Zooming into 2022
Classes will run on a Monday afternoon at 3.00pm (London time) for 1 ½ hours. Please be in the waiting room at least five minutes before the class starts so that you are ready to be admitted into the virtual class room.
Payment can be made by Paypal to the right of the header image on this page. Because of the nature of this unit I would not recommend attending single sessions as the threads run throughout the block of classes.
Strongbow’s women and the Norman invasion of Ireland
An introduction to the story of ambitious and ruthless men, unlikely alliances, a celebrated hero and powerful women who changed the course of Irish history.
Monday 9 May 3.00pm-4.30pm
The de Clare family.
Meet Richard of Tonbridge, a kinsman of the Conqueror and find out how the de Clares established themselves as a politically powerful baronial family during the eleventh century. Explore the reasons behind King Henry II’s distrust of Richard de Clare and the reasons why the Earl of Striguil better known as Strongbow was not admitted to his inheritance.
Monday 16 May 3.00pm-4.30pm
Diarmait Mac Murchada, the penniless earl and a promise of marriage
A brief introduction to the last king of Leinster and the reasons behind Murchada’s dispossession of his kingdom and what the Irish Chronicles had to say about the man who invited the Normans to Ireland . Discover how Stongbow sought King Henry II’s approval, defied him and recruited an army to take Wexford, Waterford and Dublin. This week we will also be looking at the Cambrian connection to the Norman invasion of Ireland and the role of the FitzGeralds.
Monday 23 May 3.00pm – 4.30pm
Strongbow and King Henry II in Ireland
Strongbow claims Leinster by right of his wife and appeases King Henry II. The impact of the rebellion of King Henry II’s sons against him in 1173 on Strongbow’s fortunes. Politics, battles and double-dealing. We will also look at Aioffe of Leinster and her children this week. We will consider the view of women as pawns or players.
Monday 30 May half term
Monday 6 June 3.00pm-4.30pm
A valuable prize -the role of wives and children
Isabel de Clare suo jure countess of Pembroke and the promises of kings. Strongbow’s death, Henry II’s role as Isabel’s guardian and a promise of marriage to William Marshal. Marshal would say of his wife, who he met for the first time on the day he claimed her as his bride, ‘I have no claim to anything save through her.’ Although much of her power was indirect their thirty-year marriage was a business partnership as well as a love story. This week we will also look at Isabel and William’s family. In the years they were married they were rarely apart. Isabel raised ten children who were born in England, Wales, Ireland and Normandy. In time she and Marshal made the most of the marriage market to create a powerful kinship network of families who owed loyalty to the Marshals although the path of these marriages didn’t always run smoothly. One son-in-law was executed by an irate husband! Ultimately the story of the de Clares and the Marshals is the story of heiresses.
Monday 13 June 3.00pm-4.30pm
Consolidation and a princess in her own land
Isabel’s inheritance included Pembroke and Leinster as well as claim to the barony of Longueville in Normandy. On the Welsh marches and in Wales it included the castles of Chepstow, Cardigan, Cilgerran, Pembroke and Goodrich. Steering through the pitfalls of King John’s reign. The difficulties of land ownership and consequences of fealty offered to both the English and French king. T Isabel’s sons William and Richard were taken hostage by the king as guarantors for their father’s loyalty. Having fallen out of favour the Marshals were subject to King John’s machinations and Isabel found herself at war with a group of Anglo-Norman settlers and was besieged.
Monday 20 June 3.00pm-4.30pm
Legacies
Isabel and Marshal built a motte at Old Ross and a settlement grew around it which became known as New Ross. Isabel’s role in the foundation and growth of the settlement is described in the Chronicles of Ros. A brief exploration of other building works and development undertaken at this time. We will also briefly consider the role of piety and the Church. The reconstruction and pacification of Leinster. Marshal sought his wife’s advice and consent for his actions as she was the key to his legitimacy in the province. It was during this time that Isabel gave birth to her tenth child.
Monday 27 June 3.00pm-4.30pm
In 1219 Marshal died, the moving story of Isabel and her husband’s final kiss was shared in his biography but then Isabel took up the reigns of her estates. Death came suddenly for Isabel in 1220. Afterwards the marches of Wales erupted into the so-called Marshal War which spread to Ireland in 1233. In 1245 Isabel and Marshal’s inheritance fell to their five daughters and their offspring. We will look briefly look at the families involved.
Strongbow’s women and the Norman Invasion of Ireland – 7 weeks
A seven week introduction to the Norman invasion of Ireland and some of the key people of the period including the de Clare family, the FitzGeralds and the Marshals. Once payment is received registration is manually processed please allow 24 hours once immediate confirmation of payment is received.
£30.00
Strongbow’s women and the Norman Invasion of Ireland – single sessions.
A seven week introduction to the Norman invasion of Ireland and some of the key people of the period including the de Clare family, the FitzGeralds and the Marshals. Once payment is received registration is manually processed please allow 24 hours once immediate confirmation of payment is received.
£5.00