Dafydd ap Llywelyn: The Shield of Wales

Dafydd ap Llywleyn was the first to use the title: Prince of Wales. He was the eldest child and only son of Llywelyn the Great and Joan, Lady of Wales, born in Flintshire at Castell Hen Blas, with European blood flowing in his veins on his mother's side. Joan was an illegitimate daughter of King …

Geoffrey II of Brittany

Geoffrey was the fifth child and fourth son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. It is unknown where he was born. What is known is that, along with his brothers and sisters, he was raised in England. By the time he was of full height, Geoffrey stood at 5’ 6’’. The first …

Geoffrey, Count of Nantes

Geoffrey of Nantes was the second child and son of Empress Matilda and Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, he was born on 1st June 1134 at one of the major cities of Normandy, this being either Rouen, or Agentan. He was born just over a year after his older brother, Henry FitzEmpress, the future King Henry …

Caernarfon Castle

The Welsh translation of Caernarfon Castle is Castell Caernarfon. The first mention of there being a castle in Caernarfon is around 1088, it was built on the orders of Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester, otherwise known as Hugh the Fat, or Hugh the Wolf. In 1282 and 1283, Edward I of England began to establish …

Leopold V of Austria

Duke Leopold V of Austria, also known as Leopold the Virtuous, or in German, Leopold der Tugendhafte, was said to be brazen and an astute risk taker, he was the son of Henry II, Duke of Austria and Theodore Komnene, a Byzantine Princess. Leopold married his wife, Helena of Hungary on the day of Pentecost, …

Beeston Castle

Sitting East of the Welsh border and South-East of the city of Chester is the medieval ruins of Beeston Castle. It sits upon a tall, and mighty rocky hill at 360 feet overlooking the county of Cheshire, and if the day is clear, and you look hard enough, across to the River Mersey.   The …