A-Z Challenge 2012 - A
Amberley’s Lustful Bishop
Amberley Castle
is located in West Sussex, England.
It was built as a 12th century manor house by Bishop Luffa. It was fortified
in 1377 when Bishop Reede received a license to crenellate it from Richard II.
It then had a stonework enclosure with high curtain walls, towers, a hall and a
massive gatehouse. The Bishops of Chichester used Amberley as a fortress.
The castle passed to the Crown and became a
royalist stronghold in the English Civil War. Charles II took shelter there
after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 prior to heading for exile.
 |
| Amberley Castle |
However you will find no mention in the hotel’s
literature of the castle’s one time servant girl. Made pregnant by a lustful
Bishop, poor Emily, deserted in her hour of need, died in childbirth. Her ghost
is said to haunt the kitchens and to return to the top of the battlements from
where she had leapt to her death.
 |
| Amberley Castle Walls |
Attributions:
- Amberley Castle, East Sussex; author Jonathan Day; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0
- Amberley Castle walls; author Colin Day; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0
21 comments:
I'm tackling this challenge, too, Bob, and it's aleady driving me nuts.
Great opening post. Good luck with it.
Interesting! Will you be posting about historical monuments throughout the challenge? Nice to meet you. New follower :)
Lovely post I love castles and have visited many here in the UK.
Good luck with the challenge.
Yvonne.
Hi Bob .. no my A is not Amberley - interesting about the haunting - I expect there were many poor girls in this situation back then ... I didn't know about Emily .. but the story line around a lustful bishop is rather titillating ..
Cheers enjoy the challenge .. Hilary
Hi, interesting post, but surely the young lady in question either died in childbirth or leapt to her death, she can't do both?
visiting via the a to z challenge
thanks for sharing
martine
Amberly Castle seems like a great place to visit unless you are a servant girl. Good luck with A to Z.
Oh goody, looks like we're going to get another tour of places. Yes, please?
It looks amazing and that ghost story is begging to be written into a novel by someone.
I’m doing the A to Z Challenge too at A to Z of Nostalgia
Ah! I want to go here so bad. Living vicariously through your blog - new follower :)
Castles are fascinating. Great post.
I'm in love with Castles.
Teresa
Perhaps it was the lustful bishop who leapt to his death, full of remorse when he heard that the poor girl had died - as if :)That Charles II got around didn't he?
Thank you for the journey into Amberley Castle. I would love to take a tour (maybe a year long tour heheh) of the castles across the "big pond" just for the sake of taking photos, and experiencing their magnificent history.
A-Z 2012
http://bloggitwrite.blogspot.com/
Oops! A lesson for all researchers - don't take just one source for your material. I didn't, I used more than one for poor Emily. However thay had different versions of her death,
She died in chidlbirth and her ghost haunts the kitchens OR her ghost is seen on the battlements from where she leapt to her death.
Note to self: Must do better.
Thanks to all who commented.
More castles and ghosts to come.
Uh, can I live there? May sound weird, but I love the idea of living in a beautiful haunted castle, kept company by sorrowful ghosts. Poor Emily.
Great blog! Happy A-Z challenge!
Yes, poor Emily, but what a beautiful castle to haunt.
http://gail-baugniet.blogspot.com Theme: A World of Crime
love this post - great pics and cool history. I'll check back. Very nice.
Wow! what a beautiful castle, and what an interesting history! Great start to the A-Z!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Hi Bob
How did Emily die in childbirth and also leap to her death? Legends are strange that way aren't they?
Nancy
Nancy - I can't claim it was April 1st yesterday, See my earlier comment beginning Oophs!
Poor Emily, however she died!
I've visited a few castles in England, not this one though.
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