Wales and its History

Caradog's father was Gruffydd ap Rhydderch who after receiving the Lordship of Caerleon in 1031, also inherited Glywysing, and became King of Deheubarth in 1045, in the same year as Gruffydd's second cousin, Cadwgan ap Meurig, inherited the Kingdom of Gwent from his father Meurig ap Hywel. Both of them were co-descendants of Owain, son of Morgan Hen "the Old", the last ruler of a unified Kingdom of Morgannwg. Gruffydd ap Rhydderch was a powerful king who resisted raids by the Danes and attacks by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. However in 1055 after many attempts, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed him in battle and took Deheubarth which enabled him to unite the whole of Wales.  In 1057 Gruffydd ap Llywellyn was recognized as King of Wales and Caradog was given Caerleon in Gwent, he also added  Morgannwg early on in his career.  After the defeat of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn by Harold Godwinson in 1063, old lineages were restored, with Caradog becoming ruler of Glywysing at about the same t...

The Battle of Mechain is one of the hundreds of relatively unknown battles that have taken place in Welsh history. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was a ruthless king who conquered all the Welsh kingdoms to unite Wales under his rule.  ( " Speak not of killing; I but blunt the horns of the offspring of Wales lest they should injure their dam. ") In 1055 Gruffydd marched on Hereford and defeated a force led by the Earl of Hereford, Ralph the Timid,  They then sacked the city and destroyed its motte-and-bailey castle. Harald Godwinson (1066) was given the task of rebuilding and fortifying Heriford.  In late 1062 Harold Godwinson obtained the English king's approval for a surprise attack on Gruffydd's court at Rhuddlan. Gruffydd was nearly captured but was warned in time to escape out to sea in one of his ships. In the spring of 1063 Harold's brother Tostig led an army into north Wales while Harold led the fleet first to south Wales and then north to meet with his brother's...

  The murder of the Norman noble Robert of Rhuddlan Rhuddlan was enjoying a nap in his castle at Deganwy when the news was brought to him that Welsh raiders had landed in three ships underneath the Great Orme and pillaged his lands. Some sources say that these raiders were led by King Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had escaped from captivity in Chester. The raiders had beached their ships and were busy loading the plunder. Robert despatched messengers to gather his troops and hastened to the Great Orme, where he found that the rising tide was about to allow the Welsh to refloat their vessels and get away with the loot before Robert's troops could appear. In a fury, Robert rushed down the slopes to attack them, followed only by his armor-bearer. He was killed by a volley of javelins, and the raiders sailed off with his head attached to the mast of one of the vessels.'  from the north side according to Dextra Visual Ednyfed Fychan Ednyfed Fychan was a warrior who became Seneschal t...

Look at this 🙂 AD 1258, 18th day of March Transaction: Agreement of mutual confederation and friendship between men of Scotland and Wales; that they shall not make peace with king of England without mutual consent and agreement Document 4/42/2 (Foedera, i, I, 370) Walter Comyn, earl of Menteith, Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan, justiciar of Scotia, etc., have made an agreement of mutual confederation and friendship with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, etc.; they bind themselves to make no separate peace with the king of England, to give him no aid against the Welsh and to encourage trade between Scotland and Wales. It also has a list of 48 nobles from Wales and Scotland who witnessed the agreement 🙂 https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/factoid/47422/

Upon the death of Llywelyn,  longshanks   did all he could to get rid of any sign of  A Welsh nation. Firstly, he dismantled most of llywelyn's halls and took over his castles.  He then tried to kill off the lineage by ensuring Llywelyn's only child  Gwenllian along with the daughters of her uncle Dafydd ap Gruffudd, were all confined for life in remote priories in  Lincolnshire  and never allowed freedom.  Dafydd ap Gruffudd   was dragged through the streets of Shrewsbury by a horse, hanged, revived and then disembowelled, He was the first recoded noble to be hung drawn and quartered.  Edward also took from the Welsh Llywelyn’s coronet, the matrix of his seal, the crown of Arthur and a sacred  cross that contained a  piece of the t rue Cross  known   as Y Groes Naid.   It is recorded that  ''Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales and Lord of Aberffraw had deposited this crown (W...

We have all seen people trying to use the Magna Carta to bend the law in their favour. It obviously never works but what if it did?, what would that mean for Wales? Although mostly overlooked, the Magna Carta does mention Wales. Here is what it says.  A.D. 1215] Magna Charta. Clauses 56, 57, and 58, relating to Wales. " 56.  If we have dispossessed or removed any Welshmen from their lands, or franchises, or other things, without legal judgment of their peers, in England, or in Wales, they shall be immediately returned to them; and if a dispute shall have arisen over this, then it shall be settled in the borderland by judgment of their peers, concerning holdings of England according to the law of England, concerning holdings of Wales according to the law of Wales, and concerning holdings of the borderland according to the law of the borderland. The Welsh shall do the same to us and ours. " 57.  Concerning all those things, however, from which any one of the Welsh sha...

Welsh history is always ignored by the likes of the BBC, Netflix, Amazon, and others. You will find dozens of movies or documentaries covering Scottish or English history but nothing covering the eventful history of Wales.  Wales isn't short of events or people that would make great documentaries. In fact, it's a crime that they haven't been made already.  The first person that comes to mind who would make a fascinating tv show is Gruffudd ap Cynan. .................................................................................. Here is a summary of his eventful life.  Gruffudd ap Cynan (c. 1055 – 1137 Had a number of children, one went onto be very successful in their own right. These include: king Owain Gwynedd (c.   1100 – 1170) Who Had a number of successful battles against the Normans, almost killed an English king. Gwenllian   ferch Gruffydd (1100 – 1136) who married Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth who was the son of her father's close ally ...

  Welsh wins against Saxons/Normans/English You don't need to be a nationalist to be proud of the resistance little old Wales put up against a neighbour many times its size. From the end of Roman rule to longshanks conquest, the population of Wales was roughly 100,000 to 300,000 and the population of what is now England was roughly 1,000,000 to 3,000,000.  The Saxons didn't conquer Wales and it took the normans around 200 years.  In those times there were 100s of battles, raids, skirmishes and sieges, most of which the welsh come out on top.  Any other country would be proud of the defense put up by the Welsh over 100s of years but not Wales. In Wales, you must be a nationalist to be proud of this record.   I think its time the welsh showed more pride in its history, after all those that died, were real people, with real families.   They fought for a number of reasons but most fought for that little country you call home. They give the ultimate...