Ludlow Castle - Early History: 11th and 12th Centuries

Early History: 11th and 12th Centuries

Walter de Lacy arrived in England in 1066 as part of William FitzOsbern's household. FitzOsbern was made Earl of Hereford and tasked with settling the area; at the same time, several castles were founded in the west of the county, securing its border with Wales. Walter de Lacy may have been the earl's second in command, and was rewarded with 163 manors in seven counties (91 in Herefordshire alone), altogether worth £423 a year according to the Domesday Survey. Walter de Lacy probably began building a castle within the manor of Stanton Lacy in 1085. Walter de Lacy also owned the castles of Ewyas Harold and Weobley, both also in Herefordshire, but Ludlow was the most important. There is no documented reference to Ludlow Castle before 1139, so it is uncertain when it was founded, however historian Derek Renn suggests that around 1075 may be the most likely date.

Walter died in a construction accident at Hereford in 1085 and was succeeded by his son, Roger de Lacy. In 1096, Roger was stripped of his lands after rebelling against his king and they were instead given to Hugh, his brother. Hugh died childless sometime before 1115, and his property was taken into royal possession. Roger de Lacy's son, Gilbert, laid claim to the barony but was ignored. Roger and Hugh had a sister, Agnes, and King Henry I chose to give the property to her daughter, Sybil. The king made her marry Pain fitzJohn, and the land was probably a reward for fitzJohn's loyal service. The barony given to Pain was probably worth about 20% less than Hugh's as the king had withheld about 20 manors. As with the de Lacys before, Pain probably used Ludlow as caput baroniae, the "head" or chief possession of his barony. To the south of Pain's lands was the property of Miles of Gloucester, the sheriff of Gloucestershire. In 1137 Pain arranged for his eldest daughter, Cecily, to marry Mile's oldest son, Robert fitzMiles.

The number of Welsh raids into England increased after King Henry died in 1135, and while fighting a raiding party in 1137 Pain fitzJohn took a spear to the head and died. Robert and Cecily were not yet married so the inheritance of Pain's property was in doubt. Following Henry's death, Stephen of Blois, grandson of William the Conqueror, seized the throne though it had been promised to the Empress Matilda, Henry's daughter. Gilbert de Lacy came to England to appeal to Stephen, pressing his claim to the barony. In December 1137, Stephen issued a charter confirming that the property would remain with Cecily until she married Roger fitzMiles. It is likely that with peaceful means of taking the barony closed to him, Lacy took Ludlow Castle himself the following spring. At the same time, Geoffrey Talbot, de Lacy's ally and Sybil's half brother, took the castle of Hereford and Weobley. Ludlow Castle is first referred to by chroniclers during a siege 1139 during the civil wars of the reign of King Stephen; the king himself besieged the castle and rescued his ally Prince Henry of Scotland when the later was caught on a hook thrown by the garrison.

Hugh de Lacy succeeded his brother to the barony in 1162 after his brother died. Hugh took part in the Norman Invasion of Ireland and in 1172 was made lord of Meath in Ireland; he spent much time away from Ludlow, and when he was reconfirmed as Lord of Meath in 1177 Henry II took the castle from him, possibly to ensure that Hugh stay loyal while in Ireland. The king put Ludlow Castle in the custody of Thurstan fitzSimon, who cared for it until 1190. When Hugh de Lacy died in Ireland in 1186, his oldest son, Walter, was still under age, so the castle remained in custodianship and the barony was taken into royal care. Richard I confiscated all of Walter de Lacy's property in 1194 because the latter had ravaged Prince John's lands in Ireland. At the time John was in open rebellion against his brother, the king, and Walter had wrongly assumed Richard would approve of the raids. Walter de Lacy tried to buy back his land for 1,000 marks, but the offer was rejected; in 1198 he agreed to pay the vast sum of 3,100 marks. The following year the two daughters Josce de Dinan had with Sybil de Lacy petitioned the king regarding the ownership of the town and castle of Ludlow but were turned down.