Roger de Montgomery
Roger de Montgomery
Roger de Montgomery
My name is Montgomery – Roger de Montgomery. Pembroke Castle began almost a thousand years ago with a little wooden fort I built on this finger of rock above the river.
I was "William the Conqueror’s" trusted right-hand man. It probably helped that I was also his cousin...I could be counted on to manage his kingdom or lead his troops.
King William handed me some of England’s most valuable estates... and the job of holding the Welsh borders around Shrewsbury – a hard job for a hard man. We raided the Welsh princes, they raided us: it was cat-and-mouse warfare in the hills, with nobody getting the upper hand.
But fortune favours the bold. In the spring of1093 the king of this part of Wales died, and I seized my opportunity. Within months I was here with an army and I conquered the biggest kingdom in South Wales before anyone could get organised to resist.
It was a stroke of brilliance, if I say it myself – and I paved the way for the future Earls and this magnificent castle. But what is gained can also be lost. Come into my tower to hear more.
I was "William the Conqueror’s" trusted right-hand man. It probably helped that I was also his cousin...I could be counted on to manage his kingdom or lead his troops.
King William handed me some of England’s most valuable estates... and the job of holding the Welsh borders around Shrewsbury – a hard job for a hard man. We raided the Welsh princes, they raided us: it was cat-and-mouse warfare in the hills, with nobody getting the upper hand.
But fortune favours the bold. In the spring of1093 the king of this part of Wales died, and I seized my opportunity. Within months I was here with an army and I conquered the biggest kingdom in South Wales before anyone could get organised to resist.
It was a stroke of brilliance, if I say it myself – and I paved the way for the future Earls and this magnificent castle. But what is gained can also be lost. Come into my tower to hear more.
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- Roger de Montgomery