February 2nd 1101 AD

Disgraced ex-minister, Ranulf Flambard, long-time henchman of the late King William Rufus, (killed by an arrow last August in a hunting accident), broke out of the notorious Thameside Tower on the night of Candelmas and disappeared without trace. Imprisoned by the present king for a string of offences including withholding payments to the church, appropriating lands, intimidation and amassing a private fortune at the expense of the public treasury, he strenuously denied all charges, claiming to have been ‘made a scapegoat.’

On the night of 1st February, after conducting mass in the Tower chapel, Ranulf Flambard, who was appointed Bishop of Durham by the late king in 1099, gave a blow-out banquet for the clerical staff in celebration of the popular Candelmas Feast. Present on that occasion was the Constable of the Tower, William de Mandeville, who reputedly spent the evening getting drunk.‘He was stuffed as a swan and had drunk too much,’ commented one fellow-diner. ‘I have never seen him so shockingly gone.’ Mandeville is alleged to have fraternised with the prisoner, allowing him to move freely about the Tower and supplying him with wine.

Midnight jump into fog

While the feast was in progress, Ranulf Flambard made his way up to his second floor chamber on the pretext of changing from his clerical vestments. The countdown to the midnight escape plan had begun.

Earlier that evening a small cask, supposedly full of Flambard’s favourite imported wine but in reality holding a rope, had been introduced into the chamber by confederates known to include his longtime assistant, Firmin, a bribed guard, and a Thames waterman.

Fastened around the central mullion of the second-floor window, the rope was thrown out but failed to reach the ground. The following morning, when it was found, the rope was said to be at least ten feet short, necessitating a considerable jump.

Apparently without injury, the fugitives got away and disappeared without trace. It is thought that the escape was aided by a thick fog which cloaked the Tower all night.

Latest adventure of Flambard – King Henry said to be ‘incandescent’

A search of the riverbank the following morning revealed no clues other than what could be ascertained by verbal testimony. The Thames waterman was named as Dunstan, an unmarried sailor from Deptford. He is assumed to have been paid and discharged along with the turncoat guard, as yet unnamed. It is possible, however, that they both went along with Flambard who is thought to have boarded a ship in the Thames which had been financed by ‘friends on the outside.’ Their destination is unknown but is presumed to be Normandy.

When the escape was discovered by guards on a routine inspection, an alarm was immediately sounded and a search began but nothing was found. Today royal sources said that the king, who was not in London at the time of the escape, was ‘incandescent with fury.’ He is reported to have blamed Mandeville, calling him a ‘careless incompetent who has let slip a dangerous malcontent.’

Mandeville has been arrested and an inquiry is to be held into the circumstances surrounding the escape.