Pontefract was referred to as "Pomfret". William Shakespeare's play "Richard III" mentions the castle:<br> Pomfret is referred to in Shakespeare's Richard II also My lord, the mind of Bolingbroke is changed:You must to Pomfret, not unto the Tower.And, madam, there is order ta'en for you;With all swift speed you must away to France Pontefract suffered throughout the English Civil War. In 1648–49 the castle was laid under siege by Oliver Cromwell, who said it was "... one of the strongest inland garrisons in the kingdom." Three sieges by the Parliamentarians left the town "impoverished and depopulated". In March 1649, after the
English invasion of Scotland (1400) it, in person, to the sitting parliament in November 1399. A.L. Brown has suggested that this indicates the personal interest the King felt in the affair: that this was in fact his own personal plan, and 'that it meant a lot to him, and that it had met with criticism.' He pledged to fulfil this vow before god. At almost the same time, Henry had received a letter from the Scottish king in which Henry was referred to as duke of Lancaster rather than king of England; this, it has been suggested, fuelled his martial enthusiasm towards Scotland. Perhaps even