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Gawain

Gawain, also known in many other forms and spellings, is a character in Arthurian legend, in which he is King Arthur's nephew and one of the premier Knights of the Round Table. The prototype of Gawain is mentioned under the name Gwalchmei in the earliest Welsh sources. He has subsequently appeared in many Arthurian tales in Welsh, Latin, French, English, Scottish, Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian, notably as the protagonist of the Middle English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Other works featuring Gawain as their central character include De Ortu Waluuanii, Diu Crône, Ywain and Gawain, Golagros and Gawane, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, L'âtre périlleux, La Mule sans frein, La Vengeance Raguidel, Le Chevalier à l'épée, Le Livre d'Artus, The Awntyrs off Arthure, The Greene Knight, and The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell.

In Arthurian chivalric romance literature, Gawain is usually depicted as King Arthur's closest companion and an integral member of the elite Round Table. In the best-known versions of the legend, he is the son of Arthur's sister Morgause and King Lot of Orkney and Lothian. Here, his younger brothers (or half-brothers) are Agravain, Gaheris, Gareth, and the infamous Mordred. However, his familial relations and upbringing are recorded differently in various accounts, although they often involve a story of Gawain unknowingly being raised in foster care in Rome before returning to Britain to reunite happily with his biological relatives. His many children from his numerous wives and lovers include the "Fair Unknown" Gingalain, himself a popular hero of Arthurian romance.

In the early Welsh texts, Gawain is portrayed as a formidable but courteous and compassionate warrior, fiercely loyal to his king and his family. He is known as a friend to young knights, a defender of the poor and the unfortunate, and as the "Maidens' Knight", a rescuer of women as well—in more than one variant of the Castle of Maidens theme. Other notable recurring motifs include his learned healing skills, his special swords that may include the famed Caliburn (Excalibur), and his mighty warhorse named Gringolet. In the later version of his legend, he possesses superhuman strength connected to a day and night cycle, adding to his already outstanding martial prowess and making him an invincible swordsman around noon, when the sun is at its height.

However, Gawain's glowing portrayal diminishes in the Vulgate Cycle, which favours Lancelot and, especially, Galahad. His character turns markedly ignoble in the Post-Vulgate Cycle, and even outright villainous in the Prose Tristan, resulting in his conflicting characterization in Le Morte d'Arthur. While he was originally known for his religious piety, here he becomes a symbol of secular knighthood and thus a major object of criticism by the authors of French prose cycles. Two important plotlines shed light on Gawain's redefined characterization: his being a leader in the family blood feud against the clan of King Pellinore and his initially close friendship with another great knight, Sir Lancelot, which becomes a bitter rivalry when he seeks vengeance for the death of his brothers. In this tradition, featured in Le Morte d'Arthur, Gawain's sinful ways and his unforgiving nature inadvertently lead to the fall of Arthur and the Round Table, and ultimately his own death by Lancelot's hand.

Name

Gawain is known by different names and variants in different languages. The character corresponds to the Welsh Gwalchmei ap Gwyar (meaning "son of Gwyar"), or Gwalchmai, and thorough the Middle Ages was known in Latin as Galvaginus, Gualgunus (Gualguanus, Gualguinus), Gualgwinus, Walwanus (Walwanius), Waluanus, Walwen, etc.; in Old French (and sometimes English) primarily as Gavain (Gavaine) and also as Gauvain (Gauvaine), Gauvan (Gauvayn), Gauven (Gauvein/Gauveyn), Gavan (Gavane) or Gavayn (Gavayne); in Middle High German as Gâwein or Gâwân; in Italian dialects as Gavino, Galvagin or Galvano; in Old Spanish as Galván; in Old Portuguese as Galvam or Galvão; and in Middle English also as Gawaine, Gawan (Gawane), Gawayn (Gawayne), Gawein (Gaweine), Gaweyn (Gaweyne), Gauwein (Gauweine), Gauweyn (Gauweyne) or Wawen (Wowen), among many other forms and spellings. The later forms are generally assumed to derive from the Welsh Gwalchmei.

The element Gwalch means hawk, and is a typical epithet in medieval Welsh poetry. The meaning of mei is uncertain. It has been suggested that it refers to the month of May (Mai in Modern Welsh), rendering "Hawk of May", although Rachel Bromwich considers this unlikely. Kenneth Jackson suggests the name evolved from an early Common Brittonic name *Ualcos Magesos, meaning "Hawk of the Plain". Not all scholars accept the gwalch derivation. John Koch suggests the name could be derived from a Brythonic original *Wolcos Magesos, "Wolf/Errant Warrior of the Plain."

Others argue that the continental forms do not ultimately derive from Gwalchmei. Roger Sherman Loomis suggests a derivation from the epithet Gwallt Avwyn, found in the list of heroes in Culhwch and Olwen, which he translates as "hair like reins" or "bright hair". Lauran Toorians proposes that the Dutch name Walewein (attested in Flanders and France c. 1100) was earliest, suggesting it entered Britain during the large settlement of Flemings in Wales in the early 12th century. However, most scholarship supports a derivation from Gwalchmei, variants of which are well attested in Wales and Brittany. Bromwich, Joseph Loth, and Heinrich Zimmer all trace the etymology of the continental versions to a corruption of the Breton form of this name, Walcmoei.

Gwalchmei
Gawain's precursor, Gwalchmei son of Gwyar, was a hero of Welsh mythology and clearly a major figure of the now largely lost oral tradition. His popularity greatly increased after foreign versions, particularly those derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, became known in Wales. The Gwyar (meaning "gore" or "spilled blood/bloodshed" ) in Gwalchmei ap Gwyar is likely the name of Gwalchmei's mother, rather than his father, as is the standard in the Welsh Triads. Gwyar appears as a daughter of Amlawdd Wledig in one version of the hagiographical genealogy Bonedd y Saint. The 14th-century fragment Birth of Arthur, a Welsh text that adapts scenes from Geoffrey, substitutes Gwyar for Anna, Geoffrey's name for Gawain's mother, the Queen of Orkney. His father is named as Emyr Llydaw (Emperor of Brittany), that is Budic II of Brittany. There, Gwalchmei is given three sisters: Gracia, Graeria, and Dioneta, the last of which being a counterpart of Morgan.

Early references to Gwalchmei include the Welsh Triads; the Englynion y Beddau (Stanzas of the Graves), which lists the site of his grave; the Trioedd y Meirch (Triads of the Horses), which praises his horse named Keincaled (known as Gringolet in the works of medieval French authors); and Cynddelw's elegy for Owain Gwynedd, which compares Owain's boldness to that of Gwalchmei. In the Welsh Triads, Triad 4 lists him as one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Isle of Britain" (probably referring to his inheritance); Triad 75 describes him as one of the "Three Men of the Island of Britain who were Most Courteous to Guests and Strangers"; and Triad 91 praises his fearlessness. Some versions of Triads 42 and 46 also praise his horse Keincaled, echoing the Triads of the Horses. The singling out of Gwalchmei as Most Courteous evokes his role in the Mabinogion, where he regularly serves as an intermediary between King Arthur's court and stranger knights.

An early Welsh romance Culhwch and Olwen, composed in the 11th century (though not recorded until the 14th), and eventually associated with the Mabinogion, ascribes to Gwalchmei the same relationship with Arthur that Gawain is later given: he is the son of Arthur's sister and one of his leading warriors. However, he is mentioned only twice in the text, once in the extensive list of Arthur's court towards the beginning of the story, and again as one of the "Six Helpers" whom Arthur sends with the protagonist Culhwch on his journey to find his love Olwen. Unlike the other helpers, he takes no further part in the action. This suggests he was added to the romance later, likely under the influence of the Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia. He also appears in Peredur fab Efrawg (Peredur son of Efrawg), part of the Mabinogion, where he aids the hero Peredur in the final battle against the nine witches of Caer Loyw. A similar motif was mentioned by the 16th-century Welsh scholar Sion Dafydd Rhys in an unrecorded oral tale in which Gwalchmei destroyed three evil witch-sisters, wives of the giants previously slain by Arthur, killing them within their castles through his cunning, as they could not be defeated otherwise, due to their powers. Gwalchmei himself appears as a giant in Welsh folklore.

Histories and romances

The first known references to Gawain outside Wales began to appear in the first half of the 12th century. William of Malmesbury writes, in his Gesta Regum Anglorum of around 1125, that "Walwen's" grave had been uncovered in Pembrokeshire hundreds of years after his death, following the 11th-century Norman conquest of England. William recounts how Arthur's nephew, a renowned Post-Roman Briton soldier celebrated for his bravery, tirelessly fought against the Saxons led by Hengest's brother: "He deservedly shared in his uncle's praising, because he prevented the fall of his collapsing country for many years." William also noted uncertainty regarding the manner of his death: "There, as certain people claim, he [Walwen] was wounded by his enemies, and cast forth from a shipwreck; by others, it is said that he was killed by his fellow citizens at a public feast. Therefore, knowledge of the truth falls in doubt, although neither of these stories would fail in defense of his fame." He also describes Walwen as a former ruler of Galloway, which he says was still called Walweitha centuries later in his times.

However, it was Geoffrey of Monmouth's version of Gawain in the Historia Regum Britanniae, written around 1136, that brought the character to a wider audience. As in the Welsh tradition, Geoffrey's Gawain (Gualguanus) is the son of Arthur's sister, here named Anna, and her husband is Lot (Loth), the prince of Lothian and one of Arthur's key supporters. Geoffrey mentions that Gawain was twelve years old at the time when King Lot and Arthur began a war with Norway, and that he had previously served Pope Sulpicius in Rome. Gawain later plays a major role as one of the leaders in Arthur's victorious war against the Romans, having personally started this great conflict by killing the Roman envoy Caius (Gaius Quintilianus) who had insulted him and Arthur. Geoffrey's Gawain is depicted as a supreme warrior (even calling him and Hoel the two "warriors than whom no better had ever been born" ) and potential heir to the throne until he is tragically struck down by the forces of his traitorous brother Mordred (Modredus) at Richborough, during an attempted sea landing that turned into a disaster.

Geoffrey's work was immensely popular and was adapted into many languages. The Norman version by Wace, the Roman de Brut, ascribes to Gawain the chivalric aspect he would take in later literature, wherein he favours courtliness and love over martial valor. Several later works expand on Geoffrey's mention of Gawain's boyhood spent in Rome, the most important of which is the anonymous Medieval Latin De Ortu Waluuanii Nepotis Arturi (The Rise of Gawain, Nephew of Arthur), which describes his birth, boyhood, and early adventures leading up to his knighting by his uncle.

Beginning with the five works of Chrétien de Troyes in the second half of the 12th century, Gawain became a very popular figure in Old French chivalric romances. Chrétien features Gawain as a major character and establishes some characteristics that pervade later depictions, including his unparalleled courteousness and his way with women. His romances set the pattern often followed in later works in which Gawain serves as an ally to the protagonist and a model of knighthood to whom others are compared. However, in Chrétien's later romances, especially Lancelot, le Chevalier de la Charrette (Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart) and Perceval ou le Conte du Graal (Perceval, the Story of the Grail), the eponymous heroes Lancelot and Percival prove morally superior to Gawain, who follows the rules of courtliness to the letter rather than the spirit. Chrétien's story of Gawain's cousin Yvain, Yvain ou le Chevalier au Lion (Yvain, the Knight of the Lion), was translated into Middle English as Ywain and Gawain. Gawain is also prominent in the continuations of Perceval, in particular the First Continuation and Perlesvaus.

An influx of romances written in French appeared in Chrétien's wake. While Gawain stands out as the most popular character of all Arthurian knights in the entire genre, their authors characterise him variously. In some of these "Gawain romances", such as La Vengeance Raguidel (or Messire Gauvain) and La Mule sans frein (perhaps also written by Chrétien himself), he is the hero. In others, such as Meraugis de Portlesguez and Hunbaut, he aids the hero. Sometimes he is also the subject of burlesque humor, as in the parody Le Chevalier à l'épée (The Knight with the Sword). In the variants of the Bel Inconnu (Fair Unknown) story, he is the father of the hero. Mériadeuc, also known as Le Chevalier aux deux épées (The Knight of Two Swords), contrasts the adventures of Gawain with these of the eponymous Mériadeuc, his former squire. Another notable squire of Gawain is the also eponymous protagonist of Gliglois.

For the English and the Scottish, Gawain remained a respectable and heroic figure, becoming the subject of several romances (a dozen in English, besides the likes of the Anglo-Norman Romanz du reis Yder) and lyrics in the dialects of their nations, such as the Middle Scots poem Golagros and Gawane. Important Gawain romances in English include The Awntyrs off Arthure (The Adventures of Arthur), Syre Gawene and the Carle of Carlyle (Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle), and The Avowyng of Arthur (The Avowing of Arthur). The Middle Dutch romances by Penninc and Pieter Vostaert, the Roman van Walewein (Story of Gawain), held at Leiden University Libraries, and Walewein ende Keye (Gawain and Kay), are both dedicated primarily to Gawain. The Middle High German romance Diu Crône (The Crown) by Heinrich von dem Türlin, in which Gawain is the protagonist who achieves the Grail and heals the Fisher King, also features a minor character of "the other Gawain": his lookalike, Aamanz.

Gawain is notably the hero of one of the greatest works of Middle English literature, the alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where he is portrayed as an excellent, but human, knight. Here, Gawain strongly resembles the Irish mythological hero Cuchulainn. In the poem, he must go to the titular Green Knight to, presumably, be killed by the Knight. Gawain does this as it pertains to a deal made between the two without knowing that it is all a test by the Knight. He is cited in Robert Laneham's letter describing the entertainments at Kenilworth in 1575, and the recopying of earlier works such as The Greene Knight suggests that a popular English tradition of Gawain continued. Different variants of the Green Knight story include The Turke and Sir Gawain. In possibly Thomas Malory's The Weddynge of Syr Gawen and Dame Ragnell (The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle), his wits, virtue, and respect for women frees his wife, a loathly lady, from her curse of ugliness. The Child Ballads include a preserved legend in a positive light: The Marriage of Sir Gawain, a fragmentary version of the story of The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle.

The Lancelot-Grail (Vulgate Cycle) depicts Gawain as a proud and worldly knight and the leader of his siblings, who demonstrates through his failures the danger of neglecting the spiritual in favor of the material world. On the grand Grail Quest, his intentions are always the purest, but he is unable to use God's grace to see the error of his ways. Later, when his brothers Mordred and Agravain plot to destroy Lancelot and Queen Guinevere by exposing their love affair, Gawain tries to stop them. When Guinevere is sentenced to burn at the stake and Arthur deploys his best knights to guard the execution, Gawain nobly refuses to take part in the deed, even though his brothers will be there. But when Lancelot returns to rescue Guinevere, a battle between Lancelot's and Arthur's knights ensues, and Gawain's brothers Gareth and Gaheris are killed (Agravain, too, is killed by Lancelot, either on this occasion or in a previous encounter). This turns his friendship with Lancelot into hatred, and his desire for vengeance causes him to draw Arthur into a war with Lancelot in France. In the king's absence, Mordred usurps the throne, and the Britons must return to save Britain. Meanwhile, Gawain is mortally wounded by Lancelot himself after a long duel. King Arthur, his uncle in this version of the tale, becomes very distraught as he mourns his death. The Vulgate Mort Artu has Gawain's dead body carried to Camelot, where he is placed in the tomb of his dear brother Gaheriet (Gaheris).

Gawain's death in a battle against Mordred is described in detail in the English Alliterative Morte Arthure. Upon reaching land after returning to Britain from the continent, Gawain wreaks great slaughter on his enemies, killing the king of Gothland among others, before being surrounded on a hill. Breaking out, he pushes forward on a horse towards Mordred himself, and the two strike one another down from their horses with their lances. Gawain then attempts to cut Mordred's throat, but Mordred stabs him through the helmet. (As Mordred is portrayed there more sympathetically than in most other works, he later gives a sorrowful eulogy to his dead brother, calling him the best and most glorious of knights.) In the French verse Mort Artu attachment to Didot-Perceval, Gawain attempts to disembark during the sea landing at Dover when one of Mordred's Saxon allies fatally strikes him in the head through an unlaced helmet; a similar account is told in the English Stanzaic Morte Arthur. In the Italian romance La Tavola Ritonda, having been defeated in his duel with Lancelot, Gawain takes part in resisting an attack by Lancelot's friend and ally, Sir Turinoro of Cartagina, when he is struck on his head in the same place where Lancelot had wounded him and falls dead during a single combat with a knight named Turinoro, who also dies.

Thomas Malory's English compilation work Le Morte d'Arthur is based mainly, but not exclusively, on French works from the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles. Here Gawain partly retains the negative characteristics attributed to him by the later French authors, and partly retains his earlier positive representations, creating a character seen by some as inconsistent, and by others as a believably flawed hero. Gawain is the first to declare that he "shall laboure in the Queste of the Sankgreall" but really embarks on the Grail quest in order to gain more magical meals and drinks (metys and drynkes) from it rather than from a religious zeal or to save the Fisher King's kingdom. One of Malory's other French sources was L'âtre périlleux (The Perilous Cemetery), a poem about Gawain's rescue of a woman from a demon.

Malory's version of Gawain's demise follows the Vulgate. Gawain's two sons and his brothers, except for Mordred, end up slain by Lancelot and his followers. Their death unleashes the vindictive hostility of Gawain towards his former friend, drawing Arthur himself into a war with Lancelot, first in Britain and then in France. Gawain's rage is so great that he refuses to cease fighting even after the Pope steps in and issues a bull to end the violence between Arthur's and Lancelot's factions. Following Mordred's betrayal, Gawain wages two wars against both Mordred and Lancelot. He twice challenges Lancelot to a duel, but each time loses and asks Lancelot to kill him. Lancelot refuses and grants him mercy before leaving. The mortally injured Gawain later writes to Lancelot, repenting of his bitterness, asking for his help against Mordred, and for forgiveness for splitting the Round Table. Following his death, Gawain also appears in Arthur's dream vision to tell him to wait thirty days for the reconciled Lancelot to return to Britain before fighting Mordred. Consequently, Arthur sends Lucan and Bedivere to make a temporary peace treaty, but the bloody final conflict ensues anyway. Upon his eventual arrival, Lancelot weeps at Gawain's tomb for two nights. In his editorial preface to Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, William Caxton wrote that those visiting Dover Castle can still "see the skull of [Sir Gawaine], and the same wound is seen that Sir Launcelot gave him in battle."

Finally, there are versions in which Gawain does not die. In Jean des Preis's Belgian Ly Myreur des Histors, Arthur, defeated and wounded in his last battle with Mordrech (Mordred), goes with Gawain in a boat to the magic isle of Avalon for them to be healed there by the king's sister Morgaine (Morgan). The surviving Gawain also features in the earlier French epic poem La Bataille Loquifer, appearing together with Arthur and Morgan in Avalon, where they are all still alive hundreds of years later.

Origin narratives and alternate siblings
Les Enfances Gauvain, based in part on De Ortu Waluuanii, tells of how Arthur's sister Morcades (Morgause) becomes pregnant by Lot, at this point a mere page in King Arthur's court. She and Lot secretly give the child to a knight named Gawain the Brown (Gauvain li Brun) who baptises the infant with his own name, puts the infant Gawain in a cask with a letter explaining who the child is, and sets him adrift on the sea. The cask is found by a fisherman and his wife. Sometime after Gawain is ten years of age, his foster-father vows to make a pilgrimage to Rome if he recovers from his severe illness. When he undertakes the pilgrimage, he takes his foster-child with him to Rome. There a clerk reads the knight's letter, understands that the boy is of high birth, and the Pope takes Gawain as his own foster-son. Accounts similar to this can be found in Perlesvaus, the Gesta Romanorum, and many other texts.

In De Ortu Waluuani, the young Gawain, trained as a Roman cavalry officer, undertakes a duel to determine whether Rome or Persia should possess Jerusalem. On his way, Gawain and his men defeat the pirate king Milocrates and his brother Buzafarnam, rescuing the Roman Emperor's niece whom Milocrates has abducted. In Jerusalem, he fights the giant Persian champion Gormund and slays him after three days of single combat. He is then sent to King Arthur with the proof of his birth. Arthur's queen, here named Gwendoloena and possessing prophetic powers, warns Arthur of the coming of a knight of Rome who is more powerful than him; Arthur and Kay meet Gawain on his way but he unhorses them both. Gawain then arrives at Arthur's court, but the king rejects him despite learning of the knight being his nephew. In response, Gawain vows that he will do what Arthur's entire army could not do. The occasion comes when the Lady of the Castle of Maidens sends to Arthur for aid, having been abducted by a pagan king who wants to force marriage on her. Arthur and his forces go to fight the pagan army but lose, yet Gawain single-handedly succeeds and returns with the Lady and with the pagan king's head. Arthur is finally forced to publicly accept the knight's worth, and Lot and Anna formally acknowledge Gawain as their son.

Similar to this tale are the stories of the Castle of Wonders, found in Diu Crône, Chrétien's Perceval, Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, and the Norse Valvens þáttr (The Tale of Gawain), wherein Gawain comes to the castle where, unknown to him, live his grandmother (King Arthur's mother), his own mother, and his sister. Gawain becomes the castle's lord, and it would be likely that he would unknowingly marry either his mother or his sister, but Gawain discovers who the women are. In a variant included in the Gesta Romanorum, a Gawain-like character named Gregory comes to a castle where his mother dwells, besieged by the Duke of Burgundy. Gregory enters the lady's service and succeeds in winning back her lands, after which he unwittingly marries his own mother.

Later romances, however, abandon the motif of Gawain being brought up, unknown, in Rome. In the Suite du Merlin attributed to Robert de Boron, a marriage between King Lot and a daughter of Ygerne (Igraine, Arthur's mother) is part of the negotiations arranging for Arthur's father Uther Pendragon's marriage to Ygerne; Gawain must be thus about the same age as Arthur, or even older. In the Vulgate Merlin, he first appears as a young squire in his father's kingdom. Gawain, his brother Gaheris, and a number of other squires, most of them sons or kindred of the kings who at this time are rebelling against King Arthur, come together and defend the land of Logres against the Saxons while Arthur is away aiding King Leodegan (Leodegrance) against King Rion (Rience), after which Arthur knights the squires. During this time, Gawain notably saves their mother Belisent (Morgause) and the infant Mordred from being kidnapped by the Saxon king Taurus. This account is revised in the later Post-Vulgate Merlin, where King Lot fights against Arthur but his forces are defeated and he himself is killed by King Pellinor (Pellinore), one of King Arthur's allies. Gawain first appears as an eleven-year-old boy at Lot's funeral and swears to avenge his father's death on Pellinor, praying that he may never be known for knightly deeds until he has taken vengeance. The story of the feud between Gawain and Pellinor and his sons is very important in the Post-Vulgate Cycle and the Prose Tristan, but not a trace of it is found in the Lancelot-Grail Cycle or in any earlier known tale, some of which picture Lot as still alive long after Gawain becomes a knight.

In many works outside the Lancelot-Grail-derived tradition in which Gawain has only his now-familiar four brothers (among whom he is the eldest and is explicitly described as the most handsome of them by the Vulgate Lancelot), Gawain also has sisters in different settings. These include an unnamed sister whom he rescues (along with her unnamed husband and children) from a giant in Chrétien's Yvain; two sisters named Soredamors (Cligés' mother) and Clarissant in Chrétien's Cligés; an unnamed sister abducted by Gorvain Cadru in Hunbaut; and Elainne in the Modena manuscript of the Didot Perceval. In Parzival, he has two sisters named Cundriê and Itonjê and a sole younger brother named Beacurs (the King of Norway and a Knight of the Round Table who marries King Bagdemagus's niece Antonie). In some Welsh adaptations of Historia Regum Britanniae and in The Birth of Arthur, King Hoel is his half-brother from their mother's first marriage. Mordred is Gawain's younger brother (by Lot, originally) or half-brother (by Arthur, later) in almost every text in which he figures since Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Attributes and characterizations

Traditionally, Gawain, of all Arthur's knights, is known for his courteousness, compassion, and humility. In Gawain: His Reputation, His Courtesy and His Appearance in Chaucer's Squire's Tale, B. J. Whiting collected quantitative evidence of these qualities being stronger in Gawain than in any of the other Knights of the Round Table, counting the words "courteous", "courtesy", and "courteously" being used in reference to Arthur's nephew as 178 times in total, more than for all the other knights in Arthurian literature. The Prose Lancelot describes Gawain as the most handsome of his brothers and notably gracious towards poor people and to societal outcasts such as lepers; the one time when he fails to properly greet an unknown maiden (Viviane) while on a quest to learn the fate of Merlin in the Vulgate Merlin Continuation, she curses him with a spell that turns him into a hideous dwarf, but later restores him to his real form after he passes a test to save her from an apparent rape in an arranged "damsel in distress"-style scenario. In some versions of the legend, Gawain would have been the true and rightful heir to the throne of Camelot, after the reign of King Arthur.

The Vulgate Mort Artu says Gawain had been baptised as an infant by a miracle-working holy man, also named Gawain. The other Gawain named the boy after himself, and who announced the following day that every day at noon, at the hour of the baptism, his power and strength would increase. His recurring status of a solar hero, as well as some of his other traits and adventures, especially within the variants of the Green Knight tale, suggest that Gawain may have been originally a Welsh counterpart of the Irish mythology hero Cú Chulainn, and also led to scholarly hypothesis according to which Gawain's figure could be derived from a Celtic sun god or perhaps a son of such deity. The Post-Vulgate narration tells how, in great part due to his supernatural strength, there have been only six knights whom Gawain failed to defeat in a sword fight: Lancelot, Hector, Bors, his own brother Gaheris (replaced with Percival by Malory), Tristan, and Morholt. In Perceval and some other later stories, he is the other wielder of Arthur's magic sword Excalibur; in the Alliterative Morte Arthure, he has a sword named Galuth, which bears the name Galatine in Malory's version of the Roman War episode. His knowledge of herbs also makes him a great healer, as shown in Chrétien's Perceval, Valvens Þáttr, Parzival, Walewein, and the Dutch Lancelot Compilation (in the stories Moriaen, Die Riddere metter Morwen, Walewein ende Keye, and Lancelot en het Hert met de Witte Voet).

In many romances, Gawain is depicted as a model for chivalric attributes. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, for example, where he is described as "this fine father of breeding", Gawain receives the kisses of Lady Bertilak with discretion, at once not wanting to insult her by refusing her advances and not wanting to betray the hospitality of her husband. Based on the bargain to give each other their respective daily gains, Gawain must give the kisses he receives from Lady Bertilak to Sir Bertilak. This allusion serves to reinforce chivalric ideals of religious, martial, and courtly love codes, especially in a masculine warrior culture, and shows the ways in which the masculine world can be subverted by female wiles. This undertone of homoeroticism between Gawain and Sir Bertilak underscores the strength of male homosocial bonds, and the fact that sex never occurs reinforces ideals of the masculine chivalric code. Gawain's character in the poem is said to be founded on a deep Christian belief in Christ and the Virgin Mary.

Conversely, in the Vulgate Queste del Saint Graal he is used as a very symbol of the unfitness of secular knighthood. Here, Gawain is blamed for his irreligion and is shown to indulge in rather purposeless killing: as, for example, when he mortally wounds his relative and a fellow Knight of the Round Table, Yvain the Bastard, in one of the many random jousting duels for no particular reason (failing to even recognise him until it is too late). He is also responsible for the deaths of more of his fellow Round Table companions, including the young King Bagdemagus of Gorre, whom he accidentally kills during a tournament. The Vulgate Mort Artu even says Gawain had killed some of his fellow Knights of the Round Table in the grand quest for the Grail, which he turned out to be unworthy to achieve. When Gawain does reach the Grail Castle, he is unable to restore the Grail Sword, unlike his role in Perceval, and is actually more interested in the Grail Maiden than in the holy relic, failing to even spot it there. In a symbolic later scene, it is her son and the new destined Grail hero, the blessed virgin knight Galahad, who will draw the sword in the stone at Camelot, after Gawain failed in the task. In the end, Gawain's unwillingness to forgive Lancelot leads to his own death and contributes to the downfall of Arthur's kingdom.

In the Post-Vulgate Cycle, Gawain's character is further blackened, influenced by being portrayed as a villain in the Prose Tristan. He is now bloodthirsty and often murderous. Among important Knights of the Round Table whom Gawain is said to have killed during and after the Grail quest are King Pellinor's son Aglovale, King Lac's son Erec, and King Esclabor's son Palamedes (resulting in Escablor's own death from grief). Earlier, Gawain and his brothers are also the slayers of King Pellinor and his sons Driant and Lamorat. Although Gawain still has a reputation for being one of the best and most courteous knights in the world, this is a sham, as he is often secretly a rapist of damsels and a killer of good knights, no better than his brother Agravain. When the mighty and holy Grail knight Perceval asks Gawain if he had killed his father Pellinor, Gawain simply lies and denies it out of fear of Perceval. The Guiron le Courtois section of Palamedes explains Gawain's many great cruelties being caused by his grief at being surpassed by other knights after not regaining his full strength following the war with Galehaut. Such a new popular image originating in the late Old French romance tradition prompted the historical audience of The Wife of Bath's Tale to identify the story's rapist-knight character as Gawain. B. J. Whiting writes in Gawain: A Casebook:

Malory's Gawain, following the later French prose depictions, also "emerges as a character composed of obvious inconsistencies of virtue and evil." Nevertheless, according to Arthurian scholar Ryan Harper, considering Gawain's many varied (and for most part positive) medieval portrayals,

Children and relationships

Hartmann von Aue's Erec is the first to mention Gawain's offspring, listing one "Henec the Skillful, son of Gawain" (Henec suctellois fil Gawin), among the Knights of the Round Table. Thomas Malory credits Gawain with three sons through the Lady of Lys, a sister of Bran de Lys/Lis (or "Brandles" in the Middle English The Jeaste of Syr Gawayne ); they are named Florence, Lovell, and Gingalain. Both Lovell (Lioniel) and Gingalain (Guinglain) have previously appeared in the First Continuation to Chrétien's Perceval and in the Livre d'Artus. Gingalain is the only of them to play a significant role in further works, as the eponymous protagonist of Renaud de Beaujeu's Old French romance Le Bel Inconnu (The Fair Unknown), as well as of the Middle-English romance Libeaus Desconus and of its Middle High German version Wigalois (titled after Gingalain's name) by Wirnt von Grafenberg. Besides those children, the eponymous hero of Beaudous by Robert de Blois is the son of Gawain by the king of Wales's unnamed daughter, who is known only as the Lover (Amie). She might be the same as the also unnamed daughter of King Tradelmant of North Wales, a hitherto virgin who becomes pregnant by Gawain out of wedlock in the Prose Lancelot.

Since Gawain is known in multiple tales as the "Knight of Maidens" (French: Chevalier as Damoisels), his name is thus attached to no woman in particular. As such, he is the champion of all women, and through this reputation, he has avoided the name-pairing seen in tales of Erec (with Enide), Tristan (with Iseult), and Lancelot (with Guinevere). Nevertheless, Gawain has had wives in the course of Arthurian literature, albeit he is always introduced as yet unmarried at the beginning of any such story. In The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, he marries the cursed Ragnelle, and in giving her "sovereignty" in the relationship, lifts the spell laid upon her that had given her a hag-like appearance. In Parzival, Gawain marries Orguelleuse, the widow of the Duke of Logres. (In Perlesvaus, the mad Orguelleuse instead unsuccessfully plots to kill Gawain and then to entomb herself with him; she is called the Maiden of the Narrow Wood in Hunbaut.) In Mériadeuc, the Queen of the Isles swears she will marry only Gawain. In Diu Crône, Gawain marries Amurfina, a niece of Arthur's stepfather (here named Gansguoter) who wins Gawain from her own younger sister Sgoidamur through the use of a magic bridle and a love potion.

Gawain also often appears as intimately associated with a supernatural female figure from the Otherworld or the Fairyland. The hero of Le Bel Inconnu is the progeny of Gawain and a fairy called Blanc(h)emal, and Gawain is himself rescued by the fay Lorie in The Marvels of Rigomer (Les Merveilles de Rigomer). The mother of Gawain's son in Wigalois is known as Florie, likely another version of Lorie from Rigomer; she also appears as Floree, daughter of King Alain of Escavalon, in the Livre d'Artus. The Italian romance La Pulzella Gaia has Gawain fight and defeat a giant serpent that turns out to be just a form of fairy princess, the daughter of Morgan le Fay (Fata Morgana) who then becomes his secret lover; their relationship, once revealed, makes both of them into enemies of Guinevere (who is jealous of Gawain after having been spurned), Arthur, and Morgan all at once.

Other women of Gawain include Lady Bloisine who plots to murder Gawain in bed before genuinely falling in love with him in the Fourth Continuation of Perceval, Ydain (Ydeine) who pledges to love him for life after he rescues her in La Vengeance Raguidel and the Roman van Lancelot, and the haughty and cruel Arcade who loves Gawain but he gives her up to the young Pelleas after helping him win her over in the Prose Lancelot. Arcade is renamed as Lady Ettarde in Malory's version with no happy end for her; his Le Morte d'Arthur also mentions Gawain having once been in the power of the lustful witch Hellawes. In the Prose Lancelot, Gawain also expressed his desire to himself become the most beautiful lady so he could be loved by the mysterious Black Knight (Lancelot appearing incognito).

Modern portrayals

Gawain features frequently in modern literature and media. Modern depictions of him are often heavily influenced by Malory, though characterizations are inconsistent. Alfred Tennyson adapted episodes from Malory to present Gawain as a worldly and faithless knight in his Idylls of the King (1859–1885). Similarly, T. H. White's novel The Once and Future King (1958) follows Malory, but presents Gawain as more churlish than Malory's torn and tragic portrayal. In contrast, Thomas Berger's Arthur Rex (1978) portrays Gawain as open-minded and introspective about his flaws, qualities that make him the Round Table's greatest knight. Though he usually plays a supporting role, some works feature Gawain as the main character. Vera Chapman's The Green Knight (1975) and Anne Crompton's Gawain and Lady Green (1997) offer modern retellings of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gwalchmei is the protagonist in Gillian Bradshaw's Celtic-tinged Hawk of May (1980) and its sequels. Gawain is a major character in The Squire's Tales series by Gerald Morris, in which he is portrayed as a skilled knight, immensely loyal to Arthur, and as intelligent, kind-hearted, and occasionally sarcastic. Morris included many legends involving Gawain in the second book, The Squire, His Knight, and His Lady (1999), drawing in particular from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. An aged Gawain is one of the central characters in Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Buried Giant (2015). In the manga Four Knights of the Apocalypse (2022), a sequel to Seven Deadly Sins, Gawain is a member of the eponymous Knights, portrayed as female, a hugely muscular and prideful niece of Arthur. He is also depicted in multiple episodes of BBC's Merlin (2008–2012), where he is a Knight of the Round Table under King Arthur. In this adaptation he is loyal to King Arthur and portrayed as a cocky, funny, and skilled knight.

Film portrayals of Gawain, and the Arthurian legend in general, are often heavily indebted to Malory; White's The Once and Future King also exerts a heavy influence. Gawain appears as a supporting character in films such as Knights of the Round Table (1953, played by Robert Urquhart) and Excalibur (1981, played by Liam Neeson), all of which draw on elements of Gawain's traditional characterizations. Other films give Gawain a larger role. In the 1954 adaptation of Prince Valiant, he is a somewhat boorish, though noble and good-natured, foil for his squire and friend, Valiant. He plays his traditional part in the 1963 film Sword of Lancelot (played by George Baker), seeking revenge when Lancelot kills his unarmed brother Gareth, but ultimately coming to Lancelot's aid when he uncovers Mordred's responsibility. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has been adapted to film several times, including 1973's Gawain and the Green Knight (played by Murray Head) and 1984's Sword of the Valiant (played by Miles O'Keeffe), both directed by Stephen Weeks; neither film was well reviewed and both deviate substantially from the source material. A 1991 television adaptation by Thames Television, Gawain and the Green Knight, was both more faithful and better received. Gawain's more recent film and television portrayals include the roles of Robert Gwyn Davin in First Knight (1995), Anthony Hickox in Prince Valiant (1997), Sebastian Roché in Merlin (1998), Noah Huntley in The Mists of Avalon (2001), Joel Edgerton in King Arthur (2004), Eoin Macken in Merlin (2008), Clive Standen in Camelot (2011), Matt Stokoe in Cursed (2020), and Takahiro Mizushima in Fate/Extra Last Encore (2020). Another Sir Gawain and the Green Knight film adaptation starred Dev Patel as Gawain in The Green Knight (2021).

The character has appeared in a number of stage productions and operas, mostly interpretations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Particularly notable among them is the 1991 opera Gawain, with music by Harrison Birtwistle and a libretto by David Harsent. Gawain furthermore appeared in a number of video games, including as the protagonist of Chronicles of the Sword (1997).

title: Gawain


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Wimborne Minster

Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, 5 mi north of Poole, on the Dorset Heaths, and is part of the South East Dorset conurbation. According to Office for National Statistics data the population of the Wimborne Minster built-up area was 15,552.

Governance
The town and its administrative area are served by eleven councillors plus one from the nearby ward of Cranfield. The electoral ward of Wimborne Minster is slightly bigger than the parish, with a 2011 population of 7,014. Wimborne Minster is part of the Mid Dorset and North Poole parliamentary constituency.

After 2019 structural changes to local government in England, Wimborne Minster is covered by Wimborne Minster and Colehill and Wimborne Minster East for elections to the Dorset Council unitary authority.

Buildings and architecture
Wimborne has one of the foremost collections of 15th-, 16th- and 17th-century buildings in Dorset. Local planning has restricted the construction of new buildings in areas such as the Cornmarket and the High Street, resulting in the preservation of many of the original buildings. Examples include the church of Wimborne Minster, Wimborne Minster Town Hall, the Museum of East Dorset and dozens of 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century fronted shops and pubs. The town is home to the Tivoli Theatre, a 1930s art deco cinema and theatre.

Wimborne Minster Church
This is a Saxon church, with Norman and Gothic architecture. It is famed for its chained library and the tomb of King Ethelred, the brother of Alfred the Great, as well as the tombs of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII of England. The tombs are made of Dorset Limestone and New Forest Stone.

Wimborne Model Town
The model town is one of the largest and longest-established model towns in England. It depicts Wimborne at the time the model was made, in the 1950s. It is at 1:10 scale, resulting in the model of the Minster being several feet high. The model shop windows accurately show the goods which the real shops were selling at the time. The exhibition also includes a model railway based on Thomas the Tank Engine, which was opened by Christopher Awdry, and expanded in 2014.

Events
At weekends and national holidays, the town crier can be seen in the main square and around the Minster. The legacy and position of the town crier date back to the English Civil War. The town has a large civil war reenactment society, which performs every year.

The town has a well-established and large market, the Wimborne Market. The market is held on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was previously located in the town centre but moved out several years ago to a site on the edge of town to accommodate its size.

Every year Wimborne hosts the longest fireworks display in Dorset, as part of its Guy Fawkes celebrations; a county record that it has held since 2004. The bonfire and pyrotechnics display is held each year in the grounds of St Michael's Church of England Middle School and is well supported by many thousands of people from the town, Colehill village and the surrounding area. All proceeds are donated each year to local schools, and since 2004 over £61,000 has been raised for local school projects and equipment.

Every two years in mid-August, the Park Initiative, an interchurch charity working on Leigh Park estate, holds a community event called "Alive in the Park" in the centre of the estate using a large marquee.

Wimborne Minster Folk Festival
Every summer in June the town holds the Wimborne Minster Folk Festival. Founded in 1980, the annual event of traditional folk dance and music has become the focal point for one of the largest gathering of dance teams and musicians in the South of England. The festival involves morris dancing, Appalachian dancing, concerts, workshops and children's activities, with parts of the town being closed to traffic.

The Festival planned for 2020 did not go ahead due to the health precautions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, with the cooperation of local businesses and Wimborne Minster Town Council, the Folk Festival committee made use of Café @ The Allendale, a local community hub, to provide food and meals for those in difficulties, e.g. as a result of having to self-isolate or not being able to work during the lockdowns. The 2021 Festival also had to be cancelled but an online event took place over the usual second weekend in June.

Education and schools
The town has three first schools (St John's, Wimborne and Pamphill) and two middle schools (St Michael's and Allenbourn). Wimborne First School, formerly Wimborne Primary School, has been educating the children of Wimborne Minster to primary level since 1911. Wimborne and the adjacent area of Merley are served by two upper schools: Corfe Hills School and Queen Elizabeth's School.

Queen Elizabeth's School has very close links with the Minster and was founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1497. After her death the school became Wimborne Grammar School. Although the Grammar School buildings still remain they have now been converted to flats. The school was established on its current site in 1972 after the merging of Wimborne Grammar School and the County Modern School.

Dumpton School is located nearby. The nearby first schools of Hayeswood and Colehill serve Wimborne.

Wimborne Cottage Hospital

 * Annie Mary Lindsay was matron from 1895 until at least 1911. Lindsay trained at The London Hospital under Matron Eva Luckes between 1886 and 1888.

Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated in Winterborne Stickland. BBC West and ITV West Country can also be received from the Mendip TV transmitter.

The town's local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent on 96.1 FM, Heart South on 102.3 FM, Nation Radio South Coast on 106.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South on 105.8 FM and Radio Wimborne, a community radio station that broadcast on 94.6 FM.

Local newspapers that served the town are the Dorset Echo and Bournemouth Daily Echo.

Clubs
The local football club Wimborne Town F.C. play in the Southern Football League.

In rugby union, Wimborne R.F.C. has been in existence in its present form since 1950 and is based in Leigh Park, Gordon Road on the eastern side of the town.

Cricket has been played in Wimborne since at least 1793, when the club was known as Hanham's Cricket Club, playing on the green in the centre of town from 1860. In 2010, the club moved to its new ground at The Leaze as part of the planning application which allowed Waitrose to build a new supermarket on the site of the original Wimborne Cricket Club. The club's 4 adult teams play in the Dorset Cricket League and the 1st XI have won the Dorset Premier League title in 1997, 2012, 2016 and 2018. Dorset County Cricket Club played home matches at Wimborne sporadically from the 1957 until 1979 before returning in 2018 to Wimborne's current ground at The Leaze.

Economy
The aerospace company Cobham plc has headquarters in Wimborne. Home decoration company Farrow & Ball began in the town, and is still headquartered nearby in Ferndown. The economy of the town is dedicated towards leisure and has shops, restaurants and pubs. Tourism is an aspect in the town's economy. The town is also served by a Waitrose located on the old Cricket Green and a Co-op supermarket.

Transport
From 1847 to 1977 Wimborne was served by a two-platform railway station. The station was built for the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, later part of the London and South Western Railway. It was expanded when the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway was constructed between Bath and Poole. Wimborne was used as a reversing point on the Somerset and Dorset, but its importance was reduced when an avoiding line was built from Bailey Gate to Broadstone Junction. The station had a large goods yard, the site of which is used for the weekly Wimborne Market. The station was closed to passengers in 1964 and sundries (parcels and light goods) in 1966, as a result of the Beeching Axe programme. The final goods trains ran in May 1977.

Buses now serve as the only means of public transport to and from Wimborne. Wilts & Dorset subsidiary Morebus operates half-hourly routes 4 to Poole and 13 to Bournemouth.

Twin towns
Wimborne Minster is twinned with
 * 🇩🇪 Ochsenfurt, Bavaria, Germany
 * 🇫🇷 Valognes, Normandy, France

Notable people

 * Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web
 * Lieutenant William Cox (1764–1837), Australian pioneer born in Wimborne.
 * John Creasey, English crime writer, lived at "Cattistock", Fernlea Avenue, Ferndown during the 1940s.
 * Montague Druitt, suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders
 * Robert Fripp, guitarist in prog rock band King Crimson
 * Jimmy Glass, former professional footballer
 * George Gray, Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Hull
 * Isaac Gulliver, English smuggler
 * Thomas Hardy, lived in Avenue Road, where he wrote A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873), commemorated by a blue plaque
 * Eddie Howe, Football coach, attended Queen Elizabeth’s School.
 * Josephine Kermode, Manx poet and playwright, better known by her pen name Cushag, lived the last five years of her life in Wimborne
 * Saint Leoba (c. 710 – 28 September 782) was an oblate at Wimborne Minster
 * George Douglas-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Selkirk (1906–1994), Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Commissioner for Singapore and Southeast Asia, was born at Merley House
 * Walter Parke (1891–1914), first-class cricketer and British Army officer
 * Matthew Prior (1664–1721), English diplomat and poet, was born in Wimborne and lived there during his early childhood.
 * Walter Shaw (1868–1937), former Chief Justice of the Straits Settlements and Chairman of the Shaw Commission
 * Al Stewart, Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, grew up in the town.
 * Gordon Haskell, singer-songwriter, grew up in the town and went to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.
 * William Charles Wentworth, Australian explorer and statesman, died in Wimborne in 1872.
 * Electric Wizard, stoner rock/doom metal band

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Wimborne Minster


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Middleham Castle

Middleham Castle is a ruined castle in Middleham in Wensleydale, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It was built by Robert Fitzrandolph, 3rd Lord of Middleham and Spennithorne, commencing in 1190. The castle was the childhood home of King Richard III, although he spent very little of his reign there. The castle was built to defend the road from Richmond to Skipton, though some have suggested the original site of the castle was far better to achieve this than the later location. After the death of King Richard III the castle remained in royal hands until it was allowed to go to ruin in the 17th century. Many of the stones from the castle were used in other buildings in the village of Middleham.

History
Middleham Castle was built near the site of an earlier motte and bailey castle, called William's Hill, the site of which can still be seen nearby, although there is no evidence of stonework or defensive structures to the former castle site. Historians believe that the defensive walls of the original castle were constructed from timber. In 1270 the new Middleham Castle came into the hands of the Neville family, the most notable member of which was Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known to history as the "Kingmaker", a leading figure in the Wars of the Roses. Following the death of Richard, Duke of York, at Wakefield in December 1460, his younger son, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, came into Warwick's care, and lived at Middleham with Warwick's family. His brother King Edward IV was imprisoned at Middleham for a short time, having been captured by Warwick in 1469. Following Warwick's death at Barnet in 1471 and Edward's restoration to the throne, his brother Richard married Anne Neville, Warwick's younger daughter, and made Middleham his main home. Their son Edward (known as Edward of Middleham), was also born at the castle around 1473 or 1476 and later also died there in 1484. Richard ascended to the throne as King Richard III, but spent little or no time at Middleham in his two-year reign. After Richard's death at Bosworth in 1485 the castle was seized by Henry VII and remained in royal hands until the reign of James I, when it was sold. During the reign of Elizabeth I, the castle was proposed for full demolition by Lord Huntingdon and eventual conversion into a Manor House. A letter was written by Huntingdon to the Lord Treasurer outlining the plan and its possible use by the Queen when on her royal duties. The castle fell into disuse and disrepair during the 17th century. In 1644, a parliamentary Committee sitting in Yorkshire ordered that it was "untenable and no garrison should be kept there". Later still, some of the castle's walls were blown away and the stones of the castle became a public quarry by which many of the buildings in Middleham were created. It was garrisoned during the Civil War in 1654 and 1655, when it was host to thirty men and capable of housing prisoners. There is no record of action at the site nor was it put under siege.

In 1604, the castle was passed to Sir Henry Linley and then sold to the Wood family in 1662 who held onto the property until 1889. The ruins are now in the care of English Heritage who took them on in 1984 and are grade I listed.

Description
The castle is a compact, massive structure, and though ruinous, most of the walls are intact. A simple rectangle in plan, the castle consists of a massive Norman keep surrounded by a later curtain wall, to which were then added extensive, palatial residential ranges. The location of the castle was as a safe refuge on the road from Richmond to Skipton, and in this respect it guarded the road and the area of Coverdale. Pevsner comments that the site of the original castle which had a motte of 40 ft was far better placed to defend the road than the latter castle of 1190.

The keep is similar to other large square keeps, but had only two storeys, even so, at 105 ft from north to south and 78 ft west to east, is one of the largest in England. It is divided on both levels by an internal wall, and there are turrets at each corner and midway along each wall. The ground floor has two large, originally vaulted, chambers, and above are two grand halls surrounded by high windows. The entrance is by staircase to the first floor—as was common—and a later chapel outbuilding defends that approach. A repaired spiral staircase leads up to the top of the south-east corner tower, affording views of the surrounding town and countryside, including the original castle motte to the south-west. The south-west tower is sometimes referred to as the Prince's Tower on account of Richard III's son, Edward, having been born in the tower, though there is no documentary evidence of this: in a survey conducted in 1538, it is simply referred to as the "Rounde Towre".

The 13th-century curtain wall surrounds the keep concentrically, making the castle into a compact and effective defensive structure, though it was built more for comfort than security. In the 15th century the Nevilles constructed an impressive range of halls and outbuildings against these walls, turning the castle into a truly magnificent residence, fit for nobles of their stature. Bridges at first-floor level were built to connect these to the keep, and the ceiling above the great hall was also raised, either to provide a clerestory or space for another chamber.

The entrance to the castle is through a tower in the north-east corner, though this was also a 15th-century modification. Only foundations remain of the original gatehouse, facing east into the now-vanished outer ward. The gatehouse was remodelled in the 14th century with diagonal turrets and flanked by an arch. Spaces in the stonework were provided so that missiles could be launched on would-be attackers. Apart from this east wall, however, the circuit of the walls is fairly complete, though the walls of the residential buildings are gone. Some restoration was done on the castle in modern times, but there is extensive damage to the lower faces of the keep. Windows and doorways have crumbled away, floors have fallen in, and none of the battlements remain. Still, the castle is an impressive ruin, and the sense of its original strength and grandeur remains.

As a tourist attraction, the castle has about 400,000 visitors a year (average for 2010–2021).

title: Middleham Castle


text:
Bisham Abbey

Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. This original Bisham Abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the traditional resting place of many Earls of Salisbury. The complex surrounding the extant manorial buildings is now one of three National Sports Centres run on behalf of Sport England and is used as a residential training camp base for athletes and teams and community groups alike. It is a wedding venue with a licence for civil ceremony and is used for conferences, team building events, corporate parties and private functions.

Manor house
The manor house was built around 1260 as a community house for two Knights Templar. There was substantial rebuilding and alteration in later centuries. When the Templars were suppressed in 1307, King Edward II took over the manorial rights, granting them to various relatives. In 1310 the building was used as a place of confinement for Queen Elizabeth of the Scots, wife of King Robert the Bruce, along with her stepdaughter Princess Marjorie and sister–in–law, Lady Christine of Carrick. They had been captured on the Isle of Rathlin during the Scottish Wars of Succession, and were placed in the charge of the King's Yeoman, John Bentley, for two years, until removed to Windsor.

In 1335 the manor was bought by William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury and in 1337 he founded Bisham Priory alongside, within the year of his death 1344, he was buried in the abbey.

Henry VIII granted the manor house to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement from him, and it was later bought by the Hoby family, who lived there until 1768. Elizabeth I was a regular visitor in the time of the Hoby family. Anne of Denmark stayed in August 1610. Her arms with the motto La Mia Grandezza dal Eccelso and the arms of her husband James VI and I featured in the stained glass of the parish church, and were later installed in the house. There is a long-standing legend that the house is haunted by the ghost of Dame Elizabeth Hoby, as she purportedly beat her son to death for blotting his copy-book.

Monastery
Bisham Priory was built for the Augustinian Canons. The foundation stone laid in 1337, and the brass plaque once affixed to it, can still be seen at Denchworth. When the founder, the 1st Earl of Salisbury, died, he was buried at the priory, as were many later Earls of Salisbury, including Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who was buried in April 1471.

Despite holding some relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian, the priory never really became a centre of pilgrimage: many other churches also held relics of the same saints, including two different locations which both claimed to have their skulls.

Bisham Priory was dissolved on 5 July 1537, but six months later, on 18 December, it was refounded as a Benedictine abbey. This was not to last though as it was finally dissolved on 19 June 1538. The abbot of Bisham, John Cordery, is said to have cursed the building thus: "As God is my witness, this property shall ne’er be inherited by two direct successors, for its sons will be hounded by misfortune", as he was dragged from it. Nothing remains of the abbey church or its associated buildings.

Burials in the Priory/Abbey

 * Simon de Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu, 1316
 * William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu, 1319
 * William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1344
 * Catherine Grandison, Countess of Salisbury, 1349
 * William de Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, 1397
 * John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, 1400
 * Eleanor Holland, Countess of Salisbury, 1413
 * Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury, 1428
 * Alice Montacute, 5th Countess of Salisbury, 1462
 * Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, 1463
 * Thomas Neville (died 1460), 1463
 * John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu, 1471, and his wife Isabel Ingoldesthorpe, 1476
 * Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 1471
 * Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, 1485

Sports centre
The manor house is now run by Serco Leisure Operating Ltd on behalf of Sport England, and is one of three National Sports Centres. Gym membership is open to the public.

The facilities include:-
 * A £1.2 million international water based hockey pitch
 * An indoor tennis centre featuring four tennis courts
 * Four outdoor "French Court" clay tennis courts and four floodlit outdoor acrylic tennis courts
 * A fully equipped elite strength and conditioning facility
 * Sauna and steam room
 * A large community gym with cardio and free weights and full fitness class timetable
 * Two squash courts
 * A remodelled nine-hole par three golf course
 * A sports therapy performance centre which enables elite level sports science and medicine services to be provided on site

The England association football men's senior team trained at Bisham Abbey for 40 years, up until early 2001. England Rugby had their training base at Bisham Abbey until 2005, when they moved to the University of Bath. Several football teams have trained at Bisham Abbey, most recently Barcelona and Portsmouth before their 2008 FA Cup victory. For the last few years Non-League Marlow United F.C. use the pitches as their home ground. The facilities are frequently used by elite athletes and community groups for residential training camps such as the Rugby Sevens and England Hockey. There is an International High performance Tennis centre based on site managed by WIN Tennis. Some professional rugby players use the gym facilities. In February 2006 the England futsal team played two international friendlies against Finland at Bisham Abbey. Due to their regular training ground (Beversbrook) being out of use due to the weather Swindon Town F.C. have been using the centre (as of February 2020) while they attempt to find a more permanent facility.

Media
Bisham Abbey is described in Jerome K. Jerome's 1889 humorous novel Three Men in a Boat.

During the Nationwide Building Society's summer advertising campaign of 2010, when they were official sponsors of the England football team at the World Cup, one of their television advertisements featured the England team playing on one of the pitches at Bisham Abbey. The parish church was clearly visible in the background.

title: Bisham Abbey


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Jasper Tudor

Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford (c. November 1431 – 21 December 1495) was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and a leading architect of his nephew's successful accession to the throne in 1485. He was a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd.

Jasper Tudor's coat of arms, granted to him by his maternal half-brother, King Henry VI, quarters the three lilies of France with the three lions of England, with the addition of a bordure azure with martlets or (that is, a blue border featuring golden martlets).

Family and early life
Jasper was the second son of Sir Owen Tudor and the former queen Catherine of Valois, the widow of King Henry V of England. He was thus half-brother to Henry VI. Through his father, Jasper was a descendant of Ednyfed Fychan, Llywelyn the Great's renowned chancellor. This connection added greatly to his status in Wales. His mother was a daughter of King Charles VI of France.

Jasper was born at the bishop of Ely's manor at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, in 1431, his parents' second child. After the death of Jasper's mother in 1437, Owen Tudor was arrested and sent to Newgate prison. Jasper, his brother Edmund, and possibly a sister were put into the care of Katherine de la Pole, a nun at Barking Abbey, in Essex, from July 1437 to March 1442. She was the sister of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, a great favourite of Henry VI, and was able to provide Jasper and his siblings with food, clothing, and lodging. They were also permitted servants to wait upon them as the King's half-siblings.

In 1442, their half-brother the King began to take an interest in their upbringing. Sometime after March 1442, Jasper and his brother were brought to live at court. Henry arranged for the best priest to educate them intellectually and morally. The brothers also received military training; when they grew up they were given military positions. Jasper was recognised as Henry VI's uterine half-brother when, on 23 November 1452, he was created Earl of Pembroke.

Adulthood
Owen Tudor was released from prison, most likely thanks to his stepson Henry VI who, after providing for his stepfather, also provided for his two half-brothers. It is not clear whether Henry VI had known of the existence of his half-brothers until his mother told him while she was dying in Bermondsey Abbey. It was after her death that Henry would begin to care for them and eventually raise them to the peerage by giving both brothers earldoms. Jasper became Earl of Pembroke on 23 November 1452, the seventh creation. In turn, Edmund and Jasper swore unwavering loyalty to Henry and fought and promoted him and his Lancastrian family's interests persistently throughout their lives.

Owen and Catherine's marriage was not recognised by the authorities, in large part due to the secrecy under which it was accomplished, and so the legitimacy of Jasper and his two (or three) siblings was questionable. However, Jasper enjoyed all the privileges appropriate to his birth, including being invested as a Knight of the Garter. After 1485, he would describe himself as the "high and mighty Prince Jasper, brother and uncle of Kings, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke". During his time at court, Jasper constantly tried to work with the Duke of York and other nobles in order to try to stop the infighting between the two houses. It was after the death of his elder brother, Edmund, that Jasper took over the responsibility of maintaining the Lancastrian ties within Wales. Along with this, he took into his care his sister-in-law and infant nephew.

On the accession of the Yorkist King Edward IV in 1461, he was subject to an attainder for supporting his Lancastrian half-brother, the deposed King Henry, to whom Jasper was loyal. He strove to place his half-nephew Prince Edward of Lancaster on the throne and provided absolute loyalty to his royal half-brother and Margaret of Anjou, his half-brother's wife. Jasper would also help his other sister-in-law Lady Margaret Beaufort assist her son Henry Tudor to win the throne in 1485 as King Henry VII, father of King Henry VIII.

In 1485, Jasper financed the rebuilding of the north-west tower of Llandaff Cathedral, near Cardiff. It now holds the Cathedral bells, and is named the Jasper Tower in his honour.

Wars of the Roses
Jasper Tudor was an adventurer whose military expertise, some of it gained in the early stages of the Wars of the Roses, was considerable. Nevertheless, the only major battle he had taken part in before the Battle of Bosworth was the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in February 1461, where he lost the battle to the future king, Edward IV of England. His father, Owen Tudor, was then captured and beheaded at Hereford, where his head was placed on the market cross. Jasper occupied the castles of Carmarthen and Aberystwyth in 1456 until he lost them to William Herbert of Raglan. Subsequently, he remained in touch with his sister-in-law, Margaret of Anjou, wife of his half-brother Henry VI and he held Denbigh Castle for the House of Lancaster in 1460.

Jasper Tudor also brought up his nephew, Henry Tudor, whose father, Edmund Tudor had died before his birth. After being welcomed by King Louis XI of France in 1462, Jasper stayed in France for 6 years before returning to North Wales in 1468. On his return, Jasper lost Pembroke Castle to William Herbert, when Herbert was given the title of Earl of Pembroke by King Edward IV.

Jasper Tudor briefly regained the earldom of Pembroke a couple of years later when his half-brother, King Henry VI, was restored to the throne, but following the return of King Edward IV from temporary exile in 1471, Jasper fled again to the continent. During his time on the continent, he travelled and attempted to gather support for the Lancastrian cause. While escaping from Tenby with his nephew Henry, storms in the English Channel forced them to land at Le Conquet in Brittany, where they sought refuge with Francis II, Duke of Brittany. Francis housed Jasper, his nephew, and the core of their group of exiled Lancastrians at the Château de Suscinio in Sarzeau and although King Edward IV placed diplomatic pressure on him, the uncle and nephew remained safe from the clutches of the Yorkist king, who died later in April 1483. For 11 years, the Château de Suscinio became an armed camp, alert against any attempt to kidnap Jasper and Henry and return them to England, where they were under attainder and would have been promptly executed as threats to the Yorkist rule.

In October 1483, the Tudors launched an invasion of England from Brittany. However, the invasion failed and Jasper Tudor and his nephew Henry returned to Brittany. In mid-1484, when the Duke of Brittany was incapacitated with illness, his treasurer, Pierre Landais, who took over the reins of government, reached an agreement with the new Yorkist king, Richard III of England, to send Jasper and his nephew back to England in exchange for a pledge of 3,000 English archers to defend Brittany against a threatened French attack. John Morton, the Bishop of Ely who was then in exile in Flanders, learned of the scheme and warned the Tudors in time. Jasper and Henry then managed to escape separately, hours ahead of Landais' soldiers, across the nearby border into France. They were received at the court of King Charles VIII of France who allowed them to stay and provided them with resources. Shortly afterwards, when Duke Francis II had recovered, he offered the 400 remaining Lancastrians, still at and around the Château de Suscinio, safe-conduct into France and even paid for their expenses.

On Henry Tudor's subsequent accession to the throne in 1485, Jasper Tudor had all previous attainders annulled, and was thus restored to all his former titles, including Knight of the Garter, and was created Duke of Bedford. In 1488, he took possession of Cardiff Castle.

Marriage and children
Jasper was married on 7 November 1485 to Catherine Woodville (c. 1458–1509). She was the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and was sister to King Edward IV's queen Elizabeth Woodville and to Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers and Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers. She was the widow of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who had been executed for treason in 1483. There were no children of her marriage with Jasper Tudor.

Illegitimate issue
Jasper Tudor acknowledged paternity of no illegitimate children during his lifetime and none are recognised in his will.

The earliest formal source for any illegitimate child of Jasper Tudor appears to be the Heraldic Visitation of the northern counties in 1530 by Thomas Tonge, Norroy King of Arms (d. 1534). The records of Tonge's Heraldic Visitation were first published in 1836, by the Surtees Society. They contain a claim by Prior Gardener, of Tynmouth Monastery in Northumberland, to be the son of Ellen/Helen, a bastard daughter of Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford, and her husband William Gardener. The heraldic arms claimed by Prior Gardener include a shield impaling the arms of Jasper Tudor, 'debruised by a bend sinister'.

Thomas Gardyner was appointed prior of Tynmouth in 1528. He was then a monk of Westminster Abbey, and 'familiar to followers of the Tudor household as a grandson of the King's great-uncle, Jasper'. His appointment as prior was actively supported by Mary Boleyn, and it is most likely that Thomas Wolsey also approved, as the priory was a dependency of St Alban's Abbey, where Wolsey was abbot.

The next source dates from the late 17th century, nearly two hundred years after Jasper Tudor's death. William Dugdale's Baronage of England (1675–6) states that Jasper Tudor "departed this Life ... leaving no other Issue than one Illegitimate Daughter, called Ellen/Helen, who became the Wife of William Gardner, Citizen of London". Dugdale (1605–1686), an eminent antiquarian and scholar, was Norroy King of Arms (1660–1679) and Garter King of Arms (1679–1686). The records of Tonge's 1530 Visitation held by the College of Arms would have been available to Dugdale.

In the 19th century the account was embroidered, to make Ellen (or Helen) the mother of Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor. The account that Gardiner was a descendant of Jasper Tudor is now discredited: it appears that this assertion arose from confusing Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop, with Thomas Gardiner, Prior of Tynmouth.

Death and burial
Jasper Tudor died at Thornbury Castle on 21 December 1495, and was buried at Keynsham Abbey in Somerset, which Lady Agnes Cheyne, the incumbent of Chenies Manor House, bequeathed to him in 1494.

title: Jasper Tudor


text:
Owen Tudor

Sir Owen Tudor (Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, c. 1400 – 2 February 1461) was a Welsh courtier and the second husband of Queen Catherine of Valois (1401–1437), widow of King Henry V of England. He was the grandfather of Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.

Background
Owen was a descendant of a prominent family from Penmynydd on the Isle of Anglesey, which traces its lineage back to Ednyfed Fychan (d. 1246), a Welsh official and seneschal to the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Tudor's grandfather, Tudur ap Goronwy, married Margaret, daughter of Thomas ap Llywelyn ab Owain of Cardiganshire, the last male of the senior branch of the princely house of Deheubarth. Margaret's elder sister married Gruffudd Fychan of Glyndyfrdwy, whose son was Owain Glyndŵr. Owen's father, Maredudd ap Tudur, and his uncles were prominent in Owain Glyndŵr's revolt against English rule, the Glyndŵr Rising.

Historians consider the descendants of Ednyfed Fychan, including Owen Tudor, one of the most powerful families in 13th to 14th-century Wales. The descendants of his many sons would form a wealthy 'ministerial aristocracy', acting as leading servants to the princes of Gwynedd, and play a key role in the attempts to create a single Welsh principality. This privilege endured after the Conquest of Wales by Edward I with the family continuing to exercise power in the name of the king of England, within Wales. However, there remained an awareness of the family's Welsh heritage and the accompanying loyalties led them to take part in the suppressed Glyndŵr Rising.

Early life
The fact that little is known about Tudor's early life and that it has instead become largely mythologized is attributed to his family's part in the Glyndŵr Rising. At various times it has been said that he was the bastard son of an alehouse keeper, that his father was a fugitive murderer, that he fought at Agincourt, that he was keeper of Queen Catherine's household or wardrobe, that he was an esquire of Henry V, and that his relationship with Catherine began when he fell into the queen's lap while dancing or caught the queen's eye when swimming.

The sixteenth-century Welsh chronicler Elis Gruffydd did note that he was her sewer (someone who places dishes on the table and tastes them ) and servant. However, it is known that after the Glyndŵr Rising several Welshmen secured positions at court, and in May 1421 an 'Owen Meredith' joined the retinue of Sir Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford, the steward of the king's household from 1415 until 1421.

Catherine of Valois
Henry V of England died on 31 August 1422, leaving his wife, Queen Catherine, widowed. The dowager queen initially lived with her infant son, King Henry VI, before moving to Wallingford Castle early in his reign.

Catherine was rumoured to have had an affair with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. These rumours, though based on questionable evidence, prompted a response from her son's regents, who objected to Somerset as a possible husband as he was a second cousin of Henry V through the legitimised Beaufort line sired by John of Gaunt. A parliamentary statute regulating the remarriage of widowed queens was passed by the conciliary government. She subsequently married Owen Tudor and gave birth to three sons: Edmund, Jasper and Edward (see below).

Historian G. L. Harriss suggested that the affair with Beaufort resulted in the birth of Edmund Tudor. Harriss wrote, "By its very nature the evidence for Edmund Tudor's parentage is less than conclusive, but such facts, as can be assembled, permit an agreeable possibility that Edmund 'Tudor' and Margaret Beaufort were first cousins and that the royal house of 'Tudor' sprang in fact from Beauforts on both sides."

Life after Catherine's death
Following Queen Catherine's death, Owen Tudor lost the protection from the statute on dowager queens' remarriage and was imprisoned in Newgate Prison. In 1438, he escaped but was later recaptured and held in the custody of the constable of Windsor Castle.

In 1439, Henry VI of England granted him a general pardon, restoring his goods and lands. In addition, Henry VI granted him a pension of £40 per annum, provided him with a position in court, and appointed him the Keeper of the King's Parks in Denbigh. In 1442, Henry VI welcomed his two half-brothers, Edmund and Jasper, to court. In November 1452, they were created earls of Richmond and Pembroke respectively with the acknowledgement that they were the king's half-brothers.

In 1459, Tudor's pension was increased to £100 per annum. Owen and his son Jasper (Edmund having died in 1456) were commissioned to arrest a servant of John Dwnn of Kidwelly, a Yorkist, and later that year, Tudor acquired an interest in the forfeited estates of another Yorkist, John, Lord Clinton. On 5 February 1460, Tudor and Jasper were granted life offices in the Duke of York's lordship of Denbigh, a prelude to them later seizing the lordship.

Death
Owen Tudor was an early casualty of the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. He joined his son Jasper's army as Lancastrian relations and partisans in Wales in January 1461, a force that was defeated at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross by Edward of York. On 2 February, Owen Tudor was captured and beheaded at Hereford. His head was placed on the market cross there, "and a madde woman kembyd hys here and wysche a way the blode of hys face" and set 100 candles about him.

Owen Tudor had expected to be imprisoned rather than executed. Moments before his execution, he realised that he was to die and murmured "that hede shalle ly on the stocke that wass wonte to ly on Quene Katheryns lappe." His body was buried in a chapel on the north side of the Greyfriars' Church in Hereford. He had no memorial until his illegitimate son, David, paid for a tomb before the friary was dissolved.

Issue
An ancient pedigree chart of the English royal family, dated c. 1500,
 * Edmund (ca. 1430 – 1 November 1456) was born at either Much Hadham Palace in Hertfordshire or at Hadham in Bedfordshire. Edmund became the 1st Earl of Richmond in 1452 and later married Margaret Beaufort. In 1456 he died of plague in Carmarthen, three months before the birth of the couple's son at Pembroke Castle. That son, Henry, later became king of England and founded the Tudor dynasty.
 * Jasper (ca. November 1431 – 26 December 1495) was born at Hatfield. He became the 1st Earl of Pembroke in 1452 but was branded as a traitor in 1461. However, he became the 1st Duke of Bedford in 1485. He was the second husband of Catherine Woodville, widow of the Duke of Buckingham and sister of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV. They had no issue. Jasper had one illegitimate daughter named Ellen Tudor. Ellen married (1st) William Gardiner, of London, skinner (died testate 1485), by whom she had five children: Thomas (King's chaplain, Prior of Blyth, Nottinghamshire, Prior of Tynemouth, Northumberland), Philippe, Margaret, Beatrice, and Anne. Ellen married (2nd) before 1493 William Sibson (or Sybson), of London, skinner. In the period 1501–2, Peter Watson of London, draper, and William Sybson, husband of Ellen, late the wife of William Gardiner, sued the mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs of London in Chancery on behalf of the children of William Gardiner, to recover the portion of William's son, Thomas Gardiner, who had entered Westminster Abbey.
 * Edward Tudor. Very little is known of this child's life. The Tudor historian Polydore Vergil stated this child, whom he did not name, became "a monke of the order of St. Benet, and lived not longe after". William Camden referred to this child as Edward Tudor, and indicated that he lies buried in the chapel of St Blaise in Westminster Abbey, near the tomb of Abbot Nicholas Litlington. Even so, he is called Owen Tudor in most published sources, the reasons for which are not clear. The modern historian Pearce has shown, however, that no monk named either Edward or Owen Tudor existed at Westminster Abbey in this time period. An alternative theory advanced by Pearce is that Edward Tudor is the same person as Edward Bridgewater, a known monk at Westminster Abbey, who died c.1471. This theory appears to be groundless.
 * Polydore Vergil says Owen and Queen Katherine also had a daughter who became a nun, though no other source corroborates this.

Owen Tudor had at least one illegitimate child, by an unknown mistress:

 * Sir David Owen was born in 1459 at Pembroke Castle. He later acquired Southwick Court in Wiltshire before marrying an heiress who brought with her the Cowdray estate in Sussex. He is buried in the priory church of Easebourne, near Midhurst.

Ancestry
Owen was a descendant of Rhys ap Gruffydd (1132–1197), ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth, via the lineages that follow:

Rhys had a daughter, Gwenllian ferch (daughter of) Rhys, who married Ednyfed Fychan, Seneschal of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (d. 1246).

Ednyfed Fychan and Gwenllian ferch Rhys were the parents of Goronwy ab Ednyfed, Lord of Tref-gastell (d. 1268). Goronwy was married to Morfydd ferch Meurig, daughter of Meurig of Gwent. Meurig was the son of Ithel, grandson of Rhydd and great-grandson of Iestyn ap Gwrgant, the last king of Morgannwg (reigned 1081–1091) before its conquest by the Normans.

Goronwy and Morfydd were parents of Tudur Hen, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1311). Tudur Hen married Angharad ferch Ithel Fychan, daughter of Ithel Fychan ap Ithel Gan, Lord of Englefield. They were the parents of Goronwy ap Tudur Hen, Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1331).

Goronwy ap Tudur was married to Gwerfyl ferch Madog, daughter of Madog ap Dafydd, Baron of Hendwr. They were the parents of Tudur ap Goronwy, also known as Tudur Fychan ("Tudur the Little") to distinguish him from his grandfather Tudur Hen ("Tudur the Old"), Lord of Penmynydd (d. 1367).

Tudur Fychan married Margaret ferch Thomas of Is Coed, of the native and Ancient Royal Houses of Wales. Margaret and her sisters, Ellen and Eleanor, were descended from Angharad ferch Llywelyn, daughter of Llywelyn the Great.

Tudur and Margaret were parents to Maredudd ap Tudur (died 1406). Maredudd married Margaret ferch Dafydd, the daughter of Dafydd Fychan, Lord of Anglesey, and his wife, Nest ferch Ieuan.

Maredudd ap Tudur and Margaret ferch Dafydd were the parents of Owen Tudor.

title: Owen Tudor


text:
Eadburh of Winchester

Eadburh (also Edburga, Edburg; born 921/924, died 15 June 951/953) was the daughter of King Edward the Elder of England and his third wife, Eadgifu of Kent. She lived most of her life as a nun known for her singing ability. Most of the information about her comes from hagiographies written several centuries after her life. She was canonised twelve years after her death and there are a small number of churches dedicated to her, most of which are located near Worcestershire, where she lived.

Life
In the twelfth century, a Latin Life of her was written by Osbert de Clare, who became prior of Westminster in 1136. The account by Osbert was commissioned in c. 1120 by the monks of Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire because they wanted the accounts they possessed of her life to be better organized; as Osbert put it, "her deeds seemed woven together in a confused expression". Scholar Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis stated that the nuns of Westminster had probably commissioned Osbert to write a biography of Eadburh for their use previously. According to Osbert, at the age of three, Eadburh was given as an oblate to the Queen Mother Ealhswith's foundation of St Mary's Abbey, Winchester (Nunnaminster). There Eadburh was educated and remained as a nun for the rest of her life.

Osbert also reported that perhaps because of her excellence in the practice of sung prayer, she was assigned the role of precentrix at Westminster, although scholar Susan Ridyard has questioned the historical validity of Osbert's claim, stating that he might have meant that she loved singing so much that it seemed that she was like a precentrix. Bugyis, however, insisted that Osbert's descriptions of Eadburh's duties fit the responsibilities of both cantor and sacristan duties. In Osbert's Life, he presented what Bugyis called "the most comprehensive, though admittingly idealized, depiction" of Eadburgh's musical abilities and leadership. He describes her devotion and commitment to the performance of the Divine Office in his chapter about her patience. She would often stay in the oratory for many hours after the Divine Office was completed to continue to pray in private, which the community's prioress punished her for because she considered it idleness, although the prioress eventually relented when she discovered that Eadburgh was the daughter of the king.

An anoymous hagiography from the early 14th century described "Eadburh's strict disciple of psalmody" and claimed that "she expressed divine praise through the singing of hymns", and reported that wore out her body fulfilling the injunction in the Psalms to pray seven times per day. According to Bugyis, Eadburh was also a "highly skilled singer of chants", which had been assigned to other cantors in earlier and contemporary customaries and liturgical books published and used in other monastic communities. Osbert related a story during a banquet held at the Winchester community during a visit from her father in which he commanded her to sing for the crowd; she initially resisted performing for them, but agreed when he promised to give her a reward. The audience was "held captive by the beauty of her singing" and she successfully procured additional financial support for the community from him and a promise to complete the construction of the abbey. Osbert claimed that the community benefitted from the king's gift even until his own time.

According to Bugyis, Eadburh's liturgical activities extended beyond her duties as cantor; Osbert reported that she also "held an important role in the celebration of the Eucharist" at Nunnaminster, although it is unclear exactly what activities she performed. Bugyis speculates that these activities could have included: preparing the hosts and ensuring that they and the wine and water were available before each Mass; bringing the elements to the altar during the offertory; assisting with the consecration and distribution of the Eucharist; and taking out the consecrated hosts during a communion service, when a priest was unavailable. Both Eadburgh and St. Edith of Wilton, abbess of Wilton Abbey, were praised by contemporary historian William of Malmesbury for their prayers and intercessions on behalf of their respective communities, as well as their members' "unfailing obedience" and devotion to their leaders and teachers.

There is little contemporary information for her life, but in a Winchester charter dated 939, she was the beneficiary of land at Droxford in Hampshire granted by her half-brother King Æthelstan.

According to one account, when Eadburh was three years of age, her father sought an indication as to whether she would live in the world or as a religious. On one side he placed rings and bracelets, on the other a chalice and gospel book. A nurse brought the child, and King Edward set her on his knee, inviting her to choose. When he set her down, she chose the religious items. Bugyis speculates that these items were meant for and used by Eadburh and the nuns at Nunnaminster.

The hagiography written of her in the 12th century by Osbert of Clare shows evidence of some of the unusual occurrences that might have happened in that time period when a member of a royal family became a monk or nun. In one story, her father visits her in the monastery and she sings for him, and he asks her if there is anything he can do for her, and she asks for him to give the community an estate at Canning, which he does so. In another story, the abbess found her reading alone, which was against the rules of the monastery, and then thrashed her. When the abbess realized it was the princess and not an ordinary nun, the abbess then begged forgiveness from her. In another story, she one time insisted on cleaning the shoes of her well-born companions, and they felt shocked by this and reported it to her father as behaviour that is not right for her. Osbert reported that despite her royal lineage, Eadburh obeyed her elders in the Nunnaminster, showed respect to her peers and members of the community who were younger than her, and "devoted herself to performing works of service" for her followers "that others deemed to be beneath her". One act of service was secretly cleaning her sisters' shoes, as Christ washed the feet of his disciples.

Eadburh died at Winchester in her thirtieth year on 15 June in 951, 952 or 953. Osbert reported that she led the Winchester community in song and praise, "even near the moment of her death", and that the other nuns continued to honor her memory by singing during her burial.

Veneration
A cult developed after her death and is first mentioned in the Salisbury Psalter from the early 970s. In 972, some of her remains were transferred to Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire, which is dedicated to SS. Mary, Peter and Paul, and Eadburh. Her feast is celebrated on 15 June.

Osbert recorded that after Eadburh's death, the nuns at Nunnaminster discovered, "through a series of miracles", that they had buried her in an inappropriate place that did not befit her sanctity, so they translated her body to a place near the choir in order that her pilgrims could better access her tomb and so that "she could be near the place where she had spent of much time in prayer". Eadburh, however, appeared to the nuns in a dream and informed them that she preferred to be buried near the altar, where she had regularly ministered.

The monks at Pershore Abbey, who commissioned Osbert to write Eadburh's hagiography, named her as one of their patron saints and acquired her relics in the late tenth century. The abbey's seal, created in the 1300s, Eadburh is depicted "in three-quarter length, facing forward, wearing a veil, holding a chalice in her right hand and an open book, likely the gospels, in her left". Bugyis states that Eadburh's position on the seal is remarkable because at monasteries in England during the time, the position, along with a sign of their office (a crosier or book) was usually held by the person who held a house's highest office. Bugyis insists that the seal conveys the Pershone Abbey monks' view of Eadburh as a representative of their identity and that they considered her as a figure of the abbot of their community. Finally, Bugyis states that they "took pride in identifying, and being identified, with her image because they used it continuously to close correspondance and to authenticate documents until at least 1534".

Her cultus continued to flourish to judge by the Lives written in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

Dedication of parish churches
There are a number of Church of England parish churches dedicated to St. Eadburh of Winchester. Most of them are not far from Pershore Abbey, to which they were connected in some way.

 * St Edburga, Abberton, Worcestershire (rebuilt 1882)
 * St Eadburgha, Broadway, Worcestershire
 * St Eadburgha, Ebrington, Gloucestershire
 * St Edburga, Leigh, Worcestershire
 * St Edburgha, Yardley, West Midlands
 * The dedication of the church of St Aldhelm and St Eadburgha, Broadway, Somerset may be relatively modern: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848) lists it as being dedicated to St. Aldelme (sic) only. It retained the dedication to St. Aldelme in 1875.

St Edburg, Bicester, Oxfordshire and SS Mary & Edburga, Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire are both dedicated to Edburga of Bicester.

Dedication of abbey churches
St Mary's Abbey, Winchester was at one time co-dedicated to St. Eadburh. Pershore Abbey was also for some time dedicated to her after Egilwado (Alwardus or Æthelweard), the nephew of the Abbess of St. Mary's Abbey, acquired some of her bones for £100. The dedication of the Abbey varied at different times in its history. In the Domesday Book it is called the Abbey of St. Mary; in Henry VIII's time the Valor of St. Edburga. It has also been called the Church of SS Mary, Edburga and Holy Cross (the parochial portion was dedicated to the Holy Cross). In its earlier years SS. Mary, Peter, and Paul were its patron saints, but at the time of the introduction of the Benedictines it was probably dedicated to St. Mary, with whom was joined St. Edburga, whose relics had then not long been added to its treasure.

title: Eadburh of Winchester