and their wives sat at table. Otha had made a point to produce a meal of greater sophistication for the nobles. As well as roast beef, swine and mutton brought from the roasting pits, the table also held stuffed basted pheasant, marinated chicken, sautéed lobster with shallots and mushrooms, poached fish in garlic sauce, herbed venison stew and six separate dishes of vegetables- parsnip, carrot, beans, peas and
beet
- steamed, sautéed, roasted or baked with different herb sauces
or white wine
. The guests helped themselves to the buffet several times and Alan prepare
d
the food for Anne, with whom he was sharing a bread trencher, so that she didn’t despoil her gown, cutting and slicing the food so that Anne could spear it with her eating-knife without getting juices or
sauce on her sleeves or dress.