In 1215 King John of England repudiated the Magna Carta he had previously signed guaranteeing basic rights to the freemen of the kingdom. Many of the barons, who had forced the King to sign the Magna Carta, rose in revolt as a result. King John proved to be a wily commander and when it looked as if he would crush the revolt the barons turned to the King of France's eldest son, Louis the Dauphin - a foreigner - and offered him the Crown of England. In 1216 Louis landed in England with a large French army and set about conquering England. London and the rebel barons welcomed him with open arms and proclaimed him King of England. Whilst prior to King John's death the French and their rebel baron allies held most of southern England, they never held the great Wealden forest of Kent and Sussex which separated the Channel coast from London. Not only did they not hold it, they feared it for it was the domain of William of Cassingham, known as Willikin of the Weald, and his yeomen archers. Willikin and his men ambushed and killed any French who dared to venture into the Weald and put their heads on stakes to warn others of what of what waited for them in the woods.Yet Willikin did not have an army; he had small bands of ordinary freemen willing to lay down their lives to remain free of French rule. Two of those men were the twin brothers Godfrey and Thomas Wulfson of Iping; farmers and woodsmen. This is their story.
About the Author: At the age of seven I asked my mother about King Richard the Lion Heart. Her response was to give me an historical text book she was reading on the subject and tell him to find out for myself! From then on I have been addicted to English history. After leaving school, where the history topics I studied were dictated by my need to pass exams, I concentrated my efforts on the 17th century, with especial interest in the Civil War and Cromwell's Protectorate. However, in the mid '90's I changed direction and began studying Anglo-Saxon history. Since then the Hundred Years War, in particular the events in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II have caught my interest. As a result of this I am now involved with the SCA Canton of Cluain, Barony of Ildhafn, Kingdom of Lochac. I have more than one persona, but my usual one is that of a yeoman archer in the retinue of Sir Allan de Buxhall, KG, Constable of the Tower of London. I run my own Household within the Barony - The Wulfings. Until Government cut backs I regularly acted as a guest lecturer for the Waikato University covering English history topics from the coming of the English to the Restoration. Whilst I spent most of my early career in telecommunications, I later joined the University of Waikato running an experimental 'virtual' unit providing education in technology management and innovation. After leaving the University I worked on various technology related contracts but am now retired. I am active Christian and attend the Te Awamutu Bible Chapel. For many years I have been involved in youth work for the church. Born in England, my wife and I moved to New Zealand in 1969. We have three sons and five grandchildren. We live on a large section with lots of trees and flowers and spend a lot of our time working in the garden. Naturally, as an archer, I have an archery butt at the bottom of the grounds.