Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 18th July 2026

Time: 11am

Venue: National Waterfront Museum, Swansea

Description: Sir Andrew Ogard stands as a compelling, if, today, a lesser-known figure in the tapestry of late medieval England. From the 1420s to the 1440s, he forged for himself a prodigious martial reputation and amassed enormous wealth, serving in Henry VI’s armies in France and Normandy during the Hundred Years’ War, where he was closely associated with the Dukes of Bedford and York. After retiring from military service, he played a significant role as a member of the English gentry, in Norfolk and Hertfordshire. It is therefore perhaps surprising to discover that he was not English at all, having been born at Ågård in Denmark, as Anders Petersen Gyldenstjerne. A younger son of a noble Danish family from North Jutland, he had few prospects there, thus he left his native land to make his mark elsewhere. In so doing, he anglicised his name, also adopting a new surname based on his birthplace. Marrying into a prominent and wealthy knightly Norfolk family, he became a leading member of the gentry, building two fortified manors at enormous expense, one at The Rye in Hertfordshire, the other at Emneth in Norfolk. He served the crown in many administrative capacities, on numerous royal commissions, and became a Knight of the Shire for Norfolk in the Parliament of 1453-4. As Patron of Wymondham Priory, he used his influence with the king and Pope to have the priory elevated to abbey status. On his death in 1454, he was buried in the abbey, but his tomb is now lost, having been destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

How to book: No booking required

Price: Free

Email: historyliz1565@yahoo.com

Website: www.haswansea.org.uk

Organiser: Swansea Branch

Lecturer: Professor John Alban FHA

Comments: John Alban is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of History and Art History at the University of East Anglia and was formerly County Archivist of Norfolk, 1997-2013. Previously, he was City Archivist of Swansea, 1974-97, when, for over two deca

Region: Wales

Branch: Swansea