Inchmahome Priory
Inchmahome Priory was founded as an order of Augustinian monks in 1238 by Walter Comyn, the Earl of Menteith on the largest of three islands in Lake Menteith, Scotland. The priory has only ever been reachable by boat. Still visible today are the ruins of the church itself with its processional doorway, choir, and bell tower and the chapter house. The priory was built on the low lying eastern half of the island, while the earl saved the western half for a garden for his own estate. There is evidence that a church existed on the island before the building of the monastery, which hosted many kings and lords of Scotland over the next centuries. The Comyn family was one of the most powerful in Scotland during the 13th century, supporting John Balliol’s claim to the throne and the English Read more…
Dunstaffnage
Dunstaffnage is a medieval castle located in Western Scotland near Oban above the Firth of Loin. It was built some time before 1240 by the MacDougall clan. The height upon which Dunstaffnage is located has been occupied since as early as the 7th century, but only became the seat of the MacDougalls in the 13th. The current stone castle was begun by Duncan MacDougall and then enlarged by his son, Ewen, who styled himself “King of the Isles”. He built the three round towers and enlarged the hall that are among the features of the castle still visible today. Also still standing are the walls, including some restored parapet walks, the round towers, the gatehouse, the internal range, and a free-standing chapel that also dates to the 13th century. In the 14th century, the MacDougall’s made the mistake of backing 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…
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…
Kentigern and Asaph
Today we’ll be talking about St. Kentigern’s Monastery in St. Asaph. Wait a minute, that’s two saints. Yes, it is, and in the case of this particular monastery, it’s a bit confusing because the monastery was founded by St. Kentigern, and then it was taken over by a second saint, Asaph, for which the town was named. In fact, unless you do some research, you might never know that the monastery in St. Asaph was initially founded by Kentigern at all. Two weeks ago, in my introduction to early monastic houses, I explained that they weren’t organized along the lines that we have come to know from the later Middle Ages, in that each would belong to a particular order: Benedictine, Cistercian, Augustinian, Franciscan, or Dominican. Each had their particular ‘rule’ they followed, the monks wore different colored robes, had Read more…
Hadrian’s Wall
Hadrian’s Wall “was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in 122 AD in the reign of the emperor Hadrian. It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire. It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with two turrets in between. There was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum, another ditch with adjoining mounds. It is thought that the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry. In addition to the wall’s defensive military role, its gates may have been used as customs posts.[1] A significant portion of Read more…
Wales and Scotland: War, Rebellion, and Edward I
Edward had his eyes on Wales for thirty years, ever since Llywelyn ap Gruffydd’s forces had swept through his lands (held custodially by Edward’s parents and guardians) in 1256. (see my post: https://sarahwoodbury.com/the-rising-of-1256/) Llywelyn’s army marched all the way to Deheubarth that summer and fall, and set the stage of Llywelyn’s twenty year supremacy in Wales. However, it wasn’t until 1267 that Edward’s father, Henry III, acknowledged Llywelyn as the Prince of Wales, a title he inherited from his grandfather–and another ten years after that before things fell apart for the Welsh prince. http://www.castlewales.com/llywel2.html Edward participated in the Ninth Crusade (see my post: https://sarahwoodbury.com/the-ninth-crusade/) and despite the fact that his father died in 1272, he didn’t return to England until 1274, at which point he immediately turned a covetous eye on Wales. Why Wales instead of Scotland? It seems likely Read more…
The Succession of 1290 (Scotland)
When Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286 by falling off a cliff (which is another whole story–what king dies falling off a cliff when riding from one castle to another alone in the fog? Whatever.), he left Scotland without a king. He had one living grandchild, Margaret, otherwise known as the ‘Maid of Norway’. She was the child of Alexander’s daughter, who’d died at her birth, and Erik, the King of Norway. The succession was already in trouble after King Alexander’s only son died, two years earlier: “When Prince Alexander died on 28 January 1284, leaving only the king’s granddaughter Margaret living out of his descendants, Alexander III summoned all thirteen Earls of Scotland, twenty-four barons and the heads of the three main Gaelic kindreds of the West, Alexander of Argyll, Aonghas Mór of Islay and Alan MacRuari of Garmoran. At Scone on 5 February Read more…
Scots, Scottish, and Gaelic … what’s the difference?
What language were people speaking in 13th century Scotland? Undoubtedly, that is a question that keeps most people up at night. In a nutshell, in 1288, in Scotland, people spoke three local languages regularly. At the time, they called them: French, English, and Scottish. What is confusing is that those are not the names used to refer to these languages NOW. French, was Norman French. Robert the Bruce, a great King of Scotland, descended from the Gaelic Earls of Carrick, and on his father’s side from “ancestors in Brix, in Flanders. In 1124, King David I granted the massive estates of Annandale to his follower, Robert de Brus, in order to secure the border. The name, Robert, was very common in the family. Brought up at Turnberry Castle, Bruce was a product of his lineage, speaking Gaelic, Scots and Norman Read more…
Archaeology news in the UK–exciting update!
I am always on the lookout for interesting archaeological finds or digs in the UK. I have three today: The first is the ongoing quest for the grave of Richard III: http://www.northwalesweeklynews.co.uk/conwy-county-news/uk-world-news/2012/08/24/archaeologists-in-richard-iii-dig-55243-31688154/ “King Richard III, the last Plantagenet, ruled England from 1483 until he was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. It is believed his body was stripped and despoiled and brought to Leicester, where he was buried in the church of the Franciscan Friary, known as Greyfriars.” Richard III is the king defeated by Henry Tudur, the descendent of Ednyfed Fychan, the seneschel to Llywelyn the Great. Henry became Henry VII. The interesting problem in this case, and it has happened all over the UK, is that they lost the location of the original church where they think he is buried! You wonder how that could have happened 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…
Scotland and Its War for Existence
Today I have a guest post on a parallel subject to my interest in Wales: JR Tomlin on the Scottish quest for independence. Her book, Freedom’s Sword, is available from Amazon or Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46734. Welcome! ____________________ Because I write about Scotland, I felt it would be a good idea to briefly discuss Scotland’s history, and in particular, its invasion by England, as well as the eventual loss of its independence. I won’t do so with an emphasis on academics. For that, I suggest reading the work of G. W. S. Barrow, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and probably the pre-eminent medievalist of the last century. In particular, I recommend reading both his Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland and his Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000–1306, that is if you have a deep interest in the subject. Otherwise, just Read more…
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