With the defeat of Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, the king, Henry III, turned his attention to the Welsh problem of Llewellyn ap Gruffydd, grandson of Llewellyn the Great, MARK MULLER tells us.

Llewellyn ap Gruffydd had supported Simon de Montfort, albeit mostly ineffectively, during the Baron’s War, but had captured much of Wales. William de Valence, affected by this, vigorously assisted Edward, son of Henry III and conqueror of Wales (and ‘Hammer of the Scots’ - an inscription painted on his tomb) and soon to succeed as Edward I in 1272.

Western Telegraph: The site at Haverfordwest Castle where a Queen Eleanor memorial is soon to be unveiledThe site at Haverfordwest Castle where a Queen Eleanor memorial is soon to be unveiled

William took the surrender of the last Welsh castle in mid Wales in 1283. In the last decade of his life, William and his wife Joan furthered an almost lifelong habit of aggressive, litigious actions.

They routinely initiated court cases against other nobles who owned, or thought that they owned, land bordering the Pembrokeshire holdings of the de Valences, losing some (as against the Bishop of St Davids) and winning others. But they chose wrongly when they decided to take a case to court involving Haverfordwest Castle.

Western Telegraph: Queen Eleanor of Castile (Wikicommons creative commons licence)Queen Eleanor of Castile (Wikicommons creative commons licence)

The castle had become a possession of Eleanor of Castile, wife and Queen of Edward I, after a visit of theirs in 1284, but the de Valences claimed jurisdiction over the lordship of the town and castle. The lengthy formal enquiries and legal arguments went on long after Eleanor’s death in 1290, but in reality, the de Valences were never going to win against so formidable an opponent, dead or alive.

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William de Valence died in 1296 and his wife Joan de Munchensy, granddaughter of William Marshal, who held Pembroke as an inheritance from her mother in her own right, continued as Countess of Pembroke until her death in 1307. Aymer de Valence, their son, succeeded to the estates at this point, two older brothers having already died. Like his father, Aymer was not recognised formally as having the title of Earl but signed himself as Earl of Pembroke and Lord of Wexford.

Besides Pembroke, Aymer inherited multiple estates in England and Ireland and finally ended the argument over Haverfordwest and its castle when the lordship was granted to him in 1308.

With a strong French heritage and large ownership of land in France through marriage (first to Beatrice de Clermont in 1295, and when she died to Marie de St Pol) Aymer seemed an ideal candidate to become ambassador of France.

It had been in Scotland however, that Aymer de Valence had proved his worth prior to his inheritances. He fought with Edward I against William Wallace and Robert Bruce and was appointed Lieutenant of part of Scotland along with the manors of Selkirk and Peebles.

Western Telegraph: Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland by Christian CorbettRobert the Bruce, King of Scotland by Christian Corbett

De Valence was regarded as a warrior who treated his foes with respect and even intervened when his king, Edward, was acting in a rage against prisoners, male and female, who had been captured.

When Edward I lay on his deathbed in 1307, de Valence and three other earls were given the responsibility of seeing to a speedy coronation for his son, Prince Edward, and seeing to it that a man named Piers Gaveston should not be allowed to return to the country.

Piers Gaveston (1284-1312) had initially impressed Edward I with his youthful military abilities and it was Edward who introduced him to his son Prince Edward.

This turned very quickly into an infatuation of Gaveston by the prince, who began to shower him with gifts of land, titles and money. The two were about the same age and argument is still active between historians as to whether they were lovers.

Shortly before his death in 1307, Edward I banished Gaveston from the country and Gaveston went to France, but even in the process of seeing him off, Prince Edward exasperated the king by loading Gaveston with expensive gifts.

With the death of Edward I, almost the first act of Prince Edward, now Edward II, was to bring Gaveston back and invest him with the Earldom of Cornwall.

More next week.