Hello and welcome to today's history lesson.

My name is Mr. Merritt and I'll be guiding you through today's lesson.

So let's get started.

Today's lesson on the Norman England historic environment is looking at castle building in Norman Wales, and by the end of today's lesson we'll be able to explain the importance of a castle building for Normans in Wales.

In order to do that, we need to use some key terms, and our key terms for today are castelry and colonisation.

A castelry is an area of land controlled by a castle, and which supplied the castle with resources.

And colonisation means settling land that already had people living there and taking control of it away from its original owners.

Today's lesson will consist of two separate learning cycles, and our first learning cycle is looking at Norman castles and castelries.

So let's get going.

Now, one of the central planks of William's consolidation of power in England was his construction of motte-and-bailey castles, and they were important in two respects.

In one sense, they provided William with a practical solution to a military problem.

They were bases at which soldiers could be stationed to help defeat any rebellions.

And in another sense, however, these castles were also deeply symbolic.

For most Anglo-Saxons, these castles served as a powerful visual reminder that they were now ruled over by a new Norman elite, and this helped to deter rebellions by intimidating local populations.

Okay, let's have a quick check for understanding now.

So I'd like to identify two purposes of Norman castles.

Was it that they provided housing for local people? Did they provide security for Norman soldiers? Were they a symbol of Norman control? Or were they designed as prisons for lawbreakers? So choose two of those options now.

Okay, if you chose b and c, then very well done, those are the correct answers.

Now, the reasons why castles were built was just as true in Wales as it was in England.

There more than 300 castles built in Wales in the century before 1215, and there were 100 built along the Welsh Marches, which was the poorly-defined border between Wales and England, which have been the location of a series of violent clashes between English and Welsh forces in the decades leading up to the Norman conquests.

Today, the Welsh Marches are honed to a greater concentration of castles than anywhere else in Europe.

And let's have another quick check for understanding now.

It's a true or false statement, Northern Wales today contains the largest concentration of castles anywhere in Europe, is that true or is that false? All right, if you chose false, then congratulations.

That's the correct answer in terms of why it's a false statement.

Well, although North Wales does have many castles, it's the Welsh Marches that contain the largest concentration of castles anywhere in Europe, and there are 100 in the region.

So hopefully you got that correct as well.

Now, many of the castles built in Wales and within the Welsh Marches, but constructed in strategically important locations.

The Marcher cities of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford each had a motte-and-bailey Castle, and Hereford and Shrewsbury both had to withstand rebel attacks in 1067 and 1069, and these castles did so successfully.

Many were built to control key communication points such as river crossings or so that they could be resupplied by river during a siege, for example, Pembroke and Carmarthen Castles.

And there's a picture of Pembroke Castle on the screen there in front of you, give you an idea about how easy it would be to resupply it by river.

The Normans took advantage of old Roman forts or even older Iron Age hill forts for some of their castle locations.

For instance, in Caerleon.

Castelries were also a feature of some castles in Wales and the Marches, and these were defined areas around a castle which were directly under the castle's control, and which supplied the resources needed by the castle.

Examples of castelries included Montgomery, the new castle and sediment established in Paris by Roger Montgomery, as well as Caerleon and Chepstow.

Now Chepstow Castle is a really interesting example of an early Norman castle in Wales.

It was constructed at the bottom end of the Welsh Marches on high ground, as you can see from the picture on the screen in front of you there.

And it's overlooking a deep valley from which the River Wye runs out into the Severn Estuary.

This high location meant that the castle did not need a motte, and it was also constructed of stone from the start, partly for defensive purposes and partly to intimidate the local population and to deter future attacks on English territory.

The vast majority of Norman motte-and-bailey castles were initially built of wood, they could be erected quickly, and then once it decided that this is a good location for a castle, then it'll be rebuilt in stone, but not Chepstow, from stone from the start.

Chepstow Castle also had another important function of Norman castles, which was as a base for pushing further westwards into Wales.

In this respect, it was similar to the castle at Rhuddlan in North Wales, which was the beginning point of a chain of castles built on the North Wales coast by the end of the 11th century.

From Rhuddlan to Deganwy, on the River Conway to Carmarthen.

Likewise, it marked the expansion of Norman control in the North.

Cardiff Castle is another example of Norman castles as a symbol of power and authority.

In 1080, William I first made a pilgrimage to St.

David's in West Wales, which is a journey that was actually designed to reinforce his overlordship of the Welsh Kingdoms of Gwent and the Deheubarth.

Along the way, he constructed motte-and-bailey castles to leave behind a permanent physical reminder of his power.

And it's likely that Cardiff Castle was built at this point, probably in 1081 as William returned from St.

David's.

It was constructed like many motte-and-bailey castles on the remains of Roman forts, and it featured a very impressive 12-meter-high motte, which is the highest in Wales, together with a nine-meter-wide moat.

Cardiff Castle guarded the old Roman Road through South Wales, as well as having a strategic location on the coast between the Rivers Taff and Rhymney.

Okay, let's have another check for understanding.

So it's a discussion-based question.

I'd like you to consider.

Why was Cardiff Castle built in its chosen location? So pause the video while you consider that question.

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you got a go at that question? Let's think about what you could have said then.

So you might have said that it was built on the route between Gwent and Deheubarth, that it guarded the old Roman road through South Wales, that it was built on the remains of a Roman fort, that it had a strategic location on the coast, and it was also a strategic location between the Rivers Taff and Rhymney.

So hopefully you've got some of those on the screen there in front of you as well.

Or maybe you've got some extra ones, which would be absolutely fantastic.

Okay, let's go for our first task for today.

So there's a table on the screen in front of you there, and what I'd like you to do is to complete the table by including at least one feature for each of the following castles, the Normans built in Wales.

So include at least one feature for Cardiff Castle, Caerleon, Chepstow, Pembroke and Rhuddlan.

So pause the video while you read this task and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope you were okay with that task.

Let's think what you could have said then.

So for Cardiff Castle, you could have said that it has the highest motte in Wales at 12 metres.

For Caerleon, it was built in the remains of a large Roman fort and it had its own castelry.

For Chepstow, it was built on high ground overlooking a deep valley, and it also had its own castelry.

Pembroke was built to defend a key river crossing, Rhuddlan was their link in a chain of castles pushing into North Wales.

So hopefully you've got understanding about some of the features of those castles, and if you've got anything different to myself then that's absolutely brilliant.

All right, let's move on to our second and final learning cycle for today, which is looking at castles and colonisation.

Now, Norman control over an area was most secure and profitable when it was accompanied by colonisation.

Castles provided the security for Norman colonisation in Wales.

This colonisation was most often spearheaded not by King William or even indeed, the Marcher earls, who we usually occupy with issues in England and Normandy that kept them far away from Wales.

Instead, it was the barons who received land and permission to build a castle from their overlord, who's the Marcher earl.

In Wales, these individuals used a mix of negotiation and brutality to take control of territory, sometimes by allying with a local ruler against their local enemy in return for land.

Barons would also bring a private army of their own into a region which was made up of knights and other followers.

They would then terrorise the locals, they would enslave some and send them away for sale.

It is worth pointing out that the Normans in general opposed slavery, but that opposition didn't actually extend to Wales.

It was only they opposed slavery in England.

The barons would then set about encouraging colonists to settle in the new area, and these would often be people who were recruited from the barons' estates in England, but also included people from Normandy and countries such as Flanders.

A group of Flemings led by Wizo who had previously been used to colonise northwest England were moved to Pembrokeshire by Henry I.

They were dedicated farmers and traders and also aggressive in both defending themselves against Welsh attacks and in grabbing more land if they could take it.

Colonists like this were given trading privileges in the towns, but also grants of land within the castelry in order to encourage new settlements, and they often built small mottes to protect their newly established farms and villages.

Okay, let's go for a quick check for understanding now for the true or false statements.

Castles were only used to defend the border with Wales and were not involved in expanding control into Wales, is that true or is that false? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you chose a false, then congratulations, you're absolutely correct.

In terms of why it's a false statement.

Well, the Normans use castles in their expansion into Wales with soldiers using a castle as a secure base, then constructing a castle in new areas they could take control of creating a castle chain.

Now, in this way, castles were not simply about maintaining military power, but also about building economic links.

Networks of trade would spring up around the castles, which the Normans built as their inhabitants needed to be supplied with goods and services by the local people.

As a result, new connections emerged between the Welsh economy and wide patterns of trade throughout Europe with more goods being imported from Normandy.

Okay, another quick check for understanding.

Now is a true of false statement.

Flemings and Normans were encouraged to move to Wales to help establish control over the region, is that true or is that false? Make your choice now.

Okay, if you answered true, then congratulations, that is a true statement.

In terms of why it's true.

Well, the Flemings especially were experienced settlers who had previously settled the Northwest of England and were aggressive in defending their lands and expanded them further.

Okay, let's go for our next to task now.

So I'd like to describe how and why Norman barons expanded their influence in Wales.

I got some sentence started to help you with that.

So Norman barons expanded Norman influence in Wales because.

And then Norman barons expanded Norman influence in Wales by.

So use the sentence starters to help you, pause the video why you do this, and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hope you're okay with that task.

Let's think of what you could have said then.

You might have said that Norman barons expanded Norman influence in Wales, because King William I and the Marcher earls were usually occupied elsewhere and the barons wanted to increase the size of their own territories.

Norman barons expanded normal influence in Wales by using a mixture of brutality and negotiation, making local alliances against Welsh leaders, also by using their own private army to terrorise the local people and building their own private castles.

So hopefully you've got an understanding of the reasons why and how Norman barons expanded Norman influence into Wales.

And let's go for our next task for today, and I'd like you to explain two ways in which the Normans were able to expand their influence in Wales.

So give a really good explanation for this task here.

So pause the video whilst you complete this task and I'll see you again in just a moment.

Okay, welcome back.

Hopefully you got okay with that task.

Let's think about what you could have said then.

So you could have said one way in which the Normans were able to expand their influence in Wales was through the building of castles.

An astonishing number of castles are built in Wales, more than 300 before 1215, which enabled the Normans to expand into an area and then consolidate their hold over it.

Castles provided the Normans with a safe location from which to expand further into Wales.

Castles are regularly placed in strategically important locations, such as beside river crossings, for instance, such as the castles of Chepstow and Carmarthen.

Another way in which the Normans were able to expand their influence in Wales was by encouraging ambitious barons to increase their own territory and power by settling new lands within Wales.

King William I and the Marcher earls had no established policy for the colonisation of Wales and were generally busy dealing with issues elsewhere.

So it was left to individual Norman landholders to exert influence into new regions.

They did this through the use of violence and diplomacy and then by flooding the castelry with their own colonisers, such as the Flemings led by Wizo, who have performed the same function in Northwest England already.

So hopefully you've got an answer in a similar vein to mine in the sense that I've used specific details and evidence to support the points that I'm making.

So if you are doing that as well, then even if your answer is different to mine in terms of the examples used, I'm sure it'll be a really good answer.

Okay, let's summarise today's lesson now then.

So thanks to the Normans, Wales and the Welsh Marches in particular boast the highest concentration of castles anywhere in Europe.

There are more than 300 castles built in Wales before 1215, with 100 of these built in the Marcher region.

Castles provided Norman soldiers with a safe place from which to both defend and expand, as well as serving as a symbol of Norman control.

Within Wales, Norman castles were built by barons to expand their territory further into the country.

They also served as focal points for Norman Colonisers as they offered them security and protection.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Hopefully you've enjoyed yourself.

Hopefully you learned something and hopefully I'll see you again next time.

Bye-bye.