William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

went overland through South Wales in 1081 on an armed pilgrimage to

St Davids St Davids or St David's (, , "David's house”) is a cathedral city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun and is part of the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's ...

on the West Coast of Wales. This was part of the

Norman conquest of Wales The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror, who believed England to be his birthright. Initially (1067–1081), the invasion of Wales was not undertaken with the fervour and purpose ...

. English and the Welsh sources differ on the purpose of the visit. The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' states that it was a military campaign, but Welsh sources record it as a pilgrimage to

in honour of

Saint David David (; ; ) was a Welsh Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Mynyw during the 6th century. He is the patron saint of Wales. David was a native of Wales, and tradition has preserved a relatively large amount of detail about his life. ...

. William's biographer David Bates argues that the former explanation is more likely: the balance of power had recently shifted in Wales and William would have wished to take advantage of this to extend Norman power. By the end of 1081, William was back on the continent, dealing with disturbances in Maine. On the return he visited Cardiff and may have been responsible for commissioning the building of

Cardiff Castle Cardiff Castle () is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top of a 3rd-century Roma ...

References

11th century in Wales

Bibliography

* {{cite book , last1 = Higham , first1 = Robert , last2 = Barker , first2 = Philip , year = 2004 , title = Timber Castles , publisher = University of Exeter Press , location= Exeter, UK , isbn = 978-0-85989-753-2