66 Essay on Caerphilly Castle. 



during his absence in the east, enjoyed equal opportunities with his prede- 

 cessors for the study of architectural display, possessed, after his return, the 

 additional advantage of a long and vigorous reign, wherein to carry his 

 knowledge into practice at home. 



Lampeder Vawr, (1282,) and Beaumaris, (1295,) castles, were erected 

 by Edward, to defend his new conquests and to bridle the Welsh. Llewelyn 

 their prince had been put to death, and after the birth of Edward of Caer- 

 narvon, and his investiture with the Principality, or rather, with the earl- 

 doms of Chester and Flint, it is stated by the English writers, that the 

 natives began to amass money and goods, and to live after the Norman 

 manner, and to abide by the English laws. 



In this year, Edward marched from Snowdon to Glamorgan, 



1285. and having been received by the earl of Gloucester with great 



Walsingham. honour, was by him, at his own proper charges, conducted to 



the Gloucestershire border, whence he proceeded to Bristol. 



The king was probably entertained at Cardiff, which, for the reasons which 



we have stated above, was the ordinary residence of the lords of Glamorgan, 



During Edward's absence in Palestine, the Welsli, whose 



1289. inherent love of liberty, even his crafty and cruel measures had 



been unable to quell, again broke out; and at a later period, 



1295. under Mailgon, actually drove out Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, 



who had inherited Glamorgan, and who seems to have died 



about this period. The king, however, entering Wales, speedily reduced 



the Welshmen to obedience ; and the three daughters of the earl of 



Gloucester, and his son Gilbert, a minor, were reinstated in their father's 



possessions. 



Upon the accession of Edward II. he took advantage of the minority of 



the young earl of Gloucester, to give his sister away in mar- 



1311. riage to his despicable favourite, Gaveston, a proceeding which 



gave great offence to the nobility of the realm, as well as to 



the earl her brother. Upon his death, while fighting against the Scotch, 



a few years afterwards, his vast estates were divided by the king 

 1313. . 



among his three sisters, of whom the eldest was married to Hugh 



le Despencer — a name, if possible, more infamous than that of Gaveston. 



Before the royal division of earl Gilbert's estates, which 



Fcedera. being held in ca])ite, were in the custody of the crown, we find 



a commission issued to Humfrey de Bohun to defend Glamor- 



Feb. 1316. gan against the Welsh, under Llewelyn Bren,* who had risen 



* Llewelyn Bren, grandson to Ifor lord of Senghennydd, at the time of the Nor- 

 man spoliation, seems to have thought the contests subsequent on the failure of the 

 male line of the De Clares, a favourable opportunity for regaining his ancestorial 

 territories, and accordingly he invaded Senghennydd with ten thousand men, and 

 assaulted and took Caerphilly Castle. This insurrection appears to have been soon 

 suppressed, for Ifor and his sons Gryffydd and Jevan were imprisoned in the tower of 

 London, in 1317. — Beauties, p. 383. 



