Battle of Hawarden Castle (1282)
Who Fought
History & Significance
Year 1282 (MCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
March – Welsh forces under Prince Dafydd ap Gruffydd, brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, attack and take control of Hawarden Castle. The garrison is massacred and Constable Roger de Clifford is taken prisoner. Llywelyn, who has sworn fealty to King Edward I of England ("Longshanks"), joins Dafydd in his revolt against the English. Their actions lead to the final English conquest of Wales, by Edward.
March 30 – War of the Sicilian Vespers: A group of Sicilian conspirators begins an uprising against the rule of King Charles I of Sicily; over the next six weeks, thousands of French are killed. The rebellion forces Charles to abandon the planned crusade against the Byzantines, while still en route to the target city of Constantinople, and allows King Peter III of Aragon ("the Great") to take over rule of the island from Charles (which in turn leads to Peter's excommunication by Pope Martin IV).
May 1 – Battle of Forlì: A French expeditionary army under Jean d'Eppe launches an assault on Forlì and breaches the outer wall. While they plunder the suburbs, Guido I da Montefeltro sends a small force out the gate on the opposite side of the city. In an ambush, forces of the Guelphs and Ghibellines defeat the main army of d'Eppe, who is forced to retreat to Faenza. He asks the Pope for reinforcements, but this is refused.
Summer – An Aragonese expeditionary army under King Peter III lands in North Africa at Collo, in proclaimed support of a rebellion of the governor of Constantine, Ibn Wazir. The revolt is suppressed by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim I, ruler of the Hafsid Sultanate. Peter, wary of the situation in Sicily, sails off and fails to take advantage of the state of rebellion in North Africa. Ibrahim stabilizes his power and styles himself emir of the sultanate.
June – The 24-year-old Prince Sancho, heir to the throne of Castile, assembles a coalition of nobles and starts a massive rebellion against his father, King Alfonso X. He dispatches his brothers into the realm to claim strategically important cities and castles. Only the cities of Seville, Murcia and Badajoz remain loyal to Alfonso, who becomes isolated politically and abandoned by most of his family.
June 17 – Battle of Llandeilo Fawr: English forces led by Gilbert de Clare are ambushed and defeated by Welsh troops at Llandeilo. English expansion into southern Wales is halted.
June 26 – King Denis of Portugal ("the Poet King") marries the 11-year-old Elizabeth of Aragon, daughter of Peter III, in Trancoso. Elizabeth receives the towns of Óbidos, Abrantes and Porto de Mós as part of her dowry. Denis, known for his poetry, writes several poems and books, with topics of administration and hunting. During his reign, Lisbon becomes one of Europe's centers of art and culture.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Hawarden Castle (1282) lies on Millstone Grit Group [See Also Migr], bedrock that formed in the Namurian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
The most striking detail of the attack on Hawarden Castle is the fate of its garrison: Dafydd ap Gruffydd's forces did not merely seize the fortification but massacred those defending it, sparing only the constable, Roger de Clifford, whom they took prisoner. This deliberate act of violence announced the seriousness of the Welsh revolt and ensured there could be no quiet diplomatic resolution. It was an act that drew even Llywelyn, who had sworn personal fealty to the English king, into a war he could not escape.
- The garrison was massacred; Roger de Clifford was taken prisoner
Frequently Asked Questions
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