Belladonna at Belstone (9781471126345) Read online

  BELLADONNA AT BELSTONE

  Also by Michael Jecks

  The Last Templar

  The Merchant’s Partner

  A Moorland Hanging

  The Crediton Killing

  The Abbott’s Gibbet

  The Leper’s Return

  Squire Throwleigh’s Heir

  The Traitor of St Giles

  The Boy Bishop’s Glovemaker

  The Tournament of Blood

  The Sticklepath Strangler

  The Devil’s Acolyte

  The Oath

  King’s Gold

  City of Fiends

  Templar’s Acre

  First published in 1999 by Headline Books Publishing

  This edition published in Great Britain in 2013 by Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

  A CBS COMPANY

  Copyright © 2012 by Michael Jecks

  This book is copyright under the Berne Convention.

  No reproduction without permission.

  All rights reserved.

  The right of Michael Jecks to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

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  222 Gray’s Inn Road

  London

  WC1X 8HB

  www.simonandschuster.co.uk

  Simon & Schuster Australia, Sydney

  Simon & Schuster India, New Delhi

  A CIP catalogue copy for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978-1-47112-633-8

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-47112-634-5

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  For Donald and Mercia

  with much love

  Contents

  Glossary

  A Winter Horarium

  Cast of Characters

  Author’s Note

  Preface

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Glossary

  Calefactory

  Every monastery or nunnery would have had a calefactory or ‘warming room’, in which a good, blazing fire would be kept going through the colder months or when the days were chill.

  Chapterhouse

  This was the chamber in which the nuns would meet to discuss important business. Elections for new leaders could take place here, as could discussions of any issue which might affect the smooth running of the community.

  Choir (also quire)

  In a religious institution, this was the name given both to the clergy involved in performing the services and to the part of the church where they did so.

  Cloister

  This could refer to the whole religious precinct or an enclosed area set apart from the rest of the world; in this story the cloister mainly refers to the specific area in which nuns or monks would work, read, or merely walk. At the centre (see Garth below) was often a good-sized, square lawned area, around which all the other buildings were ranged.

  Dorter

  This was the dormitory block in which the nuns would have slept.

  Familia

  In the slacker convents, groups would tend to eat together regularly. While their Rule said all should dine together in common, often nuns chose to eat at slightly different times with their own familia.

  Frater (also refectory)

  The name given to the hall in which the nuns would eat.

  Garth (cloister-garth)

  This is the name given to the small yard, usually grassed, which was situated at the middle of the cloister.

  Horarium

  This was the timetable by which monks and nuns regulated their day, beginning with Nocturns, the first service, usually held at about 2.30 a.m., and ending with Compline, the final service. For the full sequence, please see over.

  Laver

  The room in which nuns or monks would wash. In many convents the laver would have had fresh water piped from a spring or river, sometimes brought a great distance in lead pipes.

  Rere-dorter

  This was the toilet block, often, like at Castle Acre, out at the rear of the dorter itself. It would lie over the top of a large channel so that running water could wash it clean. Wastes were sometimes allowed to build up and the water blocked off by means of a wooden sluice so that the deposits could be collected for fertiliser. Similarly urinals were used less for convenience and more because urine was used to manufacture vellum, or to bleach linens.

  Suffragan

  When a bishop was forced to spend time away from his diocese he would install a suffragan to act as his deputy and to see to the cure of the souls.

  A Winter Horarium

  Programme of offices to be held during winter months taken from Archbishop Lanfranc’s schedule for the Benedictines of Canterbury. The times given are estimates only, for a small convent like St Mary’s would have had no accurate clocks.

  At about 2.30 a.m. the nuns would all be roused from sleep and called to attend the choir of the church. Here they would sing psalms and offer prayers until the first of the services, the Nocturns, after which the nuns would continue with Matins, which would be followed by Prime at dawn.

  Once Prime was over the nuns would go out and sit in the cloister, reading until about 8.00 a.m. when they would all return to their dorter, or bedchamber. Here they would change their shoes, then go to the laver, where they would wash in preparation for the next service.

  Terce was followed by Morrow Mass, after which the nuns would all go to their chapterhouse for their daily meeting. At this any admissions of failings or accusations of lapses could be brought up, and apologies or penances offered or imposed.

  Once the daily chapter had concluded, the nuns would spend their time either working or reading until noon. Then they would all go back to the church.

  Sext, High Mass and None were all celebrated, and at last the nuns could go to the frater for their only full meal of the day. This was followed by more work or studying until about 5 p.m., at which they would return for Vespers in the church.

  Vespers was the last ceremony of the active day, and afterwards the choir would change into their night slippers and go to the frater to drink. In the medieval age people depended upon a diet which included much ale or wine, because the solid diet did not provide enough essential vitamins or protein.

  Finally the nuns would troop back to church to listen to a reading, and then would hear the last service: Compline.

  After this, at between 6.30 and 7 p.m., the nuns should have gone to the dorter to sleep.

  From the records, it seems clear that many did not.

  Cast
of Characters

  The Foreigners – from outside Belstone

  Sir Baldwin de Furnshill

  The Keeper of the King’s Peace in Crediton, Devon; once a Knight Templar before that Order’s destruction by an avaricious French King and his greedy accomplice, the Pope. Sir Baldwin is already known as a shrewd investigator, and is sometimes recommended to those who have a need of help enquiring about serious crimes.

  Lady Jeanne

  Jeanne was the widow of another knight, but recently Sir Baldwin married her.

  Edgar

  Baldwin’s servant, once Baldwin’s man-at-arms in the Knights Templar, and for several years his loyal companion.

  Bailiff Simon Puttock

  The long-standing friend of Sir Baldwin. With his own legal experience as a Stannary Bailiff, Simon has often joined forces with Baldwin to investigate murders.

  Hugh

  The morose and sometimes truculent servant of the bailiff, utterly devoted to his master and family, but often gloomy and moody.

  Bishop Bertrand

  When Bishop Walter Stapledon of Exeter was given the task of sorting out the mess at the country’s Exchequer, Stapledon appointed Bertrand as his suffragan bishop, Stapledon’s deputy in all aspects of the See.

  Sir Rodney

  A thoroughly sensible knight, Sir Rodney wishes to guarantee his soul’s welcome into heaven, and so he has decided to give St Mary’s a fine endowment – if the prioress will agree to certain conditions, such as accepting as a novice any woman he or his family chooses.

  The Inhabitants of St Mary’s

  Lady Elizabeth

  Prioress of St Mary’s, a regal figure, born to a great family, and somewhat daunting for that reason. She’s getting quite elderly now, being in her fifty-first year.

  Margherita

  The treasurer is a deeply religious woman, the illegitimate daughter of another nun, Sister Bridget, who ran from the convent many years ago. Margherita is younger at only thirty-nine years, and wants to take over complete control of the convent, convinced that she would be better able to maintain discipline.

  Constance

  At thirty-one, Constance is one of the younger nuns, and is committed to helping those who are weaker. She is the infirmarer, the woman who looks after the ill.

  Joan

  Once the cellarer, now Joan is too old, at well over sixty, to continue with her work and is semi-retired. Unfortunately a chill has forced her to rest in the infirmary where the fires should warm her frail old body.

  Denise

  The sacrist is dedicated to serving the church itself, ensuring that it is clean and ready for any of the services.

  Ela

  This woman is the kitcheness, responsible for cooking and preparing all the meals for the nuns.

  Emma

  Heavy-set and strong, Emma is the new cellar-ess, responsible for seeing to the storage of food and drink in the buttery and undercrofts.

  Anne

  The refectory, or frater, is her domain, and she has the duty of ensuring that the hall has clean tablecloths, enough chairs and benches, that the floor is kept clean and that knives and spoons are provided.

  Cecily

  An unfortunate lay sister who has managed to break her arm in the laundry. She is resting in the infirmary.

  Katerine

  A young novice of some twenty-one years who is keen to see herself promoted. She is convinced that she will hold a position of authority.

  Agnes

  This novice is one of Sir Rodney’s conditions; he asked that she be accepted as a novice.

  Godfrey

  An older man, at fifty-five, Godfrey is a canon in the male part of the church, known as a good surgeon when needed.

  Luke

  Younger, the handsome Luke is the priest in the nuns’ church, for women, of course, may not hold a religious service.

  Jonathan

  Another older canon, Jonathan is the doorkeeper, making sure that no dangerous strangers can gain access to the precinct.

  Paul

  A young canon, Paul is deeply religious, which has led him to doubt the sanctity of Lady Elizabeth’s leadership.

  Elias

  This lay brother works in the smithy, but now desires to escape.

  Rose

  Almost twenty-one, Rose was once a novice, but now has run away, and makes a living as best she can.

  Moll

  This young novice, pious and keen, is the girl whose death causes the investigation by the suffragan, Bailiff Puttock and Sir Baldwin Furnshill.

  Author’s Note

  The village of Belstone sits high on the moors overlooking the deep valley that separates it from Cosdon, the massive hill that is visible from almost anywhere in northern Devon. I have known the area for years, for my brother and I visit it each New Year’s Day, and walk with wives and families down south to the moors.

  It was this year, 1999, that we went to walk down towards the stream, and while strolling among a heavy clitter, I mused it was much like so many spots where monks and nuns chose to site their convents, an idle thought that eventually gave rise to this story. I invented St Mary’s.

  Nowadays we think of abbeys and priories being set in delightful places, almost invariably among trees, with lush vegetation and parkland all around. That’s because since the Dissolution, many have been converted into houses and gardens, their lands cultivated over centuries. Beforehand they were often wild, remote, cold and bleak. It’s true that in sunshine they are beautifully romantic ruins, but that is because we visit them on holidays when the summer sun warms us and the ancient nature of the wrecks can give us a comfortable sense of the passing of the years. Yet for all the delights of the larger ecclesiastical holdings at Rievaulx, Westminster, York, Fountains and Whitby, many others sprang up and disappeared, unable to support their communities with their poor and scrubby land. The two years of famine (1315– 17) speeded the end of some of these, as did the two murrains or plagues, first of sheep (1313–17) and then of cattle (1319–21), which devastated the English economy. Smaller, less financially viable convents were swallowed up by wealthier ones. Some of these monastic buildings can be traced on the ground, but their walls have been ravaged by time and their stones removed by farmers who wouldn’t pay for dressed stone when it was lying nearby. Many have simply vanished without trace.

  When you look back, you find that the obedientiaries – the nuns or monks – had a miserable time of it. Woken for the first service at some time between midnight and 2.30 a.m., they had to go to their church in their rough woollen clothing and stand for an hour or more in the freezing cold, trying to sound musical as they went through the psalms and prayers. There was no fire nor any other means of heating, and in the winter it must have been sheer hell. Not all convents could afford glass in their windows, either.

  That was part of the trouble: money. In the late 1200s there was a rapid increase in the number of men and women taking up the religious life, and many convents started to accumulate money from patrons so that they could expand, but many simply couldn’t: they didn’t have the finance behind them. That was why in the early 1300s many places, as I have outlined in this book, went to great lengths to acquire parish churches so that they could use the revenues. Some, like the convent at Polsloe, greatly increased in size, but others failed to win the money and faded away long before the Dissolution.

  Nuns found it particularly difficult to support themselves. The reason was simple: when a rich man died he wanted to ensure that his soul had as smooth a passage into heaven as possible, and to this end, he would set up a chantry. This was a chapel which was dedicated to honouring the dead man, holding services and praying for him every day. Depending on how wealthy the man was, the more prayers he could buy; the more prayers said for him, so the logic went, the faster he’d be let in through the Pearly Gates.

  But there were problems for nuns: first, nunneries tended to depend upon the goodwill of their strong neighbours, a
nd so they would sometimes agree to take in their neighbours’ daughters in exchange for benefits, such as money, which inevitably led to many of the convents having too many inmates for their means. The risk of over-filling nunneries was recognised at all levels within the Church, and not only bishops but popes too sent letters to convents forbidding them to take on any more nuns.

  The second issue was still more difficult to resolve. A man wishing to set up a chantry wanted services held in his memory, but this was a time when no woman could hold a religious service, so nuns had to acquire their own priests, and what would be the point of endowing a religious Order which couldn’t even hold its own ceremonies? Men were more happy leaving their charities to male institutions: the force of monkish prayers was bound to have a greater impact than those of a bunch of women!

  Some readers may be surprised to see that I have created a priory with men and women, but this was more or less the norm. As I mentioned above, there had to be priests to conduct services, but also, although nuns were supposed to be completely hidden from the outside world and although they did have lay sisters to do the more mundane work like washing and ironing, they generally had to have men about the place. Men farmed; men tended the buildings; men saw to the religious services; men guarded the gates to the precincts. It was true that most of the nuns were segregated and should never have been tempted by a male form, but that did not work for them all. For one thing, the priory’s bailiffs, reeves, receivers and other senior officials would have been men, and all had to report to the prioress. That was why it was not uncommon to hear rumours of impropriety between prioress and her chief steward. They got to meet.