Arwystli
Today is a guest post from Brynne Haug, history major at Whitman College and co-conspirator in the study of all things Welsh. Thanks for stopping by! _________ Arwystli seems an insignificant place—just a small piece of land in the middle of Wales, bordering on the northern kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys. But Arwystli became instrumental for Wales’s survival in the War of 1282. In February of 1278, when Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Gwynedd and Wales, faced down King Edward I of England, on the surface he asked only for Arwystli. Although Llywelyn had agreed to cede it to Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn, the lord of Powys, when Gruffudd swore fealty to him in 1263,[1] he later laid claim to it on the grounds that Gruffudd had given up his rights when he betrayed him to the English Read more…
The Kingdom of Mercia
After 500 AD, the Kingdom of Mercia became one of largest and strongest Saxon kingdoms in England, and only faded with the transcendency of the Kingdom of Wessex under Alfred the Great (ruled 871-899). The first Mercian king to truly dominate England was Penda, ruling from 626-655 AD. Both Bede and Nennius describe the swath he cut across Britain, sometimes in alliance with others (Cadwallon and Cadfael of Gwynedd to name two) and sometime on his own reconnaissance. His paganism was a particular sore point: “In his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, written in the early eighth century, Bede of Jarrow describes him as ‘a barbarian more savage than any pagan’ with ‘no respect for the newly established religion of Christ’” and “In the ninth-century Historia Brittonum, Nennius describes Penda as ‘victorious through the arts of the Devil, for he was not baptised, and never believed in Read more…
Things Fall Apart–the End of an Independent Wales
Things Fall Apart is the name of an excellent book written in 1958 by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, describing his main character’s fall from grace where he loses his power, his family, and ultimately his life (he hangs himself). It is an equally apt phrase for defining what happened in Wales immediately after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. J. Beverley Smith writes: “By the beginning of 1283, but not very long before, Llanrwst and Betws became bases for English operations in the upper Conwy valley, and it seems that a crossing of the river had been forced by then. The Welsh forces faced an advance made in two directions. One army moved upstream along the Conwy and Lledr valleys to Dolwyddelan, a key position in the defensive preparations of the princes. By 18 January the castle was in the king’s Read more…
Welsh Independence (part . . . 227?)
A reader of this blog, Joe, asked me a question the other day. He said: “I was recently listening to the audio version of “The Economist” and heard an article about the Welsh vote on devolution. One of the article’s lead sentences was (I’m paraphrasing) : “On a cold day in Cardiff, it’s hard to catch any talk of devolution, and even harder to find anyone who cares much about it”. Do you agree with this assessment? And if so, do you think there’s a historical or cultural aspect to why some people in Wales feel they way they do? (I’m curious because, if I lived in Wales, I think I would be very likely to have a strong opinion on the matter.) —————– I think that the perspective on Welsh devolution varies according to where an individual lives (including Read more…
Scotland and Its War for Existence
Today I have a guest post on a parallel subject to my interest in Wales: JR Tomlin on the Scottish quest for independence. Her book, Freedom’s Sword, is available from Amazon or Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/46734. Welcome! ____________________ Because I write about Scotland, I felt it would be a good idea to briefly discuss Scotland’s history, and in particular, its invasion by England, as well as the eventual loss of its independence. I won’t do so with an emphasis on academics. For that, I suggest reading the work of G. W. S. Barrow, Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh and probably the pre-eminent medievalist of the last century. In particular, I recommend reading both his Robert Bruce and the Community of the Realm of Scotland and his Kingship and Unity: Scotland, 1000–1306, that is if you have a deep interest in the subject. Otherwise, just Read more…
Heroic Fantasy in Dark Age Wales
I was invited to guest post about my book, The Last Pendragon. at http://keithcblackmore.com/blog/ Come check it out 🙂
Welsh Cantrefs and Commotes
In medieval Wales, for legal and administrative purposes the country was divided into cantrefs, which were relatively large areas (like US counties) and commotes, which were smaller jurisdictions. “A cantref is a measurement of a hundred (literally, it means “one hundred”). A commot is a community, the word ultimately deriving from the same root as Cymru–comrad, compatriot, neighbor.” The list of cantrefs and commotes from the Red Book of Hergest is found here: http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/cantref.html In the Middle Ages, Gwynedd had and fifteen cantrefs and thirty-six commotes. Overall, it was the largest of the regions of Wales. “The antiquity of the cantrefi is demonstrated by the fact that they often mark the boundary between dialects. Some were originally kingdoms in their own right, others may have been artificial units created later. (Davies, John; Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur I. Lynch (2008), The Welsh Academy Read more…
Danish Bones Found in Oxford
There’s a new article in The Oxford Student which describes a recent find of bones, determined to have belonged to Danes and the result of a massacre ordered by King Ethelbert in 1003 AD. It sheds some light on an early period in British history and points to something that is easy to forget as you work your way through the Early Middle Ages: that the “Saxons” from literature and mythology were not monolithic, but comprised of different ethnic groups and nationalities. What this find reveals is that the Saxons, who now controlled most of England, murdered their Danish neighbors. From a Welsh perspective, these groups might seem one and the same, but they weren’t. In the Oxford article, it states: “Vikings’ skeletons found underneath one of St John’s quads are the remains of a violent “ethnic cleansing” over 1,000 years ago. Read more…
Gladiators in York
The Romans came to Britain in the 1st century AD. Julius Caesar invaded what is now England twice, in 55 and 54 BC but didn’t leave legions and never gained any actual territory. Britain Express amusingly called this ‘Caesar’s summer vacation’. It wasn’t until 100 years later, in 43 AD, that they invaded for real, and began a systematic conquering of what is now England, Wales, and Scotland. For a good summary of the chronology, see: http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Roman_invasion.htm http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac71 What has always been harder to pin down is the cultural effect the Romans had on England, since after they left in the early 5th century, the remains of their culture seems to have been wholly swept away. Within a generation or two, little trace of them, except for their roads and ruined forts–and their religion, Christianity–remained. Everything had fallen into Read more…
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