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Knight and Knaves

Before the Romans fled Britain in approximately 400ad the Saxons had already been
allowed to settle in areas of southern England, and had been raiding much of southern
and eastern Britain for centuries. These raids had been severe enough for the creation
of a long string of hill forts by the Romans, known as the litora Saxonica or ‘Saxon Shore’.
When the Romans left Britain was open to invasion by the Picts, from what is now Scotland,
and by the Irish. To protect against these raids the Briton King, called Vortigern asked the
Saxons to help defend the Britons, granting them land in Kent and the Isle of Wight. The
Saxons demanded more and more land for the help they gave the Britons, and brought over
more and more men, and eventually turned against the Britons, forcing them out of most of
Britain. The Britons were then confined to the edges of the land, Cornwall and Wales. The
Saxons created for Kingdoms, Middlesex, Wessex, Sussex and Essex.

The Viking raids, which had been raiding the Saxons, and the Britons before them, for centuries
grew and grew in ferocity and frequency until in the 8^th century the Viking settled in Northumbria,
and over the next two centuries pushed the Vikings south until only Sussex was left unconquered.
Alfred the Great, King of Sussex united the remaining Saxons and took back much of the conquered
land in 893, creating what we now know as England.

The Normans were the next conquerors of Britain, descendents of Viking settlers in Normandy,
a large Norman force, under the command of Duke William of Normandy, sailed across the
English Channel and defeated the Saxon force arrayed against him. The destruction of the majority
of the Saxon army and almost all of the Saxon ruling class meant the pacification of England was
fairly quick.

Even before the Norman Conquest of England, the Normans had come into contact with Wales.
Edward the Confessor had set up an earl of Hereford and charged him with defending the Marches
(an area between Wales and England that was largely lawless) and warring with the Welsh. In
these original ventures, the Normans failed to make any headway into Wales.

Subsequent to the Conquest, however, the Marches came completely under the dominance of
William's most trusted Norman barons, including Bernard de Neufmarché, Roger of Montgomery
in Shropshire and Hugh Lupus in Cheshire. These Normans began a long period of slow conquest
during which almost all of Wales was at some point subject to Norman interference.

In 1106 the last native Prince to hold Gower, Hywel ap Goronwy, was strangled and beheaded by
the Normans and the area came under the control of Lord Henry, earl of Warwick. He built his
main castle at Swansea and set about giving away the choicest bits of land to his favorite followers
and churchmen. He gave Llangennith to the church and it became a Benedictine Cell. Llanmadoc was
given to the military order of the Knights Templar in 1156 by Lord Henry’s wife, after his death.

The Knights Templar were created to patrol and police the roads and newly created settlements after
the Crusades. The Templars also became international bankers, accruing great wealth looking after
moneys and jewelry, and protecting it as it was moved from one place to another. It was this wealth
that King Philip IV of France sort after the failure of the 13^th Century Crusade.

He accused the Knights Templars of sexual perversion, heresy and ritual murders. He drew false
confessions out of the Knights with torture and in 1307 he ordered the arrest of the Knight Templar officers.
The English King followed suit, and in 1308 an order was issued to arrest all Knights of the Templar.
In the same year the Royal Sherriff of Carmarthenshire rode with 12 followers to Llanmadoc and
confiscated the Knight Templar lands that were there.

In 1312 the Pope publically and formally suppressed the Knights Templar and ordered their land to be
given to the newly formed Knights Hospitallers, who held the land until in 1540 the order was dissolved
and Llanmadoc given to the Patron of Cheriton Church. From there the land passed into the hands of Mr
and Mrs Burr until it was given to become St Madoc Christian Youth Camp in 1945.

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