The Bards of Wales

Bards have been crucial to the culture of Wales for millenia. I would hardly be the first to recognize that the Welsh, as a people, have an affinity for music. Anyone who has heard a stadium full of football supporters singing the Welsh national anthem with full harmonies can see that. What might be less well-known is that the history of Welsh music dates back to the middle ages and beyond, as evidenced not only by the poems and songs left to us by bards throughout the ages, but by the Welsh language itself. In fact, the English word bard is derived from the Welsh word bardd. The tradition of a bardic class can be traced to Celtic times when no distinct line was drawn between a druid and a bard. Upon the advent of Christianity, however, the role of Read more…

The Siege of Kenilworth

The siege of Kenilworth began on June 25, 1266. Kenilworth had been a royal castle, fortified by King John, the father of King Henry III. Once his father died and Henry himself ascended the throne, he gave it as a gift to Simon de Montfort, his brother-in-law, potentially in an attempt to insure his loyalty. That decision came back to haunt him as the castle was one of the strongest fortifications in England, and included a lake or ‘mere’. After Simon’s defeat and subsequent death at Evesham, the last holdouts in the war retreated to Kenilworth, and when Henry attempted to negotiate with the defenders, they sent back his messenger without his hand. By the time the royal forces assembled at Kenilworth Castle, the garrison – who probably numbered about 1,200, including wives, children and servants – had built up Read more…

The Origins of Saxon England

In recent years there has been some controversy regarding the origins of Saxon England. From the evidence of the written record, the dominance of the English language, and the distribution of Saxon place-names across the landscape, the assumption throughout most of history was that it came about through a series of invasions. However, in some contemporary scholarship, the use of the word ‘invasion’ or even ‘migration’ has fallen out of favor. Not only is it posited that there was no Saxon invasion at all–justified in part by the fact that we have found no massive battlefields–but that there was not even a migration. The Saxon conquest was, rather, a cultural takeover where the native British people remained living in all the same places throughout Britain, but gave up their language, culture, religion, traditions, and place names in order to adopt Read more…

Wigmore Castle

Wigmore Castle is a medieval fortress located in the March in northwest Herefordshire. It was built initially after the Norman conquest of England by the first earl of Hereford, William FitzOsbern, who also built Chepstow Castle. Fitz Osbern rebelled against William the Conqueror in 1075, however, in what has been called the ‘Revolt of the Earls’, prompted by William’s refusal to allow the marriage of Fitz Osbern’s daughter to the Earl of East Anglia. At their subsequent defeat, and FitzOsbern’s death, King William seized Wigmore and gave it to one of his faithful followers, Ranulph de Mortimer, and from then on it was the seat of the Mortimer earldom in the March. The castle has gone through many reconstructions over the centuries, most of which took place in the 12th-14th centuries, before the decline of the Mortimers after the execution Read more…

Warkworth Castle

Warkworth Castle is a medieval castle first built in the 12th century. It is located in Northumbria above the River Coquet. Though the castle was probably a seat of the Saxon earls of Northumbria before the Norman conquest of England, Warkworth initial construction as a motte and bailey castle is credited to Henry, the son of King David of Scotland, after he became Earl of Northumberland in 1139. Henry II, after the death of both King David and his son, repossessed Northumberland after 1150, granting it to Roger fitz Eustace. His son, Robert built the castle we see today starting in 1199. The castle then played an important role not only in the wars with Scotland, but in the internal wars within England, having passed to the powerful Percy family, who played a role in the deposing of Richard III, Read more…

Kilchurn Castle

Kilchurn castle is a medieval castle first built in the middle of the 15th century by the Campbells of Glenorchy. It is located on the northeastern end of Loch Awe in Scotland. From the 1400s, the Campbells were one of the most powerful clans in the Scottlish Highlands. For the next 150 years, they grew in power until they controlled most of the area, with Kilchurn being an important seat. By the 1700s, however, the Campbells were walking a line between support of the Protestant king William and the Catholic Jacobites. The Campbell fortunes went into a steep decline after the English takeover of Scotland, and by 1770, the castle was abandoned. The castle was initially built as a five-story tower house, but was expanded in subsequent years to include a curtain wall that encompassed more structures, including a dining Read more…

Skipton Castle

Skipton Castle is located in North Yorkshire, England. It was built in 1090 by a Norman baron, Robert de Romille. The castle occupies a strong, defensible position on a cliff on the south bank of the Eller Beck. While initially a traditional motte and bailey castle, the fortifications were upgraded to stone to withstand increasing raids by the Scots. The castle was expanded and remodeled through the 17th century and is still a private residence. Most of the castle is no longer truly medieval, but you can still see the 12th century chapel, as well as the original kitchen, great hall, withdrawing rooms, and the lord’s bedchamber. Skipton Castle is the seat of a major battle in Champions of Time.

Housesteads Roman Fort

Housesteads Roman Fort is located midway along Hadrian’s Wall in northern England. One name for it is Vercovicium. The fort is one of fifteen built along Hadrian’s Wall and the most complete example of a Roman fort in Britain. It was built within the first decade after the wall was begun in 122 and was garrisoned by 800 men until the 4th century AD. The men who manned the fort were Roman auxiliary forces, composed of infantry and cavalry raised from the conquered peoples of the empire. Still visible today are the remains of the walls, barracks, hospital, and the best preserved stone latrines in Roman Britain. Note the absence of running water. Housesteads was completely dependent upon rainwater for its supply. Housesteads does not relate directly to my books, but when Meg time travels to Hadrian’s Wall, she lands Read more…

Temple Church London

  Temple Church is the only commanderie in England we have ever visited. Unlike in France, they aren’t so thick on the ground. Only guessing, but the lack of surviving commanderies may be a product of the way their lands were parceled out after the fall of the order, combined with the Reformation, which destroyed many, if not most, religious sites throughout Britain. The Templars in England were disbanded but were allowed to continue living, which is one of the significant differences between what happened to the Templars in England as compared to in France. Initially, the London Templars met at a location that had once been a Roman temple. But because of the rapid growth of the order since its founding in England in 1128, by the 1160s the site was too small, and the Templars established a larger Read more…

Lanercost Priory

Lanercost was founded roughly in 1169 by a 12th century nobleman, Robert de Vaux, who later became the Sheriff of Cumberland. Robert’s family had been granted a barony on the border with Scotland, as reward for their part in the Norman Conquest, but the area had only come under English rule in 1157. According to English Heritage, the founding of a priory was a symbol of Robert’s permanence in the area and of his wealth, as well as an act of piety. He gave the priory considerable lands and the living from churches nearby, and allowed the canons the freedom to elect their own prior. Much of the work on the priory is from the late 13th century, using stones taken from Hadrian’s Wall—as evidenced by the fact that you can still see Roman inscriptions on some of the stones. Read more…

An Iron Ring of Castles

An Iron Ring of Castles is in many ways just like it sounds: a series of castles built around Wales to control the populace after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last Prince of Wales. In the 1270s and 1280s primarily, Edward I began the construction of this ring. The castles were focused in the north, in Gwynedd, since that region had always been a hotbed of Welsh resistance and resentment of English authority, and it was there that he built some of the most impressive monuments to his victory.  http://www.castlewales.com/edward1.html He began in the northeast with three castles: Hawarden, Flint, and Rhuddlan, all built before the 1282 war. Hawarden was the first castle attacked by Dafydd ap Gruffydd on Palm Sunday, 1282, when he started what became the final war with England.  Edward began Flint in 1277, bringing Read more…

King Edward I of England

King Edward is often viewed by historians as a strong king–one of the strongest, in fact. The people he conquered might not argue with that–only in equating ‘strong’ with ‘good’. He had many accomplishments during his reign that are viewed as beneficial to England–which from a certain perspective is true. One could argue (and I do) that conquering other peoples, while bringing in wealth in the short term, does long-term damage not only to the oppressed but the oppressor. 1239:  born 17 June 1254:  married Eleanor of Castille (he was 15, she 9) 1265:  Defeated Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham 1270:  Joined the 9th crusade to the Holy Land 1274:  Returned to England to take up the throne (Henry III, his father, had died in 1272) 1275-1290:  Codified existing statues into a more cohesive system of law, Read more…