Kenilworth Castle, West Midlands, England

It is thought that there has been a castle at Kenilworth since Saxon times.  After the Norman Conquest, Kenilworth became the property of the Crown until 1129, when Henry I granted it to Geoffrey de Clinton who began a new castle here, likely to have been a motte and bailey castle.

Henry II confiscated the castle from the de Clintons, compensating them with other lands, then he began to create one of England’s greatest fortresses.  The castle was expanded and it's defences enhanced.  King John continued his father’s efforts and spent over £1,000, a fortune at the time, on added defences and built a new outer wall. He also created a shallow lake around the castle.

In 1244, Henry III granted Kenilworth to his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. De Montfort also further strengthened Kenilworth’s defences and used it as his base of operations during the Second Baron’s War.

Simon de Montfort was a leading figure in the Second Baron’s War, against his brother-in-law Henry III.  Although Henry III had helped to end the First Baron’s War at the beginning of his reign, he became increasingly unpopular.  De Montfort wanted to reduce the power of the king.  At the parliament of 1258, when King Henry asked for more money, the barons forced him to accept reforms in exchange.  This resulted in ‘Provisions of Oxford’, which was a system where 15 council members would supervise the monarch.  Within a few years however, Henry III had the reforms repealed by the only authority higher than him, the Pope.  The Barons then asked King Louis of France to mediate and he sided with the Henry, after Henry agreed that he had no rights to the lands of Normandy, Maine, Anjou and Poitou, which had been lost by his father. This seemed to be the spark that ignited civil war. 

The first battle between the King and the rebel army, took place at Northampton in 1264. The Royalist army prevailed, destroying the town and taking de Montfort’s son prisoner.  Soon afterward, the rebel army defeated the King at the Battle of Lewes, taking both King Henry III and his son Prince Edward (later Edward I), into their custody. Simon de Montfort held a Parliament in 1265, which laid the foundations for the current English Parliament, where for the first time, each county of England was to elect and send two Knights to Parliament to represent their areas. Soon, the Barons began to fight amongst themselves and Prince Edward managed to escape his captivity and re-join the Royalist army.  

Prince Edward’s army met the Baron’s army at Evesham, on the 4th of August 1265, where Simon de Montfort was defeated and killed. The Barons attempted to fight on but after a few sieges they were defeated and the monarch's powers were restored.  Prince Edward learned a lot from his experiences with his father’s and uncle’s armies. During his reign he introduced many of the policies that the barons had wanted and he kept his armies busy by attacking the Welsh and the Scots, leaving little time for uprisings. 

After the Battle of Evesham, the survivors fled to Kenilworth Castle, including Simon’s youngest son, Simon the younger, who had survived the battle. De Montfort’s son left Kenilworth in November and surrendered the castle to the King. The garrison however, did not agree to the terms that were negotiated and decided to hold out. King Henry III ordered the Sheriffs of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire to suppress the insurgents but they did not have the resources to do so.  The King then summoned his and they were at Kenilworth, with an army, by the 23rd of June 1366, where they remained until the 16th of December, with the King personally directing the siege operations.  Kenilworth Castle proved impregnable. It's water defences made undermining the walls impossible and a close assault by siege engines also proved useless, because of the size of the shallow lake that had been created. Ironically, the very defences that his father King John had built were now keeping King Henry out. On the 16th of December the castle surrendered, not through the force of the King but through lack of food, because the castle held nearly 1,000 men.  The rebels were allowed to leave and even repurchase their confiscated lands.  It was one of the longest sieges of the Middle Ages.

Henry III granted Kenilworth Castle to his younger son, Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster. In 1279, Roger, Earl of Mortimer held a round table at Kenilworth where 100 knights and their ladies assembled for a type of tournament.  We don’t know quite how a Round Table differed from a regular tournament but it is thought that there were added rules and safety measures applied.  We do know that this was a three-day celebration, at vast expense, and that there as a golden lion prize for the triumphant Knight. 

While early tournaments were a complete free for all, very close to an actual battle, later in the Middle Ages they became much more civilized. More rules developed and the tourney area was given boundaries, weapons were blunted and rules limited what help the squires could offer.  Tournaments had been banned by Popes and some Kings but were encouraged by others and Edward I was keen on tourneys. Initially, prizes were the armour, horses and possessions of the losing Knight but as we can see, at Kenilworth a prize of a golden lion is to be won by the ultimate victor. By the 13th Century, tournaments had become individual contests rather than a group or team sport. It was now two mounted Knights that would gallop towards each other and endeavour to strike the shield of their opponent with a blunted lance. 

In 1322, Kenilworth belonged to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who rebelled against Edward II.  The uprising failed and the castle came back into Royal ownership.  Edward II and Isabella of France spent Christmas here in 1323. In 1326, Edward II was deposed by his wife in favour of their son, Edward III. Edward II was captured by Isabella’s forces in Wales and he was given into the custody of Henry, Earl of Lancaster.  Lancaster had just had his lands restored by Isabella, including Kenilworth Castle, where Edward II was transported under custody. Royal writs were issued in Edward’s name by Isabella from Kenilworth.  Edward II formally resigned as King of England, in the great hall of Kenilworth Castle on the 21st of January 1326. 

In 1345, the castle passed to Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, on the death of his father.  On his death, the castle was inherited by Blanche of Lancaster, who married John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III. John began building work at Kenilworth in the late 14th Century. He spent much of his time at Kenilworth. His son became Henry IV and Kenilworth again became a Royal castle, where both he and his son, Henry V stayed frequently.  Kenilworth remained a Royal castle until it was given to John Dudley in 1553.  Queen Mary executed Dudley for attempting to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne.  Kenilworth was restored to the Dudley family when Queen Elizabeth returned it to Dudley’s son, Robert, Earl of Leicester. Queen Elizabeth visited Kenilworth in 1572 and 1575.