Jollity in the Medieval Castle

 Whilst we love visiting a Medieval Castle in summer to bask in its imposing glory and in winter to savour the atmosphere, we realise that they must, in reality, have been stark, damp, smelly, cold and lacking in privacy. 

 

Yet there were ceremoniously jolly occasions to compensate: huge banquets would take place with far more exotic cuisine than our ubiquitous turkey. Massive tables, with people seated in order of precedence, would be piled high with boars' heads, venison, peacocks, swans, suckling pigs, cranes, plovers and larks. The wine, however did not match this standard and was described by Peter of Blois at the court of Henry II as "sour or mouldy - thick, greasy, stale, flat and smacking of pitch." There was strict etiquette to be observed: spoons must not be left in the dish, elbows should not be on the table, no belching or talking with mouths full (and not too full at that) and much cleansing of hands and nails.

Roland prepares for his triple action

At the court of Henry II, there might be entertainment provided by Roland le Petour (my favourite character in all history) who was richly rewarded by the King because of his ability to perform - simultaneously - a somersault, a whistle and a fart. (Saltum, sifflum, pettum at Christmas earned him a manor in Suffolk and 30 acres of land). That feat could not have lasted long, however, and there would be jokes, music and stories to add to the fun. After the meal, when the tables had been cleared, everyone washed their hands (yet again) and sang caroles in a round dance in which the company held hands, warbled and circled. Even more hilariously, there were games such as the one where a player knelt blindfold and was struck by the others whose name s/he had then to guess. (It all sounds a bit like Bertie Wooster to me too!)

Perhaps you too feel fatigued even reading about this and so it is time for a modern but modest piece of CAKE - after you have practised your Saltum etc. You never know who might reward you, or how.

Longtown Castle - a little known treasure

   My loyal readers (love you all!) know that I visit castles only by bus except when some kind person offers to drive me and buys me CAKE afterwards. That is how I found this little known gem in Herefordshire in glorious April sunshine. Because there is no pay desk and shop selling wooden swords you feel you have discovered it for yourself when arriving through the dramatically framing arch.
  The view of this motte with its keep on top is powerful - and very exciting when you realise you can climb the steps and have wonderful views of the countryside around and the Black Mountains. If your children and dog are reluctant castle goers and promises of CAKE have not won them over they will love the sense of discovery and freedom here.
  Of course that is not the reason it was built because the Marcher Lords had not invented afternoon tea and were averse to peace.

   Longtown Castle dates from around 1175, was built by Hugh de Lacy, a successful favourite of Henry II (of Roland de Pettour fame) and is characteristic of the Welsh borders, having a circular keep, rarer in England. It is set in the picturesque Olchon valley, background to a what-if historical novel by Owen Sheers called Resistance. As usual the first castle on the site was  a wooden structure (with some stone) which was probably thrown up extremely quickly on its man-made earthen mound. The Lacey's (spelling a matter of choice it seems as is typical of early English) then spent the prodigious sum of £37 improving it and the impressive stone structure you see dates from the 12th century. A circular keep was stronger than a square one as it is difficult even for a geometrician to find a corner to undermine - but this one has shallow foundations sloping slightly outwards for stability. The construction is shale rubble with ashlar detailing. It was known as Ewias Lacey castle and the site may have been important already as a defensive position on its spur of high ground. Outer earthworks suggest an Iron Age settlement and the Romans probably came here also on their nearby straight road. It may have been late Saxon but it is certainly recorded in the 1086 Domesday book as belonging to the Lacey's. They demanded honey and pigs from their tenants and so one may deduce they were clearly fond of sweetened roast pork. Yummy!

  The Lacey's were Medieval warlords and, like other Marcher Lords, independent of control from the crown.  By and large the Marcher Lords were given a free hand provided they kept the dastardly natives in check. When this lordship ended in the 1230's the castle had a succession of owners. In 1233 Henry III visited and ordered the garrison to be enlarged. Like many other castles, it was further fortified by Henry IV in 1403 to withstand the attacks of the Welsh rebel, Owain Glyn Dwr. 

  It fell into disuse perhaps because of the effect of the Black Death in the mid-14th century when Longtown (a planted Norman town like Usk) also shrank in importance and size. 

The most prominent feature is the stone keep on its 33 ft high motte with its 5-metre thick walls (16 feet in old money) which would have been a two-storey structure over an undercroft and providing accommodation on the second floor. There are windows, probably enlarged in the 14th century, a fireplace, corbels to support floor beams and a projecting 7-seat latrine which weakened the structure. Is imagining that enough to put you off your CAKE? In the gatehouse you can easily see the portcullis slot.  Outside were 3 semi-circular towers, one with a chimney flue and one with a spiral staircase, the collapse of which caused the deep breach. There would have been a curtain wall on the steep bank to the left of the steps and, unusually, 3 baileys and 2 large enclosures to protect the town. 

I particularly liked the fine stonework in the walls and the thrill that there was a gallows here until 1790. Less fascinating is the existence of a school in the 19th century. Typical of the Medieval desire to confuse us is the fact that there were 2 men called Walter de Lacy. Are you still interested? They did seem short of names in the Middle Ages - all those Llewelyns! 

For more information about the Marcher Lords click here. For Usk as a planted town click here. To laugh and rejoice at Roland le Pettour and other intriguing facts about farting in the Middle Ages click here. For more than anyone needs to know about Owain Glyn Dwr click here and on the other links given in the article.

   

Kenilworth Castle: a huge stunning ruin

Kenilworth Castle is ruinous and stunning to visit: it challenges the imagination to recreate it as it was and overwhelms you with its grandeur. Firstly you have to see it in your mind's eye as encompassed by a massive 111 acre artificial sheet of water, exceeding that of Caerphilly and vastly bigger than that at Bodiam. Then you can envisage it when it was refashioned by John of Gaunt and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. You can add mentally - if you are sufficiently gifted - the masques and revelry that the latter, a side-kick of Queen Elizabeth I, (literally as they did many dangerously jaunty dances together) organised in her honour.
   Warwickshire is not rich in castles as is the Marches area of Wales but Kenilworth is a star. On a windy sunny day it is unforgettable. Plus, walking round it leaves you hungry for CAKE, always a good thing.

Early history
   Between 1122 and 1129, Geoffrey de Clinton built a castle here, probably a motte and bailey structure where the present inner ward is now. The mighty keep, called Clinton's tower, is later and its impressiveness as a Norman structure is affected by the enlarging of its windows by Dudley. The kings Henry II, John and Henry III (he was probably the one who added the lake) spent vast sums in making the castle a strong fortress with 5 mural towers: Mortimer's; the Water Tower; the Warden's Tower; the Swan Tower and Lunn's Tower. John of Gaunt's Great Hall was the architectural masterpiece of the castle and was the only part that Dudley left unaltered 200 years later, presumably because it suited the grand and powerful image he wished to project.

2 exciting stories
   When Henry III had finished making the castle virtually impregnable, he unwisely gave it to Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and his wife Eleanor in 1254. Ten years later, de Montfort headed the opposition of the barons even though he was a previously unpopular foreigner. He became almost the ruler and held the king's brother, Richard, captive in the castle. Prince Edward escaped, marched his forces back overnight and, because he had reliable intelligence, fell upon the younger Simon de Montfort and his superior troops as they were camping, exhausted and without posting sentinels or sending out scouts. Simon the younger swam the lake in his night shirt to enter the castle. In 1266 the royalists besieged the castle - it was extremely violent, using the latest technology - and finally succeeded in agreeing the Dictum of Kenilworth and the castle was once again royal.
   The Tudors are now a much worked-over family and we all know that Dudley was a "favourite" of Queen Elizabeth who gave him Kenilworth, one of her many indiscretions with this dashing, ostentatious beau. He lavished her bounty on the castle, demilitarising it and building Leicester's Gate-house, which is more of a house over a gate than the usual fortifying structure. He added Leicester's Building and entertained the queen on several occasions, the most noteworthy being a 19-day revelry in 1575 which cost Leicester £1000 a day in maintenance to say nothing of the incredible sum of £100,000 in entertainments which included masques, plays, tilting, sports, Morris Dancing, ceremonies and pageantry. Elizabeth was greeted by the Lady of the Lake, Mars, Apollo, Neptune and Bacchus and later enjoyed (we hope) fireworks, tumblers, Latin orations, bear-baiting and a laugh-a-minute drama about the massacre of the Danes. She never came back here.  You can read an imaginative recreation of all this in Sir Walter Scott's novel, Kenilworth. 

The present
   What you see and ramble round is a ruin which had begun to decline before it was slighted in the Civil War. The castle and manor were given to Colonel Hawkesworth and other officers who "pulled down and demolished the castle, cut down the king's woods, destroyed his park, and divided the land into farms for themselves." The lake was drained at this time by cutting the dam. Our pile is not a monument to democracy although it it represents one of the early stages in our slow progress towards that system.  You can also see John of Gaunt's hall and chamber block and have tea and CAKE in the lovely café in the stable block. There is a path to what was Henry V's Pleasaunce (private pavilion) and a Tudor garden.

I visited Kenilworth the day after Warwick Castle and much preferred the ruin. The staff are particularly friendly, it is not in any way commercialised and there were groups of well-behaved school children with clip-boards and learned faces. There is a bus connecting the 2 and so both come under my heading of History on the Buses - although Monmouthshire has many more castles. Tee hee!

I have written about Caerphilly Castle and its great lake as well as Bodiam set in its ravishing waters. There is also a post about nearby Warwick Castle. To read about medieval siege engines click here. For opening hours of Kenilworth, click here.

Richard Strongbow de Clare - and family

Chepstow Castle (Striguil)

   The de Clare family was rich, powerful and extremely prominent in the Welsh Marches of Medieval times and one of the most interesting of them was Richard Strongbow. Confusingly (and I sometimes feel it was done deliberately in order to muddle me!) they called alternate eldest sons Richard or Gilbert.
   The Richard who interests us at this moment was nicknamed Strongbow - but so was his father! Despite the tendency at this period to accord a cognomen that commented on some physical peculiarity (Rufus, Wryneck or Curthose - short arse  - springs to mind) neither of these men seems to have had oddly shaped legs.
The nickname was probably a mistranscription in a Latin entry in the Domesday Exchequer annals of the early 14th century which appended the word "Stranghose" to his given name. The chronicler thought this meant "foreign leggings" but it probably referred to Striguil (Chepstow) which could also be spelled Strangboge, Stranboue or Stranbohe. Clear? No, neither am I, but this nickname stuck from then on.

  He was born in 1130 in Tonbridge, Kent, and died on 20th April 1176, aged 45/6, in Dublin, having been master of Chepstow, planner of Usk town and Governor of Ireland. Gilbert I (they are often given Roman numerals because of the problem we have noted) and his brother Roger had been part of the hunting party when William Rufus was killed - or murdered - and were brothers-in-law of the man who did the shooting, Walter Tirel. Whether or not they were part of a plot, they were rewarded by Henry I (who claimed the throne in indecent haste) with extensive grants of lands throughout England and Wales. Male members of the family made judicious marriages until they were amongst the most powerful magnates of the kingdom.
   Our Richard succeeded to the lordship of Striguil, aged only 18, and supported King Stephen against Matilda for the last 5 years of his reign. The next Henry, Matilda's son, his new liege-lord, regarded him with suspicion and failed to confirm him in the important title of Earl of Pembroke. At that time, he was, as Orpen said "a man who, having been brought up to greatness, had fallen on evil days and who therefore was all the more ready to endeavour to repair his fortunes by a bold adventure in another country." This was the Norman occupation of Ireland.

 
  In August 1166, Dermot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, was banished and later landed in Bristol with his followers to seek support from Henry II to recover his position.The King, who had designs on Ireland, gave him letters patent but Richard Strongbow was alone in offering military support - in return for promises to marry Dermot's daughter, Eva, and inherit Leinster after his death. (I will not trouble our heads with the variant spellings of all these names!) However, he did not go immediately and then Henry forbade the mission. Yet, since Strongbow was on the point of departure, he set off despite this prohibition and Henry seized Striguil. Richard landed in Waterford with 200 knights and 1000 light troops, some recruited in Gwent. They took Waterford and Dublin but Henry saw his own ambitions threatened by this success and did a deal with Richard who ceded some gains but kept Leinster. By August 1173, Henry trusted him enough to make him Governor of Ireland. At about this time the stone keep of Usk castle was built and the charter for its Priory was granted.

Usk Castle

   In 1189 his daughter, Isabella, married one of the most powerful and renowned men of the age, William, Earl Marshall of England, who strengthened both Striguil and Usk castles adding to the latter the dominating curtain walls. Strongbow's tomb is not local to Gwent despite such claims. He was described by Geraldus Cambrensis: "His complexion was somewhat ruddy and his skin freckled; he had grey eyes, feminine features, a weak voice and short neck. For the rest, he was tall in stature and a man of great generosity and of a courteous nature."
    He was also an ancestor of the American Bush political family.

To read more about his influence in Monmouthshire you can click on Chepstow Castle, Usk Castle or the planting of Usk Town. There is also a post about the illustrious William Marshal.

William Marshal: lord of Chepstow Castle

William's oak gates at Chepstow Castle

Who was he?
   Born in about 1147, into comparative obscurity as the son of a minor baron, William Marshal rose to become landowner of immense estates in Britain and Normandy and was the renowned and trusted servant and sometimes regent of 5 English monarchs.
   He acquired Chepstow Castle - then called Striguil - through his marriage, somewhat late in life at 43, to the rich Isabel de Clare, with whom he had 5 sons and 5 daughters but he did not inherit the title of  Earl of Pembroke immediately from her father, Richard de Clare, (Strongbow).
    We know about him because of a long poem to be called when popularised: L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal, comte de Striguil et de Pembroke, discovered by a young French scholar, Paul Meyer. Its 19,000 lines are not entirely impartial as they portray him as the perfect knight, sidelining any dubious events or actions, but they give a fascinating and detailed account of his life. He was handsome, strong and a mighty fighter and appears to have been a faithful husband, there being no recorded illegitimate children.

Early career
   William's father veered from supporting King Stephen to backing the Empress Matilda, during which time of The Anarchy, William was used as a hostage by Stephen and was threatened with being hanged or launched, aged 5, from a type of trebuchet. Stephen relented and there are tales of his playing a game of straw knights with the lad who seems even then to have had charm. Being landless, he was sent to the household of the Norman baron, William de Tancarville, to be trained as a knight, learning concepts of chivalry, how to behave in court and some literature and religion - though possibly not reading and writing. Injured in a skirmish, his life was saved by an unknown helper who gave him a loaf with bandages concealed inside to keep his wound clean: Eleanor of Aquitaine then ransomed him, impressed with his bravery. However, he had earned the nickname "gasteviande" or greedy guts, not a particularly romantic image, although he was knighted in 1166.
   Much of his early life was consumed by tournaments which were not the more sedate jousts we may connect with chivalry but deadly staged battles, sometimes chaotic, which led to a victor receiving money and valuable prizes. This practice in becoming a preudhomme, a skilled and ideal warrior, led to his being the tutor-in-arms of the boy known as the Young King, the good-looking but extravagant son of King Henry II, who soon shared his fanatical love of tournaments. (It was the refusal of Thomas a Becket to crown this minor during his father's lifetime that was part of the fatal quarrel between the two.)
   One of the first of several dilemmas of loyalty occurred when a conspiracy to overthrow Henry II tested William since the opponents included the Young King, 2 of his other sons and his wife, Queen Eleanor. Marshal remained with the Young King whom he possibly knighted in 1173. Such problems were a part of his later life also when allegiances conflicted and his dual motives of service and material gain also collided.

Middle years
   The Young King died an agonising death from dysentery, witnessed by William, who then fulfilled the youth's vow to take the cross and venture on a crusade. Little is known of his 2 years in the Holy Land or of his true piety but the whole expedition was so disastrous a failure that the Pope dropped dead of shock and grief on hearing of it.
   On his return, William became counsellor to Henry II and as such was at the side of the most powerful man in Europe, at the very centre of the Angevin world and involved with the great travelling circus of Henry's court. He thrived there as well as on the tournament field because of an impassivity of manner and glacial, diplomatic composure. His importance was sufficient for him to begin to assemble his own mesnie, an entourage of knights loyal to him but, we must remember, not necessarily conforming to modern romanticised ideas of chivalry. There was little rescuing of damsels in distress nor protection of the vulnerable. No dragons were slain.
   It is not clear whether the gift on marriage of Chepstow (Striguil) was freely offered or was an agreed price for continued allegiance but it came along with massive estates on the Welsh Marches (including Usk Castle), Normandy and Ireland, making William a great baron by the time that Henry died, knowing that his son John was a traitor. William began works of improvement to the castle in Chepstow in late 1189 or early 1190, adding to the existing stone keep a formidable double-towered stone gatehouse, technically advanced for the period with 2 portcullises and the famous oak gates which can still be seen on a staircase.
   Whilst King Richard I was on the 3rd Crusade, William defended his territory, but the most ambiguous part of his royal attachments came with the accession of King John, whom he rushed to greet from Chepstow, missing the funeral of his own brother. From then on he served a deeply flawed monarch who was incapable of meeting the requirements of office. Quite apart from a controversial marriage to the very young Isabella of Angouleme, with whom he he is reported to have spent disproportionate amounts of time in bed, John became infamous for mistreating captives at Mirebeau, behaved appallingly to the young (probably murdered) Arthur, failed in war and lost most of the Angevin empire. William Marshal fell in and out of favour with him but obliged in handing over at least one of his sons to this unpredictable man as a "ward" but more likely a hostage. By contrast, Matilda, wife of William de Braoze, had bravely refused to do this with her sons. One source of conflict was William's slipping over to France to do homage to Philip Augustus for his lands in Normandy.

   In 1206 he withdrew to Chepstow to reorient his career as a Marcher baron in his own right and establish control over a Wales which was a patchwork of independent rival princedoms, thought by the Anglo-Normans to be so wild, adulterous, incestuous and violent that they deserved any brutality in return. To them Wales was merely a valuable resource and the Marches were forcibly settled post-1066, including sites connected by waterways - though in time there was intermarriage and interaction. William left Chepstow for West Wales and Ireland on several occasions.
   Importantly he was closely involved in the forging of Magna Carta and its reissuing in the years following 1215. He was by now a great established figure and probably worked in harmony with Stephen Langton. Two thirds of the barons renounced King John but William remained loyal for some unknown reason, although his son joined the baronial party.
   After the death of John he pledged full support for the claim to the throne of the small child Henry, which brought with it the challenge of rekindling the fortunes of the Angevins, defeating the barons and saving the heir whom he promised with resounding rhetoric to carry on his back "from country to country ... even if I have to beg for my bread." He was now around 70 and Guardian of the Realm with an illustrious reputation and wealth of experience - which did not stop Llewellyn ap Iorwerth and inhabitants of Caerleon from going on the rampage on neighbouring territory.

 
Death and afterwards
   Knowing he was ill, he relinquished authority: all the kings he had served (the Young King Henry, Henry II, Richard I, John and Henry III) died sudden or tortured deaths. His son William was to receive Chepstow amongst other territories as inheritance and his 4th son was promised Goodrich Castle. After a slow death, possibly from cancer, on 14th May 1219, much mourned, his body was taken to Westminster Abbey for a vigil. He was interred in the Temple Church in London, because he was a knight of that Order, where his effigy can be visited today. His pall was the rich cloth he had brought back from the Holy Land in 1186.
   It is hard to summarise his character since we cannot see some of his behaviour in terms of the idealistic image of knighthood we may nowadays connect with Arthurian legend: he was intent on material gain and capable of brutal conduct but he was undoubtedly brave, charismatic, popular and loyal. His story is outstanding and redolent of the mores and aspirations of the tumultuous period through which he lived. Richard I described him as "molt corteis", most courtly. and Stephen Langton called him "the best knight that ever lived." The designation Earl Marshal is now an established hereditary title.

 You may like to visit the castles connected with William Marshal: Chepstow Castle, Goodrich Castle and Usk Castle. The story of Matilda, wife of William de Braoze is told in my post about him (he was an associate of William) and there is more on the trebuchet and perrier - which was the precise weapon threatened to launch the boy - on my post about weapons in castles on the Welsh Marches.