The Dutch (13 page)

After the death of Jacobus' Flemish grandfather, the Duke of Ghent, the militia in the city became less cooperative and disloyal to the family. The new Duke, Jacobus' uncle, was in a quandary, torn between his feudal allegiance to the King of France and the desires of his militant population to join other Dukes of Flanders in opposing French rule. The weavers of Ghent had the most militant and effective militia in the region and they openly rebelled and began to besiege the new Duke's castle in the city. Lord Jacobus received an urgent plea from his uncle to provide bowmen for his castle's defense. Baron Jacobus, felt bound by family honor to assist, reluctantly gathered half the realm's archers and began a forced march to Ghent. It showered the day he left, bringing periods of rain that were followed by a series of continuous colorful rainbows. It was as if the ancient gods were predicting great danger and prolonged glory for Lord Jacobus.

Upon his departure, Jacobus had designated his wife, Lady Hester, to rule in his place until his return. Upon entering Ghent, his small force was ambushed before reaching his uncle's citadel. After passing through the city's main gate, the Drogerlanders were hemmed in by barricades and attacked by an unseen enemy that showered them with stones and other missiles from their hiding places on the roof tops. Jacobus refused to retreat and attempted to lead his archers up a narrow stairway that lead to one of the roof tops. Jacobus' sword and his archer's shorter Saxon knife blades was no match for the geldons used against them in the confined space. Jacobus van Weir and most of his lightly armored bowmen were killed. Jacobus actually fought his way to the roof before four or five spear points of the geldons found their mark. Only the sheer courage of the surviving archers allowed them to recover their lord's body. Sadly, they brought the twenty-nine year old lord home to be buried in a grave beside his father Derick.

A grieving Lady Hester, now with five small children at her side, bid her beloved husband farewell at the grave site. The gentle woman was now Baroness Hester van Weir, the new matriarch of the van Weir family. It was her responsibility to continue the reign until her eldest son grew to manhood. This delicate and cultured twenty-five year old of relatively minor noble birth had to find within herself the inner strength to keep the Droger Land independent. She knew she needed help to maintain the Duchy's autonomy. Such assistance could only come from the common born men of her realm. Lady Hester surmised the major threat would come from the new Regent and his greediest nobles at the Royal Court in Brussels. Gathering a force capable of resisting would be difficult particularly since Lady Hester didn't trust commoners. She felt low born men had caused her own father's death and the same class of men had killed her husband. It was a character flaw she would carry for the rest of her life, but for the moment she knew her inner feelings had to be cast aside. She was taking command of the van Weir's family's domain knowing the existing political, military, and religious institutions in Holland, including the new Regent, were examining how to use her husband's death to enrich themselves at the family's misfortune. Such was the way of those times and their affect on even the most noble and righteous men.

After a week of grieving, Lady Hester summoned the one person whom both Lords Derick and Jacobus had trusted above all other men in the realm, the former magistrate Frances Roulfs. He had ascended from the ranks of ordinary soldiers to command all the defenses of the realm. At seventy-three, he had faithfully served four different Lords of the Droger Land in countless important capacities. As a young soldier he had taught himself to read and write in Dutch, French and Latin. When first appointed magistrate, he collected scrolls and manuscripts on law from as far away as Italy and, unlike previous judges, based his decisions on these writings rather than the bible. His accomplishments were even more remarkable considering he was the fourth son of an illiterate tenant farmer. Yet he could trace his family tree directly to a Germanic cavalryman who carried the first Lord's Roman standard into Holland. His body had grown old and feeble in service to the family and Frances Roulfs had recently retired, but the urgent situation demanded his recall. Lady Hester knew she could count on good counsel from this wise man who had lived double the life expectancy of the era. She found his physical strength ebbing but his memory and leadership skills remained sharp. His lifetime of experiences would help prepare Lady Hester for the forthcoming intrigues she expected from the Regent's Court. For three days, the new matriarch and the old veteran pondered the realm's future and the fate of the ruling van Weir family. They both agreed that the most urgent need was to keep outside conspirators from entering the Droger Land. They decided that steps must be taken to politically and militarily prepare the realm for any eventuality and such measures must be carried out in secret. Francis Roulfs assured the widow that the ancient gods of the Droger Land would help her as they had helped other van Weir matriarchs.

So, the Baroness issued a proclamation of a year long period of mourning for her husband and announced she would retire in seclusion as the Duchy mourned his loss. The mourning period allowed strangers to be barred entrance to the realm. No one entered or left without permission from Frances Roulfs, her newly appointed Counselor. Soldiers were sent to establish a fortified checkpoint where the marsh's waters met the dyke, blocking both the road and the canal that led to the coast. To the point of losing their lives, they had orders to bar entrance to anyone trying to enter. The proclamation made it impossible for spies from the Royal Court and other outsiders to detect the preparations being made. Isolation from the rest of Holland had at times been the salvation of the Droger Land's independence in the past. Lady Hester and Frances Roulfs hoped it would be a good friend in the present situation, at least for a time.

During the first few months, the largest group of unwanted visitors to be turned away was the noble suitors. These men of noble birth were looking to improve their own fortunes by marrying the now rich widow by claiming her land and fortune for themselves. These unmarried knights from noble families came asking to pay their respects to the noble Lady van Weir, and always were refused entrance. When stopped, these men of noble birth were allowed to send a note to Hester requesting a visit, and all received the same prompt reply: “Not at this moment of mourning.” The Catholic Church sent two different delegations of clergy, one from the Bishop and one from the Franciscan Patriarch; both were refused entrance while the widow mourned in the best tradition of the true faith. The soldiers followed strict orders and denied any correspondence from churchmen. The most significant arrival at the roadblock was a representative of Count William VI, the son of the late Regent Albert, and somewhat erratic new Sovereign of Holland. The Regent's official was carrying an official communiqué that was quickly delivered to the Baroness. It contained an offer by the Regent William IV to appoint “a well bred noble man of courage and virtue” who would manage and protect the “Domain of the Droger Land” until a son was old enough to govern. She promptly sent a warm reply, thanking the regent for his offer, but telling him her domain had hundreds of men of courage and virtue who would see to it that her children received their proper inheritance, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives. With the roadblock buying time, Lady Hester and Francis Roulfs turned all their attention to rebuilding the realm's defenses, which had been somewhat neglected while the problems in agriculture were being resolved.

Robert Roulfs, the present magistrate and Francis's oldest son seemed to be the logical choice to lead the military, but his father had a different idea. Jan Roulfs, his younger son, a merchant, was his choice to revitalize and command the armed forces. While both sons had helped Lord Jacobus form his cavalry unit and had distinguished themselves in battle, Jan had demonstrated the unique leadership skills needed in these uncertain times. Frances thought that his younger son was more decisive than his older brother. As a merchant, he had a grasp of the cost of weapons and would purchase them more prudently. Lady Hester appointed Jan Military Commander of the Droger Land.

The Baroness and Frances Roulfs met with Jan's older brother Robert and informed him he was to relinquish the titular command of the armed forces he held as magistrate. At first they just told him that another was given the overall military command, but, he would in the event of war; command the forces defending the town. He was ordered to reinforce the physical defense of the realm by building a fortification where the check point stood and told it must be capable of slowing an enemy's advance until the population could be protected inside walls. This new fortification or Keep must be built using only the limited number of skilled masons, laborers and materials already within the Duchy. He was then told Jan was picked to command. Though they feared how he might react when finding his younger brother had been appointed military commander, Robert only seemed relieved. He had thought Lady Hester might seek an outsider of noble birth to fill that position.

While Robert's impending construction task was difficult, Jan's assignment would be almost impossible. He needed to organize and train local men into skilled military units that could repel the forces sent by the regent or an opportunistic neighbor. He must meld the entire population's resolve to withstand any invasion. Jan Roulfs began his assignment with but a few dozen men-at-arms and only fifty surviving archers. The loss of so many archers in Flanders was devastating, because it took nearly a lifetime to train a bowman to develop even the muscles need to draw the bow and the hand and eye coordination to hit a target at long range. Fewer young men were learning these skills as many second and third sons of farmers had left the Duchy after Derick had limited inheritance. Some of the Duchy's most adventurous young men had become sailors or taken jobs in the shipbuilding industry on the coast. With these young men not available for service, Jan would be forced to raise an adequate force from the existing man-power, mainly farmers and craftsmen.

The cavalry unit became more ceremonial than functional and it too needed revitalization. Though some members were still skilled bowmen, most of the gunnes, which had proved so devastating against the Frisian horsemen were long ago discarded, lost or were in disrepair. Their inaccurate fire had made them less useful in skirmishes with local marauders. The unit needed more modern weaponry. The town's militia also needed to be rearmed and retrained if they had any hope of repelling a full scale siege. Jan knew these changes would be costly and Hester promised whatever funds were necessary. She saved the gemstones from her wedding that were carefully stored away in the castle's treasure room. She now placed the entire dowry at Jan's disposal while indicating that other assets would undoubtedly be spent to keep the realm secure.

Brother Clover, who had developed contacts on the coast with his trade in dyes, was brought in to assist Jan with purchasing. The former Monk suggested that they purchase wheat grown in Holland to prepare for a future blockade. This wheat was more expensive but it could be stored longer than Baltic grain. He also suggested that they could secretly buy a small quantity of new match lock weapons and powder in local cities without attracting too much attention and other small purchases might be smuggled from England without detection. He thought staffs for spears and shafts for arrows could be acquired quietly in Frisia. Both Jan and the ex-monk felt that Germany would be the only place to acquire large amounts of more modern arms. After a number of discussions, Hester dispatched Jan to the armories of Bremen and Brother Clover was given permission to quietly purchase whatever wheat and weapons were available locally.

Lady Hester also surprised herself by gathering every document within the castle that concerned the defense of the realm. Most were written in Latin or an older Dutch language she had difficulty reading, but the Baroness was able to comprehend enough to understand what the family had done in times of crisis in the past. The gentle woman spent hours in the library reading military accounts of the past or listening to Frances Roulfs describe campaigns in which he had served previous Lords. Trusted men in the castle's guard were told to recruit bowmen and to begin training new men-at-arms. Jan appointed a cousin to raise new volunteers for the mounted force and oversee the cavalry training in his absence. Lady Hester helped all the recruiting efforts by paying a generous stipend to all who entered the Duchy's service.

Privately, she summoned to the castle the retired surveyor, Hans Kryk, who was teaching mathematics at the secondary school and living on a generous pension from the ruling family. Lady Hester gave him a special assignment. By that time, the once great ten-mile wide barrier of marshlands, which had always protected the Duchy from coastal invasions, had shrunk to three miles as the Duchy and its neighbor's reclaimed land from the marsh. The old Roman canal was widened and the causeway rebuilt so many times that the accumulation of fifteen centuries of debris actually made it a solid road in some sections, but fortunately much of the three mile span was still standing above the salty marsh water. Lady Hester sent Kryk to gather information about the causeway and the area around it. The Baroness wanted to know the height of the piles and the depth of the water along the entire remaining land bridge. She also wanted to know if there were areas of firm footing in the marsh itself within arrow range of the most elevated sections. She gave the surveyor a bag of coins to pay those who regularly hunted and fished the wetlands to help gather the information. Lady Hester candidly reminded the surveyor to think about an invasion. She wanted to know, if it became necessary, where they could destroy the causeway making it most difficult to rebuild by an invading army which found itself under fire.