It was a calm afternoon in Winchester.

The royal palace, or potentially the Conqueror's Castle, our scribes aren't precise when discussing the location, but probably the palace.

Either way, Winchester would have been full of activity, but nothing out of the ordinary, just royal

functionaries carrying out their duties while the king was away, and townsfolk going about

their business.

It was just a normal Thursday.

And so it's quite possible that Unferth was making his usual delivery of produce for the

King's stores. When suddenly, from behind him, the sound of hooves came thundering down the street,

followed by people shouting, and then chaos. A man on horseback burst into the courtyard.

And given his clothing and the quality of his horse,

it was plain to see that he was rich.

But it was the imperious way in which he carried himself

that told Unferth that this man wasn't just a magnate.

He was nobility.

Very highly ranked nobility.

The Norman jumped off his horse and strode with purpose towards the stone hall that formed the center of social activity for the palace.

He marched right up to one of the royal functionaries and began to shout at him.

Unferth had no idea what he was saying, because the noble was shouting in French,

but context told Unfirth that the man was berating some sort of official,

and something about it had the official panicked.

The poor man was looking around for support as the noble kept screaming at him,

pushing him backwards. Then more hoofbeats pounded into the courtyard,

...