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…
Battle of Crogen
The Battle of Crogen took place in a field in Powys adjacent to Offa’s Dyke and marked by a 1200 year old oak tree. History has recorded this battle as occurring 1165 between a combined Welsh force that included Owain Gwynedd, his nephew, the Lord Rhys, and the sons of King Madog of Powys, for once fighting with Owain instead of against him. They were opposed by an invasion force led by King Henry II, who was attempting to curb the power of the Welsh. To that end, he brought the largest army the Welsh had ever faced: 30,000 men. Henry also hired upwards of 2000 woodcutters to cut a path through the forest. But when the English army tried to force its way through a gap in Offa’s Dyke, the Welsh rained thousands of arrows down upon them from Read more…
Empress Maud (Matilda)
Maud was the eldest, legitimate daughter of Henry I of England. Her major claim to fame is that she warred for 19 years with Stephen of Blois, her cousin (both were grandchildren of William the Conqueror), for the throne of England. This period of English history is known as ‘The Anarchy’. Maud resolved to take this path after the death of her brother, Henry, who went down with the White Ship in 1120 AD. His death left King Henry with no legitimate sons (and up to twenty illegitimate ones). In English law, illegitimate sons could not inherit, which left only Maud to take the throne. While Henry was still alive, he tried very hard to get the barons to swear they would follow Maud. Afterwards … Stephen felt that as a legitimate male, even if descended through his mother, Adela, Read more…
The Norman Conquest of Ireland (part 1)
The Normans were conquerors. Even more, they conquered. It was what they did. It was only natural, then, that eventually one of them would set his sights on Ireland. That someone, in this case, was Richard de Clare, otherwise known as Strongbow. Now, Strongbow wasn’t entirely at fault for what came next. In fact, in 1169 he was invited into Ireland by the ousted king of Leinster, Diarmait Mac Murchada. Murchada had been removed from power by the High King of Ireland, Rory O’Connor, and, naturally, he wanted his lands back. He knew about Norman military prowess and looked to south Wales, where Clare was the Earl of Pembroke, for assistance. And what did Clare get out of it? Murchada had no male heir, so he promised Clare his daughter and the kingship of Leinster if they succeeded. For Clare, that Read more…
Deganwy
Deganwy is one of those castle-forts that has become part of the legend of Wales, although very little of it remains. This plan http://www.castlewales.com/deganwy1.html shows a reconstruction of the early medieval fort. It was the seat of “Maelgwyn Gwynedd, the foremost historical figure of the 6th century in north Wales, patron of St Cybi and St Seiriol, but reviled as a drunken tyrant by the chronicler Gildas. Excavations on the western summit in 1961-66 confirmed occupation in the 5th and 6th centuries.” http://www.castlewales.com/deganwy.html “The area below the castle is called Maesdu (Black Meadow) and was, doubtless, the site of many bloody battles. The lower ground of the later bailey may have been the site of a settlement of serfs and bondmen; while Maelgwn’s stronghold stood atop the higher of the later castle’s twin peaks. It would have been largely of Read more…
Senana, Mother of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
Senana, by all appearances, had to have been quite a woman. She was the daughter of Caradog ap Thomas ap Rhodri ap Owain Gwynedd, the great king of Gwynedd during the twelfth century. Her husband was the illegitimate son of Llywelyn Fawr, the great Prince of Wales. Llywelyn Fawr ruled Wales with a strong hand, and as his death approached, he made a fateful choice: that Dafydd, his legitimate son through his wife, Joanna, herself an illegitimate daughter of the King John of England, would rule after him. In so choosing, he put Wales on a course for inevitable conflict. Llywelyn Fawr died in 1240 and Gruffydd immediately began agitating for his own power. By 1241, Dafydd had imprisoned him in Criccieth Castle, along with his eldest son, Owain. Senana pleaded first with Dafydd to free her husband and son, Read more…
The First Welsh Parliament
The first Welsh parliament was established by Owain Glyndwr (Owain Glendower) in 1404 in Machynlleth, a small town on the northwest coast of Wales, not far from Harlech Castle, which was his seat. “In 1404, Glyndwr assembled a parliament of four men from every commot in Wales at Machynlleth, drawing up mutual recognition treaties with France and Spain.” http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bowen/owainglyndwr.html The Owain Glyndwr Centre exists now on the site of the building where this was established and Owain was crowned Prince of Wales. http://www.canolfanglyndwr.org/ Background: “Glyndwr was a member of the dynasty of northern Powys and, on his mother’s side, descended from that of Deheubarth in the south. The family had fought for Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in the last war and regained their lands in north-east Wales only through a calculated association with the powerful Marcher lords of Chirk, Bromfield and Yale Read more…
Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Prince of Wales (d. 1246)
Dafydd, the only legitimate son of Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn ap Iowerth) was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His father was determined that he become the Prince of Wales and hold the country together upon Llywelyn’s death, but at the same time, his illegitimate older brother, Gruffydd, by Welsh law had an equal claim to the throne. The possibility that Gruffydd was erratic and temperamental and perhaps not as suited to ruling a princedom as Dafydd was irrelevant. Even had Gruffydd been all that Llywelyn wanted in a son, he was not legitimate. Among the Welsh, any child was reckoned legitimate if his father acknowledged him, which Llywelyn had. But the Church did not and the powers-that-were in England believed that the Welsh were barbaric for allowing a illegitimate child to inherit anything. Much less the crown of Wales. So Gruffydd Read more…
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