Archers and Crusaders: Historical fiction: Novel of Medieval Warfare by Marines, Navy sailors, and Templar knights in the Middle Ages during England's ... (The English Archers Saga Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

jam into the church. Everything can be seen because the shutters have been removed from the church’s windows so the sun can get in and the air fresht if a breeze begins.  And, of course, being as the coronation is being held in a church and is so important, there are a fortune’s worth of candles burning as well. We can see everything through the smoky haze.
           John is sitting in a raised chair by the altar.  He’s in great colorful robes and up high enough so he can be seen by the huge crowd of nobles and worthies standing in front of him.  Mostly the lookers are men, of course, but a surprising number of women are standing with them in furry robes despite it being a warm summer day.  Some of them are sweating profusely which is making the smell even worse.  I don’t recognize a single person in the church.
           Noticeably absent and the source of much conversation around us is the King’s wife, Isabella.  I’ve never seen her, of course, but from the whispered comments I hear while we wait for the ceremony to begin there seems to be some kind of problem.
           “She should be here” …  “Where is she?”  …. “Isn’t she to be queen?” … “No children” … “Cousins I’m told.”  …   
           After a while there is a great stirring and the bishop who had been pissing on the church wall next to Thomas marches in behind a priest carrying a cross and another holding up a great bible for everyone to see.  A whole long line of softly chanting priests and bishops follows behind them.
             The boys end up being able to see the ceremony better than Thomas and I and everyone else.  They can look over the heads of the crowd and see the king because we lift them up to stand on the stone tomb of an old Saxon worthy before the ceremony starts.
           It’s the most impressive ceremony I’ve ever seen. There’s a lot of chanting and prayers and exhortations and oaths in Latin from the king, some of which William and I can understand but most of the people around us and the king obviously cannot, and then Hubert places the crown on John’s head and we all lustily cheer and carryon for a while.
           No one pays us the slightest attention as we lift the boys off the old Saxon’s tomb and join the great mass of people who press towards the front door after the King leaves and the bishops and priests march out chanting their prayers.  If anything, they are probably wondering how people dressed so simply as we are gained admission to such a grand event. 
           I didn’t see the king again for some time – not until the next spring in Dover and then only at a distance when we helped ferry some of his army across to France before we sailed for Cyprus and the Holy Land.  I’d gone to Dover with some of our galleys because William and Harold had not yet come in from the Holy Land - I went with them because I wanted to make sure we got paid and it’s a good thing I did.
    @@@@@
           Our good relationship with the Templars and the Pope’s other Orders was evident this morning when two Templars came to see us about arranging transport to their stronghold in Acre for themselves and two others. 
           Our policy towards the Templars and the other Papal Orders is quite simple and our men all know it – we defer to the Templars and the other Papal Orders such as the Hospitallers in all things.  Thus, for example, we immediately stopped issuing letters of credit when the Templars started copying us in Acre and Beirut by letting people deposit valuables and taking back letters of credit they can exchange for coins at other Templar strongholds. 
           Where we differ from the Templars and Hospitallers is that we make a real effort to conceal the extent to which we are accumulating coins and power whereas they’re like the Pope and king – they flaunt their wealth and power to keep the people cowed.