The Knights Hospitaller
The Hospitallers are one of several monastic orders, along with the Templars, that arose out of the crusades. While the Templars’ mandate was to protect pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem, the Hospitallers, known officially as The Order of the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, charged themselves with caring for sick, ill, or injured pilgrims. The Hospitallers, in fact, were founded first, arising in 1113 as a reform movement within the Benedictine Order, intended to strengthen religious devotion and charity for the poor. Within a few decades, the Hospitallers added a military component that over time took precedence over their charitable arm. Hospitaller knights played a significant role in the Siege of Ascalon of 1153, for example. By 1291, after the fall of Jerusalem, the Hospitallers moved to Rhodes, and became almost entirely a military order. Read more…
Aberystwyth Castle
Aberystwyth Castle is located on the west coast of Wales, and is the only castle of King Edward’s iron Ring of castles that he built in Ceredigion. The castle guards the coastline, as well as entry into the mountains to the east. The first fortification at Aberystwyth was an iron age hill fort, which was occupied for about 300 years, into the first century BC. Other fortifications followed, although the first true castle, known today as Tan-y-castell, wasn’t built until the 12th century. Traces of that castle, which was constructed in earth and wood, are still visible above the River Ystwyth to the south of the current castle. Tan- y -castell was burned by Gruffydd ap Rhys, King of Deheubarth and then rebuilt by Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd, King Owain Gwynedd’s wayward brother, when he took over Ceredigion after Read more…
The Treason of Dafydd ap Gruffydd
Dafydd ap Gruffydd was a member of the royal house of Gwynedd. His father was the eldest son of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, the ruler of Wales in the early 13th century. Born in 1238, Dafydd himself was the youngest of four sons. His family was rocked by conflict throughout his life. With the death of his grandfather in 1240, his father and uncle fought among themselves for control of the country, resulting in Gruffydd’s imprisonment in Criccieth Castle. Dafydd’s mother pleaded to Henry III to intercede, which he did, only to imprison Gruffydd at the Tower of London, as hostage for his brother’s good behavior. Thus, Dafydd grew up in England, as a close companion to Prince Edward, who later became Edward I of England. Gruffydd died in 1244 when the rope by which he was trying to escape his 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…
The Church of the Holy Cross at Mwnt
The Church of the Holy Cross, or in Welsh, Eglwys y Grog, is an ancient church at Mwnt, and is an example of a medieval sailor’s “Chapel of Ease”–meaning it was built to allow sailors to attend service without having to walk all the way to Mwnt. It is located at a secluded cove in Ceredigion. The church was established during the Age of Saints although it is not credited to a specific saint. The name comes from a cross which was built on the heights above the church as a landmark that could be seen a great distance from land or sea, and it was known as a stopping point for pilgrims traveling north to Bardsey Island and south to St. Davids. In addition, according to legend, a contingent of Flemings–men from Flanders, brought in by the Norman Read more…
Aber Falls
Aber Falls is a waterfall located about two miles south of the village of Abergwyngregyn in Gwynedd. Abergwyngregyn is a village adjacent to where the princes of Wales had a llys, known as Garth Celyn. The waterfall is formed as the Afon Goch (or the red river) plunges 120 feet (37 m) over a sill of igneous rock in the foothills of the Carneddau range. Two tributaries merge here and the enlarged stream is known as Afon Rhaeadr Fawr. Once past the road bridge, heading towards the village and the mouth of the river, it becomes known as Afon Aber. A smaller bridge at the foot of the falls is part of the North Wales Path, a long-distance coastal path between Prestatyn and Bangor. Ancient peoples lived in the area, some remains of which are visible to visitors walking along Read more…
Domen Ddreiniog
Domen Ddreiniog, known in the medieval period as Tal-y-bont, lies northeast of the village of Tywyn and southwest of Castell-y-bere on the bank of the Afon Dysynni, near what historically was its lowest crossing point. This site has been documented as one of the 22 Welsh llysoedd of Gwynedd, though the mound that is visible today has been linked with other motte and Bailey Castles built by the Norman, Robert of Rhuddlan, in his attempt to conquer all of Gwynedd in the late 11th century. After his death, the Welsh retook the area and held it continually until the final conquest of Gwynedd in 1282 It is known that Llywelyn ap Gruffydd himself addressed a letter from the site in 1275, and King Edward I of England visited in 1295. The motte that is visible today is steep sided and Read more…
Castell Ewlo
Castell Ewlo is located to the northwest of the town of Hawarden in far eastern Gwynedd. The castle was built during a period when Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was rising in power, but before he was crowned Prince of wales in 1267. Documents dating to 1311 state that Llywelyn ap Gruffydd erected a “castle in the corner of the wood” in 1257. Of all the native castles in North Wales Ewlo is the only with a non spectacular setting. It stands on a promontory overlooking the junction of two streams but is itself overlooked by higher ground to the south. Its position, near the English border, was intended to give Llywelyn control of the road to Chester and the ability to counter the English fortresses of Hawarden and Flint. There is no mention of Ewlo playing a role in either the Read more…
Beeston Castle
Beeston Castle is located in Cheshire, and was part of the Earldom of Chester in the Middle Ages. It is a medieval fortress built in the 1220s on a high plateau by Ranulf, the 6th Earl of Chester, to consolidate his position in the northwest of England. Beeston has a long history of occupation, dating back to the Iron age, and the current castle incorporates these early banks and ditches into its construction. King Henry III took the castle in 1237, after the death of the last earl who died without an heir. The castle then became a jumping off point for the king’s campaigns in Wales. Prisoners captured at Evesham, during the Second Baron’s war, were held here, including Humphrey de Bohun, who died of his wounds while in custody. The castle remained in royal ownership until the 16th Read more…
Castell Buellt (Builth Wells)
Buellt is located in Builth Wells between the Rivers Irfon and Wye. It is a medieval fortress constructed by King Edward I and was the first of his Iron Ring of Castles built to control Wales. Buellt derives from old Welsh, ‘bu’ and ‘gellt’, meaning effectively an ox pasture. It was then anglicized to Builth. The Welsh kingdom of Buellt is mentioned in Welsh annals, and the site of the current castle was a seat of kings long before the Normans came. The first motte and bailey castle was built here by Philip de Braose, in his attempt to control the region. Control of the castle went back and forth between the Welsh and the Normans until Edward conquered the area completely in 1277. Construction of the current stone castle began in May of 1277 and continued until 1282. Upon Read more…
New Abbey Cornmill
The New Abbey Cornmill is located by the Pow Burn in New Abbey in Scotland on land belonging historically to the Stewarts. It is water-powered and dates to the 18th century. Americans shouldn’t be confused by the fact that it’s called ‘corn’ mill. It was always designed to create oatmeal. “Corn” is a generic term for grain in the UK. There may have been a mill at this location as early as the 1200s as part of Sweetheart Abbey. The current mill was built later, but it is still known as “Monk’s Mill”. In the mill are examples of hand-powered grindstones, like those used since prehistoric times. Harnessing water to power mill wheels was a great step forward and dates in Britain at least back to Roman times. Even until the 1800s, country mills like New Abbey ground oats and 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…
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