Ludlow Castle - 13th To 15th Centuries

13th To 15th Centuries

Walter de Lacy returned to Ireland in 1201, and the following year all of his property was again taken into royal custody to ensure his loyalty and placed under the control of William de Braose, Walter's father-in-law and a favourite of the king. In 1205 or 1206 Walter de Lacy's lands were returned to him and a fine of 400 marks levied against him for possession of Ludlow Castle. Walter's activities in Ireland in 1207 led to William de Braose taking Ludlow Castle on behalf of King John. Relations between William de Braose and the king broke down, so that in 1208 William was using Weobley Castle to attack the king's property in Herefordshire. Pursued by John, William fled to Ireland seeking safety with Walter de Lacy. Walter offered his property to the king to appease him. John was still unhappy and Walter de Lacy, his brother Hugh, and William de Braose went to France in exile and all the Lacy property was taken into the monarchy's possession.

In 1213 Walter de Lacy wrote to John asking to return to England, and by 1214 his property in England and Wales (which had been under the control of Engelard de Cigogné) except for the borough and castle of Ludlow had been returned to him. In 1215 Lacy paid a fine of 4,000 marks for the return of his lands in Ireland and Ludlow Castle. On 5 July 1223, King Henry III met with the Welsh prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth at Ludlow Castle to negotiate a peace because the latter raided Shropshire and captured Norman castles. The talks were unsuccessful. The same year Hugh de Lacy left went to Ireland to take back the lands he owned before he and his brother fell out of King John's favour. Walter did not Hugh's rebellion and instead travelled to Ireland to help subdue his brother. The castles of Trim in Ireland and Ludlow were given over to the custody of the crown for a period of two years beginning in Easter 1224. This was cut short in May 1225 when Hugh gave himself up and Walter paid the king 3,000 marks for the return of his castles and land confiscated from tenants who had joined Hugh's cause.

In the mid 1230s Walter de Lacy accumulated several thousand pounds of debt so that in 1238 he gave Ludlow Castle to the king. It was returned to him sometime before his death in 1241. Walter de Lacy's son died in 1230, so his daughters (Maud and Margaret) were set to inherit, however they were most likely underage in 1241 so the property was taken over by the crown and Henry III arranged for Maud to marry Peter de Geneva. The Lacy lands were divided between the sisters and Ludlow was given to Peter de Geneva through right of his wife, but he died in 1249. By 1252 Maud was remarried to Geoffrey de Geneville. In February 1263 royals armies gathered at Hereford and Ludlow to deal with incursions across the Welsh border by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. Simon de Montfort's rebellion later that year meant Henry III turned his attention away from Wales. During the war Simon de Montfort worked with the Welsh to attack the property of those loyal to the king in Herefordshire. After Hereford Castle, Hay Castle, and Richard's Castle fell in late 1264, de Montfort captured Ludlow Castle. Royal forces recaptured Ludlow Castle by May the following year; it remained under royal control for the remainder of the civil war.

Geoffrey and Maud's oldest granddaughter, Joan, married Roger Mortimer in 1301 and through his wife Mortimer became lord of Ludlow. In 1323 Mortimer went into exile after he and several other marcher lords raided the lands of Hugh le Despenser. While in exile Mortimer encountered Isabella, Edward II's queen, and began plotting to install her son on the English throne. Edward II was deposed and his 14-year-old son was crowned Edward III in 1327. As the king was young Mortimer and Isabella ruled in his name. Mortimer exploited his position of power to acquire the Earl of Arundel's property in Shropshire and was named the Earl of March. At Ludlow Castle Mortimer built a chapel to celebrate his escape from imprisonment. In 1402, Edmund Mortimer, himself born at Ludlow Castle, set out from the castle with a large army to seek battle with the forces of Owain Glyndŵr. Mortimer met them in the valley of the River Lugg at the Battle of Bryn Glas, where he was defeated and captured. He eventually allied himself to the Welsh rebel's cause to the extent of marrying one of Glyndŵr's daughters, with whom he had four children before starvation and death at the siege of Harlech Castle in 1409.