Brecon Castle
Brecon Castle was begun in 1093 by Bernard de Newmarch, when (as my book ‘Welsh Castles’ puts it) ‘he established his lordship of Brecon.’ The Normans had only come to Britain in 1066 and it was a wild time on the borders between England and Wales as they tried to gain control over the Welsh lands. The Chronicle of the Princes (Red Book of Hergest version) says (for 1093) “the French devastated Gower, Cydweli, and the Vale of Tywi; and the countries remained a desert.” The lands had been occupied since before the Romans came, as Pen-y-crug hillfort, or Caer Coch, sits to the northwest of the castle. http://www.wisdomofrhiannon.co.uk/Brecon.html Brecon Castle was much fought over. From Newmarch, the castle passed to the Braose dynasty. King John seized it from William de Braose, who was in rebellion, in 1207 and William’s son Read more…
Aberedw Castle
In my “After Cilmeri” series, Aberedw Castle is in the hands of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, when the Normans take it in Prince of Time. David and Ieuan are held there until Bronwen and Lili devise their escape. The Aberedw castle depicted in the video appears to be the second, later one, after a search of the internet. As it is, it is a spectacular ruin of stone masonry and far larger than many of the castles we’ve seen that have been built on mottes. One story of the end of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd has him spending his last night here. Aberedw is on the eastern side of the Usk and 10 miles east of Cilmeri, so the other story that he stayed at Abbey Cwm Hir feels more accurate to me, but there is no definitive proof one way or Read more…
The Death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
?? It has been over 700 years since the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd on 11 December 1282. J. Beverley Smith writes: “Intimations of treachery, of breach of faith, are so often conveyed darkly, and no chronicle, nor any other source, provides the unequivocal teestomny which might enable us to unravel the threads in the various accounts of the tragic happening in the vicinity of Builth. It was alleged at the time, or shortly afterwards, in the most explicit statement we have, that the prince’s decision to venture into the area was influenced by one of the sons of his old adversary, Roger Mortimer. The Hagnaby chroinicler, an important source for the events of the day on which Llywelyn died, was quite definite: Roger Mortimer, he says, but, more correctly, his brother Edmund Mortimer, drew the prince there by Read more…
Dolwyddelan Castle
The site of Dolwyddelan Castle has been on a major thoroughfare through Wales for millenia. Before the present castle was built by Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn ap Iorwerth) early in the 13th century, an older castle sat on a knoll on the valley floor below it. http://www.castlewales.com/dolw.html Before that castle, a major Roman road through Snowdonia passed just to the east, connecting Tomen y Mur with the small fort of Bryn y Gefeilliau and the larger fort of Canovium (Caerhun). (See Roman Roads: https://www.sarahwoodbury.com/roman-roads/) and the Sarn Helen (named also for Elan, the wife of Macsen Wledig or Magnus Maximus, emperor of Rome). https://www.sarahwoodbury.com/sarn-helen/ The present Dolwyddelan Castle has been heavily restored, in keeping with it’s position as the birthplace of Llywelyn Fawr, even if that even really occured a quarter of a mile southeast of the present castle. The newer Read more…
Welsh Heraldry
Knights in the Middle Ages wore a coat of arms to distinguish themselves from one another in battle. Within a given family individuals would have their own coats of arms, separate from each other and sometimes blending with another family, depending on the circumstances of marriage. A family would also have crests and seals, which might or might not be the same as the coats of arms. All are referred to as heraldic devices. “Generally the language of heraldry suggests its warlike origin. The term Coat of arms is derived from the surcoat worn over the armor to keep off the rays of the sun. It was a waistcoat-like garment, on which the heraldic design was depicted. The knight wore the arms shown on the surcoat on his shield, the trappings of his horse, and his lance pennon. In addition, Read more…
The Quest for Welsh Independence
When the Romans conquered Britain, the people they defeated were the Britons, the ancestors of the Welsh, a Celtic people who themselves had come to the island hundreds of years before. After the Romans marched away in 410 AD, the Saxon invaders overwhelmed the British in successive waves, pushing them west and resulting in a Saxon England and British Wales. When the next conquerors—the Normans—came in 1066 AD, they conquered England but they did not conquer Wales. Not yet. For the next two hundred years, power in Wales ebbed and flowed, split among Welsh kings and princes, Marcher barons (Norman lords who carved out mini-kingdoms for themselves on the border between England and Wales), and the English kings. Through it all, the Welsh maintained their right to independence—to be governed by their own laws and their own kings. The ending came on Read more…
Medieval Coinage
When Edward I hanged Jewish merchants for coin clipping in 1277, confiscating their goods and disinheriting their children, he was making a comment not only on the state of his own treasury, but on the economics of medieval life. Over the previous centuries, coinage–having been scarce once the Romans left Britain–had become more and more important in trade throughout England. Edward the Elder (c. 902-925 AD) ordered: “there be one money over all the king’s dominion, and that no man mint except within port. And if the moneyer be guilty, let the hand be struck off with which he wrought that odense, and be set up on the money-smithy; but if it be an accusation, and he is willing to clear himself, then let him go to the hotiron, and clear the hand therewith with which he is charged to Read more…
A Medieval Siege
A medieval siege was a far more common form of warfare than a fight on an open battlefield. Sieges had the element of surprise and required fewer men than battle too, such that a ruler could beseige a castle with his enemy inside, while freeing other forces to wage war elsewhere. The goal in beseiging a castle was not to destroy it, but to take it, since castles were pawns in the great game of controlling land. They were usually heavily fortified and defended, so a beseiger had several options when he was on the outside looking in: 1) to starve/wait them out 2) harassment and trickery 3) a straight assault Often, attackers employed all three tactics at various times. The defenders, on the other hand, hoped and prayed for relief. As Saladin says in Kingdom of Heaven “One cannot Read more…
Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, brother to the King
If ever your family gets on your nerves, you can be glad that you don’t have a family like Owain Gwynedd. Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd was Owain Gwynedd’s brother. A royal family in Wales wasn’t the same as in England, where the eldest son inherited most everything. In Wales, upon the death of a king, an entire kingdom was to be split among the brothers, even the illegitimate ones. (yes, the Catholic Church objected to this, but the Welsh didn’t much care). This caused problems for Wales time and again–as the brothers fought over lands among themselves and what had been a united kingdom under the father became divided under the sons. Cadwaladr and Owain were often at odds. Owain became the eldest son when his brother, Cadwallon, died, leaving Owain and Cadwaladr to rule without him. Owain and Cadwaladr seemed Read more…
Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn
Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn was a contemporary of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last Prince of Wales who died in 1282. He was father to Owain, who with Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Llywelyn’s brother, conspired to murder Llywelyn in 1274. Gruffydd was born sometime before 1216, the date of his father’s death. Llywelyn Fawr had driven the family from their lands in Powys and Gruffydd subsequently grew up in England. “Gwenwynwyn seized Arwystli in 1197 when he was aligned with England. Following the marriage of Llywelyn Fawr and Joan of England in 1208, warfare broke out once more between Gwenwynwyn and Llywelyn. In 1212 Gwenwynwyn’s ancient royal seat at Mathrafal was destroyed and he was evicted from his territories. He changed allegiances again and was restored to his realm in 1215 making a new capital at Welshpool. In 1216 he was defeated in battle with the forces of Read more…
Surprise Holy Day Attack!
One of the most famous instances of one army attacking another on a holiday was when George Washington crossed the Delaware on Christmas Day: “During the night of December 25, Washington led his troops across the ice-swollen Delaware about 9 miles north of Trenton. The weather was horrendous and the river treacherous. Raging winds combined with snow, sleet and rain to produce almost impossible conditions. To add to the difficulties, a significant number of Washington’s force marched through the snow without shoes. The next morning they attacked to the south, taking the Hessian garrison by surprise and over-running the town. After fierce fighting, and the loss of their commander, the Hessians surrendered.” http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/washingtondelaware.htm This attack gave Washington a much needed victory and gave his troops a reason to reenlist for 1777. Five hundred years earlier, on the morning of 22 March Read more…
The Wildwood — the lost forest of the UK
Imagine all of the UK covered in a thickly wooded landscape, much like portions of the western United States. I just spent the last 1/2 an hour looking up native plants in Wales, trying to come up with a couple that would have reliably flourished in Gwynedd in the 13th century. My sister-in-law is a botanist, and she agreed that agrimony and juniper would good choices. What has been difficult to determine, as with the Roman and ancient roads, is what the landscape looked like in the Middle Ages. England was mostly denuded of trees by then, but it is possible that wasn’t the case in Wales. So when we see these broad lanscapes in the uplands with no trees, was that what they looked like eight hundred years ago? How do we find that out? According to scientists, only Read more…
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