Wales and its History

For the last year or so I have been making an interactive map of all the churches in Wales with links to the medieval period. Throughout all this, I have come across people who claim that nearly all historical Welsh churches were built by the Normans (English). This isn't even close to being true. The majority of the most historical sites seem to have been built by the Welsh themselves. The Welsh kings and princes were very active in building religious sites and many still stand today. Here are some of my favourites that were built by the Welsh. I will add more at a later date Llewelyn’s Church Llanrhychwyn "Llanrhychwyn's main claim to fame is its parish church, which many claim is the oldest in Wales, marking the site where Rhychwyn originally established his church in the 6th century. The church is known locally as Llewelyn’s Church, and the oldest part dates from the late 11th century. Llywelyn Fawr, Prince of Gwynedd and de facto Prince of Wales, had a...

Upon the death of Llywelyn,  longshanks did all he could to get rid of any sign of Welsh independence. Firstly he dismantled most of llywelyns halls and castles.  He then tried to kill off the lineage of Llywelyn by executing his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd and 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.  Edward also took from the welsh  Llywelyn’s coronet, the matrix of his seal, the crown  of Arthur and the most sacred of all,  the most cherished relic in the whole history of Wales, the 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 (Welsh: Talaith) and other items (such as the Cross of Neith) with the monks at Cymer Abbey for safekeeping at the start ...

Cunedda or Cunedag Wledig (the Imperator) was a  King of  Manau Gododdin on the Firth of Forth around Clackmannanshire. Cunedda and his forebears led the Votadini against Pictish and Irish incursions south of Hadrian's Wall.  Around AD 430 and his  Votadini   army was  invited to North Wales to help the Welsh rid the area of the invading Irish pirates. He did what he come to do and expelled most of the Irish from the area.  he soon established himself in Wales,  in the territory of the Venedoti, which would become the centre  of the kingdom of Gwynedd. He was the first King of the Welsh and founder of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd which lasted nearly 1000 years and was the most powerful in the whole of Wales.  The leader of Gwynedd was often called the king of the Britons. So not only did a Scot  end the dream of Welsh independence by killing Owain Lawgoch, They started it all too.

I live in what was strathclyde. right in the middle of it in fact :) 90% of the people have no idea what im on about when i talk of the Britons that lived here speaking what turned into welsh. There are some extremely strong links between this area and Cymru. including cunedda come from what is now Clackmannanshire in scotland. some claim him as the father of Gwynedd and the Welsh nation. Cunedda and his forebears led the Votadini against Pictish and Irish incursions south of Hadrian's Wall. Sometime after this, the Votadini troops under Cunedda relocated to North Wales to defend the region from Irish invasion. Cunedda established himself in Wales, in the territory of the Venedoti, which would become the centre of the kingdom of Gwynedd. He was the first King of the welsh and founder of the royal dynasty of Gwynedd which lasted nearly 1000 years and was the most powerful in the whole of Wales. The leader of Gwynedd was often called the king of the Britons. ............

The Viking attacks on the native Welsh is often overlooked for the better-recorded attacks and battles with the Saxons of England. The Viking raids on Saxon England is the subject of many documentaries and books. (probably 100s) Most of these don't even mention the natives of the islands, especially the Welsh. I decided to make a timeline but then I found one already done on my hard drive. I don't know where I got this but I do know  I didn't make it,  It is far more detailed than anything I could have done. so please don't credit me for it. If you know who did make this timeline then please let me know. Thank you. The Welsh suffered greatly from Viking attacks. A land already suffering extreme hardships suffered relentless attacks,  Viking Raids into Wales ·  795 AD  Some scholars believe that Viking incursions into Wales began in this year, suggesting that the Vikings who raided the Church on Recru or Lombay Island had sailed there from a ...