Editing Belvoir Castle (section)

===Norman fortification===
[[File:Belvoir Castle Leicestershire.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The exterior of Belvoir Castle in June 2006.]]
[[File:Belvoirmorris edited high resolution 1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Belvoir Castle in the late 19th century.]]
[[File:Belvoir Castle from Jones' Views (1819).JPG|thumb|250px|right|The southwest range and round tower of Belvoir Castle from Jones' ''Views of the seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen'', published in 1829. Barring minor details, this image depicts the castle as it remains today.]]
[[File:10th Duke of Rutland 2 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The [[Charles Manners, 10th Duke of Rutland|10th Duke]] outside Belvoir Castle, by [[Allan Warren]] (late 1990s)]]

A [[Norman architecture|Norman]] castle originally stood on the high ground within the [[wapentake]] of [[Framland (hundred)|Framland]], overlooking the adjacent wapentake of [[Winnibriggs and Threo|Winnibriggs]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opendomesday.org/place/SK8333/woolsthorpe-by-belvoir/|title=Open Domesday Map: Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir|access-date=26 October 2015|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303064751/http://opendomesday.org/place/SK8333/woolsthorpe-by-belvoir/|url-status=live}}</ref> in Lincolnshire and dominating both.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~framland/Map/FramlandCs.html|title=Map of Framland showing Belvoir geography|access-date=26 October 2015|archive-date=12 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912142806/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~framland/Map/FramlandCs.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It was built on the land of [[Robert de Todeni]], mentioned in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, and inherited from him by [[William d'Aubigny (rebel)|William d'Aubigny]]. It eventually passed to William's granddaughter Isabel, who married [[Robert de Ros (died 1285)|Robert de Ros]] {{circa|1234}}.

Belvoir was a royal manor until it was granted to Robert de Ros in 1257. He was given a [[licence to crenellate]] in 1267.<ref>{{citation |last=Cantor |first=Leonard |year=1977–1978 |title=The Medieval Castles of Leicestershire |journal=Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society |volume=53 |url=http://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/CastlesPagesfromvolumeLIII-4.pdf |access-date=9 April 2011 |archive-date=14 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214230849/https://www.le.ac.uk/lahs/downloads/CastlesPagesfromvolumeLIII-4.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> When the male de Ros line died out in 1508, the manor and castle passed to [[George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros]], nephew of the last baron de Ros, who [[Inheritance|inherited]] the castle and barony through his mother. His son was created Earl of Rutland in 1525.