The Warrior King’s Welsh Castles – Medieval Military Might

In 927 AD the Welsh kings recognized Athelstan, the Anglo-Saxon King of England, as their Overlord in exchange for an alliance against the Vikings. By the time the Normans arrived in England the Welsch had returned to their warring , independent ways. To secure his new kingdom, William the Conqueror set up powerful feudal barons along the Welsh borders. These Lords Marcher began to advance on south and mid Wales. Llywelyn the Great (died 1240) tried to set up a feudal state in Wales, but it was his grandson, Llywelyn the Last, who got himself recognized as the first Prince of Wales by Henry III of England in 1267. The tide turned with Henry’s successor – the great Warrior King Edward I, who descended on Wales in a bloody campaign. Wales because a dependent principality of England and Edward I gave the title Prince of Wales to his eldest son in 1302. To maintain his authority, Edward built the Castles of Conwy, Beaumaris, Caernarfon and Harlech. These castles are commonly regarded as the finest examples of Medieval military architecture.