prussiablue: Glad to welcome you on board.
J. Passepartout: Yeah, got lucky I guess. Glad I keep up on my indulgences!
Part 7: A Near Thing...
Above: King Edward IV of England (aka 'the Black Prince')
In April 1359 Maurice moved. His forces hadn't quite reached peak condition, but they were certainly large enough to outnumber the Mayo army. Confidentantly declaring war on the county he mobilised his army and passing through friendly Galway (a fellow English vassal) entered Mayo through the border running between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask.
At first O'Malley sook to avoid battle, but Maurice methodically sacked every stronghold and town he came across and torching their crops. Starving and desperate O'Malley decided to commit his entire army: some 1450 men in a direct attack on Maurice's somewhat larger force (2100 men). He was greatly encouraged upon hearing the Munster army seemed to be fragmenting in twain between the Duke himself and his Marshal with both sides now in retreat back to the border. So like a falcon after a dove he gave chase.
It was a trap of course. The quarel and the retreat were fictional. On July the 2nd the full strength of the Munster army ambushed them on the shores of Lough Corrib, Maurices knights literally running the Mayomen into the water where they drowned by the hundred. Struggle desperately though they might it was an uneven contest indeed: 1443 Mayomen died, against 637 Munstermen. His army slain almost to a man O'Malley fled to his stronghold at Ballinrobe and prepared to withstand siege.
Then Maurice recieved some very disquieting news: King Edward himself had assembled an army of his own intending to march on Mayo in person. Disaster!
"If he arrives here before Ballinrobe surrenders he'll claim it for himself!" an angry Maurice hissed at Marshal O'hEachthighearna who had brought the good news of reinforcements in high spirits. Now he looked ashen as the implications of the royal visit became clear.
"I don't care how many men we lose. Burn the whole hill to the ground if you have to - I need that surrender!"
It took until the 18th of August - with Edward only 40 miles away - before the starving survivors of Ballinrobe did surrender. Maurice was unmerciful in victory: though common bonds of nobility and his code of honour prevented him from executing O'Malley after his humble recognition of the
rightful Earl of Mayo the rest of the garrison fared less well.
Borrowing a lesson from Irish history, the thirty four defenders had their knees and elbows broken before being thrown into the Lough to drown under the watchful eyes of the assembled Munster army.
"They were weak," he told the very few in his army brave enough to look askance at this behaviour. Explanation enough for Maurice the Strong.
And to himself he thought:
I was foolish. I should have expected the rules to change now that Edward is at peace with France. But our King is a warlike king - peace ill suits you. I will have chances again... I just have to be a little more cautious.
*
The following year was a busy one for the Duke. His son formally began his education in December 1359. As his father before him Flaithbeartach would recieve a court education: reading, writing, public speaking, court intrigue... It was widely hoped that this would improve his noticably poor stewardship abilities. He might never be a financial or organisational genuis, but perhaps he could one day be functional. With a certain amount of optimism.
Perhaps more importantly the new year of 1360 saw the birth of a second Fiztgerald. Edward Fitzgerald was born on the 22nd of June. His name was indicative of his fathers cunning - for Maurice was a politician to his boots. 'Edward' was an English name - the name indeed of the King and it could be taken as a sign of loyalty, or at least a hedging of bets to raise one son in the Old English tradtion. As well it might have been.
Yet some may have wondered which Edward Maurice had in mind - for the last King of Ireland had been that Edward the Bruce who had been crowned at Dundalk back in 1316, and here too was a tradition Maurice might have some feeling for...