Thursday, June 07, 2007

Kenilworth Castle 


On Sunday we went to Kenilworth Castle, ruins of a castle that was originally built in the 1120's but was continually added on to and modified for five centuries. From the English Heritage web site:

Kenilworth’s many and varied buildings and architectural styles reflect its long connection with successive English monarchs and their favourites. Its founder was Geoffrey de Clinton, Henry I’s treasurer, who began the massive Norman keep at the core of the castle in the 1120s. Judged too strong for a subject, Kenilworth thereafter became a royal fortress. King John greatly strengthened it between 1210 and 1215, enlarging the surrounding watery ‘mere’ which effectively made it an island stronghold. Thus it could withstand an epic siege in 1266, when rebellious barons held out against Henry III’s siege engines for six months, succumbing only to starvation.

During the 1390s, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, rebuilt the splendid great hall and staterooms of Kenilworth’s inner court. His grandson Henry V created in its grounds the moated summer-house called the Pleasaunce: here too, according to tradition, he received the insulting French ‘gift’ of tennis-balls which sparked off the Agincourt campaign. Henry VIII added more grand apartments: but it was his daughter Queen Elizabeth’s favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, who left the greatest impression on Kenilworth, and gave it its greatest fame.

Sunday was the last day of the Medieval Living Village in which actors played the parts of various villagers. We met the shoemaker, the potter, the blacksmith and the apothecary. They were all very knowledgeable about their crafts. Did you know that most archers in the army could shoot 12 arrows per minute? Amazing! Here is a video of the musicians teaching folks a dance:





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