Why Castle Isabel became Castle Philipp….

There are numerous castles in the Welsh Marches. I was going to say countless, but I’m sure someone will have counted to the very last motte. Among the lesser known is Shrawardine (pronounced Shray-den), in Shropshire, not far from Shrewsbury. What remains of it overlooks the River Severn, and as there was another fortification of some sort on the other bank, at Little Shrawardine, it is believed they guarded a crossing of some sort.

It is not known when there was first a castle at Shrawardine, but it is mentioned in 1165, and it led a chequered life until 1244, when it came into the hands of the Fitzalan family, Earls of Arundel. The castle was rebuilt under John Fitzalan, the seventh earl, who renamed it Castle Isabel, after his wife, Isabel d’Aubigny.

Thus it remained until the eleventh earl, Richard Fitzalan (beheaded 1397) married the young widow, Philippa Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke. It would seem he doted on her, for he too rebuilt and refurbished Shrawardine castle (his most important castle in the Welsh Marches – his main residence was Arundel in Sussex) and changed its name to Castle Philipp.

A romantic lot, these Fitzalan men? Well, I can’t imagine why either earl would rename a castle after his wife unless he loved her. If they felt nothing, the castle would have remained plain Shrawardine throughout.^[1]

^[1]See Lords and Lordship by R.R. Davies, p. 87. “…Richard, earl of Arundel (d.1397), renamed Shrawardine castle (Shropshire) Castle Philippa in honour of his wife, Philippa Mortimer, and doubtless transformed it to suit her tastes and needs…” I have seen it named Castle Philipp, Chastel Philipp and Castle Philippa and several other variations.

To read more, although not about Richard and Philippa, because for a long time, although it was known there was a Castle Philipp, it was not known it was Shrawardine, please see: http://www.castlewales.com/shraw.html and http://www.cpat.org.uk/projects/longer/shraward/shraward.htm and http://castlefacts.info/castledetails/castleDetails3?uin=13187