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The Gauntlet is a children's historical novel, written by Ronald Welch, and published in 1951. It is a time slip story set both in 1951 (the present day) and in 1326, mainly in Carreg Cennen Castle, but also in Kidwelly Castle and Valle Crucis Abbey.
The story begins with Peter Staunton and his friend Gwyn Evans finding a rusted iron gauntlet while on holiday in the Brecon Beacons. [1] When Peter puts the gauntlet on, he hears medieval sounds such as "the thud of hooves", and hears that there have been others who had had similar experiences.
Peter then spends time learning about medieval life in Wales and neighbouring England and, after falling asleep in the garden of Carreg Cennen Castle, finds himself back in medieval times. He has a number of experiences, such as attending a medieval banquet, visiting the abbey, watching a joust, before returning to fight in a siege of the castle by the Welsh, where he is hit and falls unconscious. While in 1326, he buries his misericorde in the herb garden.
He wakes back in his own time, and tries to convince his friends there that he was not simply dreaming. He remembers that he had buried his dagger, and eventually unearths a corroded knife, but it is not clear if this was the one he buried.
The names of the Marcher lords given are historical, and the descriptions of the castles and abbey are accurate, but the location of Valle Crucis was moved from North Wales to South Wales.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was the native Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr and grandson of Llywelyn the Great, and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed, until Owain Glyndŵr held the title during the Welsh Revolt of 1400–1415.
Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March, was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marriage to the wealthy heiress Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville. Her mother was of the Royal House of Lusignan.
Llandeilo is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The town is served by Llandeilo railway station on the Heart of Wales Line.
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser, also referred to as "the Younger Despenser", was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, by his wife Isabella de Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. He rose to national prominence as royal chamberlain and a favourite of Edward II of England. Despenser made many enemies amongst the nobility of England. After the overthrow of Edward, he was eventually charged with high treason and ultimately hanged, drawn and quartered.
Eleanor de Clare, suo jure 6th Lady of Glamorgan was a powerful Anglo-Welsh noblewoman who married Hugh Despenser the Younger, the future favourite of Edward II of England, and was a granddaughter of Edward I of England. With her sisters, Elizabeth de Clare and Margaret de Clare, she inherited her father's estates after the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, 7th Earl of Hereford at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. She was born in 1292 at Caerphilly Castle in Glamorgan, Wales and was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 5th Lord of Glamorgan and Princess Joan of Acre.
Carreg Cennen Castle is a castle sited on a high rocky outcrop overlooking the River Cennen, close to the village of Trap, four miles south east of Llandeilo in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Castell Carreg Cennen means castle on a rock next to Cennen, the river name itself being a reference either to cen meaning lichen or perhaps a personal name.
Madog ap Gruffudd, or Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor, was Prince of Powys Fadog from 1191 to 1236 in north-east Wales.
Madog Crypl, also known as Madog ap Gruffydd Fychan was a descendant of the sovereign Princes of Powys Fadog and Lords of Dinas Bran. He is sometimes described as Madog III of Powys Fadog. However, he was only lord of some of the family lands under the English crown.
Stansty is an area and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, lying to the immediate north-west of the city of Wrexham. It is a former civil parish and township. Stansty is also an electoral ward to Wrexham County Borough Council. The ward population as taken at the 2011 Census was 2,114.
John Giffard, Baron Giffard of Brimsfield (1232–1299) was an English nobleman prominent in the Second Barons' War and in Wales. His initial gift of land in Oxford led to the foundation of Gloucester College, Oxford.
Owen Glendower: An Historical Novel by John Cowper Powys was first published in America in January 1941, and in the UK in February 1942. Powys returned to Britain from the USA in 1934, with his lover Phyllis Playter, living first in Dorchester, where he began work on his novel Maiden Castle. However, in July, 1935, they moved to the village of Corwen, Denbighshire, North Wales, historically part of Edeirnion or Edeyrnion, an ancient commote of medieval Wales that was once part of the Kingdom of Powys; it was at Corwen that he completed Maiden Castle (1936). This move to the land of his ancestors led Powys to write Owen Glendower the first of two historical novels set in this region of Wales; the other was Porius (1951). Owen, Powys's ninth novel, reflects "his increasing sense of what he thought of as his bardic heritage."
Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville, Countess of March, Baroness Mortimer, also known as Jeanne de Joinville, was the daughter of Sir Piers de Geneville and Joan of Lusignan. She inherited the estates of her grandparents, Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville, and Maud de Lacy, Baroness Geneville. She was one of the wealthiest heiresses in the Welsh Marches and County Meath, Ireland. She was the wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, the de facto ruler of England from 1327 to 1330. She succeeded as suo jure 2nd Baroness Geneville on 21 October 1314 upon the death of her grandfather, Geoffrey de Geneville.
Sir Rhys ap Thomas (1449–1525) was a Welsh soldier and landholder who rose to prominence during the Wars of the Roses, and was instrumental in the victory of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth. He remained a faithful supporter of Henry and was rewarded with lands and offices in South Wales. Some sources claim that he personally delivered the death blow to King Richard III at Bosworth with his poleaxe.
Knight Crusader, "the story of Philip d'Aubigny", is a children's historical novel by Ronald Welch, first published by Oxford in 1954 with illustrations by William Stobbs. It is set primarily in the Crusader states of Outremer in the twelfth century and features the Battle of Hattin and the Third Crusade. Welch won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.
Valle Crucis Abbey is a Cistercian abbey located in Llantysilio in Denbighshire, Wales. More formally the Abbey Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Valle Crucis it is known in Welsh both as Abaty Glyn Egwestl and Abaty Glyn y Groes. The abbey was built in 1201 by Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor, Prince of Powys Fadog. Valle Crucis was dissolved in 1537 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and subsequently fell into serious disrepair. The building is now a ruin, though large parts of the original structure still survive. Valle Crucis Abbey is now under the care of Cadw. The abbey received 5,690 visitors in 2018.
Matilda de Braose was the 2nd wife of Rhys Mechyll, son of Rhys Gryg and grandson of the Lord Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth.
Rhys Mechyll was a Welsh prince, Lord of Dinefwr, of the house and kingdom of Deheubarth in southern Wales from 1234 to 1244. He was a son of Rhys Gryg, son of Rhys ap Gruffydd (1132–1197), "The Lord Rhys", ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Cadw.
Gweirca ferch Owain was a medieval Welsh noblewoman, granddaughter of Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor and daughter of Owain ap Gruffydd ap Madog.
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