Chepstow Castle

Chepstow Castle
The Norman Conquest started in 1066, with the invasion of England by William, the Duke of Normandy. The conflict began when Edward the Confessor died. He was related to the Normannobility so William invaded England in order to claim the throne. It only took him four years to establish his rule in all the country. Castles played an important role in this conquest, due to the factthat his lords built them to protect and control the new lands.
King William gave William FitzOsbernn (who had fought beside him in the Battle of Hastings and was rewarded with the earldom ofHereford as well as extensive lands in south Wales) the task of organising the border defenses. He built the castle the year after the Battle of Hastings (in 1067) in stone (this shows the importance ofthis castle because of the fact that most of the other Norman’s castles of this time were constructed from earth and wood). It is also the first datable stone castle in Wales.
William FitzOsbernn diedin 1071 and the castle passed to Roger FitzOsbern, his son, who joined an unsuccessful uprising against the king and lost. The castle then passed to the crown. In 1189 the castle passed to WilliamMarshall, one of the great knights of the medieval period. It is to him that we owe much of the castle we see today.
This castle has a military importance due to the fact that it stands on the west bankof the River Wye and from this position it could:
* Protect the lands on the east bank of the river from Welsh attacks.
* Provide a useful base for advances into Wales.
Other things to keepin mind are:
* The mouth of the Wye formed a harbor. Consequently, the castle could be provisioned by the sea from Bristol.
* Moreover, they could keep the river traffic under control
*And the river was a line of communication by water.
* Finally, on the North of the castle there is a line of cliffs that borders the river and protects this side of the castle; and also, the...