January 10th 1069
Swithelm's plans for the development of York into an economic powerhouse capable of taking on the Normans were not quite going as he wished. Firstly he had had to fund the relocation of a fleeing nobleman, Edgar, to York. At first this had seemed like a good idea as presumably Edgar as a nobleman was trained in the arts of war and would make an effective marshall for Swithelm's forces. However it soon emerged that Edgar was no military genius, but then neither was Swithelm so Edgar was appointed marshall anyway in the hope the two of them together might at least be able to not totally mess things up.
Swithelm had also been obliged to receive a bishop appointed by the pope, which of course had done with good will, but since then there had been some distrubing rumors about the bishop and the nuns, the dairymaid, a barmaid in the town, and in fact just about anything in a skirt.
Being a chaste man Swithelm disapproved of such things. Unfortuantely he needed an heir, so he was going to have to indulge in such things at least to a degree. The ideal situation would be a dynastic marriage with one of the other counties in England in the hope of aquiring more lands. Following the Norman conquest, most of the counts of England had been replaced with young childless Norman men, so there were few opportunities for dynastic marriages. The best available was a marriage to Emma de Breteuil, daughter of the count of Hereford and Gloucester. Her two brothers meant there was little chance of inheritance without disease or 'accidents', but it would give a claim, which was a start.
January 28th 1069
Agatha of York was feeling pleased with herself. Not only had see managed to arrange a marriage between her leige and the daughter of one of the counts in England with the most land, but she has also secured 28 ducats as dowry, more than doubling the size of the treasury. Life was good.
Emma de Breteuil
Despite the marriage being arranged rather than from love, Swithelm and Emma got on well together, and within a few months Emma was expecting her first child. Furthermore Emma complete the last of her education, developing into a silver toungued negotiator and skilled steward. With her appointment to the position of steward the county income was increased by an extra ducat every two months, a noteable increase.
December 22nd 1069
The people of York were somewhat indifferent to the birth of their counts son. After all he was a Saxon while they were Danes, descended from Viking settlers, and the count, being somewhat cheap, had not organised any public celebration and there was to be no new church offered as thanks to God for the blessing of an heir. Besides, it was the middle of winter, cold and wet.
Swithelm however was joyous. Having mellowed over the last few years he realised that it would take several generations to take the throne from the Normans, so an heir was of the first importance. He still wasn't going to dedicated a new church though. York had a perfectly good church as it was and money didn't grow on trees.