1100 CE, King Henry I takes the Throne of England. The conquest the Normans enacted brought with it the feudal system which had ownership of all lands granted to the king. One of the only Welsh princes to resist was Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, holder of the county Cardiganshire, refused to acknowledge sovereignty of King Henry I.
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| King Henry I |
But in fact, Owain ap Cadwgan, son of Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, fell in love with his cousin Nest, a foolish mistake. Nest was actually the ward of Henry I and was married to Gerald of Windsor, the constable of Pembroke Castle. Gerald was the leader of Norman forces in Wales, and when Owain made the mistake of abducting the holder of his heart, Henry I threatened to attack the Welsh holdouts. Cadwgan logically tried to talk his son into returning his abducted bride, but he fled with her into Ireland. She mothered two sons for Owain before eventually being returned to her husband, but not before attacks from the surrounding peoples that had been orchestrated out of revenge.
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| Pembroke Castle |
In 1109 Gilbert Fitz Richard was given the land of Cardiganshire on the condition that feudalism would extend to this county. As part of his campaign to gain Cardiganshire, he had built a fort of ringwork and bailey design opposite of the town of Llanbadarn at the mouth of the Ystwyth River. The earthworks can be still be seen on the ridge called Tan-y-Castell, and this castle my friends is the now known as Aberystwyth Castle! The ruins which are only a five minute walk from my dorm!
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| The layered ruins of Aberystwyth Castle |
In 1116 the castle comes under seige by Griffith ap Rhys, a welsh tribesman who was trying to keep the Normans from gaining full control over Wales. He was soundly defeated in this endeavor and the Normans gained full control of Dyfed and Ceredigion, establishing fortified castles in order to be a tangible presence in Wales. But Griffid would return the same year that King Stephen was crowned, burning the first Aberystwyth Castle in an attempt to drive the Normans and their Flemish allies out once again. Cadwalader ap Griffid rebuilt and moved into the castle, and as an extra insult, he eventually would marry Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare's daughter, Alice de Clare.
In April of 1136, de Clare, the Norman Lord of Ceredigion is ambushed and killed. His timely death, which aligned with the English Civil War, allowed the Welsh to take back the majority of their land. They pushed back against the Normans again in October at the Battle of Crug Mawr. Gruffud ap Cynan, King of All Wales, dies the next year, but his sons Owen and Cadwalader continue to fight for the resurrection of Welsh power.
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| A depiction of Gruffyd ap Cynan in prison |
Civil War continues in England as Matilda lands an army in Sussex to name her bid for the throne. She wore the crown for six months, only to be forced out of her seat at Oxford. The next five years were marked by anarchy in England.
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| Empress Matilda, only blood heir of King Henry I |
The second incarnation of Aberystwyth Castle is burnt down in 1142 over a dispute about the support of acts against the Normans. Anarawd ap Gruffyd's son had been killed over this dispute, but he had been a close ally of Cadwalader's older brother, Owen, who had been leading forces against the Normans as King of Wales. Owen easily defeated his brother at Aberystwyth and burned the castle to the ground once again.
Henry II took the throne of England in 1154 and then received a papul bull to conquer Ireland. But before taking on the island, he decided to once again conquer Wales, no doubt easing his means of transport to Ireland. With the aid of the House of Clare, the Normans take back the Welsh country and build a new earthwork castle at a different site than Aberystwyth.
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| An example of a Papal Bull |
Lord Rhys takes control over this area in 1164. He was the Prince of South Wales, of the kingdom of Deheubarth, and the patron of the Norman Cistercian monks. He, in fact, began the Welsh Revolt of 1164-1170, by destroying the earthwork castle. In 1176 he held the first annual Eisteddfod: a celebration of Welsh culture, poetry and music.
In the next installment.... A Crusade! 4 More Aberystwyth Castles! And King Edward I Takes on Wales, Then Scotland!
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