At Monmouth, in Monmouthshire, the remains of a castle keep the memory of a glorious king: Henry V, the victor of Agincourt, was born there. In Tudor times, this famous fortress found a second administrative life, becoming the court of the county town of a newly created county.
The cradle of a king
The glory of Monmouth is to have seen the birth, in 1386, of Henry V — 'Henry of Monmouth' —, in the tower above the gatehouse. This king, hero of the Hundred Years' War and victor of Agincourt (1415), was abundantly celebrated in Tudor times: Shakespeare made him one of his greatest characters, in Henry V, the embodiment of the ideal warrior-king. That the castle had seen the birth of such a hero gave it a considerable memorial prestige, kept alive by the chroniclers and playwrights of the English Renaissance.
A castle become a court
Monmouth's Renaissance history is also administrative. The Laws in Wales Acts of Henry VIII (1535-1542) reorganised Wales into English-style counties: Monmouth became the county town of the newly created county of Monmouth. The great hall of the castle thenceforth hosted the Courts of Assize — the great judicial sessions —, giving it a civic function while the rest fell into disuse. The castle thus illustrates the way the Renaissance recycled the old fortresses into instruments of the new royal administration. It was finally 'slighted' after the Civil War — the round tower collapsing on 30 March 1647. To see: the remains of the great hall, the tower said to be Henry V's birthplace, the adjacent Great Castle House (seventeenth century).
Did you know?
Shakespeare made Monmouth a place of national memory: in Henry V, the king himself proudly calls himself a 'Welshman', born at Monmouth, and the Welsh captain Fluellen at length compares Monmouth to Macedon (Alexander's homeland), because 'there is a river at Monmouth… and there is salmons in both'. This affectionate humour of the playwright for the birthplace of the hero-king anchored Monmouth in the English imagination well beyond its ruined castle.
Notes
Monmouth Castle lies at Monmouth, Monmouthshire; remains accessible, with an attached military museum (Great Castle House). Hours to check.
Quiz
- Which king was born at Monmouth Castle?
- Henry V (victor of Agincourt)
- Henry VIII
- James I
- Which function did the great hall take in the sixteenth century?
- A court (Courts of Assize) of the county town
- A royal palace
- A monastery
- Which playwright celebrated Henry V and Monmouth?
- Shakespeare (Henry V)
- Christopher Marlowe
- Ben Jonson