Carlisle Castle (England)

Carlisle Castle was built during the reign of William II of England, son of William the Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066. William II expelled the Scots from Cumberland (the original name for northern and western Cumbria) , still considered Scottish. He orders the construction of a Norman-style motte in Carlisle, on the site of an ancient Roman fort, guarding the northern border of England; construction began in 1093. In 1122 Henry I of England had the stone castle, keep and city walls built.

The Scots repeatedly attempted to reconquer the territory. In fact, Carlisle and his castle changed hands many times over the next 700 years. The first takes place during the reign of Stephen of England: the Scottish king David I takes possession of the city, taking advantage of English anarchy; he completed the construction of the walls, but this did not prevent the British from recapturing the city a few years later.

Henry VIII had the castle adapted to the artillery by the engineer Stefan von Haschenperg. Mary Stuart was imprisoned in the castle for a few months in 1568, in the southeast corner, which has since been demolished. During the first English revolution, in 1644, the castle was besieged by the "round heads" for eight months.

The most notable battles around the city of Carlisle are during the Second Jacobite Rebellion, against George II of Great Britain. In 1745, the armies of Prince Charles Edward Stuart descended from Scotland to Derby in England; Carlisle and its castle are taken and fortified by the Jacobites. However, they were repulsed by the armies of Prince William Augustus, son of George II, who reconquered the city and had the Jacobites imprisoned and executed. This battle is the latest around Carlisle, with the English and Scottish nations merging into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Parts of the castle were demolished to provide building materials in the 19th century. The British army took over management of the castle until 1959, when it came under the control of the Department of the Environment, and later of English Heritage.