Chapter 19: How Nele Isebrand Wins a Husband

Three days later, the Isebrands, with some fifty men, travelled thirty leagues to the south, and to Lauheim. The small town, or extended village, spread at the foot of a small hill. On top of that hill, a small castle had been built, surrounded by a twelve-foot wall and a dry moat.

They crossed the drawbridge into the courtyard of the castle and found the main building to be two storeys high, with a slate covered roof. Ivy covered most of the walls, and the shutters were closed. The castle had been in disuse for over fifteen years, and it showed. Still, it was built solidly.

The Isebrands dismounted in the yard, and Bjoern produced the huge key he had received from Baron Gøtz. The massive oak wood door screeched in its hinges when they opened it, and they entered into the great hall of the castle. The tables, stools and benches were still there from the former vassal, covered with the dirt and dust of a decade.

A large fireplace was located on the right side of the hall, and a dais held the table for the lord of the castle, opposite the entrance.

"Not bad at all," Bjoern commented. "Let us have a look at the sleeping chambers."

They inspected the sleeping chambers upstairs, the kitchen, the storage rooms underneath the great hall. Everything was solid, if dirty.

Next, they inspected the adjacent building which held sleeping quarters for the servants and soldiers. They were adequate, if small. A deep well had been dug, too, in the yard, providing the small castle with fresh water.

"What do you say, brothers and sisters?" Bjoern asked.

"I say, we have found a decent home," Thorben laughed.

"It looks solid and defendable," Joerg agreed. "If we fill that dry moat with sharp edged stones and put battlements on that wall, we can hold this place against a small army."

"We need to find servants," Katherine remarked. "This place needs cleaning. A carpenter needs to fix tables, stools and chairs. We need more beds, too, and mattresses."

Thorben nodded.

"Perhaps we can barter with the townspeople for services, instead of rent payments, this year. We need to meet with them as soon as possible."

"That's a good idea, Thorben. We don't lack gold, but we need this house readied for the winter," Bjoern said thoughtfully. "Nele, Gudrun, you haven't said a word."

Nele turned to her siblings. There was a blissful smile on her face. She shook her head.

"Who would have thought that we, the Dutch beggars, would live in a castle one day," she marvelled.

Gudrun laughed at that.

"I was thinking the same. Here we are, peasants from the marshes, and we will sit in this great hall each eve, feasting on venison and pork. It would seem that I picked the right side."

"You better believe you did," Thorben growled, lifting her up in his arms.

Bjoern then looked at his wife who was frowning.

"Do you like it, love?"

"It is strange, so dark and severe! Can we whitewash the walls inside and have some colours, too? Why are the windows so small?"

"We'll try to find chalk, for the walls, Crescencia. Perhaps, there is a painter in the town, too. The windows must be small, I'm afraid, for the winters here are very cold."

"He'll love to keep you warm," Thorben laughed, earning himself a threatening look from his older brother.

The next weeks were busy. Carpenters and masons from the small town of Lauheim set to work in the castle, fixing what was broken, and furnishing the rooms. A potter in town was happy to fill an order for pottery for the tables and the kitchen, while a smith cast pots and pans for the kitchen.

They were also able to recruit a number of girls as maidservants, and a few young men as grooms for the stables. The ever faithful Jon was elevated to the position of stable master. Thorben was doing most of the dealings with the local citizens and the tenants. The Isebrands agreed to accept most of the payments in victuals, to stock their storage rooms for the winter. With a population of over seventy, the castle had great need for food and drink.

The men of the castle busied themselves collecting firewood. They were able to trade for a large shipment of coals from one of the small towns on the River Rhine. This would allow for the use of coal basins, in addition to the fire in the great fireplace.

By November, the Isebrands were settled, and over the next three months, they sat comfortably in their hall, while outside the winter ruled.

A cooper had assembled a large tub in a basement room that boasted its own fireplace. All of the Isebrands had come to appreciate the luxury of warm baths when they were stationed in Casale. At least twice a week, or more often when they returned from patrols with cold limbs, Gudrun and Crescencia saw to it that water was heated. In the beginning, the women bathed by themselves, but whichever order they agreed on, somebody, the men or the women, complained about the water having turned cold.

Thus, after some show of modesty, the women and men shared the large tub. With Thorben and Gudrun not being shy to show their affection for each other, soon a good-natured banter developed between the siblings and their spouses. Even Crescencia would sometimes squeak and blush while Bjoern, showing a sly grin, would hug her to his chest.

For young Nele, those baths were the first instances where she could see naked men, if only her brothers, from up close. Noticing quickly that her presence in the bath made her big brothers self-conscious, she took delight in making saucy remarks, earning herself frequent threats of corporal punishment which, of course, never came to fruition.

In January, within a week's time, first Crescencia and then Gudrun, gave birth. Bjoern and Crescencia's firstborn was a little girl whom they named Helga, after the siblings' mother. Thorben and Gudrun had another boy, Alfred, named after Gudrun's maternal grandfather. Both young women came through birth in good health, and the newest offspring to the Isebrand clan showed appetite and health from the start.

Come March, the siblings received summons from their Lord, Gøtz of Erlenburg. The messenger relayed that the Lord assembled his vassals for a warlike endeavour, and consequently, the Isebrands left with their full armour and accompanied by most of their soldiers. Only fifteen armed men were left under the trusted feldweibel Johannes Ebenhall, to guard castle, town, and families.

At the Erlenburg, they were the first to arrive. The other vassals did not arrive for three and more days, and Gøtz posted three Isebrands, Joerg, Björn and Katherine, as captains of the pikemen, the gunners, and the archers.

The Erlenburgs did not divide their men into fähnlein but adhered to the company as unit. Each company comprised six score men, plus corporals, a feldweibel and the captain. Each company also specialised in one type of weaponry, only. Thus, Joerg's old fähnlein yielded three companies, with an Isebrand as captain, each.

Of course, Albert of Erlenburg was Field Captain, and his brother Arnulf was his second-in-command. For a change, Albert of Erlenburg was dead sober. He was an able commander, once he abstained from drink, and he organised the small army that Erlenburg could boast of into six companies. The fourth to sixth companies were foot soldiers and were led by veteran captains.

The reason for the mustering of forces was a formal letter of defiance, received from the neighbouring principality of Rugenheim. The Baron of Rugenheim claimed ownership of a village, Ehrenberg, which was currently under the rule of Erlenburg, a claim that was based on an old dispute dating back to their great-grandfathers.

The letter challenged to a battle at the village in question, to decide the ownership. Of course, Rugenheim was only the first of their neighbours who wanted to have a bite out of their dominions. If he were not trounced soundly, other neighbours would soon follow suit with trumped-up claims.

Albert knew the terrain well, and he briefed his captains. He wanted all of the mounted men, mostly landed vassals, grouped as a small cavalry, at his disposal.

The rest of his orders were sensible, too. He wanted to fight a defensive battle, for the ground was still soft and deep from the snow melt, making a charge difficult at best. The pikemen under Joerg would form a barrier to repel the attackers, with the archers under Katherine positioned behind them, to pepper the enemy with their crossbow bolts and bullets from their arquebuses. With the rest of the foot soldiers and the horsemen, he planned to launch a counter-attack, only once the enemy had been repelled.

The gunners with their field pieces would be placed on a small hill, if that was still possible, for it had to be assumed that Rugenheim's men were already on the scene. Else, Bjoern would have to use his judgement.

On Arnulf's insistence, they marched off on the following morning. The foot soldiers formed the vanguard. By evening, they were already close to the disputed village. Once again, Albert proved to be an able and cautious leader, sending out scouts to march on. Although Nele volunteered, Albert chose two of his own gamekeepers for the task.

Regular sentries were posted around the makeshift camp, and the Isebrands noticed with relief that no wines or spirits were doled out. If Albert drank anything in the privacy of his tent, they had no way of knowing. However, the Field-Captain was up with the first dawn, rushing his men through a frugal breakfast before they marched again.

It was almost noon when they crested a small hill and saw the village spread out in the valley below them. They also saw their opponents, lined up against the small forest behind the village, their banners flapping lustily in the wind. Albert bade his men halt while he studied the enemy carefully and his captains were summoned.

"There seems to be fewer of them than I thought," Albert said. "We outnumber them handily. I don't know what Rugenheim was thinking, challenging us."

"Noble Albert, we have no way of knowing how many of Rugenheim's men are hidden in yonder forest," Joerg interjected.

"True, that," Albert agreed. "They may have men hidden in the village, too.

"Captain Bodo, lead your men down into the village. Perform a thorough search for hidden enemies!"

One of the foot companies followed their captain down the hillside and into the village, while the rest of the troops descended slowly.

"See there, Bjoern Isebrand! That small knoll yonder is where you will place the field pieces. Have them fire at Rugenberg's men as soon as possible. Once we advance, of course, hold their fire. I want your brother Thorben to follow the rest of us with the hand cannons."

Hand cannons were small artillery pieces, only two feet long, that were fired like a cannon, by pressing a burning fuse into a touchhole. They required two men each to service them, but they were quite effective at short range. They had forty of these, and the men manning them followed Thorben, while Bjoern moved the four field pieces towards the indicated knoll.

So far, Joerg found no fault with Albert's orders. The guns were out of harm's way, yet they could sweep the enemy lines, bringing disorder to them at the least.

Once they reached the level of the village, the enemy lines moved forward, no doubt mounting an attack.

"Aha! Here they come! Friend Joerg, have your pikemen form two lines! Let's see how they will deal with that," Albert ordered.

Joerg quickly rode along the lines and gave orders to form a double line, and the veteran pikemen quickly complied. They had stood their ground at Pavia and Brescia before. Now the advancing Rugenberg soldiers faced two lines of long lances. Yet, they marched on.

Another order from Albert had Katherine form a triple line of the Archers, and on her command, the sounds of the ratchets could be heard over the entire village. The thirty fuse lock muskets in her company formed a separate line up front.

Rugenberg's troops were still advancing. They were foot soldiers, armed with pikes and swords, mostly. Behind them, the barrels of a dozen muskets gleamed in the sunlight. Katherine had seen them already.

"Musketeers, see those musket barrels. Those men are your targets," she ordered with her clear voice.

The musketeers stopped to form a line and lifted their weapons. After a nod from Albert, Katherine gave the order to start the fight.

"Take aim! Ready! Fire!"

In a space of two seconds, all twenty muskets discharged, and a cloud of smoke rose, wafting towards the enemy lines. Before the view was obscured, Albert saw at least three of the enemy musketeers falling. That had been excellent shooting!

Now that the approaching Rugenberg men were only a hundred feet away, Joerg gave his pikemen the expected command.

"Pikemen, kneel!"

The entire body of men knelt as one. Katherine's voice sounded next.

"Archers, first line, let go!"

Behind the kneeling pikemen, the first line of archers shot their crossbows. Before the bolts even reached the advancing enemies, the men moved to the back of the formation, and the next line readied their weapons.

Katherine observed the enemy. Six or seven were down already.

"Second line, let go!"

Another thirty bolts flew and found their targets or not. This time, Katherine thought that they had felled even more men. Only sixty feet away, the enemy started to rush forward.

"Third line, let go!" Katherine shouted over the noise.

At close range, the third salvo was devastating. At least twelve men were hit and dropped to the ground. Now Thorben could be heard.

"First group, fire!"

The hand cannons discharged with a dull sound, and the twin shots tore through the advancing enemies.

"Second group, fire!"

Another barrage, and the enemies' numbers were down by over forty already. But the survivors now reached the lines of the Pikemen. With practised eyes, Joerg saw at once that the attackers had no experience dealing with the long lances of his men. They tried to push the lance points to the side to advance, but the second line of pikemen was ready for them. Another twelve of the enemy foot soldiers fell, and only two pikemen of Joerg's company were hit by musket balls, for the enemy musketeers were decimated, too.