Wales and its History

having defeated the king of Wales Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (through treachery) IN 1063, Earl Harold of Wessex (the last Saxon king of England) decided to build a grand hunting lodge in portskewett, It was to be a lodge fit enough for a king with no expense spared. Caradog ap Gruffydd, King of Gwent had different ideas though. in 1065 he attacked and killed every person on the site and burned the building to the ground. He then went on to ravage the district with his forces Harold never had the opportunity to take revenge; in January 1066 he became king of England, and later that year was killed at the Battle of Hastings. note::The killing of the king of Wales by Harold enabled Caradog ap Gruffydd to reclaim his throne in Gwent so you think he would have owed a debt to the future English king.

In 395 AD a college of priests called Cor Tewdws was founded at Llantwit Major. Some say Cor Tewdws was the earliest school in Britain, and arguably the oldest college in the entire world. After the Romans left Britain in the early 5th century the college was left to defend itself against raiders, and in 446 AD Irish pirates burned the college to the ground. One story says that St Patrick was kidnapped from Cor Tewdws by the pirates. After the sack of the College of Theodosius, the site lay barren for 62 years, until it was re-established by St. Illtud c. 508. Accor ding to the Book of Llandaff, St. Dubricius commissioned Illtud to re-establish the college. It was once a seat of learning that was unrivaled anywhere in the western world. ''At its height had more than 2,000 students. Apparently, the place was graced with at least six separate halls and was able to boast around 400 teaching houses and places of accommodation'' 'Many well-known Celtic saints are said

I often get Scottish and Irish folks ask me ''why didn't the Welsh fight back like they did '' The Welsh did fight back, it just you don't do any research. :) Keep these points in your mind as well. Wales is right next to England's most powerful and populated areas in the middle ages. Wales had a population of no more than 300,000 while Normans/English/Saxons had up to 3 million. If either of those countries were to swap locations with Wales, they would have lost their independence as well. Army's of over 30,000 were sent into Wales, if they were such a pushover this wouldn't have been seen as worth the hassle. Some of these large armies faced humiliating defeats in Wales, defeats that the Scots wouldn't stop shouting about (and even make movies about) These are the dates Wales was invaded. I will have missed loads. S = SAXONS V = VIKINGS N = NORMANS E = ENGLISH S 620 S 658 S 720 S 728 S 769 S 796 S 798 S 816 S 817 S 818 S 820 S 830 S 853 S 865 S

In 1212 King John held 28 sons of Welsh noble families hostage. Some as young as 12, lived at the castle for some time and then one day, King John ordered all the hostages executed."A chronicler states that the boy's pitiful cries rang around the castle as one after the other they were taken up on the ramparts and hanged in a row."  ***The words bellow are taken from  A short history of Nottingham castle  *** In order to keep the Welsh Prince Llewellyn in subjection, John, had taken as hostages 28 boys, ranging from 12 to 14 years of age, and kept them in his Castle at Nottingham. It is said the news came to the King while staying at his hunting palace at Clipstone that the Welsh Prince had again broken out in revolt. Hastily summoning his followers, he held a Council beneath the spreading branches of an oak tree (now known as Parliament Oak), when the execution of the. hostages was decided upon. Then he swore “by the teeth of God” that he would not eat again until

  Cadwallon ap Cadfan    Historia Regum Britanniae We all know of the English invasions of our little old Cymru. The Saxons invaded a few hundred times and the Normans took 200 years of invasions to subdue the Welsh. However, the traffic wasn’t always one way. On numerous occasions, the Welsh have taken the fight to the English/Saxon/Norman’s on English/Saxon/Norman soil. I will cover many of these in future posts but I want to concentrate on what is probably the most successful (sadly very brutal) Welsh conquest. It is the invasion and occupation of the kingdom of Northumbria by King Cadwallon ap Cadfan. To the ancient Welsh, this occupation was hugely symbolic as to them it was the native Britons taking back land that belonged to them before the Saxons invaded. Cadwallon was remembered as a national hero by the Welsh, naturally, the Saxons saw him as a brutal tyrant. The invasion took place around 633 where Cadwallon joined forces with King Penda of Mercia, to defeat King Edw

*************WIP************** In any other country, the heroes of these battles would be remembered. The Welsh were nearly always outnumbered but still won many battles that shouldn't be forgotten. Please share what you feel should or shouldn't be on this list. 1257 Battle of Cadfan Who? Welsh from Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi vs the English Result Welsh victory numbers several thousand on each side Casualties and losses The English had up to 3000 casualties, the Welsh very few The Battle of Cadfan was two engagements, one was at Coed Llathen and the other at Cymerau. The word Cadfan translates to 'place of battle'. ****WIKI**** "In the years before the battle, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd prince of Wales had been rapidly gaining power. Llywelyn had received support from the lords of Deheubarth, and as a reward for their loyalty, he gave them land that he had stripped from their nephew, Rhys Fychan (who was a supporter of the English king). P

WELSH WARS, BATTLES AND  REBELLIONS FROM 616 TO 1409. ****IF YOU FIND MISTAKES LET ME KNOW. ****   There is an article on wiki called 'list of anglo Welsh wars" it doesn't cover most of the conflicts, battles, wars that involve the Welsh so iv always intended on adding to it, but for now, I decided to put as many as I can find in one place.  All I'm doing (doing because iv not finished) is searching through the lives of the Welsh princes, primary sources, secondary sources, various articles and adding whatever I can find and trust me, the list as easily five or six times bigger than the wiki list so far. There are many medieval writers who describe the Welsh as brave and vicious fighters who dont often stick by the rules of war. They would often come out of nowhere and attack an invading army and disappear before the invaders knew what hit them. quote from Itinerarium Cambriae 1191 "My Lord King, this nation may now be harassed, weakened and deci