An examination of the legend
It is important to remember that the landscape was incredibly different from how it is now. The coastline has moved miles from where it was at that time. But what hasn’t changed so much are the salt marshes themselves. These areas are unlike any other terrain. Daily or regularly inundated by the tide. Thick with salt-tolerant plants such as Samphire and dissected by muddy creeks. This land is not conducive to the passage of wheeled carts. I live near the Lincolnshire marshes and have walked my dogs on them for many years. At low tide, it is possible to pick routes between creeks out towards the sea and reach flat, firm silt land that stretches for miles. Solid, sandy silt that can support horses and carts. Horse races used to take place on these flat stretches of land. When the tide turns, the water moves across these flat lands at a good walking pace. The creeks fill faster than the surrounding land, and a creek that was a crossable dip in the mud becomes a wide, flowing river. A person can be trapped easily; rescue teams regularly save the inexperienced.
The loss of the treasure is said to have occurred somewhere between the Roman Banks at Walpole Cross Keys and Sutton St. Mary. The banks marked the beginning and end of a 6-mile stretch of marshland bisected by the combined outflow of the Wellstream (Great Ouse) and Nene. Rivers silted up quickly and changed direction frequently before we had the technology to control them. The Wellstream no longer exists but roughly followed the modern straight route of the Nene from Wisbech to the sea.
The wetlands were, and still are, not fixed landscapes. They change over time, but not overnight. Local guides would know the safe routes and the times to cross. But it is impossible to cross large creeks and the outflows of rivers easily. They do not fully dry up. They are cut deep into the surrounding flat land and have sucking, sticky mud at the bottom. Water moves fast in and out along these outflows and creeks that drain away the sea as the tide retreats and funnel it towards land as the tide rises. I have yet to see evidence explaining how the baggage train's horse and carts crossed the Wellstream outflow. It would not have stopped flowing just because the tide went out. The soft mud and flowing water would trap carts. An acceptable and safe route across these marshes for carriages must have had some rudimentary bridges to cross the Wellstream and creeks. A bank of higher ground may have been available to follow for much of the route, but the river still presented a problem. It may theoretically have been possible to head out towards the sea between the creeks to flat solid ground, then traverse at a point where the Wellstream was shallow at the lowest tide, and navigate back to dry land between the creeks. Such a route would have put the vast 2-mile-long baggage train at significant risk—far too much to be considered by any decent leader.
It is worth just taking a minute to consider the reality of trying to get a two-mile-long military column across a marsh. We are told that there were up to 3000 mounted knights in addition to horse-drawn carts and foot soldiers. If you were to drive your car across a wet lawn a few times, you would start to chew it up, and it would quickly become difficult to keep driving. Go to a car boot sale on a wet Sunday and see how bad it can get. The idea that two or three thousand horses would manage to get across a marsh is unthinkable. After the first hundred or so, the horses would be up to their knees and bogged down. It would be an impossible task and clearly could never have happened.
There would need to be a way to cross the outflow and creeks for this route to be an option. If such crossings did exist, it is improbable that the baggage train would be cut off and lost to the tide, as the route would be straightforward. This shortcut would be the preferred route for everyone, and its regular use would be recorded. Indeed, why would John have taken the circuitous route via Wisbech if the short option were safe?
If we look at John’s itinerary, it is clear that the baggage train never intended to cross the marshes. As was the custom for John, he would ride a reasonable distance in a day, up to 40 miles, and then he would lodge at a comfortable and safe location for two or three nights while his army caught up. When he left Lynn, John rode to Wisbech, then Holbeach, Spalding and on to Swineshead Abbey for the evening. This longer route avoids the marshes and crosses rivers upstream where safe. The same safe journey that took John one day would take the baggage train three days. The next planned leg of the itinerary was to Newark with another three-night stay. Again, time planned to wait for the baggage train to catch up. It is evident that the slow-moving armed column and the treasure had planned to go around the marshes and not across them.
Let us forget the idea that the treasure got lost to the sea. It is a myth. A myth created purposefully to hide the truth. This is a tale that the population would accept because it already knew how terrible King John was. It is far more likely that John’s treasure and life were taken from him as part of a plan to remove him from power. This period of history was rife with plotting and intrigue. There were multiple claims to the position of King, and many would happily see the King gone. It seems more likely that the King's death and the treasure's loss were a carefully contrived plot than the bizarre legend we have grown up with.
Who would have been behind such a plot?
Several players, some close to the King, stood to gain from what befell him. The key ones were the Pope, the Knights Templar, the Earl Marshal, and possibly the Bishop of Lincoln. Each could have had the motivation to carry out such a dastardly plan.
Part one of this story recounts the Pope’s long-running feud with King John. Innocent III believed himself to be the most powerful individual in Europe and used everything at his disposal to maintain that position of power. The resolution to the schism between the Pope and the King over the appointment of Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury included payment of hefty fines and ongoing annual fees. John did not seem keen on fulfilling his part of the deal. After three years, he only paid a small amount of the fines. The Pope would have seen this as a snub and wanted his money and retribution.
The Knights Templar is central to the country's functioning throughout this period. The life of King John intertwines with the Templars. They were his bankers. He would likely never have been King without their support and only lasted as long as they chose to maintain that support. The Templars provided the King with funds when the royal coffers were empty. They provided security to him. When times were uncertain before the Barons’ War, John lived in the safety of the London Temple. The King never controlled the Templars. They enabled his reign. It was both a position of strength and weakness for John.
Settling his differences with the Pope in 1213, John signed an agreement in the Templar church at Dover. Following this, the Master of the Templars in England, Aymeric de St Maur, worked with John to gain stability in the country. Ultimately this led to the writing and signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Aymeric was one of 27 influential individuals that contributed to the content and signed the famous document.
The Templars were a unique organisation. It isn't easy today to imagine just how integral they were to the workings of the country. In some ways, they were like the worst modern multinational mega-corporation bankrolling politics to achieve their ends. Not paying taxes in the countries they operated. Carrying out their business, whatever they chose it to be, without hindrance. Yet their pious chivalrous image as the ultimate defender of the faith is the one that remains in the popular consciousness.
The Templars owed their existence to Pope Innocent II, who was instrumental in their establishment as a religious order almost eighty years earlier. He Set them above the rule of law in any nation. No King could tax or control them. They only answered to God and the Pope. The debt they owed, and their allegiance to the church, made them amenable to solving the problem of John. The King had caused instability in the country that had lasted for way too long. The lack of stability in England was costing the Templars’ business operations dearly. The removal of John would potentially return things to business as usual.
Magna Carta was signed in June 1215. Six months or so later, with the war against the Barons raging and many noblemen switching support away from John to Prince Louis of France, the future must have looked very uncertain. The Templars would have craved stability and peace. It was unlikely that John would be able to deliver stability. I believe the Templars were central to a plot to stabilise the country and settle debts.
The King was surrounded by a close group of allies that defended and benefited from his position. The Templars were a part of this group and would need the support of others to carry out any plot against John. The significant individuals in this group were predominantly the 27 named on the Magna Carta. The most influential close adviser was William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke. William was powerful, had his own army, and was a famed crusading knight.
The tomb of William Marshal
I believe that the Knights Templar, with the support of the Pope and in cahoots with William Marshal, set a plan to relieve King John of his money and his position as King. The project would be agreed upon in early 2016. In July of that year, Pope Innocent III died and was succeeded by Pope Honorius III. Innocent had been considered the most powerful person in Europe, overseeing the Catholic church at the height of its power. On the other hand, Honorius was elected rapidly as a compromise and had a different strength of character. The Templars saw this as an opportunity. The plan was already in place, the debt was owed, and they were determined to see it through. Their scheme, though, was not only to return England to peace. It also included desiring an outcome where they had a measure of control over the country.
What happened to John between Lynn and Swineshead is unlikely to emerge fully. The plan's outcome is evident and displays brilliance in its creation. William Marshal enabled the plan, which undoubtedly would not have happened without him. In return for his support, he was handsomely rewarded. In John’s deathbed will, which was fortuitously witnessed by Aymeric de St Maur, William Marshal was made guardian of the young King Henry and appointed Regent of England. Essentially he became King without the title. In addition, William was honoured by being made a Templar on his deathbed and buried inside Temple Church, London. At his funeral, the Pope’s appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, described William Marshal as “The greatest knight that ever lived”. What greater rewards could a man have been given?
Other players had more minor roles in the plot.
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester. Born in 1170 in Powys, Wales, Ranulf, following his father's death, was knighted at 18 or 19 and assumed the Earldom of Chester. His early life was marked by strategic marriages, which gained him further land and power, and his opposition to the future King John's attempted coup of 1193/4. Once John assumed control, he bought Ranulf's allegiance with further titles and land. He was a powerful man, a signatory to the Magna Carta, with a claim to be handed the position of Regent instead of William Marshal when Henry was crowned. He did not object to Marshal being appointed and, as a result, was handsomely rewarded. He threw his weight behind royalist forces in the war of the Barons. In 1217 he fought alongside the Regent at Lincoln when the rebels were defeated. As a reward, he was made Earl of Lincoln and given Lincoln Castle. He went on to build Bolingbroke Castle around 1220 and assumed the other properties and titles associated with the Earldom. He would also take ownership of Wrangle Castle—an important site in the third part of this story.
William Longespée, third Earl of Salisbury, was another Knight and Earl with similar power to the Earl Marshal. He was the illegitimate half-brother of Richard I and King John. Historia James Turner suggests that "William's role in the governance of England and commitment to royal service and the protection of family interests rested upon the existence of personal stake in their success". This was a man motivated by the personal acquisition of power and wealth. In June 1216, he switched his allegiance to Prince Louis of France, the pretender to the throne that the rebel Barons supported. This might have had a significant impact on the position of John and helped Louis to power. But it did not. I believe the defection was a ruse to weaken the situation of John but not to the point that the battle was lost. Just a few months later, John was dead, William Marshal was Regent, and William Longespee fought alongside the Regent at Lincoln Castle. This was the decisive battle to regain control of the country and establish the rightful position of Henry III on the throne of England.
Another assistant in the plot may have been Hugh of Wells, the Bishop of Lincoln. He had always supported John and worked for his court for many years. This closeness to the King brought him close attention from Pope Innocent III, who suspected favouritism when he was appointed Bishop of Lincoln during John’s excommunication. Hugh was in exile in France when Innocent sent his Stephen Langton to question him regarding royal favouritism. The outcome was that the Pope confirmed the appointment of Hugh, which was consecrated by Langton in France in 2009. We will never know what Hugh and Langton discussed or agreed. But Hugh, who had risen from nowhere and had no formal education, was confirmed in a position of great power as Bishop of Lincoln. It is entirely possible that Hugh owed the Pope a favour and at least turned a blind eye to the plan that unfolded in the County of his cathedral.
The legacy
The effect of the plot was significant and long-lasting. Henry III was King of England from 1216 to his death in 1272. A long reign that was not as settled as the Templars had hoped. What did not last long but was incredibly significant was the life of William Marshal. After becoming Regent, he gave up guardianship of Henry whilst retaining his position so that he could fight the war against the Barons. This he did successfully by defeating the rebels in 1217 at Lincoln and Sandwich. He was though an old man, and he passed away in 1219. Had he survived for longer, the reign of Henry may have been very different under his guidance.
The Knights Templar retained and consolidated their position of power for almost another 100 years. They had weathered the storms created by John and found a solution for themselves that enabled the continuation of their business activities. Beauséant!
Continue to King John's Treasure Part 3, where the mystery of what happened to the treasure is revealed.
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