Malmesbury Castle

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Malmesbury Castle was a castle in Malmesbury in the English county of Wiltshire . The motte was erected in the early 12th century and demolished again in the early 13th century.

history

The city of Malmesbury was an important settlement in the early Middle Ages, both as a trading center and as the location of Malmesbury Abbey . At the beginning of the 12th century, the abbey came under the control of Bishop Roger of Salisbury , who had a moth built near the abbey, adjacent to the church. In 1139, King Stephen worried about the loyalty of Roger of Salisbury and various other bishops and occupied their castles, including Malmesbury Castle. The civil war of anarchy between King Stephen and his contender for the English throne, Empress Matilda , broke out shortly afterwards and Malmesbury Castle played an active role in it.

At the beginning of the anarchy, as recently as 1139, the local baron Robert FitzHugh captured Malmesbury Castle from King Stephen, but the king recaptured the castle soon after, sacking the town in the process. The castle was then used by the local royal troops to carry out raids into the surrounding lands, something contemporary chroniclers complained bitterly about. In 1144 Robert of Gloucester besieged the castle unsuccessfully and it remained in the hands of the Crown until King Henry II conquered it in 1153, towards the end of the Civil War. During the reign of King Johann Ohneland , the local monks sent him a petition to demolish the castle. The king agreed and so Malmesbury Castle was destroyed in the early 13th century.

Today no remains of the castle have survived and the archaeologists have yet to determine its exact location in the modern city.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Archeology of Wiltshire's Towns, An Extensive Urban Survey: Malmesbury . Wiltshire County Archeology Service, Trowbridge 2004. pp. 6-7. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  2. ^ A b c The Archeology of Wiltshire's Towns, An Extensive Urban Survey: Malmesbury . Wiltshire County Archeology Service, Trowbridge 2004. p. 7. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  3. ^ Ralph Henry Carless Davis: King Stephen, 1135-1154 . University of California Press, London 1967, ISBN 0-582-48727-7 , pp. 32 (English, 156 p., Limited preview in Google book search).
  4. ↑ a b c Malmesbury Castle . Gatehouse Gazetteer. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  5. ^ Norman JG Pounds : The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: A Political and Social History . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1994, ISBN 0-521-45828-5 , pp. 8 (English, 357 pages, [ limited preview in Google Book Search]).
  6. ^ The Archeology of Wiltshire's Towns, An Extensive Urban Survey: Malmesbury . Wiltshire County Archeology Service, Trowbridge 2004, p. 18. Retrieved July 14, 2016.

Coordinates: 51 ° 35 ′ 4.2 "  N , 2 ° 5 ′ 58.2"  W.