bloody events in Welsh history part 1 Abergavenny massacre

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 Abergavenny massacre

Sometime in the 1160s Henry Fitzmiles, son of  Hameline de Balun,  the Norman  Lord of Abergavenny, was killed fighting against the forces of Sytsylt ap Dyferwald, Sytsylt was a native Welsh ruler of the area, 1172 The same Welshman besieged and captured the formidable Norman castle at Abergaveny but was soon returned to the Normans.
With Henry dead there was no male heir to take over the de Balun lands and these consequently passed to the evil Norman lord  William de Braose.
Abergavenny Castle was now in the hands of a man who, the most vicious of all the Norman Barons
At Christmas 1175 de Braose invited Sytsylt, his son Geoffrey and all of the leading chieftains from Powys to a feast at Abergavenny Castle. The intention, he declared, was to meet and spend the Christmas period in each other's company. They would feast and celebrate and make a lasting reconciliation following the death of Henry Fitzmiles.
Unsuspecting, Sytsylt accepted the invitation, happy to bring peace to the land, but William de Braose had other intentions. Reconciliation was the last thing on his mind.
With weapons stacked outside and the ale flowing, the doors to the great hall were suddenly locked and a massacre began.
Sytsylt and all his allies, his son and his followers, were callously cut down in an act of vengeance for the death of Henry – Aware that Seisyll’s youngest son and wife had not attended the gathering and such was his thirst for revenge, William gathered his men, located their whereabouts and killed the boy as his mother tried to protect him in her arms. The night had been bloody and brutal and it earned William the nickname of The Ogre of Abergavenny.
Amazingly his actions were forgiven as he was favoured by King John of England and he later took up post of Sheriff of Herefordshire.
As they say karma always comes around to bite you and in 1175 The Lord of Caerleon took Abergavenny castle and burnt it to the ground. William was said to have fled to Ireland and was later seen in France where he lived out the remainder of his life dying in exile there. His wife and son were taken to Corfe Castle and are said to have starved to death in the dungeons.

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