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Ely Castle
Ely Castle was in the cathedral city of Ely in Cambridgeshire (). Its probable site is a mound near the cathedral which is now called Cherry Hill. This was a motte and bailey castle built by William I in 1070 in his conflict with Hereward the Wake to subdue the Isle of Ely. Once Ely was quiescent the motte was abandoned. However it was refortified in 1140 during the Anarchy by Bishop Nigel but surrendered to King Stephen. In 1143 Geoffrey de Mandeville was placed in charge of the castle. A castle in Ely was said to have been taken and destroyed by Falkes de Breauté in 1216. During the Second Barons' War half a century later, Ely with its fortifications was captured in 1268. It is thought that the castle built by Bishop Nigel was demolished soon afterwards. There are no visible remains other than the mound. However, there was a considerable amount of evidence uncovered in 2002, after excavations on the site took place. The dig revealed large quantities of clay items, inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely ( ) is a cathedral city in the East Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about north-northeast of Cambridge and from London. Ely is built on a Kimmeridge Clay island which, at , is the highest land in the Fens. It was due to this topography that Ely was not waterlogged like the surrounding Fenland, and was an island separated from the mainland. Major rivers including the River Witham, Witham, River Welland, Welland, River Nene, Nene and River Great Ouse, Great Ouse feed into the Fens and, until draining commenced in the eighteenth century, formed freshwater marshes and Mere (lake), meres within which peat was laid down. Once the Fens were drained, this peat created a rich and fertile soil ideal for farming. The River Great Ouse was a significant means of transport until the Fens were drained and Ely ceased to be an island in the seventeenth century. The river is now a popular boating spot, and has a large marina. Although now surrounded by land, the city ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west. The city of Cambridge is the county town. Following the Local Government Act 1972 restructuring, modern Cambridgeshire was formed in 1974 through the amalgamation of two administrative counties: Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely, comprising the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cambridgeshire (including the Isle of Ely); and Huntingdon and Peterborough, comprising the historic county of Huntingdonshire and the Soke of Peterborough, historically part of Northamptonshire. Cambridgeshire contains most of the region known as Silicon Fen. The county is now divided between Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council, which since 1998 has formed a separate Unitary authorities of England, unita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motte And Bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or Bailey (castle), bailey, surrounded by a protective Rampart (fortification), ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and County of Anjou, Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales. Motte-and-bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte-and-bailey castle. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries. Architecture Structures A mott ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William I Of England
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. By 1060, following a long struggle to establish his throne, his hold on Normandy was secure. In 1066, following the death of Edward the Confessor, William invaded England, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and suppressed subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands, and by difficulties with his eldest son, Robert Curthose. William was the son of the unmarried Duke Robert I of Normandy and his mistress Herleva. His illegitimate status and his youth caused s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hereward The Wake
Hereward the Wake (Traditional pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/, modern pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɪ.wəd/) (1035 – 1072) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resistance to the Norman Conquest of England. His base, when leading the rebellion against the Norman rulers, was the Isle of Ely in eastern England. According to legend he roamed the Fens, which nowadays covers parts of the modern counties of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk, leading popular opposition to William the Conqueror. ''Hereward'' is an Old English name, composed of the elements ''here'', "army", and ''ward'' "guard" (cognate with the Old High German name ''Heriwart''). The epithet "the Wake", first recorded in the 14th century, may mean "the watchful", or derive from the Anglo-Norman Wake family who later claimed descent from him. Primary sources Several primary sources exist for Hereward's life, though the accuracy of their ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isle Of Ely
The Isle of Ely () is a historic region around the city of Ely in Cambridgeshire, England. Between 1889 and 1965, it formed an administrative county. Etymology Its name has been said to mean "island of eels", a reference to the creatures that were often caught in the local rivers for food. This etymology was first recorded by the Venerable Bede. History Until the 17th century, the area was an island surrounded by a large area of fenland, a type of swamp. It was coveted as an area easy to defend, and was controlled in the very early medieval period by the Gyrwas, an Anglo-Saxon tribe. Upon their marriage in 652, Tondbert, a prince of the Gyrwas, presented Æthelthryth (who became St. Æthelthryth), the daughter of King Anna of the East Angles, with the Isle of Ely. She afterwards founded a monastery at Ely, which was destroyed by Viking raiders in 870, but was rebuilt and became a famous Abbey and Shrine. The Fens were drained beginning in 1626 using a network of canals desig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Anarchy
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legitimate son of King Henry I, who drowned in the sinking of the ''White Ship'' in 1120. Henry sought to be succeeded by his daughter, known as Empress Matilda, but was only partially successful in convincing the nobility to support her. On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne, with the help of Stephen's brother Henry of Blois, who was the bishop of Winchester. Stephen's early reign saw fierce fighting with disloyal English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders, and Scottish invaders. Following a major rebellion in the south-west of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester. In the initial years of civil war, neither side was able to achieve a decisive advantage; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Of England
Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne '' jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England. Stephen was born in the County of Blois in central France as the fourth son of Stephen-Henry, Count of Blois, and Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. His father died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother. Placed into the court of his uncle Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey De Mandeville, 1st Earl Of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex (died September 1144) was a prominent figure during the reign of King Stephen of England. His biographer, the 19th-century historian J. H. Round, called him "the most perfect and typical presentment of the feudal and anarchic spirit that stamps the reign of Stephen". That characterisation has been disputed since the later 20th century. Early career He succeeded his father, William, sometime before 1129, possibly as early as 1116. A key portion of the family patrimony in Essex was in the King's hands. William had incurred a debt to the crown, perhaps in part due to a large fine levied in 1101 by Henry I due to his displeasure at the escape of the important political prisoner, Ranulph Flambard, when William was in charge of the Tower of London. The King also held the substantial estate of Geoffrey's maternal grandfather Eudo ''le Dapifer'' to which Geoffrey laid claim. Geoffrey gained Eudo's lands and his father's offices during the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Barons' War
The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III, led initially by the king himself and later by his son, the future King Edward I. The barons sought to force the king to rule with a council of barons, rather than through his favourites. The war also involved a series of massacres of Jews by de Montfort's supporters, including his sons Henry and Simon, in attacks aimed at seizing and destroying evidence of baronial debts. To bolster the initial success of his baronial regime, de Montfort sought to broaden the social foundations of parliament by extending the franchise to the commons for the first time. However, after a rule of just over a year, de Montfort was killed by forces loyal to the king at the Battle of Evesham. Causes The reign of Henry III is most remembered for the constitutional crisis in this period of civil strife, which was provoked o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
