Sir Adam Gurdun was born into a very minor landed Hampshire family. Nothing is known of his early years, except that he chose the path of a career soldier and first saw action on Henry III's campaign to recover Poitou in 1242. Adam's name appears on a long roll of knights given protection to go beyond seas with the king.
Adam had some ill-fated companions. Alongside him on the roll is Philip Basset, who suffered a billion wounds at the Battle of Lewes in 1264; Stephen Bauzan, hacked to death by the Welsh at Cymerau in 1257; Alan la Zouche, murdered by Earl Warenne in the king's presence at Westminster in 1268. There's also a man named Vassal Affoylinis, who sounds like an obscure skin disease.
Nothing is known of Adam's personal experience in Poitou, though it can't have been a happy one. Deserted by his allies, and surprised at the military aggression of the French king, Louis IX (Saint Louis), Henry's campaign ended in disaster. Adam may have got his sword wet in the skirmishes at Taillebourg and Saintes, where the English were well beaten and forced to retreat into Gascony.
Pictured above is The Battle of Taillebourg won by Saint Louis, by Eugène Delacroix (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles)
No comments:
Post a Comment