Audioguía White Castle

The impressive ruins of this castle are located in south east Wales in the UK. It was a frontier fortress capable of accommodating an entire field army. The fortress walls with towers and bizarrely shaped loopholes are amazing.

Wales is a mountainous country in the south-west of Great Britain. It is inhabited by the Welsh (self-named Cymry), a Celtic people who once spoke their own language. Even the most powerful rulers like Llywelyn ap Iorwerth the Great could not unite the whole of Wales for a long time. Therefore, for most of its history, Wales has been divided into several principalities.

Attempts to conquer Wales were made by the Anglo-Normans immediately after the conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. However, they did not achieve much success at first. It took two centuries to conquer Wales. All these years, it remained a country where English influence was extremely weak. Wales was divided into a number of warring "kingdoms". Defeating one Welsh ruler did not mean subjugating the rest. The east and south of Wales were ruled by Anglo-Norman barons who owned the borderlands and were called the Lords of the Welsh Mark. They caused significant trouble to the Welsh "kings," but it was still premature to talk about Wales becoming part of the English crown.

The first castle, still made of wood and earth, was built on the site of the White Castle during the first Norman invasion of Wales, organized by William Fitz-Osbern (1011-1071), Earl of Hereford, a friend and one of the closest associates of William the Conqueror.