The Siege of Bunny Castle 1070 AD
£14.40
On 28th September 1066 in the tiny chapel at Dives-sur-Mer, France, William of Normandy and his knights said solemn mass and with God on their side set sail to conquer Britain. There’s a plaque in the chapel which lists all their names – or is someone missing?
Unbeknownst to his family the 16 year old Corbett de Langue d’Oc (younger brother of Robert le Bastard) also slipped aboard ship that fateful night bound for adventure.
After the invasion Robert quickly found fame and fortune becoming feudal lord of vast estates in the County of Devon. His younger sibling Corbett chose to journey east in search of his destiny and in 1070, just as Hereward the Wake was battling to capture the Isle of Ely, Corbett and his followers were laying siege to Bunny Castle.
Months later the castle eventually fell into their hands and Corbett found himself seigneur of the rich flood plains of the Wensum Valley in the County of Norfolk. At this time the castle was renamed Castle Langue d’Oc in his honour but over centuries of mispronunciation by lazy Anglo-Saxon tongues the name has become bastardised (much like his brother) until today it is known simply as Castle Long Dog!
Our hero Corbett’s story didn’t just end there. In the late summer of 1096 he and his men, being devout stitchers of the cross in their leisure hours, joined with the Count of Toulouse as he set off on the First Crusade to recapture the Holy Land.
Corbett survived the bloody close combat at Jerusalem and marched barefoot with his brother crusaders to Ascolon where on 12th August 1099 what is often considered the last great battle of the campaign took place against the Fatimid Army. He died of his wounds two days later at the age of 49 and although his body rests in the Holy Land his heart was returned to Castle Long Dog where it remains to this day buried deep beneath the Raven Tower.
Corbett is portrayed in this sampler following his favourite pursuit – hunting for truffles with his fearsome snail of prey specially shipped over from Normandy and accompanied by one of the blue-arsed flies which plague the region with their needle sharp stings.
Comes to you in portable document format (pdf), wrapped in chainmail and ready for combat.
- Area in stitches: 265 x 265