| Walden Castle | |
|---|---|
| Essex, England | |
 The ruins of Walden castle | |
  Walden Castle | |
| Coordinates | 52°01′32″N0°14′31″E / 52.0255°N 0.2420°E |
| Type | Keep and bailey |
| Site information | |
| Condition | Ruined |
Walden Castle was a medieval castle in Essex, England, built during the Anarchy of the 12th century. Only the ruined core of the structure remains today.
Walden Castle was built in the town of Saffron Walden in Essex at the start of the civil war known as the Anarchy by Geoffrey de Mandeville, with much of the work occurring between 1141 and 1143. [1] It was one of several castles built by de Mandeville to reinforce his power across the region. [2] The castle stood on a natural high point within the town (grid reference TL539387 ) and had a square Norman keep and bailey wall, forming a substantial fortification. [2] Geoffrey de Mandeville was arrested under questionable circumstances by King Stephen in 1143, and ordered to hand over his castles, including Walden; de Mandeville initially agreed, but reneged on the agreement once released and launched a military campaign against the king's strongholds in Cambridgeshire in an attempt to free the route south to Walden. [3] Geoffrey de Mandeville died during a siege the following year (in Burwell), [4] still not having reclaimed Walden. [5]
It is told in the Gesta Stephani that, when de Mandeville was dispossessed, Stephen had placed the castle and its domains in the custody (but not the possession) of Turgisius de Abrinciis (de Avranches), one of his most trusted men. Turgis had witnessed Stephen's charter by which de Mandeville was created hereditary Count of Essex, [6] and with him had witnessed the king's confirmation charter to Monk's Horton Priory in Kent. [7] Turgis also witnessed Stephen's charter of 1139 to Salisbury, [8] [9] and in 1142-43 Stephen confirmed his grant, as King's Constable, of land in Oxfordshire to the Templars. [10] Although he had received many benefits from the king, in 1145 he refused to surrender the castle to him, until one day the king with a large force surprised him while he was out hunting, and threatened to hang him in chains over the castle gate. [11] Henry II ordered the castle, with the keep probably still unfinished, to be slighted in 1157. [1] According to historian Sidney Painter, it was one of at least 21 castles demolished on Henry II's instructions. [12]
Saffron Walden's streets are shaped by the outline of the castle bailey. [2] Only the ruined core of the castle remains, with most of the stones stolen over the intervening centuries; the castle is a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building. [13]
Stephen, often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England.
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin who drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120. Henry sought to be succeeded by his daughter, known as Empress Matilda, but was only partially successful in convincing the nobility to support her. On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne, with the help of Stephen's brother Henry of Blois, who was the bishop of Winchester. Stephen's early reign saw fierce fighting with disloyal English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders, and Scottish invaders. Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester.
Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex was a prominent figure during the reign of King Stephen of England. His biographer, the 19th-century historian J. H. Round, called him "the most perfect and typical presentment of the feudal and anarchic spirit that stamps the reign of Stephen". That characterisation has been disputed since the later 20th century.
Saffron Walden is a market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, 12 miles (19 km) north of Bishop's Stortford, 15 miles (24 km) south of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. The population was 15,504 at the 2011 census and 16,613 in the 2021 census.
Aubrey de Vere — also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver" and "Albericus regis camerarius" — was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of Aubrey de Vere and his wife Beatrice.
Cambridge Castle, locally also known as Castle Mound, is located in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. Originally built after the Norman conquest to control the strategically important route to the north of England, it played a role in the conflicts of the Anarchy, the First and Second Barons' Wars. Hugely expanded by Edward I, the castle then fell rapidly into disuse in the late medieval era, its stonework recycled for building purposes in the surrounding colleges. Cambridge Castle was refortified during the English Civil War but once again fell into disuse, used primarily as the county gaol. The castle gaol was finally demolished in 1842, with a new prison built in the castle bailey. This prison was demolished in 1932, replaced with the modern Shire Hall, and only the castle motte and limited earthworks still stand. The site is open to the public daily and offers views over the historic buildings of the city.
Miles FitzWalter of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford was a great magnate based in the west of England. He was hereditary Constable of England and Sheriff of Gloucestershire.
Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln, a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the nephew of Roger of Salisbury, a Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England under King Henry I, and he was also related to Nigel, Bishop of Ely. Educated at Laon, Alexander served in his uncle's diocese as an archdeacon in the early 1120s. Unlike his relatives, he held no office in the government before his appointment as Bishop of Lincoln in 1123. Alexander became a frequent visitor to King Henry's court after his appointment to the episcopate, often witnessing royal documents, and he served as a royal justice in Lincolnshire.
Nigel was an Anglo-Norman clergyman and administrator who served as Bishop of Ely from 1133 to 1169. He came from an ecclesiastical family; his uncle Roger of Salisbury was a bishop and government minister for King Henry I, and other relatives also held offices in the English Church and government. Nigel owed his advancement to his uncle, as did Nigel's probable brother Alexander, who like Nigel was advanced to episcopal status. Nigel was educated on the continent before becoming a royal administrator. He served as Treasurer of England under King Henry, before being appointed to the see, or bishopric, of Ely in 1133. His tenure was marked by conflicts with the monks of his cathedral chapter, who believed that Nigel kept income for himself that should properly have gone to them.
Rohese de Vere, Countess of Essex was a noblewoman in England in the Anglo-Norman and Angevin periods. Married twice, she and her second husband founded the Gilbertine monastery of Chicksands in Bedfordshire.
Events from the 1140s in England.
The Battle of Wilton was a battle of the civil war in England known as The Anarchy. It was fought on 1 July 1143 at Wilton in Wiltshire. An army under King Stephen was stationed at Wilton Abbey, where it was attacked by an army led by Robert Earl of Gloucester. Although King Stephen's army was defeated, the king himself escaped capture.
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex was an English nobleman, the second son of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex and Rohese de Vere, Countess of Essex.
Walden Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Saffron Walden, Essex, England, founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex, between 1136 and 1143. Originally a priory, it was elevated to the status of an abbey in 1190.
Burwell Castle was an unfinished medieval enclosure castle in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, England.
Lidgate Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle in the village of Lidgate, Suffolk, England, built to an unusual quadrangular design.
South Cerney Castle was an adulterine castle of Motte and bailey construction built in South Cerney, Gloucestershire in the mid-12th century. Today only slight earthwork remains and they are a scheduled monument.
The siege of Oxford took place during the Anarchy—a period of civil war following the death of Henry I of England without a male heir—in 1142. Fought between his nephew, Stephen of Blois, and his daughter, the Empress Matilda, who had recently been expelled from her base in Westminster and chosen the City of Oxford as her new headquarters. Oxford by now was effectively a regional capital and important in its own right. It was a well-defended city with both rivers and walls protecting it, and was also strategically important as it was at a crossroads between the north, south-east and west of England, and also not far from London.
Hasculf de Tany was an Anglo-Norman nobleman who lived in medieval England, in the region of London. He is believed to have been castellan of the Tower of London.