Berkhamsted Castle
Encyclopedia
Berkhamsted Castle is a ruined Norman
motte-and-bailey
castle
at Berkhamsted
in Hertfordshire
, England.
The original fortification
dates from Saxon
times. Work on the Norman structure was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror who later passed the castle to his half-brother, Robert, Count of Mortain
. In the 12th century, the castle was home to Thomas Becket
, Chancellor of England. In the 14th century, it became the residence of Edward, the Black Prince
, and Geoffrey Chaucer
was appointed Clerk to the Works. The castle has been owned by the Duchy of Cornwall
since 1337.
in 1066, King William
granted the Manor and Honour of Berkhamsted
to his half-brother, Robert of Mortain, and started work on the castle, at that time a timber structure. Berkhamsted was of some strategic importance, and there was already a Saxon
fort guarding the main route through the valley.
Henry I
held court at the castle in 1123. During his reign and that of his successor, Henry II
, the castle was in the hands of the Chancellors, including Thomas Becket
. Extensive building works were undertaken during this period. The earliest stone buildings date from Thomas's time (1155–1164). The castle was taken back by Henry II in 1163, from Thomas Becket
, then Archbishop of Canterbury
, whom Henry had accused of misappropriating cash.
Richard I gave the castle to his queen, Berengaria of Navarre
, in 1191. She lived there until Richard’s death in 1199, when the castle came into the possession of Richard's brother, John
. In 1204, John granted the castle to his queen, Isabella of Angoulême
, who lived there until 1216, when Prince Louis of France (later Louis VIII
) laid siege to the castle. The defenders held out for only two weeks.
1227: Richard, Earl of Cornwall
, younger brother of Henry III
, was granted the castle. He used it as one of his main residences and the administrative centre of the Earldom of Cornwall. His wife Isabel
later died here, following childbirth, in 1240.
1291: Edward
granted Berkhamsted to his second queen, Margaret of France. On her death, Isabella of France
, queen of Edward II
, succeeded.
Edward III
gave the castle to his son Edward, the Black Prince
in 1337, as part of the newly-created Duchy of Cornwall
. After his capture by the Black Prince at the Battle of Poitiers
in 1356, John II of France
was imprisoned in the castle.
1361: The Black Prince spent his honeymoon at the castle, and hunted in its extensive deer park
.
1389: Geoffrey Chaucer
was appointed Clerk to the Works. It is not known how much time he actually spent at the castle, however.
1399: On his accession, Henry IV
granted the castle to his son, later Henry V
. It then passed to Margaret of Anjou
, Henry VI
's queen.
Edward IV
granted the castle to his mother Cecily Neville
, Duchess of York, in 1469. She lived here for the remainder of her life, but after her death, the castle gradually fell into decay. In 1580, Elizabeth I leased the Manor of Berkhamsted, including the ruined castle and the deer park, for the nominal rent of one red rose to Sir Edward Carey, Keeper of the Queen’s Jewels. He built Berkhamsted Place
on the hill above the castle, using stone from the ruins.
During the first half of the 19th century, concern began to grow about the impact of the Industrial Revolution
on Britain's archaeological and historical heritage, and as a result, many antiquarian
societies were founded during that period. The development of the railways was considered to be a particular threat. Northampton Castle
was demolished, and the city walls of York
, Chester
, and Newcastle were breached, to make way for the railways. In 1833, Berkhamsted Castle became the first historic structure to be afforded statutory protection against railway development.
The castle is in the care of English Heritage
. The ruins are open to visitors. Admission is free.
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
motte-and-bailey
Motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
at Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England.
The original fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
dates from Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
times. Work on the Norman structure was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror who later passed the castle to his half-brother, Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
. In the 12th century, the castle was home to Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, Chancellor of England. In the 14th century, it became the residence of Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
, and Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
was appointed Clerk to the Works. The castle has been owned by the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
since 1337.
History
After the Battle of HastingsBattle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II...
in 1066, King William
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
granted the Manor and Honour of Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted
-Climate:Berkhamsted experiences an oceanic climate similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.-Castle:...
to his half-brother, Robert of Mortain, and started work on the castle, at that time a timber structure. Berkhamsted was of some strategic importance, and there was already a Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
fort guarding the main route through the valley.
Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
held court at the castle in 1123. During his reign and that of his successor, Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
, the castle was in the hands of the Chancellors, including Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
. Extensive building works were undertaken during this period. The earliest stone buildings date from Thomas's time (1155–1164). The castle was taken back by Henry II in 1163, from Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
, then Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, whom Henry had accused of misappropriating cash.
Richard I gave the castle to his queen, Berengaria of Navarre
Berengaria of Navarre
Berengaria of Navarre was Queen of the English as the wife of King Richard I of England. She was the eldest daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre and Sancha of Castile. As is the case with many of the medieval queens consort of the Kingdom of England, relatively little is known of her life...
, in 1191. She lived there until Richard’s death in 1199, when the castle came into the possession of Richard's brother, John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
. In 1204, John granted the castle to his queen, Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. They had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III...
, who lived there until 1216, when Prince Louis of France (later Louis VIII
Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226...
) laid siege to the castle. The defenders held out for only two weeks.
1227: Richard, Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
, younger brother of Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
, was granted the castle. He used it as one of his main residences and the administrative centre of the Earldom of Cornwall. His wife Isabel
Isabel Marshal
Isabel Marshal was a medieval English countess. She was the wife of both Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and 1st Earl of Gloucester and Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall...
later died here, following childbirth, in 1240.
1291: Edward
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
granted Berkhamsted to his second queen, Margaret of France. On her death, Isabella of France
Isabella of France
Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...
, queen of Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
, succeeded.
Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
gave the castle to his son Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
in 1337, as part of the newly-created Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
. After his capture by the Black Prince at the Battle of Poitiers
Battle of Poitiers (1356)
The Battle of Poitiers was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France on 19 September 1356 near Poitiers, resulting in the second of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War: Crécy, Poitiers, and Agincourt....
in 1356, John II of France
John II of France
John II , called John the Good , was the King of France from 1350 until his death. He was the second sovereign of the House of Valois and is perhaps best remembered as the king who was vanquished at the Battle of Poitiers and taken as a captive to England.The son of Philip VI and Joan the Lame,...
was imprisoned in the castle.
1361: The Black Prince spent his honeymoon at the castle, and hunted in its extensive deer park
Medieval deer park
A medieval deer park was an enclosed area containing deer. It was bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park pale on top of the bank. The ditch was typically on the inside, thus allowing deer to enter the park but preventing them from leaving.-History:...
.
1389: Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
was appointed Clerk to the Works. It is not known how much time he actually spent at the castle, however.
1399: On his accession, Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
granted the castle to his son, later Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
. It then passed to Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471; and Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453...
, Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
's queen.
Edward IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
granted the castle to his mother Cecily Neville
Cecily Neville
Cecily Neville, Duchess of York was the wife of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and the mother of two Kings of England: Edward IV and Richard III....
, Duchess of York, in 1469. She lived here for the remainder of her life, but after her death, the castle gradually fell into decay. In 1580, Elizabeth I leased the Manor of Berkhamsted, including the ruined castle and the deer park, for the nominal rent of one red rose to Sir Edward Carey, Keeper of the Queen’s Jewels. He built Berkhamsted Place
Berkhamsted Place
Berkhamsted Place was an English country house which was erected sometime around 1580 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. It was built by Sir Edward Carey, the keeper of the Jewels to Queen Elizabeth I from stones removed from Berkhamsted Castle...
on the hill above the castle, using stone from the ruins.
During the first half of the 19th century, concern began to grow about the impact of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
on Britain's archaeological and historical heritage, and as a result, many antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
societies were founded during that period. The development of the railways was considered to be a particular threat. Northampton Castle
Northampton Castle
Northampton Castle was built under the stewardship of Simon de Senlis, the first Earl of Northampton, in 1084. It took several years to complete, as there is no mention of it in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England completed in 1086....
was demolished, and the city walls of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, and Newcastle were breached, to make way for the railways. In 1833, Berkhamsted Castle became the first historic structure to be afforded statutory protection against railway development.
Present-day
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
. The ruins are open to visitors. Admission is free.
External links
- http://www.berkhamsted-castle.org.uk
- Read a detailed historical record about Berkhamstead Castle
- Anglo-Norman Castles