Alnwick castle is a Northumberland castle that has been under the control of the Percy Family (Dukes of Northumberland) since 1309. In 1309, when Henry Percy obtained the barony of Alnwick, a new castle was built around an existing Norman shell keep that had been built on the site some two centuries before in around 1096. The new design consisted of a curtain wall around the keep and had seven semi-circular towers. The Percy family were involved in incessant wars with the Scots. Alnwick Castle was used as a location for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
Timeline
| 1093 | Nov 13 | Donald Bane becomes king of Scotland |
| After Malcolm III and his second son Edward were killed near Alnwick Donald, Malcolm’s brother, became the king of Scotland. Malcolm’s family, including Edgar, were forced into exiled in England. | ||
| Nov 13 | Battle of Alnwick | |
| Malcolm III, the king of Scotland, and his son Edward were both killed at the battle of Alnwick in Northumberland. Malcolm had invaded England after William II had made moves to take more control over Cumbria and had fortified Carlisle. | ||
| 1096 | Building work on Alnwick castle begins | |
| Building work on Alnwick castle began. | ||
| 1174 | William I of Scotland signs Treaty of Falaise | |
| Captured by the English, William of Scotland was forced to sign the Treaty of Falaise. The treaty made Scotland a feudal possession of England and William and his nobles swore fealty to Henry II. This treaty was overruled by Richard I in return for funds paid by Scotland that Richard needed for his crusade in 1189. | ||
| Jun 13 | The Battle of Alnwick | |
| William I, king of Scotland invades England to help fight in the baronial rebellion against Henry II. William is captured at the battle of Alnwick and the rebellion comes to an end. | ||
| 1462 | Oct 25 | Queen Margaret invades |
| Queen Margaret landed near Bamburgh Castle on the Northumbrian coast with a small army. The main castles in the area, Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh surrendered to the Queen. | ||
| Dec | Yorkists take back control of Northumbrian castles | |
| The Earl of Warwick was put in charge of capturing the castles from the Lancastrian garrisons. Edward had to stay at Durham to recover from a bout of the measles. The castles were not attacked but cut off from supplies to starve the soldiers out. Just before the new year, the Lancastrian soldiers surrendered and the Yorkists took control of Alnwick, Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh Castles. | ||
| 1463 | Mar | Northumbrian castles fall to Lancastrians |
| Sir Ralph Percy, the constable in charge of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, defected and allowed the Lancastrians to take control. Alnwick Castle fell to the Lancastrians shortly afterwards. |
