Grand abbeys, beautyfull churches and majestic catles built by the native Welsh rulers

 This post was inspired by comments made by Neil Kinnock, who called Welsh kings and princes ''ennobled brigands.''

This comment is so far from the truth , you need to ask , has this man ever read a Welsh history book? If he had, he surely himself would know he is talking utter rubbish; the kings and princes of Wales built grand abbeys and castles, held courts, created charters, led armies of 10,000 or more, had relations with other countries and were recognised by popes

The motive for his comment is to discredit the very idea of a Welsh nation. During the 1979 devolution referendum campaign, the no-to-devolution side was extremely negative and anti-Welsh. Their job was to convince the Welsh people that Wales is a glorified county with no history and no achievements, held back by a language that should have died long ago. Anything that gave Wales a separate identity or made Welsh people proud was attacked.

Anyway, back to the comment, I did a post a while back showing why he was talking utter tripe, but I decided to go a little bit more in-depth and look at what made these rulers as noble and royal as any other monarchs in Europe.

Note, this list isn't complete; there are other abbeys, churches, and castles built by them , if i added everything, the post would be a bit to long. 

We will start with Abbeys then look at some of my favorite churches and castles built by the Welsh themselves, but first lets look at the Welsh king/princes' court and some pictures. 

Officers of the king's court

The royal court consisted of...in order....

The king, 

The queen,

The heir. 

Twenty-four officers of the court,  sixteen are the king's officers 

list of officers

1. Master of the Household.

2. Domestic Chaplain.

3. Steward of the Household.

4 Judge of the Palace.

5. Falconer.

6. Chief Groom.

7. Chief Huntsman.

8. Steward of the Household

to the Queen.

9. Queen's Chaplain.

10. DomesticBard.

11. Crier.

12. Door-keeper of the Hail.

13. Door-keeper of the Chamber,

14. Page of the Chamber.

15. Chambermaid.

16. Groom of the Rein.

17. Torch-bearer.

18. Butler.

19. Mead-brewer.

20. Officers of the Palace

21. Cook.

22. Foot-holder,

23. Physician.

24. Groom of the Rein to the

Queen

Abbeys/Priorys

Valle Crucis Abbey

Visit Wales says, .........''Valle Crucis was truly Welsh from the moment it was founded in 1201 by Prince Madog ap Gruffydd and the ‘white monks’ of the Cistercian order.  

Such home-grown sympathies might well explain the damage suffered during the wars of the English king Edward I and the uprising of Owain Glyndwr.  ''

Founded in Powys Fadog,  Valle Crucis was the spiritual centre of the region, while Dinas Bran was the political stronghold.

The abbey took its name from the nearby Pillar of Eliseg, which was erected four centuries earlier by Cyngen ap Cadell, King of Powys in memory of his great-grandfather, Elisedd ap Gwylog.

In Wales, only Tintern Abbey was richer

The Black Book of Basingwerk, was copied at Valle Crucis

Cymer Abbey

The Cistercian abbey of Cymer was founded in 1198-9 by Maredudd ap Cynan, a grandson of Owain Gwynedd. The first monks came from Abbey Cwmhir in Powys.

Penmon Priory

 Penmon Priory was founded in the 6th Century by St. Seiriol. The monastery grew in size, and by the 10th Century, a wooden church stood on the site. This was destroyed by fire when the Vikings sacked it in 971AD. It survived the first Norman invasion of Gwynedd between 1081AD and 1100AD, defended by Prince Gruffydd ap Cynan of Gwynedd. He subsequently built a stone church at the site between 1120AD-1123AD.

Under the patronage of Llywelyn the Great  and his successors, the priory grew in wealth. During the 13th Century, it operated under Augustinian rule, and was enlarged at this time.

Bangor Cathedral

 Originally on the site of Bangor Cathedral, around 530, it was monastery founded by Saint Deiniol. It’s monastery church obtained the status of the cathedral in 546, when Deiniol was appointed a bishop of Gwynedd by Saint David. In 634 and again in 1073 the monastery and church was plundered during the invasions .

   Burned and robbed by the Vikings, the cathedral was rebuilt around 1130, thanks to the efforts of King of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan and the bishop of St Davids. In 1211, the cathedral suffered once more, this time during the invasion of Gwynedd by King John’s troops. During the reconstruction, initiated around 1220 by prince Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn the Great), significant transformations were made and, at the same time, the cathedral was enlarged. The next destruction was brought by Edward I’s invasion of Gwynedd in 1282,

Abaty Cwm Hir

was the largest abbey in Wales, but was never completed. Its fourteen bay nave was longer than Canterbury and Salisbury Cathedral naves and twice as long as that at St. Davids.

The princes of Gwynedd gave the monastery their patronage, and twice in the 13th century the abbey granges were burnt by English soldiers and in 1231 the abbot was also fined £200 for aiding the Welsh cause in helping Llywelyn ab Iorwerth destroy an English force near Hay on Wye. The headless body of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, last native Prince of Wales by direct descent, was buried in the abbey after his death nearby in December 1282.   In the early 13th century, the construction of what would have been a spectacular and spacious abbey church were embarked upon, equal in scale to many a cathedral, probably by Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. But this project was abandoned shortly after the completion of the 14 bay nave. 

Strata Florida Abbey

One of the most important buildings in the whole history of Wales, In the Middle Ages it was so important it was attacked a number of times by the Normans and then the English.

Around 1164 the Abbey of Strata Florida was founded through the patronage of Rhys ap Gruffydd. In 1184, a further charter was issued by Lord Rhys, reaffirming Strata Florida as a monastery under the patronage of Deheubarth, a principality of South Wales. Several descendants of the Lord Rhys have been buried at this Abbey, including 11 princes of the Welsh royal house of Dinefwr of Deheubarth during the 12th and 13th centuries Notable burials include Prince Gruffydd ap Rhys II and poet Dafydd ap Gwilym.

Around 1238, Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth held a council at Strata Florida. It was here that he made the other Welsh leaders acknowledge his son Dafydd as his rightful successor. 

The most important primary historical source for early Welsh history, the Brut y Tywysogion, was compiled at Strata Florida

Some of my favrote churches built by these ''brigands''

Llewelyn’s Church Llanrhychwyn

St Cwyfan's Church, Llangwyfan

Church of St Hywyn, Aberdaron

St Iestyn's Church, Llaniestyn

St. Peters Church of Llanbedrog

St Mary and St Bodfan Church

Castles

Native Welsh castles have a few distinctive features, the most noticeable ones are the locations of the castles, high up , hard to get places that serve as natural defences and the D shape tower, the D shape tower is unique to native Welsh castles.

Castell y Bere

Criccieth Castle

Ewloe Castle 

Carndochan Castle

Gwynedd Archaeological Trust 

Deganwy Castle

Traditionally, it was the headquarters of Maelgwn Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd (fl. c. 520–547)

By the 13th century, Deganwy was fortified by the Prince of Wales Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.

Dolbadarn Castle

Dolforwyn Castle

Dolwyddelan Castle

Powis Castle 

Llywelyn the great on his deathbed

16th-century illustration of Edward I presiding over Parliament. The scene shows Alexander III of Scotland and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Wales on either side of Edward

The seal of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth

The coffin of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth

said to be the face of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth

Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn Fawr) and Joan (Siwan) It’s said that a church was founded here c1230 by Llywelyn Fawr, Prince of Wales, to avoid the walk to the church at Llanrhychwyn.

Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, ruler of Wales, marrying Eleanor De Montfort at the West doors of Worcester Cathedal in 1275. their marriage was attended by Edward I and the King of Scotland