Anglo-Welsh War (1223)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Anglo-Welsh War of 1223 was a military conflict between the Kingdom of England and several Welsh principalities, the most important of which was Gwynedd under Lord Llywelyn from Iorwerth .

Starting position

After the Treaty of Worcester in 1217, Pembroke , owned by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, was isolated and surrounded by areas under Welsh rule. Prince Llywelyn from Iorwerth of Gwynedd had installed the Welsh Lord Maelgwn ap Rhys from the Dinefwr dynasty as lord of Carmarthen , Cemais , St Clears and Laugharne in the Aberdyfi Agreement in 1216 . After the death of Maelgwn's nephew Rhys Ieuanc , one of the Welsh lords of Ceredigion , Maelgwn also became lord of Ceredigion and Cardigan in 1222 . Maelgwn's brother Rhys Gryg was Lord of Kidwelly , as was the Marshal related William Crassus , guardian of the underage heiress Hawise de Londres . In Gower , Llywelyn had appointed his son-in-law John de Braose instead of his uncle Reginald de Braose , who was allied with Pembroke, as lord. The English rule over Pembroke remained endangered by Welsh attacks, such as Prince Llywelyn, for example, in 1220. When Llywelyn suddenly attacked and captured the castles of Kinnerley and Whittington in Shropshire from Iorwerth in March 1223 , the Earl of Pembroke in South West Wales began a counterattack. Lord Llywelyn was then forced to conclude a truce until April 23, Easter Sunday.

Cilgerran Castle, begun by the Earl of Pembroke in 1223 to secure his conquests

Attack of the Earl of Pembroke

Without consultation with the Regency Council, which was responsible for the underage King Heinrich III. led the government, the Earl of Pembroke is now preparing an attack on South West Wales to break the Welsh supremacy. He gathered an army on his Irish possessions with which he landed at St Davids around April 16, 1223 . After the armistice expired, he attacked Cardigan Castle on Easter Monday, April 24, 1223 and captured it. A few days later, he also captured Carmarthen Castle , then moved south to Kidwelly Castle . Despite the previous fighting, this attack apparently caught Lord Llywelyn unprepared, for the Welsh resistance was initially only moderate. Llywelyn's son, Gruffudd , went against the Pembroke troops and, contrary to the advice of Rhys Gryg, stood at Kidwelly for battle. After a long struggle the battle ended in a draw, but due to lack of supplies, the Welsh eventually had to withdraw. Pembroke moved north to re-fortify Carmarthen Castle and to begin building a new stone castle in Cilgerran . With this campaign, Pembroke had expelled Maelgwn ap Rhys from Cardigan, Carmarthen, Cilgerran and probably also from Emlyn and Cemais, thereby breaking the Welsh supremacy in South West Wales. The English government under Justiciar Hubert de Burgh could only accept the result of this unauthorized but successful campaign on May 10th, especially since Pembroke Cardigan and Carmarthen Castle returned to the king. At the end of May, Robert de Vaux , a follower of Pembroke, officially occupied the two castles for the king, so that they remained under indirect control of Pembroke.

Second attack by the Earl of Pembroke and campaign by Hubert de Burgh

While Hubert de Burgh was gathering an army at Worcester , Prince Llywelyn and the Earl of Pembroke met for negotiations in Ludlow between July 8 and 10 , through the mediation of Archbishop Stephen Langton . Lord Llywelyn demanded the return of Carmarthen and Cardigan, to which he was entitled under the Treaty of Worcester in 1217 until the king came of age. Pembroke refused. The British government was powerless to face this refusal, so the negotiations failed. Archbishop Langton excommunicated Prince Llywelyn and occupied his empire with the interdict . Despite opposition from Peter des Roches and the Earl of Chester , Hubert de Burgh now openly supported Pembroke. He placed 140 knights from the southwestern counties under the command of Pembroke and the Earl of Salisbury , who with this support conquered Kidwelly in July 1223 and drove Maelgwn ap Rhys from Ceredigion south of the River Aeron . The thus conquered southern Ceredigion was handed over to Pembroke to his Welsh ally Cynan ap Hywel , whose father had been murdered by Maelgwn in 1204. Hubert de Burgh was planning a campaign at the time in the southern Powys , which after the Treaty of Worcester 1217 during the minority of the heirs of Lord Gwenwynwyn was in the possession of Lord Llywelyn. Around July 20, 1223, however, he learned in Gloucester of the death of the French king Philip II. He immediately returned to London, hoping to regain Normandy , which had been lost to France in 1204 . Prince Llywelyn was still negotiating with the English government in August 1223, but in early September he began the siege of Builth Castle in Powys, which was defended by Reginald de Braose. Thereupon Hubert de Burgh, who had meanwhile had to admit that his hope of regaining Normandy was in vain, summoned the feudal army to Gloucester on September 12th. This army, together with the underage king and the royal household troops of 37 knights and 71 men in arms, moved on to Hereford . In a swift three-week campaign, de Burgh was able to detain Builth Castle before September 23. The army then moved north, where the construction of a new royal castle began near Montgomery .

consequences

With these successes, de Burgh secured southern Powys for England. Hubert de Burgh and the young king stayed in Montgomery from September 30th to October 11th, where on October 7th Prince Llywelyn and Maelgwn ap Rhys and Rhys Gryg submitted to them. Archbishop Langton lifted the excommunication of the Welsh prince, while Llywelyn accepted the construction of Montgomery Castle. Maelgwn ap Rhys waived Cardigan, Carmarthen, St Clear, Laugharne, Llansteffan and Cemais, and Rhys Gryg waived Kidwelly. Montgomery remained in royal possession, while Carmarthen and Cardigan Pembroke were installed as royal administrators. Cemais fell back to the young heir of William FitzMartin , whose guardian was Falkes de Bréauté , while St Clears fell back to Reginald de Braose, who was also able to oust his nephew John de Braose temporarily from Gower. Cynan ap Hywel remained as an ally of the Pembroke Lord of southern Ceredigion. Montgomery Castle secured the middle Welsh Marches from attacks by the Welsh and served as a bridgehead for further campaigns to North and Central Wales. Despite these successes, however, the supremacy of Lord Llywelyn over much of Wales was maintained.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ RF Walker: Marshal, William (II), fifth earl of Pembroke (c.1190-1231). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  2. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 307
  3. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 308
  4. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 309
  5. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 317
  6. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 311
  7. ^ David Carpenter: The minority of Henry III . University of California Press, Berkeley 1990. ISBN 0-520-07239-1 , p. 314
  8. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 298