Wales and its History

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 the most sacred a 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 (Welsh: Talaith) and other items (such as the Cross of Neith) with the monks at Cymer A

To many in Wales at the time, the death of Prince Llywelyn was the end of the world, the death of the idea of a Welsh nation. His death also confirmed great Welsh princely dynasties were now fully extinguished.  Names like Owian Gwynedd, Llywelyn the great, Gruffudd ap Cynan , Caradog ap Gruffydd, Rhodri the Great, Hywel Dda , Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, Rhys ap Gruffydd , Cadwallon ap Cadfan will never be seen again.  The most valuable symbols of Welsh independence like Llywelyn’s coronet, the matrix of his seal, the jewel or crown of Arthur, and, above all, the most cherished relic in Wales, the piece of the True Cross known as Y Groes Naid was stolen. Some words from the time " Is it the end of the world?’ (Oes derfyn byd?),''  ''Ah God, that the sea would drown the land!’ (Och hyd atat-ti, Dduw, na ddaw mor dros dir!) '' ''And then all Wales was cast to the ground’ (Ac yna y bwriwyd boll Gymru i’r llawr)'' ''Perfect the lad killed by h

A time in Welsh history that deserves more attention is the 11th and 12th centuries , from the campaign to unify Wales under a single king to the death of Owain Gwynedd around 1170. These 115 years saw the biggest battles on welsh soil, lots of Welsh victories against all the odds, the appearance of the longbow cutting down Normans without mercy We see a ruthless king of Wales who killed anyone who stood in his way, he took the fight over the border sacking Saxon towns including burning Hereford, the last Saxon king of England and his brother led raids into Wales to kill him, but he was betrayed, and his head was presented to the English. , after his death his kingdom was once again split and former royal households returned , this allowed the Welsh to get back to the tradition of trying to nick each other's kingdoms, We then see Kingdoms being seised which lead to one king sailing from Ireland to take what he saw as his, which was the kingdom of Gwynedd, He won the battle

The poem was written by Hywel ap Owain Gwynedd, the great-great Grandfather of Llewellyn ap Iorworth, Llewellyn the Last. Hywel was killed in battle in 1170, which fits entirely with his poetry. It tells us a bit about what Wales …not really sure why it’s relevant but it’s rather lovely isn’t it? A foaming white wave rushes over a grave, the tomb of Rhufawn Pebyr, regal chieftan. I love today what the English hate, the open land of the North, and the varied growth that borders the Lliw. I love those who gave me my fill of mead where the seas reach in long contention. I love its household and its strong buildings and at its lord’s wish to go to war. I love its strand and mountains, its castle near the woods and its fine lands, its water meadows and its valleys, its white gulls and its lovely women. I love its soldiers, its trained stallions, its woods, its brave men and its homes. I love its fields under the little clover, where honour was granted a secure joy. I love its regions, to

  Although there are few visible remains today of the Cistercian abbey of Ystrad Marchell near Welshpool, the evidence of the charters reveals it to have been a religious house of some wealth and importance within medieval Powys. Following its foundation in the late twelfth century by Owain Cyfeiliog (d. 1197), prince of southern Powys, it acquired many gifts of land and grants of privilege. Original charters and copies of charters now missing, by which such benefactions were made, are found in various archives held by a number of repositories, the most important being a group of some thirty-five charters from Gwenwynwyn and other princely benefactors among the Wynnstay Estate Archives at the National Library of Wales. The abbey's foundation The  Register and Chronicle of the Abbey of Aberconway  records that Owain ap Gruffudd (ca. 1100-1170), prince of southern Powys and lord of Cyfeiliog, founded the abbey of Ystrad Marchell of the Cistercian Order in 1170. The site which he gran

The image below is of King Alexander III of Scotland on the left with Llywelyn, ruler of Wales on the right, as guests to King Edward I of England at the sitting of an English parliament. Over 100 years earlier, Alexander the 1st helped English king Henry in a massive invasion of Wales. Henry sent three armies into Wales. Gilbert Fitz Richard lead a force from the south, Alexander, King of Scotland, pressing from the north and Henry himself advanced into Mid-Wales

Marcher lordships were set up just after the Norman conquest of England to try and keep the Welsh under control. Given to the English king's most trusted nobles , the lords who ruled these areas were given special powers that were usually reserved for the king. The marcher lordships were among the heaviest fortified areas in all of Europe, and also among the most brutal. In the 200 years, it took the Normans to subdue the Welsh these Marcher Lords committed some brutal acts which alone caused many rebellions and many of these lords being detested and killed. One example of the Brutality of the Marches was the so-called Abergavenny massacre. Seisyll ap Dyfnwal Lord of Gwent Uwchcoed along with all the other Welsh princes and leaders from the area was invited to Abergavenny Castle at Christmas by William De Braose. Some Welsh leaders stayed away, mistrusting de Braose but Seisyll attended along with his eldest son Geoffrey. Most other leaders followed suit and attended, assured of p

Before the 200 years of constant Norman/Welsh wars, the Welsh were either fighting each other or the Saxons . There are hundreds of encounters between the Welsh and the Saxons but not all have been documented for one reason or another.  Here are the Encounters I could find that have been recorded.  616 The Battle of Chester where the Anglo Saxons beat native Britons near the city of Chester,. Æthelfrith of Northumbria annihilated a combined force from the Welsh kingdoms of Powys, Rhôs, and Mercia. It resulted in the deaths of Welsh leaders Selyf Sarffgadau of Powys and Cadwal Crysban of Rhôs.  Evidence suggests that King Iago of Gwynedd may have also been killed. According to Bede, a large number of monks from the monastery at  Bangor on Dee  who had come to witness the fight were killed on the orders of Æthelfrith before the battle. He told his warriors to massacre the clerics because although they bore no arms, they were praying for a Northumbria defeat. The battle's led to the s