Editing Shropshire (section)

=== Middle Ages ===

==== Early period ====
After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in the 5th century, the Shropshire area was in the eastern part of the Welsh [[Kingdom of Powys]]; known in Welsh poetry as the ''Paradise of Powys''.

As 'Caer Guricon' it is a possible Shrewsbury was the site of the seat of the [[Kingdom of Powys]] in the Early Middle Ages. This would date establishment of the town to the 500s CE under [[Brochwel Ysgithrog]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Wroxeter Hinterland Project |url=http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/bufau/research/wh/Lever/background.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060925014012/http://www.arch-ant.bham.ac.uk/bufau/research/wh/Lever/background.html |archive-date=25 September 2006 |access-date=23 February 2008 |publisher=University of Birmingham }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Simon |title=Wales: Churches, Houses, Castles |date=2008 |publisher=Allen Lane |location=London |page=245}}</ref> It is believed the area of Shrewsbury was settled in the 5th century by refugees from the nearby Roman City of [[Viroconium Cornoviorum]], most physical evidence dates from the 7th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ruins of the Roman City of Uriconium, at Wroxeter, near Shrewsbury, by Thomas Wright |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/62425/62425-h/62425-h.htm |access-date=20 April 2023 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

Oswestry saw conflict in the early mediaeval period and is reputed to be the place of death of [[Oswald of Northumbria]] in 641 or 642 CE. Oswald was later regarded as a saint, with [[Bede]] saying that the spot where he died came to be associated with [[miracle]]s, and people took dirt from the site, which led to a hole being dug as deep as a man's height.<ref name="Bede nine">Bede, ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'', [[wikisource:Ecclesiastical History of the English People/Book 3#9|Book III, chapter 9]].</ref>

[[King Offa]] of [[Mercia]] annexed the entirety of Shropshire over the course of the 8th century from Powys, with Shrewsbury captured in 778, with [[Offa's Dyke|two dykes]] built to defend, or at least demarcate it from the Welsh.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shipley |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZOSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18 |title=Secret Shrewsbury |publisher=Amberley Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=978-1445678450}}</ref> King Offa converted the palace of the rulers of Powys into his first church, dedicated to [[Chad of Mercia|St Chad]] (a foundation that still survives in the town and operated on that initial site for over 1000 years, moving in 1792).<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Leighton |first=W. A. (William Allport) |date=1850 |title=A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of Shrewsbury |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62688/pg62688-images.html.utf8 |access-date=8 July 2023 |language=en}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

[[File:Offa's Dyke near Clun.jpg|thumb|Section of [[Offa's Dyke]] near the Shropshire town of [[Clun]], constructed after the Saxon annexation of the area in the 8th century AD]]

In later centuries, [[Viking]]s repeatedly invaded and fortresses were built at [[Bridgnorth]] (912) and [[Chirbury]] (913).<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Shropshire#History|display=Shropshire § History|volume=24|page=1021}}</ref>

[[File:Æthelflæd_as_depicted_in_the_cartulary_of_Abingdon_Abbey.png|thumb|The relics of [[Alkmund of Derby|St Alkmund]] were brought to [[Shrewsbury]] in the C10th, possibly by [[Æthelflæd]], lady of the Mercians, daughter of [[Alfred the Great]].]]

In 914,<ref>{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/8907|title=Æthelflæd [Ethelfleda](d. 918)}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author-link=Frank Stenton|last=Stenton|first= Frank|year=1971|title=Anglo-Saxon England|publisher= Oxford University Press|place=Oxford, UK|edition=3rd|isbn=978-0-19-280139-5 |pages=325–327}}</ref>{{efn|Tim Clarkson's biography has a detailed discussion of Æthelflæd' burhs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Clarkson |first=Tim |title= Æthelflæd: The Lady of the Mercians|publisher=John Donald |location =Edinburgh, UK |year=2018|isbn=978-1-910900-16-1}}</ref>}} [[Æthelflæd]], Lady of the Mercians, fortified Shrewsbury, along with two other fortresses, at ''Scergeat'' (a currently unknown location) and ''Weardbyrig'',{{efn|thought to be [[Whitchurch, Shropshire|Whitchurch]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Matthew Blake and Andrew Sargent |title='For the Protection of all the People': Æthelflæd and her Burhs in Northwest Mercia |publisher=Keele University |year=2018}}</ref> which would make sense given the strategic importance of the Roman Road link via the [[Via Devana]].}} Viking rides from the north traveling south were reaching [[Bridgnorth]] at this time (910CE).<ref name=":2" /> In the early tenth century, the relics of [[Alkmund of Derby|St Alkmund]] were translated to Whitchurch, this was also probably the work of Æthelflæd.<ref>{{cite book |last=Meijns |first=Brigitte |title=England and the Continent in the Tenth Century |publisher=Brepols |year=2010 |isbn=9782503532080 |editor1-last=Rollason |editor1-first=David |location=Turnhout, Belgium |page=476 |chapter=The Policy on Relic Translations of Baldwin II of Flanders (879–918), Edward of Wessex (899–924), and Æthelflæd of Mercia (d.924): A Key to Anglo-Flemish Relations |author-link=Brigitte Meijns |editor2-last=Leyser |editor2-first=Conrad |editor3-last=Williams |editor3-first=Hannah}}</ref>

There is evidence to show that by the beginning of the 900s, Shrewsbury was home to a [[Mint (coin)|mint]].<ref name="localhistories.org">{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Tim |title=Saxon and Medieval Shrewsbury |url=http://www.localhistories.org/shrewsbury.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315203401/http://www.localhistories.org/shrewsbury.html |archive-date=15 March 2012 |website=A Short History of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England |publisher=A World History Encyclopaedia }}</ref>

Archaeological excavations at the site of Shrewsbury castle in 2019 have indicated that the castle itself may have been a fortified site in the time of the Saxons.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 November 2019 |title=Anglo-Saxon pottery identified from Shrewsbury Castle dig |url=https://newsroom.shropshire.gov.uk/2019/11/anglo-saxon-pottery/ |access-date=20 July 2023 |website=Shropshire Council Newsroom |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==== High medieval period ====
After the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman conquest]] in 1066, major estates in Shropshire were granted to Normans, including [[Roger de Montgomerie]] and later his son [[Robert de Bellême]], who ordered significant constructions, particularly in Shrewsbury, the town of which he was [[Earl of Shrewsbury|Earl]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Roger-de-Montgomery-1st-earl-of-Shrewsbury|title=Roger de Montgomery, 1st earl of Shrewsbury - Norman noble|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref>

Many defensive castles were built at this time across the county to defend against the Welsh and enable effective control of the region, including [[Ludlow Castle]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/shropshire/Ludlow_Castle.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114174452/http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/~jphb/shropshire/Ludlow_Castle.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 November 2007|title=Ludlow Castle|date=14 November 2007|access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref> and [[Shrewsbury Castle]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120909122105/http://www.shrewsburymuseums.com/castle Shrewsbury Museums Service – Shrewsbury Castle & The Shropshire Regimental Museum]. Shrewsburymuseums.com. Retrieved 25 August 2011.</ref>

The western frontier with Wales was not finally determined until the 14th century. Also in this period, a number of religious foundations were formed, the county largely falling at this time under the [[Diocese of Hereford]] and that of [[Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield|Coventry and Lichfield]]. Some parishes in the north-west of the county in later times fell under the [[Diocese of St. Asaph]] until the [[Disestablishmentarianism|disestablishment]] of the [[Church in Wales]] in 1920, when they were ceded to the Lichfield diocese.<ref name="Trinder">{{cite book|last=Trinder|first=Barrie|title=A History of Shropshire|year=1983|publisher=Phillimore|page=46}}</ref>

The county was a central part of the [[Welsh Marches]] during the medieval period and was often embroiled in the power struggles between powerful [[Marcher Lords]], the [[Earls of March]] and successive monarchs.<ref>[http://www.secretshropshire.org.uk/Content/Learn/Castles/MWar.asp Secret Shropshire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928195704/http://www.secretshropshire.org.uk/Content/Learn/Castles/MWar.asp |date=28 September 2011 }}. Secret Shropshire. Retrieved 25 August 2011.</ref>