Editing South West England (section)

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Plymouth Drake.jpg|thumb|left|The statue of Sir [[Francis Drake]] (1540–1596) on [[Plymouth Hoe]]]]
After the Norman Conquest the region was controlled by various Norman as well as [[Breton people|Breton]] lords and later by local gentry, a few of whom appear to have been descended from pre-Conquest families. In 1140, during the [[The Anarchy|civil war]] of [[Stephen of England|King Stephen]]'s reign, the castles of Plympton and [[Rougemont Castle|Exeter]] were held against the king by [[Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon|Baldwin de Redvers]] and this gave rise to the defensive castles at [[Corfe Castle]], [[Powerstock]], [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]] and [[Shaftesbury]]. The period saw the growth of towns such as [[Truro]], [[Totnes]], [[Okehampton]] and [[Plympton]] in the west of the region, but these were small compared with the established wealth of ancient [[cathedral city|cathedral cities]] in the east of the region such as [[Exeter]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] and [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]]. Wealth grew from sheep farming in the east of the region: church controlled estates such as [[Glastonbury Abbey]] and [[Wells, Somerset|Wells]] became among the richest in England, while [[tin]] and silver mining was important in Devon and Cornwall; [[Stannary Parliament]]s with semi-autonomous powers were established. Farming prospered until it was severely hit by the [[Black Death]] which arrived in [[Dorset]] in 1348 and quickly spread through Somerset, causing widespread death, with mortality rates perhaps as high as 50% in places. The resulting labour shortage led to changes in feudal practices. Crafts and industries also flourished; the Somerset woollen industry was then one of the largest in England.<ref>{{cite web | title=Saxon Times | work=Britannia | url=http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/somhist6.html | access-date=29 October 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061112073026/http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/somhist6.html | archive-date=12 November 2006 | url-status=live }}</ref> Coal mining in the [[Mendip Hills|Mendips]] was an important source of wealth while [[quarry]]ing also took place.

Many parish churches were rebuilt in this period. Between 1107 and 1129 [[William Giffard]], the Chancellor of King [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], converted the bishop's hall in Taunton into [[Taunton Castle]]. It passed to the king in 1233<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12419|title=Bridgwater Castle, Bridgwater|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=Somerset County Council|access-date=12 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003110458/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12419|archive-date=3 October 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 1245 repairs were ordered to its [[motte and bailey|motte]] and towers. During the 11th-century [[Second Barons' War]] against [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], Bridgwater was held by the barons against the King. During the [[Middle Ages]] sheep farming for the wool trade came to dominate the economy of [[Exmoor]]. The wool was spun into thread on isolated farms and collected by merchants to be woven, fulled, dyed and finished in thriving towns such as [[Dunster]]. The land started to be enclosed and from the 17th century onwards larger estates developed, leading to establishment of areas of large regular shaped fields. During this period a [[royal forest]] and hunting ground was established, administered by the Warden. The royal forest was sold off in 1818.<ref name="natparkhist">{{cite web|url=http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/environment/history/the-hiistory-of-exmoor |title=The history of Exmoor |access-date=29 November 2007 |work=Exmoor National Park |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729085614/http://www.exmoor-nationalpark.gov.uk/environment/history/the-hiistory-of-exmoor |archive-date=29 July 2013 }}</ref>

[[File:Fowey - geograph.org.uk - 2745.jpg|thumb|[[Fowey]] harbour]]
Where conditions were suitable, coastal villages and ports had an economy based on fishing. The larger ports such as [[Fowey]] contributed vessels to the naval enterprises of the King and were subject to attack from the French in return. Bridgwater was part of the [[Port of Bristol]] until the Port of Bridgwater was created in 1348,<ref name="somharbours"/> covering {{convert|80|mi|km}} of the Somerset coast line, from the [[Devon]] border to the mouth of the [[River Axe (Bristol Channel)|River Axe]].<ref name=lawrence-8>Lawrence, J.F. (revised and completed by Lawrence, J.C.) (2005). ''A History of Bridgwater''. Chichester: Phillimore. {{ISBN|1-86077-363-X}}. Chapter 8: "The Medieval Port of Bridgwater".</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Farr |first=Grahame |title=Somerset Harbours |publisher=Christopher Johnson |location=London |year=1954 |page=104|isbn=0-900131-15-2}}</ref> Historically, the main port on the river was at Bridgwater; the river being bridged at this point, with the first bridge being constructed in 1200.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |year=1992b |title=Bridgwater: History and Guide |location=Stroud |publisher=Alan Sutton |isbn=0-7509-0192-6 |page=193}}</ref> [[Quay]]s were built in 1424; with another quay, the ''Langport slip'', being built in 1488 upstream of the Town Bridge.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Robert |year=1992b |title=Bridgwater: History and Guide |location=Stroud |publisher=Alan Sutton |isbn=0-7509-0192-6 |page=193 }}</ref>  In [[Bristol]] the port began to develop in the 11th century.<ref name="Brace">{{cite book |last=Brace |first=Keith |title=Portrait of Bristol |year=1996 |publisher=Robert Hale |pages=13–15|location=London |isbn=0-7091-5435-6}}</ref> By the 12th century Bristol was an important port, handling much of England's trade with Ireland. During this period Bristol also became a centre of shipbuilding and manufacturing. Bristol was the starting point for many important voyages, notably [[John Cabot]]'s 1497 voyage of exploration to North America.<ref name="croxton">{{cite journal|last=Croxton|first=Derek|date=1990–1991|title=The Cabot Dilemma: John Cabot's 1497 Voyage & the Limits of Historiography|journal=Essays in History|publisher=Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia|location=Virginia|volume=33|url=http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH33/croxto33.html|access-date=16 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228081415/http://etext.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH33/croxto33.html|archive-date=28 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> By the 14th century Bristol was one of England's three largest [[medieval]] towns after London, along with [[York]] and [[Norwich]], with perhaps 15,000–20,000 inhabitants on the eve of the [[Black Death]] of 1348–49.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lovemytown.co.uk/LocalHistory/LocalHistoryTable1.asp |title=Largest towns in England in 1334 |access-date=10 March 2007 |work=Love my town |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511064410/http://www.lovemytown.co.uk/LocalHistory/LocalHistoryTable1.asp |archive-date=11 May 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The plague resulted in a prolonged pause in the growth of Bristol's population, with numbers remaining at 10,000–12,000 through most of the 15th and 16th centuries.<ref name="Bristol">{{cite web | title=Bristol | work=Fortified Places | url=http://www.fortified-places.com/bristol.html | access-date=24 March 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320215022/http://www.fortified-places.com/bristol.html | archive-date=20 March 2007 | url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Perkin Warbeck.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|[[Perkin Warbeck]]]]
During the [[Wars of the Roses]], there were frequent skirmishes between the [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] [[Thomas de Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon|Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon]] and [[House of York|Yorkist]] [[William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville|William, Lord Bonville]]. In 1470, [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] pursued [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick|Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick]] and [[George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence|George, Duke of Clarence]] as far as Exeter after the [[Battle of Lose-coat Field]]. The organisation of the region remained based on the shires and Church estates, which were largely unchanged throughout the period. Some of the most important nobles in the South West included the Courtenays Earl of Devon, [[William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville]], and [[Humphrey Stafford, 1st Earl of Devon|Humphrey Stafford, earl of Devon]] whose wider influence stretched from Cornwall to Wiltshire. After 1485, the Earl of Devon, Henry VII's chamberlain, [[Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney]] and [[Robert Willoughby, 1st Baron Willoughby de Broke]] were also influential.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stansfield-Cudworth|first=R.E.|title=Political Elites in South-West England, 1450–1500: Politics, Governance and the Wars of the Roses|publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-77344-714-1|location=[[Lewiston, New York]]|pages=149–89, 191–225, 303–45|language=English}}</ref> In 1497, early in [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]'s reign, the royal pretender [[Perkin Warbeck]], besieged Exeter. The [[Cornish Rebellion of 1497]] led by [[An Gof]] and [[Thomas Flamank]] ended in a march to [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]] in London where the [[Cornish people|Cornish]] forces were massacred.