Transcription:
The Story of Shrewsbury 1066 to 1094, Wild Edric's Siege and Benedictine Abbey Building
The Norman Castle now dominated the town, and so did Roger!
In fact, THIS IS REALLY ABOUT Roger of Montgomery (the first Earl) of Shrewsbury,
who had good reason to be big on castles!
Because, the people of Shropshire resisted his Norman rule at first.
Their leader was 'WILD' EDRIC
In 1069 Edric Sylvaticus (known as Wild Edric) struck an alliance with the Welsh.
...and led the men of Shropshire,Hereford and Cheshire
in a siege of Shrewsbury.
This was only partly successful and, after burning part of the town, they left.
Roger (the first Earl of Shrewsbury, built about 70 other castles in all, including Ludlow Castle.
Shropshire quickly became the most heavily fortified county in Norman England.
The castles helped protect Roger's earthly power and in time his rule became less harsh, giving him time for pious thought.
He worried about the state of his soul, and set about his great work of church building.
At that time, a little wooden church existed near the bank of the River Seven, on the English or east side of Scrobbes-byrig.
Earl Roger decided that this should be replaced by a new stone church, at the heart of a great Benedictine Abbey.
Roger clearly knew how to get things done, and that's how Shrewsbury got it's Abbey.
He pushed the work ahead rapidly in the years before 1094.
At last, in 1094 the Abbey was complete.
His intention was to retire to it.
He abandoned his wealth and power and became a simple monk.
Sadly for him though, we are told that he only lived 3 days, as a monk, before he died!
Historical text derived from: "The Story of Shrewsbury" by Richard Graves, Hardwick House, Ellesmere 1993, and www.shropshirehistory.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment