Wales and its History

Moel Hebog shield held in the British Museum, London, England The late Bronze Age shield was found in a bog near Moel Hebog mountain in 1784, near Beddgelert. It is now in the British Museum, It dates from 1300–1000 BC. Red Book of Hergest held in Jesus College of Oxford University large vellum manuscript written shortly after 1382, which ranks as one of the most important medieval manuscripts written in the Welsh language Presented in 1701 to Jesus College, Oxford, by a Rev. T. Wilkins, of Llanbleithain, Glamorgan in Wales. It is best known as the source of the Mabinogion, as well as having much of its poetry reproduced in The Four Ancient Books of Wales., Mold Gold Cape British Museum, London A ceremonial cape of solid sheet-gold from  about 1900–1600 BCE . It was found at Bryn yr Ellyllon burial mound near Mold, Flintshire in 1833 The cape is thought to have formed part of a ceremonial dress, perhaps with religious connections. It is now in the British Museum in London, whe...

The End of the 11th century was among the most violent in the very violent history of Wales, The Brutal Norman marcher lords were taking lands and losing them just as fast and the Welsh stopped killing each other for a while to face a common enemy . In the years from 1068 to 1100 i can count over 60 sieges 31 battles One siege the Welsh were outsmarted by the Norman husband of Nest Ferch Rhys, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr Below is from Paul Martin Remfry, a man who knows more than anyone about these troubled times.  In 1095 the Welsh began a sustained campaign of resistance. By early 1096 Hywel ap Goronwy had become one of the leaders of the Welsh revolt. That Spring he, together with Uchtryd ab Edwin and the war band of Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, laid waste the province of Penfro and strongly besieged Gerald Windsor in Pembroke castle. Unfortunately for the Welsh the wily Gerald outfoxed them and baffled, forced them to break off their siege, though they returned home with great booty Gera...

The battle of Mynydd Cairn was a hugely significant battle that changed the course of history. Five Welsh rulers of Gwent and Morganwg, Powys, Deheubarth and Gwynedd face each other in battle . The result was a complete victory for Gruffudd ap Cynan ( lived near Dublin, claimed Gwynedd, lost his crown 4 times and got it back) and Rhys ap Tewdwr (Was driven from his kingdom by Caradog, was living in St Davids Cathedral) They defeated Trahaearn ap Caradog (Gwynedd ), Caradog ap Gruffydd ( Gwent and Morganwg ) and Meilir ap Rhiwallon (Powys) all were killed. The battle weakened the Welsh significantly, and the Normans took advantage of this. The death of Caradog ap Gruffydd split his kingdom leaving it in disarray and helped ensure Norman dominance of the lowlands of Gwent and Glamorgan leading to the effective collapse of what had formerly been one of the most powerful Welsh kingdoms. Gruffudd ap Cynan was ambushed and taken captive by the Normans and was held for upto 12 years before he...

A Northumbrian raiding party led by Oswiu of Northumbria overran a Welsh king Cynddylan's palace at Llys Pengwern (which is now in England in a surprise attack. Caught completely off guard and without defence, the royal family, including the king, were slaughtered. The Welsh Kingdom of Pengwern was no more. Princess Heledd was the only survivor and fled to western Powys. She went on to write Canu Heledd (songs of Heledd) which is a "collection of early Welsh englyn-poems. They are rare among medieval Welsh poems for being set in the mouth of a female character." They show the heartache felt after losing her family and her kingdom After this the region associated with Pengwern seems to have been shared between Mercia and Powys; part of it remained in Welsh hands until the reign of Offa of Mercia and the construction of his dyke. Part of it consisted of the Anglian sub-kingdom of the Magonsæte. Princess Heledds words are in the link below. http://www.kmatthews.org.uk/his...

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...