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…
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…
The Poetic Tradition
Tonight the hall of my lord is dark, With neither fire nor bed. I will weep a while, then still myself to silence. Tonight the hall of my lord is dark, With neither fire nor candle. Who will give me peace? Tonight the hall of my lord is dark, With neither fire nor light. Grief for you overtakes me. Darkness descends on the hall of my lord The blessed assembly has departed, praying That good comes to those of us who remain. This poem (interpreted for my own purposes from the original: http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sechard/492llyw.htm) is from the Welsh poem Canu Heledd. The poem tells a story of Cynddylan, or Cynddylan ap Cyndrwyn, a seventh century ruler of a sub-kingdom of Gwynedd. His father allied with Penda of Mercia, but died before 642: “In the aftermath of victory Penda and Cynddylan seem Read more…
Original Sources for Welsh history
J. Beverley Smith, in his exhaustive history of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, lists primary sources for his research in the back of his book Llywelyn ap Gruffydd: The Prince of Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998). In perusing the documents, it becomes clear that while the thirteenth century was no longer officially the ‘dark ages’, there is very little documentation for an enormous amount of what happened in Wales during Llywelyn’s reign. On one hand, we have the cryptic Chronicle of the Princes (from which I quoted a few days ago), but no other record, official or otherwise, of the events leading up to Llywelyn’s death. In addition, we don’t know: 1) When Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was born 2) If Senana was definitively his mother, though there is reference to him as the ‘uterine brother’ of Owain and Dafydd. 3) Read more…
Footsteps in Time Review (from Smashwords)
This was pretty cool, so I felt the need to repost it . . . so thank you Wil! I’m glad you liked the book! ________ Review by: Wilson James on Feb. 14, 2011 : Honor. That’s a word not often used today, in 2011. Honor, however, was one of the only things that American teenagers David and Anna took with them in their time travel to medieval Wales. Honor also describes the way in which Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd lived his life as the ruler of Wales in 1282. The best way to describe FOOTSTEPS IN TIME? An amazing tale of adventure, daring exploits, loyalty, and courage all wrapped up in a time travel young adult fiction story. This book was enjoyable from beginning to end, as it has plenty of action mixed with a truly remarkable degree of Read more…
New Books Available!
I’ve been working on the After Cilmeri series, a young adult, time-travel fantasy, for the past five years. As should be obvious by now, the fate of Wales after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd has been a near-constant occupation of mine, and these novels are a fun way to imagine a different fate for him. A prequel is in the works . . . Enjoy! _____________ Footsteps in Time In December of 1282, English soldiers ambushed and murdered Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the Prince of Wales. His death marked the end of Wales as an independent nation and the beginning of over seven hundred years of English oppression. Footsteps in Time is the story of what might have happened had Llywelyn lived. And what happens to the two American teenagers who save him. Footsteps in Time is available (for free) at: http://www.feedbooks.com/userbook/18316/footsteps-in-time Or Read more…
Maps of Wales
Both topography and geography change over time. Geologically, Wales hasn’t changed much in 2000 years, but the topography has, from mining, from the building of villages and cities, and from the wholesale cutting–and then replanting–of forests. As evidenced by the loss of the location of many of the Roman roads, transportation routes change over time. What used to be on a major pathway across the country is now in a desolate, hard-to-reach area. As one example, in Powys, in the 19th century, the leader of Birmingham City Council set about finding a clean water supply for the City. He identified the Elan and Claerwen Valleys as having the best potential for water storage with ample water (72 inches a year), narrow downstream valleys, impermeable bedrock, and a higher altitude eliminating the need for pumps. “An Act of Parliament was passed Read more…
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…
Medieval Days of the week 1100-1500 AD
I just discoverd a web page (http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cal/medcal.shtml) where some hearty soul has calculated the dates/days of the week from 1100-1500 AD. Thus, for the book I’m writing now, I discovered that 11 December 1282 was a Friday. It was also the 3rd day before the Ides, which was a Roman way of figuring the days. The Roman calendar was originally based on the first three phases of the moon, with days counted backwards from lunar phases. The new moon was the day of the Kalends, the moon’s first quarter was the day of the Nones, and the Ides fell on the day of the full moon. (Thus, Julius Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March, or March 15) December 11th was the Feast day St. Damasus, who commissioned the translation of the Bible from Greek to Latin in 366 AD. Read more…
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