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
Sparrenberg Castle protection for the city of Bielefeld, probably founded around 1200. Because the construction of a protective castle generally predates the foundation of a town, it is assumed that there was an older castle. In 1256, the castle was first mentioned in records. In 1346, Bernard, Count of Ravensberg died without issue and, with his death, the line of Calvelage-Ravensberg was extinguished. The castle was transferred through marriage to Count Gerhard I of Jülich-Berg, who had been married to Bernard's niece Margaret since 1338, and its function as the ruling seat was lost. On 18 November 1377, Emperor Charles IV stayed