BBC King and conquer, Wales played a huge part in real life but will it in the BBC show.
BBC's King and Conqueror: Wales played a huge part in real life, but will it in the BBC show.
Harold Godwenson, ''1066 and all that'' , the future Harold who fought William the Conqueror, played a huge part in Welsh history before he was killed in 1066.
However , I wouldn't be surprised if the Welsh parts are ignored in this upcoming drama by the BBC that covers the period.
In the early 1060s Wales was united under Gruffudd ap Llywelyn , a brutal king who united Wales through brutal conquests.
During all this he attacked the border areas, which included a famous sacking of Hereford, killing monks. burning churches and wiping out the large English army sent to defend against him. See below what the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle said about this.
"In the same year Gruffydd, the Welsh king, raided in Herefordshire so that he came very near to Leominster; and men gathered against him, both local men and French men from the castle. And there were killed very many good men of the English and also from among the French."
Herefordshire was attacked several times in the 11th century, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us about another of these attacks, in 1055. Gruffydd ap Llewelyn and his men sacked Hereford itself:
"... and then [the Welsh] turned into Hereford market-town and raided it, burned down the famous minster which Bishop Athelstan built, and killed the priests inside the minster, and many others as well, and seized all the treasures in there and led them away with them."
These defeats caused Harold, Earl of Wessex (later King Harold I), to intervene directly, mustering a large army and arranging a settlement.
A new bishop of Hereford was appointed, Loefgar, one of Harold's priests, a chaplain with a strong taste for military matters.
He attempted a surprise attack in Wales, which went disastrously wrong and which Gruffydd ap Llywelyn repulsed, leaving the English army with heavy losses.
Eventually, though, the English got their man; Harold invaded by land, and his brother invaded by sea at Christmas time. This caught Gruffudd off guard while at his court at Rhuddlan; he fled to Snowdonia.
Harold and Tostig proceeded to ravage Gruffudd's kingdom before they were presented with the head of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn , the king of all Wales.
Some say harold was so brutal on the Welsh people and settlements they couldn't take it anymore, so they killed their own king; others say he was killed in revenge by the son of one of the many people he killed to become king. Either way, he was dead and so was the united Wales. harold installed nobles from Welsh families in all the old kingdoms, splitting Wales up once again.
Gruffudd was a powerful king who even had a large fleet of ships. He united all of Wales under his rule. If he wasn't killed, he had sons who would have inherited the kingdom. His sons did fight a great battle against the brothers who ruled Gwynedd and powys but were killed along with the ruler of Powys. This left Bleddyn ap Cynfyn as ruler of Both kingdoms
I forgot to add that Edith of Mercia apparently features heavily in the King and Conqueror. she was a daughter of Ælfgar, Earl of Mercia, and queen consort of the king of Wales. After the king of Wales's eventual defeat to the future king of England, he took Gruffudd's wife for himself.
This era in Welsh history is fascinating and complex, as is all of Welsh history, if you want to learn more there is a great book; the link is The Last King of Wales: Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, c.1013-1063
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