Dingestow Castle was under construction in 1182, being built in stone by Ranulf Poer, Sheriff of Herefordshire, to replace an earlier Norman motte and bailey fortification intended to control that part of the Welsh Marches. While the castle was still being raised, it was attacked by Hywel ap Iorwerth, the Welsh lord of Caerleon, whose assault was an act of retaliation for the murder of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal at Abergavenny Castle over Christmas 1175 by William de Braose. The sheriff himself was killed during the action, making the engagement a costly defeat for the Norman garrison.
The attack on Dingestow Castle formed part of a broader campaign of reprisals ordered by Hywel ap Iorwerth, carried out by relatives of the slain Seisyll. Simultaneously, Abergavenny Castle was set afire, though William de Braose was not present when it was burnt; most of his men there were taken hostage. The destruction of Dingestow Castle thus represented a significant Welsh military success, eliminating a newly built Norman stronghold and killing its commander in the process.
The assault came while the stone castle was still being constructed, catching its Norman defenders at a moment of vulnerability; Ranulf Poer, the Sheriff of Herefordshire who had commissioned the works, was slain in the fighting, and the attacks were carried out by relatives of Seisyll ap Dyfnwal as part of Hywel ap Iorwerth's coordinated campaign of vengeance against those connected with the Abergavenny massacre of 1175.
Ranulf Poer, Sheriff of Herefordshire, was killed in the action.
Welsh forces under Hywel ap Iorwerth, lord of Caerleon, attacked Norman defenders led by Ranulf Poer, Sheriff of Herefordshire.
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