It was a good place strategically for Edward to build an English castle. The River Seiont is right next to the castle, making it easy for Edward to bring in supplies. There was the rich agriculture of Anglesey right next to him, and the Menai allowed quick access between N. Wales and the West Coast. It was the perfect place to base an English invasion of Wales. Edward managed to create a centre of English influence that had previously had a very anti-English feel to it. But there were also historical reasons for why Edward may have wanted to build his castle there.
The castle was built ‘around a preserved Norman ‘Mottle’ and close to the Roman fort of Segontium’, says a source written in a CADW booklet. Some Historians believe that Edward was on a great ego trip at the time and was obsessed with total power. He may have wanted to try and give the impression that he was the true heir and successor of both the Norman conquerors and of Imperial Rome. Segontium lay in ruins just under a mile from where Edward was building Caernarfon at the time. Overall, it would have been a great power image for Edward.
It is also written in the same source that the fact that Edward built Caernarfon around the Norman ‘Mottle’, and so close to Segontium, “ostentatiously embodied Edward’s claim to be both the successor of the Norman conquerors and the true heir of Imperial Rome”. This source backs up my point that Edward wanted to be as powerful as the Norman conquerors and the Emperors of Rome. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Richard III section.
