Kenilworth Castle

His mother was sent to Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she spent the remainder of her life.

These are the remains of one of the greatest palace fortresses in England, Kenilworth Castle.

Linked with some of the most important royals in British history, it was the favorite residence of the 15th century king, Henry V.

Here in 1414, Henry, then age 28, famously received a curious gift from the French king, a box of tennis balls.

This is Fortune's Wheel Podcast, and I'm your host, Jonathan.

As a quick note, on the last couple of episodes, I mentioned how Henry had given Jeffrey to Clinton Kenilworth Castle, which would serve as a counterbalance to one of Robert of Belem's castles a few miles away at Warwick.

Well, apparently I got my wires crossed.

I apologize for that.

So I just want to correct the record here.

Henry did indeed honor Jeffrey to Clinton with the land at Kenilworth Castle.

But to be clear, Henry actually gave Jeffrey permission to build Kenilworth Castle.

What's more is that this wasn't around, it wasn't until around 1118 or so.

Her chief aider and abetter in this undertaking was Roger Mortimer, an expatriated rebel against her husband's authority, with whom she formed an intimacy the nature of which is hardly doubtful, and who by the successful issue of the enterprise found himself in a position wherein he was able for a time to defy the laws and gratify to his heart's content its three ruling passions of covetousness, vanity, and vindictiveness.

At the time when Edward III was proclaimed, his unhappy father lay a prisoner in Kenilworth Castle.

As the young king refused to accept the crown without the sanction and goodwill of his predecessor, the farce was enacted of sending a parliamentary deputation to Kenilworth to receive the quote-unquote voluntary resignation of the fallen monarch.

When the commissioners arrived, he was led in to meet them in a plain black gown, and the object of their coming having been explained, he wept and said, It grieves me much that I have deserved so little of my people, and I humbly beg pardon of all present.

Yeah, and there's an example of him doing the same sort of thing a few years later.

So in 1540, uh, well, I mean, Cromwell has m-major concerns that are different to this, but he writes to Cromwell because a man called Sir Andrew Flammock, who is the keeper of Kenilworth Castle, has got the plague.

And whilst the poor man, uh, is still apparently dying, Dudley writes to Cromwell and says, "Uh, could I have that job?" [chuckles] Embarrassing 'cause Flammock doesn't die.

Um, he, he survives.

Yeah, and there's an example of him doing the same sort of thing a few years later.

So in 1540, uh, well, I mean, Cromwell has m- major concerns that are different to this, but he writes to Cromwell because a man called Sir Andrew Flammock, who is the keeper of Kenilworth Castle, has got the plague.

And whilst the poor man is still apparently dying, Dudley writes to Cromwell and says, "Well, could I have that job?" [laughs] Embarrassing, because Flammock doesn't die.

Um, he, he survives.

If you were the lord inside, you needed to store enough food to outlast the attacker.

But how long could you really survive? At Kenilworth Castle, in 1266 during a siege, the defenders ate horses, dogs, cats, rats, and even their leather belts before finally surrendering.

Months of siege.

Months of hunger.

There would be people in rural areas, in the Midlands, in the North, in Wales, in Scotland.

There would be people there that had barely heard and much less cared about exactly what's going on in the court, in Hampton Court or the Palace of Westminster or Kenilworth Castle or whatever.

Oh, the king has decided he's Protestant now, is he? Really? Don't care.

Don't care.