ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL WALES
By Tim Lambert
ANCIENT WALES
During the last ice age people hunted reindeer and mammoth in what is now Wales. When the ice age ended around 10,000 BC new animals appeared in Wales, such as red deer and wild boar. Stone age hunters hunted them both. They also gathered plants for food.
In about 4,000 BC farming was introduced into Wales, although the people still used stone tools. About 2,000 BC people learned to use bronze. Then, about 600 BC Celts migrated to Wales, bringing iron tools and weapons with them. The Celts were a warlike people and they built many hill forts across Wales. However they were also skilled craftsmen with iron, bronze and gold.
In 43 AD the Romans invaded Southeast England. They began the conquest of Wales about 50 AD, but it took several decades. In 78 AD the Romans captured Anglesey, the headquarters of the Celtic priests, the Druids. That effectively ended Celtic resistance.
Afterwards Wales was firmly under Roman rule. The Romans created a network of forts across Wales to control the Celtic tribes. Sometimes towns grew up outside the forts as the soldiers provided a market for the townspeople’s goods. The most important Roman town in Wales was Caerwent. To us it would seem tiny, with only a few thousand inhabitants but towns were very small in those days. Other Roman towns were Maridunum (Carmarthen) and Segontium (Caernarfon). The Romans also built a number of villas in Wales.
Christianity arrived in the 3rd century. We know that two Christians named Julius and Aaron were martyred at Caerleon. However persecution of Christians ceased in 313.
However in the 4th century the Roman Empire went into decline. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in 407 AD. Afterwards the Roman way of life slowly vanished. Wales split into separate kingdoms.
WALES IN THE MIDDLE AGES
Meanwhile the Saxons invaded eastern England. They marched westwards and by the 7th century AD they had reached the borders of Wales. Centuries of fighting between Welsh and Saxons followed.
Then in the 9th century the Vikings began attacking Wales. However a man named Rhodri ap Merfyn or Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great) became king of Gwynedd in the northeast. In 855 he also became king of Powys in eastern Wales. In 856 he won a great victory over the Danes.
However the Vikings continued to attack Wales, at intervals, until the end of the 10th century.
When William the Conqueror became king of England in 1066 he did not attempt to conquer Wales. However he did grant land along the English-Welsh border to powerful Norman lords. These lords sometimes encroached on Welsh territory of their own accord.
During the reign of William II (1087-1100) the Normans continued their attacks on Wales. However the Welsh resisted bitterly and most of Wales remained independent.
However in those parts of Wales they controlled the English lords created towns. The most important was Cardiff. To us these early Welsh towns would seem tiny. They often only had several hundred inhabitants. The English lords also founded many monasteries in Wales.
In the mid-13th century one man managed to make himself ruler of most of Wales. In 1255 Llewellyn became king of Gwynedd. The Welsh kingdoms of Powys, Deheubarth and Glamorgan recognized Llewellyn as their lord. In 1267 King Henry III of England made the Treaty of Montgomery with Llewellyn. According to the treaty Llewellyn was made Prince of Wales. However he agreed to become the English king's vassal.
However in 1272 Edward I became king of England. He was determined to rule all of Great Britain. Since Llewellyn was his vassal Edward summoned him to do homage. Each time he was summoned Llewellyn made some excuse. In 1276 Edward declared him a rebel and raised an army, which marched into Wales. In 1277 Llewellyn was forced to submit and to surrender some territory to the English. However in 1282 the Welsh rebelled.
Llewellyn was killed fighting the English in December 1282 but his brother Dafyd carried on the struggle. However Dafyd was captured in June 1283 and he was executed in October 1283. The rebellion was crushed.
Edward was now ruler of Wales. English law was imposed upon the Welsh and Edward built a network of castles to control the people. Alongside the castles Edward created new towns.
In 1294 the Welsh rose in rebellion. However the rebellion was crushed in 1295.
In 1301 to try and gain the loyalty of the Welsh Edward made his son, who also called Edward, Prince of Wales.
In 1348-49 Wales, like the rest of Europe, was devastated by the Black Death, which probably killed one third of the population.
Then in 1400 Owain Glyn Dwr led another rebellion. Between 1401 and 1403 the rebels steadily advanced, capturing Welsh towns and defeating the English in battle. In 1404 Owain captured the castles at Aberystwyth and Harlech. However in 1405 and 1406 the English began to regain ground. The English recaptured Aberystwyth castle in 1408 and Harlech castle in 1409. Owain and his followers fled to the mountains. They continued to fight until 1413 when Owain Glyn Dwr disappeared from history.
In the late 15th century towns and trade in Wales flourished. Much of the countryside also grew more prosperous.
Then in 1485 Henry Tudor landed with an army at Milford Haven. He marched through Wales into England and after the battle of Bosworth he became king.