Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle, 1066 to 1495, takes a detailed look at the beautifully moated fortress set in the Home County of Hertfordshire. The castle was possibly founded by Count Robert of Mortain, William the Conqueror's half-brother. This probably occurred after the surrender of the Saxon garrison of London at this strategic site after the battle of Hastings and the harrying of South in the last months of 1066. After his father’s death, Count William of Mortain in disgust of King Henry I, abandoned his castles and transferred his allegiance to Duke Robert Curthose of Normandy. King Henry therefore seized Berkhamsted castle for himself and in September 1106 defeated both Duke Robert and Count William at the battle of Tinchenbrai. Berkhamsted castle was now in the royal gift and the king granted it to his chancellor, Ranulph, who died there in a ‘miserable’ riding accident in 1123.
The castle ownership remained with the king and was probably granted to successive chancellors. Subsequently during the Anarchy of the reign of King Stephen (1135-75) the ownership of the castle was disputed. When Henry Plantagenet was consecrated king of England in October 1154 he appears to have obtained Berkhamsted castle from King Stephen’s son, Count William of Boulogne and Mortain who apparently agreed with this transaction. King Henry II then granted the castle to his chancellor, Thomas Becket. Thomas spent much money on the castle and the pipe rolls show that much of his work was carried out in stone. One account of suggests that a stone keep already stood upon the motte in 1157 as Thomas was having a room built within it. After Becket became archbishop of Canterbury he fell out with the king with the result that Henry seized the castle back on 1 October 1163 and celebrated that Christmas at the castle to mark his resumption of the fortress. The castle was then farmed out to royal appointees until King Richard I granted it to his queen, Berengaria. In 1204 King John gave the castle to his queen, Isabella, and in 1216 the castle succumbed to the French after a vicious December siege.
The regency government of King Henry III recovered the castle during 1217 and then granted it to its German captain for his services rendered during the previous siege. In 1227 the ownership of the castle nearly brought England to civil war again, before the king agreed that the castle pertained to his brother, Earl Richard of Cornwall, as part of his Mortain inheritance. In 1264 the castle became Earl Richard’s prison after his defeat with the king at the decisive battle of Lewes. Richard’s son, Earl Edmund of Cornwall, died in 1300, leaving the castle to King Edward I in his will. With this resumption the castle again became a royal residence and home of the queens of England. The castle also moved rapidly towards ruin, although it was still strong enough and palatial enough to house the captive King John of France after his defeat at the battle of Poitiers in 1356.
Today the castle consists of a round tower on the motte and numerous fragments of extensive curtain walls and mural towers as well as spectacular moats and outer earthworks which contain mysterious ‘cavaliers’ similar to the ones seen at Painscastle. These external earthworks were probably constructed for King John before the castle's siege in 1216.
Berkhamsted Castle, 1066 to 1495 is available for £4.95 through the PayPal basket below.