Llywelyn the Great - Part II - Munro Line

 



St. David's, Pembrokeshire, Wales 

The life of Llywelyn Fawr connects not only to the kings and earls of his time, but also to the affairs of the Church, which was an ever present influence in medieval life. 

 

In the previous century, as part of the power struggle between Henry IV, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and Pope Gregory VII, the pope had declared that it was absolutely necessary for every person on earth to submit to him in order to enter heaven upon death.  Naturally, kings and emperors were not so sure this was the way they wanted things to play out.  But in the thirteenth century, Pope Innocent III was happy to use this tenet to meddle in the affairs of nations. 

This meant that he would take an interest even in the life of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, far away on the Atlantic Coast in Wales.  Here is one example.  Before marrying Joan, the daughter of King John, Llywelyn had been planning on marrying a woman who had been pre-contracted to Llwelyn's uncle Rhodri ab Owain (one of the villains in Llywelyn's story).  Though Rhodri seems to have died before the marriage took place, a pre-contract was as binding as a marriage in this time period, and Llywelyn would have needed a dispensation from the pope to marry her.  However, this never came to pass because, in 1211, he was fighting with King John again, and when they came to terms, part of their peace agreement was that Llywelyn would marry Joan, an illegitimate daughter of the king. 

 Pope Innocent III

However, marriage was not the only cause that brought Llywellyn into contact with the pope.  If King John is famous (or infamous) for anything, it is for his famous feud with Pope Innocent.  The feud came to a head in 1207, and Pope Innocent let loose his most powerful weapons: he excommunicated John and, the following year, put all of John’s kingdom under an interdict, including Wales.  Putting a whole country under interdict was enormously powerful because it meant that no one in the kingdom could get married, have the last rites of the church at the time of death, or—so the authorities claimed—go to heaven.  Therefore, the subjects of an excommunicated king would rise up against him, which was, of course, exactly the hoped-for result. 
 

For this reason, Llywelyn had an ally in the pope in all his subsequent battles with King John.  From Llywelyn's point of view, the best part of it was that the pope released him from his loyalty to John as his overlord, which must have left John shaking his fist at the sky somewhere deep in the valleys of Wales.
 

Gerald of Wales

 Another example of how a medieval king interacted with Church business is Llywellyn’s support for Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales), who was hoping to become bishop of St. David's.  This effort became embroiled in politics since Giraldus was wrangling to make the see of St. David's equal to that of Canterbury, the seat of England’s archibishop.  King John, as one would expect, was standing behind Canterbury.  In the end, Gerald was accused of stirring up the Welsh rulers (especially Llywelyn) and was effectively run out of the British Isles. 

 



Sarcophagus of Joan, Lady of Wales

But politics aside, Llywelyn had a sincere side to his faith.  He granted a charter to the Augustinian friars at Beddgelert, and, in his old age, founded a Franciscan convent at Llanvaes in Anglesey.  It was at Llanvaes that he buried his wife, Joan, when she died in 1237.  (Her stone coffin, left, now lies in the Church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in Beaumaris, Anglesey.) 


Aberconwy Abbey, Burial Place
of Llywelyn the Great

His most noted donation to the Church, however, was his establishment of a Cistercian abbey at Aberconwy in 1199.  Over the years, his generosity meant that the Abbey of Aberconwy would hold 40,000 acres, more than any other abbey in Wales.



Penmon Priory, Anglesey, Wales

In addition to being a founder of these bodies, Llywellyn was a great patron of other Welsh religious houses among which were Basingwerk Abbey, Flintshire; Cymer Abbey, Gwynedd; Penmon Priory, Anglesey, and Puffin Island, Gwynedd. 

Near the end of his life, Llywelyn became partially paralyzed and retired to live as a religious at Aberconwy Abbey, where, in 1240, he died and was buried.

Coffin of Llywelyn Fawr
now in Llanrwst parish church

End of Part II

Sources:

“Aberconwy Abbey,” Wikipedia. 9 Apr 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberconwy_Abbey

“Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.”  The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.  Ancestry.com. Web. 1 Jun 2013.

“Llywelyn ab Iorwerth; Llywelyn Fawr , Prince of Gwynedd (the Great).”  Monastic Wales.  Universitat de Lleida.  n. d.  Web.  1 June 2013.  http://www.monasticwales.org/person/10

Ross, David. “Llewelyn ab Iorwerth (Llewelyn the Great).”  Britain Express.  n. d. Web.  1 Jun 2013.  http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/history/llewelyn-iorwerth.htm

 

Images:

Aberconwy Abbey.  “Aberconwy Abbey.” Wikipedia. 9 Apr 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberconwy_Abbey

 

Coffin of Llewelyn ab Iorwerth.  Findagrave.com. 22 May 2010.  Web.  9 Jun 2013. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=52715022

Interior of Penmon Priory.  Photograph by J. Demetrescu. 2009.  Web.  1 Jun 2013.

http://www.saintsandstones.net/saints-penmon-2009f.htm

Pope Innocent III.  “Pope Innocent III.”  Wikipedia.  9 Jun 2013.  Web.  9 Jun 2013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Innocent_III

Sarcophagus of Joan, Lady of Wales.  “Joan, Lady of Wales.”  Wikipedia.  19 Apr 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan,_Lady_of_Wales

Statue of Gerald of Wales by Henry Poole. Photograph by Robert Freidus.  Victorian Web.    8 April 2012.  Web.  3 June 2013. 

http://www.victorianweb.org/sculpture/poole/14.html

 

©Eileen Cunningham, 2013

 

 

 

 

Amanuensis Monday - Marriage Document of Sarah Fauber and John Cash - Sanford Line

·     
November, 1824 , Augusta County, Virginia

Know all men by these Presents, That we John Cash and Thomas Cash and Jacob Seig are held and firmly bound to James Pleasants, Governor of Virginia and his successors, for use of the Commonwealth, in the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars, to which payment well and truy to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents.  Sealed with our seals this 15^th day of November A.D. 1824.

   The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas a marriage is shortly intended to be solemnized between the above bound John Cash son of [indistinguishable]Thomas and Sarah Fauber of Augusta County; if therefore there shall be no lawful cause to obstruct the said marriage, then the above obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force and virtue

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered in the presence of:

John Cash, Jefferson Kinney, and Thomas Cash, and Jacob Sieg

Notes:

Jacob Sieg lived in Greenville, Augusta, Virginia, and appears in the 1820 census.

Jefferson Kinney (b. 1805) lived in Augusta County, Virginia, and appears in the 1860 census. 

 

http:geneabloggers.com

Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Gwynedd (1172-1240) - Munro Line - Part I

Llywellyn the Great ap Iowrth
Prince of Gwynedd

Take a peek at the life of Llywelyn ab Iorworth (1172-1240) and you will see the High Middle Ages themselves. 

Known to history as Llywellyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great), Prince of Gwynedd, Llywelyn was not only a man of his times, but a man for his times.  His father, Iorworth, had been one of nineteen sons of Owain Gwynedd, king of Gwynedd, the northwestern-most point of Wales (see map below). 

When Owain died, his sons fell to fighting, and the two sons of Owain’s second wife—Dafydd (David) and Rhodri—triumphed through treachery and cruelty.  Iorworth was driven out of Wales and died at the age of 22.  Llywelyn was just a tot at the time, and his story is the story of the recovery of his grandfather’s kingdom—and then some, battling Anglo-Norman kings and becoming embroiled in all the big events of his day.

Wales, c. 1271, after the reign of Llywelyn the Great

 And that is why his life can be viewed as a microcosm of medieval Europe.

Let’s start with geography, not the most thrilling subject to most Americans, but looking at it from Llywelyn’s point of view, you’ve got to know (a) where your kingdom is, (b) where your enemy is, (c) where your ally is, and (d) where those pesky “Normans” are (they had been English kings and earls for a hundred years now, but to the Welsh, they were still French).

So, Llywelyn’s homeland was Gwynedd (Note: in Welsh, dd is pronounced as th).  Throughout most of the medieval period, there was no king of Wales as such, just princes (sometimes they called themselves kings) of the various principalities. Thus, Llywellyn was the prince of Gwynedd. 

His nearest enemy would have been in the principality just to the east, Powys (in gray).  Over the years, he had a number of altercations with the ruler of Powys, and finally annexed southern Powys to his own kingdom—which is one of the reasons they call him “the Great.”

Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester

One of his chief allies would have been in Scotland.  In fact, he married one of his natural daughters, Elen the Younger (not to be confused with her older sister, Elen the Elder), to an earl of Fife. In addition, depending on the year, he also found an ally in the English county of Chester, where the Norman earl, Ranulf de Blondeville, could be counted on. (Note to the Gards: Believe it or not, Ranulf, or more specifically his sister, is an ancestor on the paternal side of our family!)

And, last, the pesky “Normans” were all about: two kings of England—King John (the “evil” brother of Richard the Lionhearted), who, by the way, was the father of Llywelyn’s wife (it gets complicated); and King Henry III (the two came to blows in the 1230s).

King John of England

But there were other Anglo-Normans roaming around Wales.  Earl Ranulf has been mentioned already (fortunately, they were on friendly terms), but there was another guy named Hubert de Burgh.  Hubert (or, as he would probably have said it, "oo-BEAR") was the earl of Kent, but he seems not to have spent much time in Kent, which is completely on the other side of the isle and much to the southeast.  Rather, he seems always to have been romping around on the king’s errands, most of which took him to Wales, where he probably headquartered at Montgomery Castle, which the king had given to him for his services.

Purple Diamond
"Gem of Power"

Again, this relationship gives us another glimpse of medieval life because a person who was your enemy one day would be your friend the next and vice versa. It all depended on how the winds were shifting in London or Edinburgh or Rome.  So, Hubert was an erstwhile enemy, but at one point got himself in big trouble with the king because he had “furtively removed from the royal treasury a gem which made its wearer invincible in battle and had bestowed it upon his sovereign's enemy”—our man, Llywelyn the Great!

End of Part 1.

 Sources:

Collings, Michael R.  Gem Lore: An Introduction to Precious and Semi-Precious Stones.  2^nd ed.  (Available on Google Books)

“Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.”  Dictionary of National Biography.  12:7.
     (Available on Google Books)

“Llywelyn the Great.”  Wikipedia. 24 May 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013. 

 

“Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester.”  Wikipedia. 8 May 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013. 

 

 

Images:

 

John, King of England.”  Wikipedia.  1 Jun 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England

 Map of 13^th-Century Wales.   “Llywelyn the Great.”  Wikipedia. 24 May 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013. 

 Purple Diamond.  Almor Design.  Facebook.  8 Feb 2011.  Web.  2 Jun 2013.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Almor-design/140703979290574

 Ranulf de Blondeville.  “Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester.”  Wikipedia. 8 May 2013.  Web.  1 Jun 2013.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulf_de_Blondeville,_6th_Earl_of_Chester

 

 

 

 

©Eileen Cunningham, 2013

 

 



The Three Williams Sinclair

Crest of the Sinclair Earls of Caithness

Though I know little about my fourteenth great-grandfather, one of the actions he took speaks volumes about his character.  In 1436, the earl’s first son was born and was named after himself, William.  This lad was the son of the earl’s first wife, Lady Elizabeth Douglas. 



Nithsdale Arms of Sir William Douglas

Unfortunately, as young William grew up, he did not meet up to his father’s expectations.  In fact, so far was he from what his father wanted in a son that he has become known in history as William the Wastrel.  No doubt, he broke his mother’s heart as well.  Only 43 at her death, she left behind young William, aged 15, and two daughters. 



Sutherland Crest

Earl William married again five years later in 1456 to Margaret Sutherland, the daughter of Alexander Sutherland of Dunbeath and my fourteenth great-grandmother.  In 1458, Margaret gave birth to Earl William’s second son, and again the boy was named William. 

It was not altogether uncommon for siblings to have the same name in the Middle Ages, but I can’t help wondering if Earl William wasn’t already seeing behavior from William the Elder that made him seek a more admirable namesake in his younger son.




15th-Century Caithness

By 1477, the younger son was apparently showing himself to be more worthy of his father’s esteem, for at this time, the Earl, almost 70 years old and undoubtedly thinking of what would happen upon his demise, made the unusual decision to resign his earldom in favor of William the Younger, who was not yet quite 20.  By doing so, he may have felt he was protecting Caithness from the depredations of William the Elder, now a middle-aged man of 41.



Though it was customary for the elder son to inherit the title, by resigning his title in his own lifetime, Earl William was able to secure the succession for the younger son.  To the elder William, he gave the right to call himself 2^nd Lord Sinclair, a lesser title in the peerage created for the father before he had been made Earl of Caithness and Orkney. 


Sources

"Earl of Caithness."  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_of_Caithness

"Lord Sinclair."  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Sinclair

"William Sinclair, 1^st Earl of Caithness."  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sinclair,_1st_Earl_of_Caithness

 

  

© Eileen Cunningham, 2013

 

 

Those Places Thursday - Castles of William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness: Ravenscraig



 William Sinclair
1st Earl of Caithness



Ravenscraig Castle Reconstruction
By Andrew Spratt

Nobody likes to have their property or titles taken away from them, but in 1471 when King James III decided he wanted the Orkney earldom for himself, he swapped Ravenscraig Castle for the earldom, which was held by William Sinclair (1408-1480), the Earl of Orkney and Caithness at the time (see at right). 



Ravenscraig Castle Today

            Ravenscraig Castle was located in Kirkcaldy, just north and slightly east of Edinburgh across the windswept Firth of Forth.  Like King James before him, Sinclair intended for the castle to have substantial artillery fortifications.  Thus, on both the east and west ends on the front side of the castle were rounded towers massively thick (some say up to 15-feet thick).

            Perhaps that is why the castle was the first in Scotland to be able to stand up to the cannons of the age. In addition, cut into the walls of the castle are keyhole-shaped shot-holes for artillery defense of the front side and the postern gate (see image at left).



Note the keyhole-shaped shot-hole.

             Images of the ruins of Ravenscraig suggest that distinct romantic “feel” that one associates with the great castles of the age.  Since nowadays the city of Kirkcaldy has grown out quite close to the castle, it is said to have lost some of its romance, but the southern view toward the Firth of Forth can still give one that secure feeling the Sinclairs would have felt, knowing their castle was well-fortified on the front and virtually inaccessible in the rear (see at right).



View of the Firth of Forth from Ravenscraig





Ravenscraig's "Doocot"

            One of the fun features of Ravenscraig is the dovecote (or “doocot,” as it was pronounced in Scots).  In the Middle Ages, pigeons and doves served as a food source, so much like a farmer today might have a chicken house, medieval castles had dovecotes.  Not only the fowl themselves, but also their eggs served as food, and even their dung could be put to use in the process used to tan leather.  Scottish doocots, as the Ravenscraig example shows, were often shaped like a bee-hive and had an opening at the top. 


            Interestingly, despite the smell that must have been associated with them,  doocots were a symbol of status and power and were only to be owned by members of the nobility under a special right (droit) known as droit de colombier, the French word colombier being derived from the Roman columbarium (pigeon house). 

Sir Walter Scott

            But despite those practical matters of food and defense, Ravenscraig’s tale is ultimately about the people of the place—their aspirations and their loves—and who better than Scotland’s beloved novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott, to tell the sad tale of the beautiful Rosabelle Sinclair, who leaves Ravenscraig (Ravensheuch) and meets a terrible fate on the firth.  In Canto VI of The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Scott writes:

O listen, listen, ladies gay!

No haughty feat of arms I tell;

Soft is the note, and sad the lay,

That mourns the lovely Rosabelle.

--"Moor, moor the barge, ye gallant crew!

And gentle ladye, deign to stay!

Rest thee in Castle Ravensheuch,

Nor tempt the stormy firth to-day.

"The blackening wave is edg'd with white:

To inch and rock the sea-mews fly;

The fishers have heard the Water-Sprite,

Whose screams forebode that wreck is nigh.

"Last night the gifted Seer did view

A wet shroud swathed round ladye gay;

Then stay thee, Fair, in Ravensheuch:

Why cross the gloomy firth today?"

" 'Tis not because Lord Lindesay's heir

To-night at Roslin leads the ball,

But that my ladye-mother there

Sits lonely in her castle-hall.



" 'Tis not because the ring they ride,

And Lindesay at the ring rides well,

But that my sire the wine will chide,

If 'tis not fill'd by Rosabelle."

O'er Roslin all that dreary night

A wondrous blaze was seen to gleam;

'Twas broader than the watch-fire's light,

And redder than the bright moonbeam.

It glar'd on Roslin's castled rock,

It ruddied all the copse wood glen;

'Twas seen from Dryden's groves of oak

And seen from cavern'd Hawthorn-den.

Seem'd all on fire that chapel proud,

Where Roslin's chiefs uncoffin'd lie,

Each Baron, for a sable shroud,

Sheath'd in his iron panoply.

Seem'd all on fire within, around,

Deep sacristy and altar s pale;

Shone every plllar foliage bound,

And glimmer'd all the dead men's mail.

Blaz'd battlement and pinnet high,

Blaz'd every rose-carved buttress fair--

So still they blaze when fate is nigh

The lordly line of high St. Clair.

There are twenty of Roslin's barons bold

Lie buried within that proud chapelle;

Each one the holy vault doth hold--

But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle!

And each St. Clair was buried there,

With candle, with book, and with knell;

But the sea-caves rung, and the wild winds sung

The dirge of lovely Rosabelle.

 
 

Post Script:

There are several videos about Ravenscraig Castle on YouTube.  For one that matches the mood of Sir Walter Scott's poem, try "View from Ravenscraig Castle" by Kevin Lockard.  For one that shows the inside of the castle, try “Ravenscraig – 30^th September 2011”  by Ryan O'Neill.  I'm not one much for the ghost angle, but the video stroll through the castle is instructive.

Lockard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XstQdkdPfZM
O'Neill:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6iZ3wy19WA

Sources:

“Dovecote.”  Wikipedia.  13 May 2013.  Web.  19 May 2013.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dovecote

“Listed Building Report: Ravenscraig Park, Ravenscraig Castle.”  Historic Scotland.  19 May 2013.  http://hsewsf.sedsh.gov.uk/hslive/portal.hsstart?P_HBNUM=36404

“Lord Sinclair.”  Wikipedia.  23 Feb. 2013.  Web.  19 May 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Sinclair

“Ravenscraig Castle.”  Whittington Family Tree.  Ancestry.com. 6 May 2011.  Web.  5 Jan. 2013. 

“Ravenscraig Castle.”  Wikipedia.  11 Mar. 2013.  Web.  19 May 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenscraig_Castle

Scott, Walter, Sir.  The Lay of the Last Minstrel.  Poet’s Corner Bookshelf. n.d. Web. 19 May 2013.  http://www.theotherpages.org/poems/minstrel.html 

“Sinclair, Sir William, Third Earl of Orkney and First Earl of Caithness.”  Dictionary of National Biography.  22:1195. Ancestry.com.

“William Sinclair, 1^st Earl of Caithness.”  Wikipedia.  2 May 2013.  Web.  19 May 2013.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Sinclair,_1st_Earl_of_Caithness


Images:

Fingerson, R.  Keyhole Shot-holes at Ravenscraig. Owned by R. Fingerson. Used with permission.. http://www.phouka.com/travel/castles/ravenscraig/ravenscraig3.html

Plan of Ravenscraig.  “Ravenscraig.”  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenscraig_Castle

Ravenscraig Castle.  Photo by Garry.  I Travel UK. Used with permission. http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/photos/showgallery/cat/784.php

Ravenscraig Castle Reconstruction.  Andrew Spratt.  “Scottish Castle Reconstructions by Andrew Spratt.”  Maybole. Aug. 2000.  Web.  21 May 2013.  http://www.maybole.org/history/castles/ravenscraig.htm

Ravenscraig “Doocot.”  © Copyright Anne Burgess and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.   http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1925886

Sir Walter Scott. Walter Scott Library.  http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/portraits/paintings/images/index.html

View of the Firth of Forth from Ravenscraig.  Photo by Garry.  I Travel UK. Used with permission. http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/photos/showphoto/photo/1473.php

William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness.  “Our Family Tree” maintained by Charles Edward Stuart Boden.  Ancestry.com. http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/8730340/person/1266682830

YouTube Videos

O’Neill, Ryan. “Ravenscraig – 30^th September 2011.”  YouTube.  15 Jan. 2013.  Web.  20 May 2013.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6iZ3wy19WA

Lockard, Kevin.  “View from Ravenscraig Castle.”  You Tube.  27 Dec. 2012.  Web.  20 May 2013.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XstQdkdPfZM