Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Map
- Introduction
- Preface to the 1976 edn
- Chapter 1 Continental Origins
- Chapter 2 The Norman Conquest of England
- Chapter 3 The Norman and Angevin Period, 1066–1215
- Chapter 4 Apogee
- Chapter 5 Decline
- Chapter 6 Castle-building
- Chapter 7 The Castle in War
- Chapter 8 The Castle in Peace
- Chapter 9 The Castle in General
- Notes
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
Chapter 3 - The Norman and Angevin Period, 1066–1215
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 March 2023
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Map
- Introduction
- Preface to the 1976 edn
- Chapter 1 Continental Origins
- Chapter 2 The Norman Conquest of England
- Chapter 3 The Norman and Angevin Period, 1066–1215
- Chapter 4 Apogee
- Chapter 5 Decline
- Chapter 6 Castle-building
- Chapter 7 The Castle in War
- Chapter 8 The Castle in Peace
- Chapter 9 The Castle in General
- Notes
- Guide to Further Reading
- Index
Summary
We shall deal in the next three chapters with the architectural history of the castle in England and Wales, its development and subsequent decline, from the period of the Norman Conquest, which is the beginning of the history of castles in this country, to the end, which we may place in the sixteenth century. Scotland, though greatly affected by Norman penetration and owing its castles in the beginning no less to their influence, retained its independence as a separate kingdom throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, and therefore must remain a separate story. We shall deal first, in this chapter, with the years from c.1066 to c.1215, with Norman and Angevin England (and Wales whose conquest in effect begins in 1066 to be completed by Edward I), that is to say with the feudal kingdom of William I (the Conqueror, 1066–1087) and his two sons William II (Rufus, 1087–1100), and Henry I (1100– 35); with Stephen (the Conqueror's nephew, son of his daughter Adela and Stephen Henry, count of Blois); and with the three Angevin monarchs (succeeding through Henry I's daughter Mathilda, married to Geoffrey count of Anjou), namely Henry II, Richard I and John (respectively 1154–89, 1189–99, 1199–1216). We must not unduly emphasize the kings, since their great vassals will have castles too, and some rear-vassals also. Nevertheless it is to be remarked that William I, of course, was duke of Normandy, as was Henry I after 1106. William Rufus sought to become duke of Normandy, and Stephen lost the duchy to Geoffrey of Anjou, the husband of his rival Mathilda, in what was perhaps his most important failure. As for the Angevins, they were counts of Anjou, also dukes of Normandy and also dukes of Aquitaine as well as kings of England. If we add the obvious fact that, as from 1066, the vassals and rear-vassals of these ‘English’ monarchs, the barons and the ruling-class of England who established great lordships also in Wales, were predominantly Normans or otherwise ‘French’ almost to a man, we may begin to understand something of what the Norman Conquest means in the history of England, and to realize in particular that ‘English’ castles are in the beginning the castles of these men in England and Wales, and scarcely to be understood without reference especially to Normandy and Anjou.
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- Allen Brown's English Castles , pp. 34 - 63Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2004