When William the Conqueror crossed the Channel in 1066 he brought with him an army of soldiers of fortune, men who were prepared to go out on a limb following for him, working on the basis that there would be rich pickings if his outrageous and unlikely plan to conquer England came to fruition.  Having, against all expectations, succeeded, William ruthlessly confiscated the land from the Saxon ruling classes and doled it out at peppercorn rents to the 'chancers' who had crossed the Channel with him.  These men were given their titles and their landed wealth in exchange for loyalty and if things got tough for the king they were honour bound to be there to support him. But by the 14th century the generation of barons who had understood about loyalty and honour were long dead and instead, the ancestors of King William faced continual problems from barons  - who were quite often very close relations, who were utterly disloyal and followed their own self-seeking agendas rather than that of the King.  One such man was Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, cousin to King Edward II.  Thomas didn't like Edward and thought he'd make a better king.  Thomas is the first of the Staffordshire barons featured in my book A Crown for Staffordshire and this talk follows his fifteen year vendetta against King Edward II which ended with Thomas's execution.

I cater for  historical groups and more general groups with this talk and I tailor it to their differing requirements by giving either more or less of an in depth history of events, either including graphics of family trees and dates - or not..... whatever's required and I'm always happy to answer questions afterwards.  

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