Editing Framlingham Castle (section)

===11th–12th centuries===
The population of [[Framlingham]] in [[Suffolk]] rose sharply after the [[Norman Conquest]] of England in 1066, as the village turned into a small town of at least 600 inhabitants, surrounded by valuable lands in one of the most prosperous parts of the country.<ref>Alexander, pp.12–13; Dyer, p.63.</ref> The region was owned by the powerful [[Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester|Hugh d'Avranches]], the [[Earl of Chester]], who granted it in turn to [[Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk|Roger Bigod]], the [[High Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk|Sheriff of Suffolk]]. A [[ringwork]] or [[motte and bailey]] castle was first built in either the 11th or early 12th century in the northern half of the Inner Court of the current castle.<ref>Alexander, p.17, citing Coad, pp155-8.</ref>

Although the first documentary reference to a castle at Framlingham occurs in 1148, the actual date of its construction is uncertain and three possible options have been suggested by academics. The first possibility is that the castle was built by Roger Bigod in either the late 11th century or around 1100, similar to the founding of Bigod's [[Caput baroniae|caput]] at nearby [[Eye Castle|Eye]].<ref>Stacey, p.23; Ridgard, p.2; Alexander, p.17.</ref> A second possibility is that Roger's son, [[Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk|Hugh Bigod]], built it during the years of [[the Anarchy]] in the 1140s on the site of an existing [[manor house]]; the castle would then be similar to the Bigod fortification at [[Bungay Castle|Bungay]].<ref>Alexander, pp.17–8.</ref> A third possibility is that there were in fact two castles: the first being built in the late 11th century and then demolished by Hugh Bigod in the 1160s in order to make way for a newer, larger castle.<ref>Alexander, p.18; Coad, p.160.</ref> Historian Magnus Alexander hypothesizes the castle might have been built on top of a set of pre-existing [[Anglo-Saxon]], high prestige buildings, a practice common elsewhere in East Anglia, possibly echoing the arrangement at [[Castle Acre]]; this would be most likely if the castle was built in the 11th century.<ref>Alexander, p.18.</ref>{{#tag:ref|Nicola Stacey and John Rigard prefer the late 11th century date for the founding of the castle; Magnus Alexander prefers the 1140s; J. Coad has proposed the two-castle option. The 11th century date carries the disadvantage of having no documentary evidence, and being slightly unusual for East Anglia, where the regional lords built relatively fewer castles during this period. The 1140s option closes the time gap with the first documentary reference in 1148 and fits well with Hugh Bigod becoming an Earl in 1140, but raises the question of what the Bigods had done with the site during the first forty years of their ownership. The two-castle model also lacks firm supporting evidence.<ref>Stacey, p.23; Ridgard, p.2; Coad, p.160; Alexander, p.17.</ref>|group="nb"}}

[[File:Framlingham Wall Walk.jpg|thumb|left|The Inner Court, showing the open backed mural towers]]
By the late 12th century the Bigod family had come to dominate Suffolk, holding the title of the [[Earl of Norfolk]] and owning Framlingham and three other major castles at Bungay, [[Walton Castle, Suffolk|Walton]] and [[Thetford Castle|Thetford]].<ref>Pounds, p.55; Brown (1962), p.191.</ref> The first set of stone buildings, including the first hall, were built within the castle during the 1160s.<ref>Raby and Reynolds, p.21.</ref> Tensions persisted throughout the period, however, between the Crown and the Bigods. Hugh Bigod was one of a group of dissenting barons during the Anarchy in the reign of King [[Stephen I of England|Stephen]], and after coming to power [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] attempted to re-establish royal influence across the region.<ref>Pounds, p.55.</ref> As part of this effort, Henry confiscated the four Bigod castles from Hugh in 1157, but returned both Framlingham and Bungay in 1165, on payment of a large fine of £666.<ref>Brown (1962), p.191; Carpenter, p.224; Stacey, p.24.</ref>{{#tag:ref|It is impossible to accurately compare 12th century and modern prices or incomes. For comparison, £666 is approximately the annual income of the wealthiest baron in England around 1200.<ref name=autogenerated3>Pounds, p.147.</ref>|group="nb"}}

Hugh then joined [[Revolt of 1173–1174|the revolt by Henry's sons]] in 1173. The attempt to overthrow Henry was unsuccessful, and in punishment the King ordered several Bigod castles, including Framlingham, to be destroyed ([[Slighting|slighted]]).<ref>Alexander, p.17.</ref> The King's engineer, Alnoth, destroyed the fortifications and filled in the moat at Framlingham between 1174 and 1176 at a total cost of £16 11s 12d, although he probably shored up, rather than destroyed, the internal stone buildings.<ref>Alexander, p.17; Ridgard, p.3. Ridgard notes "The view is widely held that, because Alnodus [Alnoth] the engineer was accompanied by carpenters and masons, stone buildings ... were shored up and repaired, not destroyed."</ref>{{#tag:ref|It is impossible to accurately compare 12th century and modern prices or incomes. For comparison, £16 represents the approximate cost of maintaining an average sized castle for a year during the period.<ref>Pounds, p.123.</ref>|group="nb"}} It was one of at least twenty castles belonging to the rebels to be slighted in the aftermath of the war.<ref>Brown (1959), p.252.</ref>

Hugh's son, [[Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk|Roger Bigod]], was out of favour with Henry, who initially denied him the family earldom and estates such as Framlingham.<ref name=BrownAlexander2002>Brown (2002), cited Alexander, p.20.</ref> Roger finally regained royal favour when [[Richard I of England|Richard I]] succeeded to the throne in 1189.<ref name=BrownAlexander2002/> Roger then set about building a new castle on the Framlingham site – the work was conducted relatively quickly and the castle was certainly complete by 1213.<ref>Alexander, p.20.</ref> The new castle comprised the Inner Court, defended with 13 mural towers; an adjacent Lower Court with smaller stone walls and towers, and a larger Bailey with timber defences.<ref>Stacey, p.17; Raby and Reynolds, p.6.</ref> By this time, a [[castle-guard]] system was in place at Framlingham, in which lands were granted to local lords in return for their providing knights or soldiers to guard the castle.<ref>King, pp.16–7.</ref>