Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle is a ruined fortification in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Originally a wooden motte and bailey castle built soon after the Norman Conquest, it was rebuilt as a stone fortification during the twelfth century but subsequently demolished on the orders of King Henry II. Rebuilding of the castle took place from the second half of the thirteenth century and culminated in the construction of a range of buildings within the fortifications by John Dudley. The fortifications were slighted by order of Parliament during the English Civil War and the residential buildings destroyed by fire in 1750. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century the site was used for fêtes and pageants. Today Dudley Zoo is located on its grounds. Its location, Castle Hill, is an outcrop of Wenlock Group limestone that was extensively quarried during the Industrial Revolution and which now, along with Wren's Nest Hill, is a scheduled monument of the best surviving remains of the l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dudley Zoo
Dudley Zoological Gardens is a zoo located within the grounds of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, in the Black Country region of the West Midlands, England. The Zoo opened to the public on 18 May 1937. It contains 12 modernist animal enclosures and other buildings designed by the architect Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Group. The zoo went into Justin receivership in 1977 and was purchased by Dudley Metropolitan Council. Dudley Zoo is now operated by Dudley and West Midlands Zoological Society, founded in 1978 and a registered charity. The gardens also hosts multiple events. History The owner of Dudley Castle, the Third Earl of Dudley, decided to create a zoo in the castle grounds in the 1930s. The initial Board of the Dudley Zoological Society was made up of the earl, Ernest Marsh (director of Marsh and Baxter) and Captain Frank Cooper, owner of Oxford Zoo, who wanted to sell his animals and it was Oxford Zoo, which closed in 1936, that supplied Dudley with the majority ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Wren's Nest
The Wren's Nest is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, north west of the town centre of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. It is one of the most important geological locations in Britain. It is also a Local Nature Reserve, a national nature reserve (NNR) and Scheduled Ancient Monument. The site is home to a number of species of birds and locally rare flora, such as ''Scabiosa columbaria'' (small scabious), milkwort and quaking grass. The caverns are also a nationally important hibernation site for seven different species of bat. The Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve Ancient history The Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve is world-famous geologically for its well-preserved Silurian coral reef fossils. Considered the most diverse and abundant fossil site in the British Isles, more than 700 types of fossil have been found at the site, 86 of which are unique to the location, including ''Calymene blumenbachii'', a trilobi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roger De Somery II
Roger de Somery inherited the feudal barony of Dudley in 1235. In 1262, Roger started the re-fortification of Dudley Castle, which had been slighted by order of King Henry II after a rebellion in 1173-1174. Roger married twice and died in 1272. Biography Roger de Somery was the son of Ralph de Somery (d 1210) and Margaret le Gras (liv 1247), feudal baron of Dudley. He inherited the barony in 1235. In 1253, the king sent Roger on an expedition to Gascony to help quell a rebellion. In 1262, Roger began to re-fortify Dudley Castle, which had been slighted by order of King Henry II after the revolt of 1173–74 Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and .... However, as he did not have a licence from the king to rebuild the castle, he was ordered to stop the construction work. A l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ralph De Somery I
Ralph de Somery I inherited the barony of Dudley on the death of his uncle, Gervase Paganell, in 1194 although he did not get full ownership of the lands until the death of his mother in 1208. Ralph swapped land that he owned at Wolverhampton with King John, obtaining estates at Kingswinford which proved very valuable to later Lords of Dudley during the Industrial Age. He had three sons and died in 1210. Life Ralph de Somery was the son of John de Somery and his wife Hawise, sister and heir of Gervase Paganell, baron of Dudley. When his uncle Gervase died in 1194, Ralph inherited the barony although not all the lands that accompanied the title, as some were inherited by his mother. Around 1205, Ralph swapped land he held at Wolverhampton with King John, obtaining estates at Kingswinford, including Pensnett Chase. The Chase was used by later Lords of Dudley as a hunting ground and much later proved to be a rich source of coal and other minerals. Ralph married Margaret le Gras, niec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sidney Painter
Sidney Painter (September 23, 1902 – January 12, 1960) was an American medievalist and historian. He was a fellow of the Mediaeval Academy and professor of history and chairman of the department of history at Johns Hopkins University. Painter was born in New York City; after the Taft School he attended Yale University (AB 1925; PhD 1930). He was an influential member of American academia in the 1950s and served on many boards and committees. He was treasurer and secretary of the American Council of Learned Societies and was a member of the council of the Mediaeval Academy. He was made a fellow in 1953. He wrote many influential books. His doctoral thesis was later published as "William Marshal: Knight-Errant, Baron, and Regent of England", and was supervised by Professor Sydney K. Mitchell at Yale University. He was an expert in medieval institutions but also believed in relating history from personal perspectives. He argued that the reign of King John cannot be understood w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Slighting
Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is a phenomenon with complex motivations and was often used as a tool of control. Slighting spanned cultures and periods, with especially well-known examples from the English Civil War in the 17th century. Meaning and use Slighting is the act of deliberately damaging a high-status building, especially a castle or fortification, which could include its contents and the surrounding area. The first recorded use of the word 'slighting' to mean a form of destruction was in 1613. Castles are complex structures combining military, social, and administrative uses, and the decision to slight them took these various roles into account. The purpose of slighting was to reduce the value of the building, whether military, social, or administrative. Des ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gervase Paganell
Gervase Paganell inherited the feudal barony of Dudley (which included Dudley Castle) around the year 1150. However, after rebelling against King Henry II, his castle was demolished. Gervase founded the Cluniac Priory of St James in Dudley and probably founded the Church of St Thomas in Dudley. He died in 1194. The Paganells of Dudley Castle The first of the family of Paganell to hold Dudley Castle and the barony of Dudley was Fulke Paganell around the year of 1100. Dudley Castle was originally a wooden Norman castle, built by Ansculf de Picquigny, a follower of William the Conqueror. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, the castle was in the possession of his son William fitz Ansculf together with manors in the Home counties and the English Midlands, which were rewards for services to the Conqueror. Dudley Castle was the caput of the feudal barony. The Paganell family had origins in Normandy, where Fulke's father William was Lord of Moutiers Hubert. It is not clear how F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dudley Domesday Book
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley; in 2011 it had a population of 79,379. The Metropolitan Borough, which includes the towns of Stourbridge and Halesowen, had a population of 312,900. In 2014 the borough council named Dudley as the capital of the Black Country. Originally a market town, Dudley was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution and grew into an industrial centre in the 19th century with its iron, coal, and limestone industries before their decline and the relocation of its commercial centre to the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the 1980s. Tourist attractions include Dudley Zoo and Castle, the 12th century priory ruins, and the Black Country Living Museum. History Early history Dudley has a history dating bac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Fitz-Ansculf
William Fitz-Ansculf was a Norman-French landowner who succeeded his father, Ansculf de Picquigny. Birth and early life William's date of birth is not known, though it was likely in Picquigny, Picardy, now in the Somme department, France, in the mid 11th Century. William inherited many lands in central England that had been granted to his father, Ansculf de Picquigny by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest in 1066. William made his base at the castle built by his father in Dudley, Worcestershire. He and his successors were overlords of the manors of Selly Oak and Birmingham both of which had previously been owned by Wulfwin. His ownership of Selly Oak was challenged by the Bishop of Lichfield using a nuncupative (oral) will made by Wulfwin as evidence. It would appear that William Fitz-Ansculf died during the First Crusade. Henry of Huntingdon in his ‘History of the English People’ writes that: “Then from the middle of February they besieged the castle of ‘ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by the Latin name ''Liber de Wintonia'', meaning "Book of Winchester", where it was originally kept in the royal treasury. The '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' states that in 1085 the king sent his agents to survey every shire in England, to list his holdings and dues owed to him. Written in Medieval Latin, it was highly abbreviated and included some vernacular native terms without Latin equivalents. The survey's main purpose was to record the annual value of every piece of landed property to its lord, and the resources in land, manpower, and livestock from which the value derived. The name "Domesday Book" came into use in the 12th century. Richard FitzNeal wrote in the ''Dialogus de Scaccario'' ( 1179) that the book ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era=Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , year_start=527 , event_end= , date_end= , year_end=918 , event1= , date_event1= , event2= , date_event2= , event3= , date_event3= , event4= , date_event4= , p1=Sub-Roman Britain , flag_p1=Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg , border_p1=no , p2=Hwicce , flag_p2= , p3=Kingdom of Lindsey , flag_p3= , p4=Kingdom of Northumbria , flag_p4= , s1=Kingdom of England , flag_s1=Flag of Wessex.svg , border_s1=no , s2= , flag_s2= , image_flag= , image_map=Mercian Supremacy x 4 alt.png , image_map_caption=The Kingdom of Mercia (thick line) and the kingdom's extent during the Mercian Supremacy (green shading) , national_motto= , national_anthem= , common_languages=Old English *Mercian dialect British Latin , currency=Sceat Penny , religion=PaganismChristia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Camden
William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annales'', the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England. Early years Camden was born in London. His father Sampson Camden was a member of The Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers. He attended Christ's Hospital and St Paul's School, and in 1566 entered Oxford (Magdalen College, Broadgates Hall, and finally Christ Church). At Christ Church, he became acquainted with Philip Sidney, who encouraged Camden's antiquarian interests. He returned to London in 1571 without a degree. In 1575, he became Usher of Westminster School, a position that gave him the freedom to travel and pursue his antiquarian researches during school vacations. ''Britannia'' In 1577, with the encouragement of Abraham Ortelius, Camden bega ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |