![]() ![]() It could also be used as a stepping stone to the “troublesome north!”. Soldiers based at Warwick Castle could now move quickly in the Midlands to suppress any uprisings. He used the bend in the river Avon to stop access to his new castle and its high position. William desperately needed a castle in the middle of his new realm and so he quickly built a motte and bailey castle at Warwick. Every time a peasant stopped working in his field and looked up, in the distance would be a large mound topped with a tower letting him know who was in control and his lowly, powerless position in the new Norman world! These would act as bases for his ennobled followers and and their small armies as well as symbols of Norman power over the local population. His solution was to reward his Norman with land, be generous to existing Anglo-Saxon lords hoping to win them over and to build numerous castles. Beyond northern England, the King of Scotland could also cause trouble and to the west of England, the Welsh princes would also have to be contained. There were at least 2 million Saxons in England and he had just over 5000 soldiers! Not all of the Anglo-Saxon landowning nobility died or even fought at Hastings and therefore presented a lot of possible trouble for William.Īdded to this, there was still a possible threat from the Vikings in Scandinavia who had friends and relatives living in the north east of England and could call on them for support and vital supplies. When he won the Battle of Hastings, defeating the local candidate, Harold Godwinson, William knew that he was highly unpopular in a hostile country. The building of Warwick Castle solved various problems for William the Conqueror. The history of Warwick Castle Why did William the Conqueror build Warwick Castle? Warwick boasts the biggest trebuchet in the world with live demonstrations on certain days. Later, whilst staying at Warwick Castle, Sir Thomas More suggests King Richard III gave the order to execute the two “Princes in the Tower”! (Please note that More was the chancellor from Henry VII, the son of Henry VII who defeated Richard III and was not a witness to any of this!)įor families there is plenty to take you back to a bygone era such as archery, jousting and falconry displays. It was very much at the centre of English history after William the Conqueror gained powering 1066 and played a huge part in the Wars of The Roses as the home of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who became known as the Kingmaker.įor a brief period, Neville could be seen as the most powerful man in England with Henry VI overthrown and imprisoned in the Tower of London and his successor, Edward IV, being captured and held in Warwick Castle. Why Visit Warwick Castle? Warwick Castle is one of the finest in the UK and a historical feast for all the agesįor history geeks, there are a lot of historical features to seek out, such as its amazing barbican. ![]()
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