Builth Castle (Welsh : Castell Llanfair-ym-Muallt) was a castle built under King Edward I, just outside Builth Wells, Powys, Wales. At one time it was an impressive stone-built castle but all the masonry has been removed over the years and all that remains are the mound on which it stood, the ditches and embankments.
Builth Castle was erected in 1277, the first castle to be built by King Edward I in Wales. The site chosen was a pre-existing motte-and-bailey castle with a motte surrounded by two baileys, all surrounded by a further boundary wall. This older castle had already changed hands several times as the Normans and Welsh fought for supremacy in these parts, and the small town of Builth had sprung up nearby. In 1260 the old castle was taken and largely destroyed by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd. It is not clear how much of the original structure was still there when Edward I started building his stone castle. [1] Construction started in May 1277, [2] and continued until August 1282, when the castle was left unfinished for lack of money. [3] This was probably because Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had been killed and Edward had changed his priorities because he wanted to concentrate on his invasion of Gwynedd. As at Flint Castle begun at the same time, construction began with an enclosure of the site by a wooden palisade, in the case of Builth of some 270 yards in length. [4] Records show that the total cost of the castle was £1,666, a comparatively modest sum because the earthworks were already present on the site. [1]
The castle was besieged in 1294 during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn. On 7 February 1301, Edward I gave Builth Castle to his son, Edward. Between 1310 and 1315, a local magnate - Roger Mortimer - served Edward as castellan of Builth. [5] When the latter Edward succeeded his father as king, he gifted the Castle to his wife, Isabella; in turn, with Edward's consent, Isabella rented the castle back to Roger Mortimer, for 170 marks per half-year (due at Michaelmas and Easter). Mortimer, a man with an increasingly powerful hold over Isabella (who eventually became his lover), subsequently obtained an agreement that the castle would become his outright when Isabella died.
Isabella and Mortimer executed a coup against Edward, eventually resulting in Edward's ignominious death. In 1330, when Edward's son (Edward III) reached adulthood, he was able to arrange for Mortimer and Isabella to be captured, and have Mortimer executed for treason. On the king's orders, Mortimer's property was seized by relevant officials - Buellt was taken by Gilbert Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, the Justiciar of South Wales. Edward had been assisted, in his counter-coup against Mortimer, by the prominent noblewoman Alice de Lacy, and her second husband Eubulus le Strange; in reward, Edward granted them Builth Castle for life. Following Eubulus' death in 1335, and Alice's subsequent re-marriage, her new husband / rapist - Hugh de Freyne - was acknowledged by the King as lord of Builth. Alice died childless in 1348.
King Edward granted Builth to his son, the Black Prince. In 1359, the Prince re-established the rental arrangement (still at 170 marks per half-year) with the Mortimer family, retaining the right to garrison the castle in times of war. When it was attacked by Owain Glyndŵr's forces, during his revolt in the early 15th century, the garrison was under the command of Sir John Oldcastle (Shakespeare's Falstaff ). It was repaired in 1409, the bill being £400. [6]
The rental arrangement was terminated during the War of the Roses, when Richard of York, heir of the Mortimer family, claimed the crown (as heir of Philippa of Clarence); the hostilities ended when Richard's heir, Elizabeth of York, married the man who became King Henry VII. In November 1493, Buellt (including Builth Castle) was re-established as a Marcher Lordship, for their son, Arthur. Arthur, however, died in 1502, childless. During the reign of Arthur's younger brother, King Henry VIII, the castle burnt down, and over subsequent years the ruins were gradually raided by the local population to provide building material for their properties.
Nowadays,[ when? ] only the impressive mound, embankments and ditches remain but all the stonework has vanished (removed by the local populace to build their dwellings).[ citation needed ]
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn II, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and grandson of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, 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.
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn the Great, was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominated Wales for 45 years.
Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, of Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire, was a marcher lord who was a loyal ally of King Henry III of England and at times an enemy, at times an ally, of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales.
The Treaty of Montgomery was an Anglo-Welsh treaty signed on 29 September 1267 in Montgomeryshire by which Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was acknowledged as Prince of Wales by King Henry III of England. It was the only time an English ruler recognised the right of a ruler of Gwynedd over Wales. Llywelyn's grandfather Llywelyn the Great had previously laid claim to be the effective prince of Wales by using the title "Prince of Aberffraw, Lord of Snowdon" in the 1230s, after subduing all the other Welsh dynasties. Likewise Llywelyn's uncle, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, claimed the title of Prince of Wales during his reign from 1240 to 1246. However, Llywelyn's supremacy in the late 1260s forced recognition of his authority in Wales by an English Crown weakened by internal division.
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The Principality of Wales was originally the territory of the native Welsh princes of the House of Aberffraw from 1216 to 1283, encompassing two-thirds of modern Wales during its height of 1267–1277. Following the conquest of Wales by Edward I of England of 1277 to 1283, those parts of Wales retained under the direct control of the English crown, principally in the north and west of the country, were re-constituted as a new Principality of Wales and ruled either by the monarch or the monarch's heir though not formally incorporated into the Kingdom of England. This was ultimately accomplished with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 when the Principality ceased to exist as a separate entity.
Cefnllys Castle was a medieval spur castle in Radnorshire, Wales. Two successive masonry castles were built on a ridge above the River Ithon known as Castle Bank in the thirteenth century, replacing a wooden motte-and-bailey castle constructed by the Normans nearby. Controlling several communication routes into the highlands of Mid Wales, the castles were strategically important within the Welsh Marches during the High Middle Ages. As the seat of the fiercely contested lordship and cantref of Maelienydd, Cefnllys became a source of friction between Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Roger Mortimer in the prelude to Edward I's conquest of Wales (1277–1283). Cefnllys was also the site of a borough and medieval town.
Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160: the northern portion (Maelor) went to Gruffydd Maelor and eventually became known as Powys Fadog; while the southern portion (Cyfeiliog) going to Owain Cyfeiliog and becoming known, eventually, as Powys Wenwynwyn after Prince Gwenwynwyn ab Owain, its second ruler.
Maelienydd, sometimes spelt Maeliennydd, was a cantref and lordship in east central Wales covering the area from the River Teme to Radnor Forest and the area around Llandrindod Wells. The area, which is mainly upland, is now in Powys. During the Middle Ages it was part of the region known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren and its administrative centre was at Cefnllys Castle.
Gruffudd Fychan I, was a Prince of Powys Fadog from 1277 to 1284. He paid homage to Edward Longshanks for the Lordship of Yale, and fought the War of 1282–1283.
The Ring of Iron or Iron Ring of Castles was a chain of fortifications and castles built across Wales at Edward I's command after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in 1282 and the subsequent Conquest of Wales by Edward I of England. Edward spent over £80,000 on all of the castles, with £20,000 being incurred just by Rhuddlan Castle, Aberystwyth Castle, Flint Castle, and Builth Castle.
Gwrtheyrnion or Gwerthrynion was a commote in medieval Wales, located in Mid Wales on the north side of the River Wye; its historical centre was Rhayader. It is said to have taken its name from the legendary king Vortigern. For most of the medieval era, it was associated with the cantref of Buellt and then Elfael, small regional kingdoms whose rulers operated independently of other powers. In the Norman era, like the rest of the region between Wye and Severn it came to be dominated by Marcher Lordships.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1201–1300 to Wales and its people.
Elfael was one of a number of Welsh cantrefi occupying the region between the River Wye and river Severn, known as Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, in the early Middle Ages. It was divided into two commotes, Is Mynydd and Uwch Mynydd, separated by the chain of hills above Aberedw. In the late medieval period, it was a marcher lordship. However, after the Laws in Wales Act 1535, it was one of the territorial units which went to make up the county of Radnorshire in 1536.
Isabella Mortimer, Lady of Clun and Oswestry was a noblewoman and a member of an important and powerful Welsh Marcher family. Although often overshadowed in modern historiography by her better-known parents, she is now known to have played an important part in her family's struggles against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and to have helped to secure the frontline at Shropshire in the run-up to English conquest of Wales. She was the wife and widow of John III FitzAlan, baron of Clun and Oswestry and de jure earl of Arundel. After a lengthy widowhood, she married for a second time and largely disappeared from the records.
Buellt or Builth was a cantref in medieval Wales, located west of the River Wye. Unlike most cantrefs, it was not part of any of the major Welsh kingdoms for most of its history, but was instead ruled by an autonomous local dynasty. During the Norman era it was associated with Rhwng Gwy a Hafren, a region independent of the Welsh monarchies and controlled by Norman Marcher Lords. In the 16th century, it was reorganized as a hundred and joined with the former kingdom of Brycheiniog to form the county of Brecknockshire.
Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Chirk was a 14th-century Marcher lord, notable for his opposition to Edward II of England during the Despenser War.
The conquest of Wales by Edward I took place between 1277 and 1283. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian conquest of Wales, to distinguish it from the earlier Norman conquest of Wales. In two campaigns, in 1277 and 1282–83, respectively, Edward I of England first greatly reduced the territory of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, and then completely overran it, as well as the other remaining Welsh principalities.
The Lordship of Brecknock was an Anglo-Norman marcher lordship located in southern central Wales.
Edward I's castles in Wales | ||
|---|---|---|
| Built or rebuilt by Edward I |  | |
| Welsh castles repaired by Edward I | ||
| Lordship castles built or rebuilt for Edward I | ||
| Other | ||
