De Re Militari | Book Reviews
Christopher Gravett
The Castles of Edward I in Wales 1277-1307
Illustrated by Adam Hook. Fortress 64 (Osprey 2007), 64 pp. ISBN-10: 1846030277; ISBN-13: 978-1846030277. US$16.95.
Edward I’s castles in Wales have long captivated historians and tourists alike, and Christopher Gravett’s The Castles of Edward I in Wales provides readers with a fine overview of the military functionality of these castles (Flint, Rhuddlan, Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech, and Beaumaris) in this valuable addition to the Osprey Fortress series. This volume, while necessarily slim, contains several thematic chapters covering aspects of lordship, construction, defense, and daily life in the castles. There is also a chapter devoted to the magnificent castle of Caernarfon as a more in-depth case-study.
Gravett does an admirable job of introducing the reader to the military aspects of castle architecture. The book is well-stocked with photographs and Adam Hook provides valuable cut-away illustrations that depict the construction of a castle, as well as a castle under assault. The illustrations and photography particularly remind the reader of the wonderful castle guidebooks published by CADW.
The book begins with a concise political overview of English policy towards Wales at the end of the 13th century. Gravett offers a narrative of Edward I’s campaigns into Wales, and his subsequent decision to construct the castles that form the subject for the book. The chronological timeline that follows this introduction covers major events in the history of the Welsh castles from 1255-1647.
Most of the book is devoted to describing the planning, building, military capabilities and functionality of the castles. While Gravett does a good job of covering the immense cost and effort that Edward I expended in constructing these castles, more could certainly have been done to contextualize these costs in terms of the logistical and financial limitations of the English state. Gravett offers the figures for how much the castles cost to build, and they are staggering, but he does not offer similar evidence on how much they cost to maintain, or the direct strain that this expenditure placed on the finances of Edward’s government. The relationship between these expenditures and the financial crisis of the later 1290s is also unexplored.[1]
The true strength of the book comes in its chapters on castle design and functionality. Gravett clearly has a firm grasp of the military defenses of the castles, and he is able to convey this to the reader vividly. The sheer magnitude of the castle defenses and the ingenuity of the castle architects come across clearly and compellingly. The connections drawn between Edward’s castles in Wales and other structures in western Europe, and the role played by master builders such as Master James of St. George are especially interesting and enlightening.
The chief criticism of the book is that it does not devote much space to the social and cultural implications and impacts of Edward’s castles in Wales, and of medieval castles in general. While there is a chapter on daily life in the castle, and there is some discussion of the pan-European aspects of castle architecture, vital questions of lordship, the role of the castle in society, and the cultural impact of the castles are largely absent.[2]
Overall, the book serves as a useful introduction of the major castles built by Edward I in Wales, and it does a good job of giving the reader a sense of the scale, complexity, and military power of the structures. It likely will prove especially valuable for instructors who wish to give their students a lively look at some of the grandest examples of medieval military architecture.
Notes
[1] For an overview, see Michael Prestwich, Edward I (Yale University Press: New Haven, 1988), Chapter 16.
[2] See, for instance, Charles Coulson, “The state of research: Cultural Realities and Reappraisals in English castle-study”, Journal of Medieval History, Volume 22, No. 2 (1996), 171-208.