Wars of the Roses and Tudor Ascendency

During the Wars of the Roses, town & castle wavered in support of warring Lancastrian & Yorkist factions. In 1447 Jasper Tudor (half brother to Henry IV) was appointed Earl of Pembroke and into his care was sent the young Margaret Beaufort, wife of his brother Edmund, who gave birth to a son in Pembroke Castle, a son destined to become Henry VII and founder of the Tudor dynasty. Edmund died two months before the birth of their son Henry.

Although Henry’s claim to the throne was flimsy, the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 resulted in the death of Henry VI’s son and heir, Edward Prince of Wales. All eyes turned to Henry Richmond as the next best Lancastrian candidate: his life henceforth was in danger.

In 1471 Pembroke Castle was besieged by Yorkist forces and Henry, his mother and Uncle Jasper were forced to flee. They escaped first to Tenby, where they were welcomed by the Mayor,Thomas White, and then to Brittany. From Brittany, 14 years later, they launched the invasion which culminated in the Battle of Bosworth 1485.

A NEW AGE – BUT WHAT DID THE TUDORS DO FOR US?

Henry Tudor, who many Welshmen felt was the reincarnation of Owain Glyndwr, believed he would lead Wales to independence again.

He never returned to Wales once he became king but he did appoint his son Henry ( later Henry VIII) Earl of Pembroke.

Prince Henry was made Earl of Pembroke and he was later, as Henry VIII, to make his unfortunate wife Anne Boleyn Marquis of Pembroke.

But it was Henry VIII who really set back Pembroke’s fortunes.

The Act of Union in 1536

took away Pembroke’s privileges gained under its previous charters. Henceforth the County of Pembroke was created which brought Pembroke under Crown control. Pembroke was no longer the administrative centre: Haverfordwest effectively became the County Town.

The castle remained the property of the crown for many years until King James I made a gift of Pembroke Castle to a Welsh Gentry Family, the Pryses of Gogerddan in Cardiganshire.

No longer important as an administrative centre and militarily obsolete, it appeared that Pembroke was no longer of any strategic use - how wrong this turned out to be when, in the Stuart era, Britain was once more engulfed by Civil War.

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