Editing Cardiff Castle (section)

===12th–14th centuries===
{{multiple image
| align = right
| header= {{center|The reconstructed Roman wall within the Castle grounds}}
| total_width = 450
| image1 = The reconstructed Roman wall in Cardiff Castle.jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Cardiff castle - Keep 6 Trennmauer.jpg
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
}}

FitzHamon was fatally injured at the [[Battle of Tinchebray]] in 1106 and died shortly afterwards.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=22}}</ref> [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] then gave the castle in 1122 to [[Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester|Robert of Gloucester]], the king's illegitimate son and the husband of FitzHamon's daughter, Mabe.<ref>{{harvnb|Pettifer|2000|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=51}}</ref> After the failed attempt of [[Robert Curthose]], duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror's eldest son, to take England from Henry I, the duke was moved here in 1126 from imprisonment at [[Devizes]] and remained imprisoned in the castle until his death in 1134.<ref>{{harvnb|Pettifer|2000|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Davies|2010}}</ref> Robert of Gloucester held the castle during the troubled years of [[the Anarchy]] in England and Wales, and passed it on to his son, [[William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester|William Fitz Robert]].<ref name=Pettifer2000P88>{{harvnb|Pettifer|2000|p=88}}</ref> Around the middle of the century, possibly under Robert of Gloucester, a {{convert|77|ft|0|adj=on}} wide, {{convert|30|ft|0|adj=on}} high [[shell keep]] was constructed on top of the motte, along with a stone wall around the south and west sides of the inner bailey.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|pp=25–28, 51}};  {{harvnb|Clark|1884|p=340}}</ref> The polygonal shell keep has architectural links to a similar design at [[Arundel Castle]].<ref>{{harvnb|Goodall|2011|p=129}}; {{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=28}}</ref> The building work was probably undertaken in response to the threat posed following the Welsh uprising of 1136.<ref name="Newman 1995 196"/>

Tensions with the Welsh continued, and in 1158 [[Ifor Bach]] raided the castle and took William hostage for a period.<ref name=Pettifer2000P88/> A further attack followed in 1183.<ref name=Pettifer2000P88/> By 1184 [[town wall]]s had been built around Cardiff, and the West Gate to the town was constructed in the gap between the castle and the river.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|pp=33–34}}</ref> William died in 1183, leaving three daughters. One of these, [[Isabel, Countess of Gloucester]], was declared the sole heir to the estate by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]]. This was contrary to legal custom in England, and was done in order that Henry could then marry her to his youngest son [[John of England|Prince John]] and thus provide him with extensive lands.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=51}}; {{harvnb|Turner|2009|p=37}}</ref> John later divorced Isabel, but he retained control of the castle until she married [[Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex|Geoffrey de Mandeville]] in 1214.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=51}}</ref>

[[File:Interior of Cardiff Castle keep.jpg|thumb|left|Interior of the keep]]
Upon Isabel's death in 1217 the castle passed through her sister to [[Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Gloucester|Gilbert de Clare]], becoming part of the [[Honour of Clare]], a major grouping of estates and fortifications in medieval England.<ref>{{harvnb|Pounds|1994|p=138}}; {{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=51}}</ref> The castle formed the centre of the family's power in South Wales, although the de Clares typically preferred to reside in their castles at [[Clare Castle|Clare]] and [[Tonbridge Castle|Tonbridge]].<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|1884|p=336}}</ref> Gilbert's son, [[Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester]], carried out building work at the castle in the late 13th century, constructing the Black Tower that forms part of the southern gateway seen today.<ref name=Grant1923P30>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=30}}</ref> On the ground floor the tower contained the Stavell Oged and Stavell Wenn chambers, with three rooms constructed above them.<ref name=Grant1923P30/> Richard was also probably responsible for rebuilding the northern and eastern walls of the inner bailey in stone.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=32}}</ref> The inner bailey was reached through a gatehouse on the eastern side, protected by two circular towers and later called the Exchequer Gate.<ref>{{harvnb|Clark|1884|pp=340–341, 348}}</ref> The defensive work may have been prompted by the threat posed by the hostile Welsh leader [[Llywelyn ap Gruffudd]], Prince of Wales.

Richard's grandson, [[Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester|Gilbert de Clare]], the last male de Clare, died at the [[Battle of Bannockburn]] in 1314 and the castle was given to [[Hugh Despenser the Younger]], the controversial favourite of [[Edward II of England|Edward II]].<ref name=Pettifer2000P88/> Poor harvests and harsh governance by the Despenser family encouraged a Welsh rebellion under [[Llywelyn Bren]] in 1316; this was crushed and Llywelyn was [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] in Cardiff Castle in 1318 on Hugh's orders.<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1923|p=52}}; {{harvnb|Roberts|2006|p=53}}</ref> The execution attracted much criticism from across both the English and Welsh communities, and in 1321 Hugh arrested Sir William Fleminge as a scapegoat for the incident, first detaining him in the Black Tower and then executing him in the castle grounds.<ref>{{harvnb|Roberts|2006|p=53}}; {{harvnb|Grant|1923|pp=31, 59}}</ref> Conflict between the Despensers and the other Marcher Lords broke out soon after, leading to the castle being sacked in 1321 during the [[Despenser War]].<ref name=Pettifer2000P88/> The Despensers recovered the castle and retained it for the rest of the century, despite the execution of Hugh Despenser for treason in 1326.<ref>{{harvnb|Pettifer|2000|p=88}}; {{harvnb|Grant|1923|pp=52–53}}</ref> Under a 1340 charter granted by the Despensers, the castle's [[constable]] was made the ''de facto'' mayor of Cardiff, controlling the local courts.<ref>{{harvnb|Weinbaum|1943|p=148}}; {{harvnb|Jenkins|1984|p=182}}</ref>