Pembroke

Information Pack Contents Welcome

Background information for teachers 2 We welcome you to .

Pembroke Castle - A Brief History 2 This Information Pack contains a range of useful material about the castle for • Early Settlers 2 use with your pupils and can be used independently or alongside the Education • An Earth and Wood Castle. 1093- Pack to fully support your visit to us.

1204 2 We encourage you to make use of it as • A Stone Castle. 1204-1247 3 pupils will beneft from having some background knowledge about the castle • The Invincible Castle. 1247-1454 3 before they visit. The material contained within it is designed to be easy to • Pembroke Castle and the Tudors. disseminate and adapt to meet the needs of the group you are working with and 1454-1642 4 your topics. A guidebook is also available to purchase from the gift shop. • The Civil War. 1642-1648 5

• Restoration at the Castle.

1880-present 5

Attack and Defence 7

Timeline 8

A Tour of the Castle 10

Castle Stories 15

Important Characters 19

Glossary 22

1 Background information for teachers

Pembroke Castle - A Brief History 2. An Earth and Wood Castle Pembroke Castle is one of the largest 1093-1204 in and sits high on the tip of a The of Wales began rocky limestone peninsula, alongside the in 1093 after Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last Cleddau estuary. The following information Prince of south-west Wales was killed in describes how Pembroke Castle changed a border skirmish. His death allowed the hands over time, and evolved from a castle of , , with earthwork ramparts and timber walls, to sweep into Pembroke at the head of his to the sympathetically restored stone invading force. He established his base castle you see today. here and built an earth and timber castle on the site of the present Inner Ward. 1.Early Settlers Roger had fve sons and when he died in An unusual feature of the castle is ‘The 1094, Arnulf, his youngest son received Wogan’ (pictured below). A vast natural the castle. Arnulf ruled as a Marcher cavern deep in the limestone rock beneath. (or frontier) Lord, which was a Norman It provided shelter for cave dwellers for system that gave enormous power to thousands of years and flint tools from the barons in return for the subjugation of the Stone Age period have been found there. surrounding area. Further evidence of occupation comes from later cave dwellers, who sought The downfall of Arnulf de Montgomery shelter here at the end of the Roman came in 1102 when he and his eldest occupation of Britain, leaving a coin hoard brother Robert rebelled against the new behind. The constructed a spiral king of , Henry I. They were quickly staircase from the cavern to the castle defeated and banished, and Pembroke was above, and today, you can still reach the seized by the king. cavern directly from the castle via the 55 step staircase. Between 1102 and 1135 King Henry I

2 Background information for teachers

increased Norman control in the area 3. A Stone Castle by founding the town of Pembroke at 1204-1247 the castle gate, establishing a market William Marshal, had come to the attention and mint. To encourage people to settle of several kings of England as a trusted here he granted Pembroke a charter that and brave soldier and statesman. He offered a range of rights and privileges. championed the causes of both Richard I He also reorganised the Marcher lordship and John, whom he advised on the Magna and appointed a succession of sheriffs to Carta. In recognition of his loyal support administer the region. The most notable to the monarchy, King Henry II promised was who married his marriage to Isabel , Richard Princess Nest, the daughter of Rhys ap Strongbow’s only daughter and the heiress Tewdwr. of Pembroke. Richard I upheld this promise and William and Isabel married in 1189, When King Henry I died in 1135 his a union that made William a very wealthy succession was contested and a bloody and powerful man. In 1200 he received civil war followed. In order to gain support Pembroke Castle. the new King, Stephen granted away many of Henrys acquisitions of land as As the new , William earldoms. The earldom of Pembroke was Marshall erected the frst stone structure created and given to Gilbert de Clare, a at Pembroke Castle in 1201, a time of fearless fghter who became known as upheaval in the region. He set about ‘Strongbow’. His son, Richard ‘Strongbow’ creating a huge stone castle in a classic became the second earl of Pembroke upon Norman design, beginning with the great Gilbert’s death in 1148. Richard is best cylindrical tower or with domed roof. remembered for his involvement in the When William died in 1219 at the ripe old invasion of where he proclaimed age of 72, his sons made some additions himself Lord of Leinster and Governor of to the castle for example the Dungeon Ireland. Alarmed by his growing strength, Tower. the new king of England, Henry II, ordered Richard to return from Ireland or forfeit 4. The Invincible Castle his land in England. Richard Strongbow 1247-1454 was eventually able to regain King Henry II After the death of Marshal, fve of his sons favour before he died in 1176. Without an were of Pembroke, each of them heir, the castle fell to the crown. dying childless. The Earldom passed to William de Valance, the husband of William Marshal’s granddaughter, Joan de Munchensy.

The Valence family held the castle for over 70 years, strengthening it by building the walls and towers around the Outer Ward. They also fortifed the town, creating a ring of walls with three main gates and a . On the death of Aymer, William de Valence’s son, the castle passed through

3 Background information for teachers marriage into the hands of the Hastings never a private home or administrative family and the last Earl of Pembroke. centre again. With no role to fulfl it was eventually sold by King James I to the In 1389, the castle reverted to Richard Pryse Family of Gogerddan. II. It was granted out in a series of short tenancies and began to fall into disrepair. Origins of the Tudor Dynasty In 1400, the castle was attacked by Owain The Tudors were a Welsh-English family Glyndwr, but escaped a because that ruled England from 1485 to 1603. the Constable at the time, Francis a They came to power as a result of the Court, bought off Glyndwr with the Welsh victory of Henry VII over Yorkist king equivalent of danegeld. A danegeld is a Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in land tax collected for national defence by 1485. The Tudor dynasty ended when Norman kings. Henry’s grand-daughter Queen died childless. 5. Pembroke Castle and the Tudors 1454-1642 The name Tudor comes from Henry’s was the son of Queen great, great, grandfather, who’s frst name Catherine of France and , was Tudur. He was a landowner and along a Welsh squire. Pembroke Castle was with other members of his family served presented to him in 1454 as part of the the Welsh princes, who ruled in recreated Earldom of Pembroke, a title . They had important jobs and given to him by his half-brother, King became trusted lieutenants of Llewelyn the Henry VI.

When Jasper’s brother Edmund died in November 1456, Jasper offered protection to Margaret Beaufort, his pregnant widow. She was only thirteen years old and on the 28th January 1457 she gave birth to a son, Henry. Henry would go on to defeat Richard III at the to become the frst Tudor monarch, King Henry VII. He was a descendant of Prince .

None of the earls apart from Jasper made Pembroke their chief residence, and Jasper was only resident between 1454 and 1461. He oversaw lots of renovation at the castle including a decorative oriel, and it is likely that a detached, private ‘mansion house’ that once stood in the Outer Ward was his.

When he died in 1495 the county fell to the crown again and Pembroke Castle was

4 Background information for teachers

Great, who ruled from about 1200. to Henry V, the Lancastrian King Henry VI. He was fond of his half-brothers and Over the next two centuries, fghting often ennobled them. Edmund became Earl broke out between the Welsh princes of Richmond and was married to Lady and English kings, and the Tudor family Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of King supported the Welsh princes. Then, in Edward III. Jasper became the Earl of around 1400 they became involved in a Pembroke and Owen became a monk. rebellion led by Owain Glyndwr that left them defeated. Yet, the life of the youngest 6.The Civil War son of the family and Henry’s grandfather, 1642-1648 Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, was about When civil war erupted in 1642, Pembroke to change for the better. declared support for Parliament, and Pembroke Castle became a He went into the service of the warrior parliamentarian stronghold in a fervently king Henry V and fought with the king in pro-royalist country. The Mayor of his French wars. He became close to the Pembroke, John Poyer garrisoned the English royal court and after the death castle during the winter of 1642-3. He of Henry, Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur strengthened both it and the town walls married, in secret, to the widowed queen and successfully withstood the threat of . He became known as siege in 1644. The following year saw a Owen Tudor and they had four children Parliamentary victory, the arrest of King together. A daughter who died and three Charles I and the end to the frst stage of sons, Owen, Edmund and Jasper. the Civil War. Catherine had a son from her marriage

5 Background information for teachers

Then, in 1648 John Poyer and Colonel to , Cromwell was afraid that his Rowland , the Parliamentary enemies might use the castle again and Commander in south-west Wales turned ordered its destruction. their back on Parliament and staged a rebellion after it failed to pay soldiers 7. Restoration at the Castle promised wages. 8,000 Welshmen 1880-present marched from Pembroke to St Fagans to Pembroke Castle remained an ivy-covered fght for the king. They were very quickly ruin, plundered for its stone until 1880, defeated at the Battle of St Fagans on 4th when Mr J R Cobb of leased it May 1648 and Poyer hurriedly returned to from the Pryse family and spent three Pembroke Castle. years restoring what he could. Nothing further was done until Major-General Sir , Lieutenant-General of Ivor Phillips acquired the ruins in 1928 and the Parliamentary army followed, leading started an extensive restoration, restoring around 6,000 men into Pembroke. A the walls and towers as near as possible to two month siege followed and the town their original appearance. and castle suffered enormous damage. The castle was strong but it wasn’t long Today the Pembroke Castle Trust before Poyner and others were forced to continues to maintain, interpret and surrender. Poyner was found guilty and promote the castle, the largest and most sentenced to death for his part in the important in Wales that is not in state care. rebellion. After his success and return

6 Attack and defence

The castle’s design changed over time to Defensive techniques - checklist take into account changes in weaponry and warfare. How many does Pembroke Castle have? Location • Build the curtain walls high and Built on a rocky peninsula, surrounded by thick to make them diffcult to water and tidal marshes - a natural defence climb over. against attack. • Introduce towers to defend Materials vulnerable corners of the The Normans built wooden Motte and castle. Make the towers round, Bailey , but wood was easy to they are harder to destroy. destroy with fre. Defences were rebuilt with stone to last longer. • Put battlements at the top of castle walls to allow defenders People to fre missiles through the The castle was continually enlarged by gaps (crenels), and to shelter various Earls and Lords to keep pace with behind the raised sections changing warfare. between (merlons).

Castles got bigger and bigger - this was a • Gateways are the weakest sign of power and might, but it also allowed parts of a castle. Make them more soldiers to be housed there. larger to allow for structural elements to be added such as a portcullis and drawbridge.

• Dig defensive ditches to slow down attackers.

• Clear the cliff face of all growth to create a killing ground.

• Position arrow loops at different heights to improve defences.

• Build up an earthen bank, it will absorb cannon fre.

• Build spiral stairs narrow and in a clock-wise direction. This makes it hard for attackers coming up to draw their sword. Right-handed swordsmen coming to attack would have to use their weaker left hand and can only enter one by one.

7 King Henry Henry VIII King Henry Queen 16th Century 1509: VIII is crowned. 1510: gifts Pembroke Castle to Anne Boleyn. She becomes of marchioness Castle. Pembroke 1536: VIII establishes the Act of Union between . 1588: Elizabeth I commissions a translation Welsh of the Bible. • • • • Jasper The Wars of The Wars : Henry 1405: Pembroke Castle is successfully by defended, Court, Francis against Owain uprising. Glyndwr’s 1454: becomes Tudor Earl of Pembroke. 1455: the Roses begins. 1457 is born at Tudor Castle. Pembroke • • • • Revolt of Revolt Pembroke 14th Century 1316: in Llywelyn Bren south Wales. 1389: Castle passes into the hands of Crown. • • William England Prince : The Magna 13th Century 1201: in Marshal arrives Pembroke. 1215 Carta is agreed. 1277: Wales. annexes 1282: Llewelyn ap Gruffudd is killed. • • • • Henry I King Henry The Earldom 12th Century 1102-35: grants Pembroke’s frst charter. 1135: I dies. 1138: is of Pembroke created. 1199-1200: William Marshal becomes Earl of and the Pembroke castle passes into his hands. Over the next 30 years he transforms the earth and timber into a structure powerful stone fortifcation. • • • •

The Battle of The 11th Century Timeline 1066: Hastings. 1093: Norman Conquest begins, of Wales and Earl Roger of Montgomery builds the frst Castle. Pembroke 1094 & 1096: The castle is Welsh besieged by Both attackers. successfully resisted. • • •

8 Pembroke Pembroke 21st Century Today Today Castle welcomes 100,000 over visitors each year. It hosts major and is a events boost commercial for the county.

• • The The Sir Ivor Sir Ivor Pembroke Pembroke Pembroke 20th Century First World War. First World 1926: closes. Dockyard 1928: Philipps buys Pembroke Castle and begins restoration. 1939 - 1945: Second World of the Troops War. are Fusiliers Royal in the quartered Outer Ward. 1956: is Castle Trust formed. 1914 -1918: • • • • • Pembroke Pembroke The cholera Mr J R Pembroke 19th Century 1814: Dock is founded. 1866: epidemic which swept through causes the Wales death of 42 people in Pembroke. 1880: Cobb of Brecon years spends three the restoring castle. 1896: Football Rugby Club is founded. • • • •

The 18th Century 1771: Age’ ‘Factory begins with the Britain’s of opening frst cotton mill in Derbyshire. • The Civil Oliver An outbreak 17th Century 1642: War. 1648: leaves Cromwell London on 3rd with the aim May of destroying Castle. Pembroke 1652: of the plaque hits , 300 residents over die. Timeline • • •

9 A tour of the castle

The following pages provide information for you to share with your group at various places around the castle. Use the map to navigate and plan you route. The tour begins at number 1, the Inner Gate, but it can be approached in any order.

A list of useful prompts including things to look for and discuss are also included. Optional worksheets to accompany the tour can be dowloaded separately should you wish to use them.

William de Valence. 1. The Inner Gate • It could possibly have been a ladies • Built by William Marshal. retiring room, or a hall for Valence’s • Only its outline now remains. knights. • It was probably two storeys high with a guardroom over the gate passage. Point out: the freplace and latrine. Point out: the D-shaped outline of the Look for: two arrow slits that would have tower. It had two doorways, at right overlooked the main approach to the angles, each closed off with a solid door. Inner Gate. Discuss: What would the tower and the Discuss: What do you think this room ditch have looked like? was used for? Why do you think that? 2. Inner Curtain Wall • As you face the Inner Gate from the Outer Ward you can see the line of the Inner Curtain Wall. • It is now rebuilt as a low wall. It would have been much higher. • The Inner Curtain Wall encloses the Keep.

Point out: that curtain walls were built high to protect the keep.

Discuss: Why was it called a ‘curtain’ wall?

3. Western Hall • A narrow, vaulted single storey hall. • It is likely to have been added by

10 A tour of the castle

4. Chapel have been for the lord and his family. • The chapel was probably built earlier than the Western Hall to your left. Look for: freplaces above head height, • It is likely to be on the site of an earlier wall sockets for timbers and stone corbels wooden chapel. in the walls which show where the original • Most castles were built with a small upper floor levels were. private chapel which was the centre of religious life. Discuss: How would the keep have been used? Why was the keep built with Point out: that most people in the castle rounded walls? would have been very religious. The lord and lady would have started each day by attending a service.

Look for: the holes for the roof timbers on the wall dividing the Chapel from the Western Hall.

5. Great Tower/Keep • The Keep dominates the castle and is a massive cylindrical Great Tower. It is described as one of the earliest, largest and fnest of its kind in Britain. • William and Isabelle Marshall started to build the tower as soon as they arrived in 1201. • Made of limestone it is 25m high and 16m in diameter. • It had 5 storeys with well-appointed rooms. We can’t be sure how they were used but they might well have been for ceremonial use only, or as a reception/ audience chamber. The cellar was used as a store. • The entrance was on the frst floor reached from a wooden stairway and a sliding drawbridge. • The inner walls would have been plastered and painted.

Point out: the surviving plaster, larger windows and freplaces. Notice that there is no water supply (well or cistern), and no toilets. Light and warmth would have been a luxury, so rooms with evidence of a freplace or with larger windows would

11 A tour of the castle

6. The Wogan would eat, drink and sleep in here. After • In the Great Hall there is a doorway drinking large quantities of ale most that leads to spiral stairs. They lead slept on the floor with the rats, mice down the cliff face into the cavern and lice. called the Wogan. • The cavern was incorporated into the Point out: the interpretation panel castle defences. showing a reconstruction drawing of the Great Hall. Point out: that there are 55 steps to the bottom. Is this correct? Look for: freplace, decorative windows, arches, detail and garderobe. Look for: the archways, doorways and arrow silts built into the rock. Discuss: How could you improve the conditions for ordinary people living in the Discuss: What could this area be used for? castle?

7. Norman Hall (Old Hall) 9. Chancery • Probably the oldest surviving structure • A ruined, gabled building where the in the castle and dates back to the Lordship of Pembroke was governed twelth century when defences were still and administered. Sentences were made of wood. also handed out here. • It was domestic rather than defensive. • Built by William de Valence. • On the frst floor was the Hall. It was • There are very few features left to see probably not originally built as a hall here but it would have been grand with but a private chamber-block and fne features. became the communal hall when the Great Hall was rebuilt by Valence. Point out: that the decoration would have • About 60 to 70 people would ft in been impressive in this area. It is likely that here. It was dimly lit, noisy, smelly and the walls were painted. The room would smoky. (No windows and a large fre) probably have had carved woodwork and rich hangings and tapestries. Point out: the freplace you can see is a 20th-century imitation. Look for: the openings of the very large Gothic windows show that the interior Look for: the large end window. It is would have been well lit. modern. Discuss: A lot of the castle has been Discuss: What are the positives and restored. Do you think more should be negatives of living in a castle? done to it?

8. Great Hall Block 10. Dungeon Tower • Added by William de Valence in the • The dungeon has no windows or toilet. 1280’s when the hall was an apartment • It is about 4.5 metres deep. for dining and entertainment. • John Whithorn was imprisoned here • 120 people would ft in the Great Hall. for 7 years and was chained to the • Castle life was communal and people wall. As a result of his treatment he

12 A tour of the castle

Point out: the lifelike medieval banquet being hosted by William de Valence in the mid 13th Century on the second floor. It shows William de Valence, his wife Joan, 2 children and Constable of Castle and his wife.

Look for: the food on the table and the way people are eating. They would dine for 3 hours and eat 18 courses.

Discuss: How was the room: lit? made comfortable? kept warm? decorated? Is the room defensive or homely?

was left blind and crippled. • He died shortly after being released.

Point out: the interpretation panel, it has information about John Whithorn.

Discuss: What do you think is the worst thing about being in the dungeon? Is there any chance of escape?

11. Great Gatehouse • Usually home to the constable. • It is three storey’s high with many freplaces and garderobes. • The lower floor has the gate passage where attackers would be met with murder holes, solid doors, portcullises and arrow loops. • The two upper floors had three rooms in each floor for the Constable and his family. • From the frst floor, you can walk along a defensive passage with arrow loops to the Henry VII Tower.

13 A tour of the castle

12. Henry VII Tower 15. The • Climb the steps to Henry VII Tower, an A defensive feature, built by Aymer de Outer Ward tower, once believed to be Valence as an additional walled defence the location of the birth of Henry Tudor, to protect the Great Gatehouse. It may the future King of England. also have been used to hold open-air courts.It forms a large semi-circular Point out: the tableaux depicting the birth shape and forced attackers through an of Henry VII in 1457. It shows Margaret awkward right-angle. Beaufort, Henry’s mother and a nurse. Before the barbican was built there may have been a ditch between the gate Discuss: What do you think is happening? and the end of the gift shop, possibly If you met Margaret Beaufort what would accessed via a drawbridge which is now you ask her? What do you think she would gone. say? Limestone from the ditch was used to build this part of the castle. It was extensively restored in the 1880s. 13. Monkton Tower • The Monkton Tower is larger than the Point out: the points of attack. The other Outer Ward towers. barbican was a killing ground and attackers would get trapped here. Point out: the arched sally port which follows the line of the trackway that led Look for: arrow slits, loopholes and down to Monkton Bridge. This was the evidence of portcullis grooves. A draw main approach to the castle before the bridge and murders holes - 3 iron Outer Ward was built. cauldrons heated limestone grenades, red hot sand and acids from urine, Look for: the medieval graffti carved into to drop on an enemy below from the the wall during the Middle Ages. It shows murder holes. the arms of the de Barri family of . Discuss: How does an attacking army get through? How many obstacles might 14. St Anne’s Bastion they have to face? • A massive defensive feature that possibly contained a garden, so it may have been domestic as well as (or instead of) defensive. • Probably added by Aymer de Valence in the early 14th century. • It now houses the cafe and toilets.

Look for: a sally port.

Discuss: How would you describe the castle to someone who has never seen it?

14 Castle stories

Siege of Pembroke Castle sleeve. He could see that the siege camp outside was suffering, so he If you cannot burn the castle down, decided to play tricks on them. and you cannot get inside the castle, how do you kill the Normans inside? Trick number 1: Every night Gerald held Any ideas? Well, it’s a piece of cake a banquet with fake food. Music was really (or not), you starve them out! In played and residents sang loudly, very other words, you lay siege to the castle. loudly in fact. So loud that the people laying siege to the castle could hear The plan is simple. To lay siege to a and they thought, “hang on a minute castle you need to set up camp outside they had a banquet last night, and the the night before! That’s not fair, they’re castle walls and stop all food from feasting and we’re suffering not them!” getting inside. The residents, in this Clever isn’t it? case the Normans, get so hungry and grumpy that they surrender and ask for Trick number 2: When the Normans a bag of chips! And that’s it, like I said, did eat food, they would throw the simple. But, there is a problem with this bones and other leftovers over the idea. When you’re camping outside, castle walls in the direction of the siege you don’t know how much food is camp, not out the back into the river as stored inside the castle. You don’t they would normally have done. The know how long this siege will last. You people in the siege camp could see just have to sit outside day and night, that food was being eaten, and wait, and hope for the best. adding to their misery. Then Gerald had another trick up his sleeve. Many years ago Pembroke Castle was the setting of a siege and it lasted Trick number 3: He wrote a letter 6 weeks. Now remember, when you to his boss saying, “Dear Arnulf de lay siege to Pembroke Castle you’re Montgomery, We have plenty to eat in camping out on a cliff top. This cliff top this castle, so don’t you worry about is very high, very windy and it rains a us under this siege, we’re fne. Lots lot. Also, food is scarce on a cliff top of love, Gerald. XX.” He had this letter so you will have to rely on your food ‘accidentally on purpose’ dropped supplies. These can get exhausted in into the siege camp. When the people no time at all. With each passing day laying siege to the castle read it, they you get colder, wetter, wept and went home. grumpier and hungrier. And that was the end of the siege.The The Normans inside Pembroke Castle castle was saved thanks to the were clever and they were rationing cunningness and trickery of Gerald de their food wisely. The man in charge Windsor. Psychological warfare at its of the castle, Gerald de Windsor, best! was cunning. Luckily for the castle residents he had some tricks up his Retold by Isla Tasker

15 Castle stories

John Whitmore. An amazing story people to be imprisoned for life and of survival forgotten about! John would have been fed very poor food and just enough water to keep him alive. The dungeon In 1440 a gentleman by the name of has a beaten earth floor and is cold John Whithorne from the Isle of Wight and damp with rats and mice running came into dispute with Humphrey, over John and biting lice making him Duke of and Earl of constantly itch. His guards would Pembroke over land and titles. say very little to him and there was no toilet to use! How anyone could survive down there for more than a few The Duke was an all-powerful man; months is hard to imagine, but John, son, brother and uncle to kings. In driven by a determination for revenge, 1440 he was attempting to seize the did survive incredibly for 7 long years. regency of England. His nephew, King Henry VI was not in good health and mentally unstable. The Duke used In 1447 the Duke was fnally charged this to make a claim for the throne. with many crimes (including the kidnap However the Duke’s enemies in Court and false imprisonment of John) and led by Cardinal Beaufort frustrated him found guilty of treason against the at every turn. As part of his attempt Crown. Three days later the Duke for power the Duke was trying to take died of poisoning (whether murder control of many estates in England or suicide is not known - most likely and Wales. John Whithorne, acting for murder). John’s friends came to his his own lands in the Isle of Wight and rescue and petitioned Parliament for a for those of the lately deceased Duke pardon and he was released sometime of Bedford, for whom John was the after 16th July 1447. He had survived Crown receiver, refused to give way his ordeal but he was a very sick man; to the demands of the Duke to hand blind, crippled and diseased. Although over the receivership. The Duke had it is not known when he died he could his men kidnap John and imprisoned not have lived for very long in such him in the dungeon tower of Pembroke poor health. Castle, thereby seizing control of many estates. Retold by Howard Rudge The Dungeon Tower is 5 metres deep and access is by a hatch in the floor. There was hardly any light and therein it was cold and damp. Its proper name is ‘Oubliette’, after the French verb Oublier - to forget. The dungeon was designed primarily for only one or two

16 Castle stories

The Royal Mint in Pembroke – During the reign of King Henry I coin 1125-1175 (approx.) quality declined, and moneyers were Less than 50 years of coin making commonly creating underweight or low-quality coins and keeping the proft. People would often “clip” the By 1125 a Royal Mint had been coins to pocket the small pieces of established in the Castle. It only silver. In 1124 King Henry summoned lasted for about 50 years and then 150 moneyers to Winchester, and tried ceased production. However, during them for issuing substandard coins. its life it produced many thousands of 94 of them were convicted. Their right silver coins called Pennies. Very few hands were cut off. Coin quality quickly have survived and are rare. Today a improved! Pembroke Castle silver penny is worth in excess of £5,000. The earliest Pennies were introduced in England around 785 by King Offa Coins were made by a man called a of Mercia. The Penny would remain moneyer. He engraved two dies with in circulation, without a change in an engraving of the King’s head and value, until 1971. The name came from name on one side and some form of Old English “pennige”, and is related decoration on the reverse, including to the German “pfennig”. They were a cross and the moneyer’s name and nearly equivalent to the Denier in use site of mint. Pembroke silver pennies in Europe at the time, and this is the have the head of King Henry 1st and source of the d. abbreviation used for his name, Henric R(Rex) on one side, the penny. The penny was the only and on the other either PEI or PAN coin circulated in England for 500 (Pembroke and the initials of the years, until the reign of King Henry moneyer). III. If a smaller denomination was needed, pennies could be cut in half or quarters. The Moneyer would take a piece of silver cut in the round and mount it on the iron die that carried the reverse Retold by Howard Rudge side of the coin (Cross and PAN). He would then place the die with the King’s head on the top of the silver disc and strike the top die with a large iron bar with a hammer. The engraving of the head and the reverse of the coin would imprint itself into either side of the softer silver. The weight of the coin was strictly controlled.

17 Castle stories

The Lord Rhys to stop them and he was absolutely furious, and probably jealous. He For much of the Middle Ages – after was determined to stop a repetition Gerald and Nest, and before the Tudors of what had happened in Wales, – you might think that Pembroke where arrogant barons carved out Castle had a negative effect on all independent Marcher Lordships over things Welsh. At the time many people which Henry had no control. At home, had settled near the castle which led Henry was in the dog-house after the to a cosmopolitan English-speaking murder of Archbishop Becket. He had culture. However, the antics of the few friends and needed to escape the Normans infuriated Papal detectives. He brought a vast King Henry 2nd as they started invasion force to Pembroke, and stayed conquering in Ireland. This led to an for three weeks in autumn 1171. unlikely alliance and friendship with his former enemy Rhys ap Gruffudd, The Lord Rhys had long been a prince of southwest Wales. As a result, rebellious enemy, and usually got further expansion of Norman power beaten. However, Henry’s invasion was brought to a halt. In some places of Wales in 1165 had ended in total it reversed, and the rest of southwest disaster, and Rhys increased his Wales retained its culture. territories. He met Henry in the Forest of Dean, offering friendship. Henry was Dermot, the ruthless king of southeast grumpy, expecting Rhys to grovel, and Ireland had been driven out of his told Rhys to meet him at Pembroke. land by other rival Irish kings, and When they met again, Henry had he appealed for help in Gwent and changed his tune! Rhys could keep all Pembrokeshire. Various members of a the lands he had conquered illegally! powerful local group, the “Geraldines”, After a winter away in Ireland Henry responded and went off to Ireland on met Rhys once again at Laugharne. a great adventure in support of King There, Henry made Rhys Justice of Dermot. Their leader was the Earl South Wales, with control over every of Pembroke, Richard de Clare, also Welsh ruler, and the Marcher Lords known as ‘Strongbow’. With their help feared to upset Rhys. King Dermot recaptured his kingdom, and Strongbow married his daughter, The former rebel was now a guardian Aiofe. When King Dermot died in May of the establishment, and the alliance 1171 it was Strongbow who was lasted for the rest of Henry’s reign. declared Lord. When Henry’s wife and children went to war in 1173, it was Rhys and Meanwhile, the Normans just carried Strongbow who provided massive on conquering and upsetting other military support. Irish kings. The Irish kings asked Henry Retold by Martin Lewis

18 Important Characters

Lady Margaret Beaufort Princess Nest (Nest ferch Rhys) Born: 31st May 1443 Born: Around 1085 in Died: 29th June 1509. her tomb is at Carmarthenshire in London Died: Around 1136 Family: Daughter and heir of John Family: The daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr Beaufort, 1st , and King of the in south west great-granddaughter of , Wales Duke of Lancaster Married: Gerald of Windsor, the Married: Edmund Tudor, Earl of Constable of Pembroke and Stephen de Richmond and half brother of King Henry Marisco, Constable of VI in 1455. Children: Five sons and four daughters Children: One son, Henry, born in January Described as: The most beautiful women 1457, three months after Tudor’s death. in Wales Described as: Devout and Fascinating facts: She spent some time formidable in the court of Henry I in London at the Fascinating facts: end of the 11th Century. Henry fell in love She was determined that Henry would with her and soon she gave birth to his become king. son. It was Henry who ordered her She married three times (a fourth marriage to Gerald of Windsor. marriage when she was only a child was Nest had many admirers including her annulled), and she outlived all of them. cousin Owain who. He was so overcome She married Sir Henry Stafford and later by her beauty that he laid siege to the Lord Stanley, who in 1485 helped her son castle in order to capture her. obtain the throne. Gerald escaped through the sewers with Margaret lived long enough to see the children but Nest was taken hostage. her grandson King Henry VIII marry She was held ‘prisoner’ at and witnessed their Castle in Pembrokeshire for six years and coronation on June 24th 1509. during that time she bore Owain at least two children. Gerald rescued Nest and killed Owain in battle, but sadly, he died a year later.

19 Important Characters

William Marshal Isabelle Marshal (nee de Clare) Born: 1146 or 1147 Born: 1172 Died: 14th May 1219 at Died: 1220, aged 78. Caversham, aged 73 Family: Daughter of Richard de Clare, Buried: Temple Church in London 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Aoife of Leinster, Ireland. Married: Isabelle de Clare Married: William Marshal Crest: A red lion on a green and yellow feld (below) Children: fve sons and fve Described as: ‘The greatest knight that daughters. ever lived’. A loyal and brave soldier. Described as: “the good, the fair, Fascinating facts: the wise, the courteous lady of high degree” Around the age of 12 William was sent to Normandy to train as a knight. Fascinating facts: William served fve English Kings. She spoke French, Latin and Irish. He was knighted in 1166 and made a After her brother Gilbert’s death, good living from winning tournaments. Isabel became one of the William and Isabelle’s daughters had wealthiest heiresses in the many children, but their fve sons died kingdom, owning the titles of childless and none lived past forty years Pembroke and Striguil, now known of age. It is said that a curse was placed , and much land in Wales and upon William by the Irish Bishop of Ireland. Ferns, Albin O’Molloy. Her marriage was arranged by King Richard I. Her marriage to William was very happy.

Roger de Montgomery Born: 1022 Died: 1094 Family: Cousin of the Norman king, . Children: Five sons, the youngest was called Arnulf. Motto: ‘Fortune favours the brave’ Described as: Also known as Roger the Great de Montgomery. Fascinating fact: Roger was the 1st Earl Shrewsbury.

20 Important Characters

Henry Tudor (Harri Tudur) Oliver Cromwell Born: 28th January 1457, Born: 25th April 1599 in Pembroke Castle Huntingdon Died: 3rd September 1658, Died: 21st April 1509 Whitehall Buried: 11th May 1509 Buried: 10th November 1658, Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey Family: Son of Edmund Tudor and Married: Elizabeth Bourchier on the Margaret Beaufort, grandson of Owen 22nd August 1620 Tudor and nephew of Children: Nine children with Jasper Tudor Elizabeth. Robert, Oliver, Bridget, Married: Elizabeth York in 1486 Richard, Henry, Elizabeth, James, Mary, Frances Children: Arthur, Margaret, Henry VIII, Mary Described as: An active and committed offcer in the Motto: Dieu et mon droi (God and my Right) parliamentary arm. Also known as ‘Lord Protector of the Crest: The red rose of Lancaster and the Commonwealth of England’. white rose of York (below) Fascinating facts: Described as: A strong wise and Cromwell was a Puritan, who determined ruler. Father of the opposed Charles I, the King. Tudor Dynasty. During the Civil War he fought Fascinating facts: for Parliament and thought that He was the frst monarch of the Tudor Parliamentary leaders did not do enough Dynasty. to try to defeat Charles I. He became the leader of England in When Henry was four years old Yorkists 1649 by leading the New Model Army. took control of Pembroke Castle while This included opponents that held his uncle Jasper was away fghting for different opinions about the type and the Lancastrians. degree of changes they wanted but When Henry was 14 years old, they all agreed that Charles needed to Jasper was concerned for his safety change policies or go. and decided to take him into exile in In 1648, Oliver Cromwell was sent mainland Europe. They sailed from to Pembroke by Parliament to storm to Brittany, where they waited for Pembroke Castle which had become the right time to return. the base for disaffected Parliamentary troops who declared for the King. Fourteen years later, Henry and Jasper sailed from the mouth of the Seine to the Waterway, a voyage which led to Henry’s victory over the at Bosworth and his coronation as Henry VII.

21 Glossary

The fenced enclosure of A defensive stone tower Bailey an early castle. Keep usually found at the centre of a castle. Banquet A great feast, usually held in the Great Hall. An opening in a , through which A walled defence Loophole weapons were fred. Barbican protecting a castle Some were simple vertical gatehouse. slits, others were shaped like crosses. Battlements Defensive parapets on the top of castle walls. The castle owner and Lord a member of the most Coat of Any powerful group in society. originally displayed on a arms Knight’s surcoat. Still used Mason A worker in stone. by towns and schools. The raise wall between Looked after the castle Merlons two crenels which gave Constable when the earl or lord was cover to the archer. away. A water-flled ditch around Gaps in the battlements Moat a castle. Crenels for shooting arrows through. A steep mound of earth Motte which supported the The defensive walls towers of early castles. Curtain wall around the castle. A hole in a gatehouse A strong underground Murder ceiling, either used to Dungeon prison cell. hole drop missiles on attackers below, or to put out fres. An opening built on the Embrasure inner side of a loophole. A heavy grille which can Portcullis be raised and lowered to A castle toilet, also called seal off a castle gateway. Garderobe a latrine or privy. A small exit point in The towers and gates Sally Port a fortifcation for the Gatehouse which guard the entrance passage of troops. to the castle. A military operation that A movable wooden frame Seige cuts off a castles supplies. Hoard ftted onto battlements to help defend the walls.

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