History of Warwickshire - Middle Ages

Middle Ages

From the Norman invasion of 1066 to the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

The Norman conquest in 1066 brought with it the most active and notable period of military architecture resulting in the building of much of Warwick Castle and others at Kenilworth Maxstoke and Tamworth. Others existed at Anesley near Arley, Aston Cantlow, Baginton, Beaudesert, Bickenhill, Birmingham, Brandon, Brinklow, Caludon at Wyken near Coventry, Castle Bromwich, Coleshill, Fillongley, Fulbrooke, Hartshill, Rugby and Studley, but in many cases only the earthworks can now be seen.

Many of the main settlements of Warwickshire were established in the Middle Ages as market towns, including Birmingham, Bedworth, Nuneaton, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon amongst others.

The county was dominated throughout the medieval period by Coventry which became one of the most important cities in England and an important centre of wool and textiles trades. The city has held the title of episcopal see, Lichfield and Coventry, from the time of Earl Leofric early in the 11th century arising from the monastery he and his wife, Godiva, founded in 1043. Henry VI and his queen Margaret of Anjou made several visits to Coventry, and in 1451, as a mark of favour, Coventry and certain hamlets and villages adjacent became an entire and separate county, the County of the City of Coventry and the Bailiffs raised to the rank of Sheriffs. The Parliamentum Diabolicum assembled in Coventry in 1459 to pass bills of attainder for high treason against the Duke of York and other Yorkist nobles at the start of a new stage of the Wars of the Roses. The citizens remained loyal to Henry, and the Lancastrian cause, in his struggle with Edward IV and when Edward reached the city in 1470, the gates were closed against him. However, when Edward was safely seated on the throne, he withdrew the privileges of the city, only restoring them on payment of a fine of 500 marks