Castles and city walls of King Edward I in Wales

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Conwy Castle, one of the castles built by Edward I in Wales

The castles and city walls of King Edward I in Wales were built towards the end of the 13th century for the rule of Wales . The construction of castles and towns by the English King Edward I was the most ambitious and largest medieval castle building program in Europe.

history

Castles as an instrument of Norman rule

The building of castles served as a classic instrument for control and domination of the conquered land from the beginning of the Norman conquest of Wales from the middle of the 11th century. Around the middle of the 13th century, the English King Henry III. tried in vain to gain control of Wales by building mighty new castles such as Builth , Painscastle , Dyserth and Deganwy Castle . However, he could not militarily maintain the sovereignty over Wales won in the Treaty of Woodstock in 1247 . Its castles did not withstand the Welsh attacks and were captured and destroyed.

Only a few ruins are evidence of the once mighty Deganwy Castle

Start of the castle building program by Eduard I.

His son Edward I began building new fortresses during his successful first campaign against Wales in 1277 , which were supposed to secure English rule in conquered Wales. The new forts were built, all on the north and west coasts, with the exception of Builth Castle in Mid Wales. Edward I tried to force all of Wales under English control and to bring it administratively, economically, legally and culturally into line with England.

Expansion of the castle building program

In March 1282 there was an almost nationwide uprising in Wales, to which Edward responded with a new campaign . By the summer of 1283, he also had the inaccessible Snowdonia conquered, which was a refuge and center of resistance for the Welsh princes during the wars. Although the new Aberystwyth Castle had been conquered by ruse at the beginning of the uprising, the new castles of Flint and Rhuddlan had withstood the Welsh attacks. This confirmed the king in his decision to further enclose Snowdonia by building more castles to prevent further Welsh uprisings. In Gwynedd he began to build three more castles in 1283, of which Caernarfon Castle was planned as the residence of the new English Prince of Wales and was therefore particularly elaborately designed. In addition, captured Welsh castles were restored and expanded to serve as English bases.

The gate castle of Harlech Castle

Organization of the construction program

Resources from all over England were used to build these castles. In 1283 and 1284 alone 4,000 workers, some of whom had been brought to Wales to build castles by armed force, were working on the construction of Harlech , Caernarfon and Conwy Castle . Due to this enormous concentration of manpower and material, the huge castles and fortifications were completed in a relatively short time, some as early as 1289. The gigantic building program, however, represented an enormous organizational and economic burden for England. To finance the building program, the king had to wrest new tax money from Parliament, and he was also deeply indebted to Tuscan bankers. Edward I spent over 60,000 pounds on building the castles within 12 years , which was ten times his annual income. For the further expansion of the castles, especially Caernarfon Castle, his son Edward II spent a further £ 30,000. The castles built for these enormous sums, however, were supposed to prevent further, costly wars. The second campaign from 1282 to 1283 alone is said to have cost over 90,000 pounds, according to other calculations up to 150,000 pounds.

Probation of the castles during Welsh uprisings

During the revolt of the Welsh Lord Maredudd ap Rhys in 1287, the castles under construction on the north coast of Wales were not directly threatened. Therefore soldiers and workers could be withdrawn from the construction sites there to suppress the rebellion. The construction workers erected a blide , with the help of which Maredudd's fortress Dryslwyn Castle was shot ready for storm in three weeks.

The Welsh uprising from 1294 to 1295 , which was sparked by the high taxation of the Welsh people, posed a greater threat to English rule . While Caernarfon Castle, still under construction, was captured by the rebels, Aberystwyth, Harlech, Flint, Rhuddlan and Conwy Castle withstood the attacks by the Welsh. During the sieges Aberystwyth, Harlech and Conwy were supplied with supplies from Ireland and Bristol . Numerous not so strongly fortified castles of the Marcher Lords such as Denbigh , Ruthin , Mold and Hawarden , however, were conquered by the insurgents. The king responded to this renewed uprising by building Beaumaris Castle , which would rule the island of Anglesey . The construction of Beaumaris and Caernarfon Castle dragged on until 1330, then the expansion of the castles was stopped.

After English rule had established itself in the second half of the 14th century, its military importance declined. However, when the Owain Glyndŵr rebellion broke out in 1400 , they were able to demonstrate their military strength again. Harlech and Aberystwyth Castle were conquered only after long sieges, whereas Caernarfon Castle defied the Welsh attacks for years and could not be conquered despite conquering the surrounding area. Harlech Castle rose to fame during the Wars of the Roses when it was the last stronghold of the Lancaster dynasty in Wales to be conquered by the Yorkists in 1468 after years of siege.

Flint Castle, painting by William Turner

The castles after the 15th century

After the end of the Wars of the Roses, the castles finally lost their importance, most of them were little used and fell into disrepair. Some still served as military bases during the English Civil War , so they were damaged during fighting or, like Aberystwyth Castle, razed after the Civil War ended.

In the 19th century, renovation and security work began on the ruins. Caernarfon Castle served in 1911 and again in 1969 as the site of a solemn investiture of the British heir to the throne as Prince of Wales . In 1986 the best preserved castles, Caernarfon, Beaumaris, Conwy and Harlech Castle, as well as the preserved city fortifications of Conwy and Caernarfon, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List .

investment

Castles

The castles were designed by James of St. George from Savoy , the best military architect of his time. Not only did he provide the drafts for the castles, but as a supervisor was also responsible for carrying out the construction work. New locations were chosen for most of the castles; only Builth and Caernarfon were built on the sites of older castles, of which no walls were preserved. All castles except for Builth Castle, located inland, had access to a mooring and could thus be supplied with ships or boats during a siege. Each of the castles was planned differently, James of St. George mainly took the crusader castles in Palestine, the fortifications of Constantinople , castles in southern France and Caerphilly Castle in south-east Wales as a model. When building the castles, the latest knowledge of medieval fortress construction was implemented. They had strong circular walls with numerous loopholes and round flanking towers . The castle gates were heavily fortified and mostly protected by powerful archways. In favor of the strong wall ring, most castles did not build a keep . As concentric castles with a double curtain wall, Harlech and Beaumaris Castle were particularly heavily fortified.

Aerial view of Beaumaris Castle with its concentric curtain walls

City walls

In addition to the castles of Flint, Conwy, Caernarfon, Beaumaris and the existing castle of Denbigh, Edward I founded new cities. While Flint and Rhuddlan were only fortified with palisade, rampart and moat and Beaumaris remained unpaved, Conwy , Caernarfon and Denbigh were fortified as a bastide with mighty city walls based on models from southern France . The original idea of ​​a bastide came from Gascony , which also belonged to the kingdom of Edward I. Castle and city formed a military unit, the city was laid out with a rectangular street grid based on military criteria. The bastides in Wales were populated with English settlers and were to serve as new economic and administrative centers. Welshmen were only allowed to enter the cities unarmed during the day. These regulations remained in effect into the 18th century.

Castles in Wales built or remodeled by Edward I

The castle building program of Edward I in Wales includes (in order of the start of construction):

  1. Builth Castle , the only castle built inland from mid-1277;
  2. Flint Castle ; started as the first castle in North Wales in July 1277. The new castle replaced the old castles of Hawarden and Mold . The castle was given an unusual keep outside the main castle;
  3. Aberystwyth Castle was built in West Wales from July 1277 in place of previous castles in the region;
  4. Rhuddlan Castle replaced the destroyed Dyserth Castle . The castle was the first castle built by Edward I with almost concentric walls. For the castle, the Clwyd was straightened and made navigable so that the castle could also be reached by ships;
  5. Conwy Castle was built from March 1283 within 4 ½ years at the mouth of the River Conwy, which borders the heartland of Gwynedd in the east. The castle replaced the destroyed Deganwy Castle .
  6. Harlech Castle was built from April 1283 on the west coast with two concentric rings of walls;
  7. Caernarfon Castle was the most elaborate castle in the construction program, as the castle was not only intended to serve as a fortress, but also as the residence of a new English prince of Wales. The castle was therefore particularly architecturally designed, but never inhabited by a Prince of Wales;
  8. Beaumaris Castle was the last castle built by Edward I in North Wales. Construction did not begin until 1295. The perfect concentric castle was supposed to dominate the island of Anglesey and the eastern end of Menai Strait .

The conquered Welsh castles of Castell y Bere , Criccieth , Dolwyddelan and Caergwrle were rebuilt. In addition, other castles of the Marcher Lords in North Wales were built, presumably with financial support from the king, including Chirk , Denbigh, Hawarden, Holt and Ruthin Castle. Also in South Wales some castles of the Marcher Lords such as Kidwelly , Usk , Laugharne and Llansteffan Castle were expanded , presumably with financial support from the king, as well as the royal castle Carmarthen Castle .

literature

  • Wolfgang Metternich: The royal castles of Wales . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1984. ISBN 3-534-09545-6
  • Arnold Taylor: Welsh Castles of Edward I . Continuum International Pub. Group, London 1984. ISBN 9780826422033
  • Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Castles of Wales: Welsh Castles of Edward I. Retrieved June 12, 2014 .
  2. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991. ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 358
  3. ↑ Castles of Wales: Welsh Castles of Edward I. Retrieved June 12, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Castles of Wales: The 1287 Siege of Dryslwyn Castle. Retrieved April 3, 2014 .
  5. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California Press, Berkeley 1988. ISBN 978-0-520-06266-5 , p. 220
  6. ↑ Castles of Wales: Welsh Castles of Edward I. Retrieved June 12, 2014 .
  7. ^ Flint Town Council: Flint History. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 10, 2014 ; Retrieved June 13, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / flinttowncouncil.co.uk
  8. ↑ Gatehouse Gazetteer: Rhuddlan Town Defenses. Retrieved June 13, 2014 .
  9. ^ Christopher Gravett: The Castles of Edward I in Wales, 1277-1307 . Osprey, London 2004. ISBN 978-1-78200-520-9 , p. 23
  10. ↑ John Kenyon: Kidwelly Castle . Cadw, Cardiff 2007. ISBN 978-1-85760-256-2 , p. 9