Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Prince of Wales (d. 1246)
Dafydd ap Llywelyn, the only legitimate son of Llywelyn Fawr (Llywelyn ap Iowerth), was stuck between a rock and a hard place. His father was determined that he become the Prince of Wales and hold the country together upon Llywelyn’s death, but at the same time, his illegitimate older brother, Gruffydd, by Welsh law had an equal claim to the throne. The possibility that Gruffydd was erratic and temperamental and perhaps not as suited to ruling a princedom as Dafydd was irrelevant. Even had Gruffydd been all that Llywelyn wanted in a son, he was not legitimate. Among the Welsh, any child was reckoned legitimate if his father acknowledged him, which Llywelyn had. But the Church did not and the powers-that-were in England believed that the Welsh were barbaric for allowing a illegitimate child to inherit anything. Much less the crown Read more…
Boudicca’s Revolt
The Romans conquered Britain over the course of one hundred and fifty years. Julius Caesar was the first to attempt it. He established a beachhead in the east, but never got further into the country despite multiple expeditions. “His first expedition, however, was ill-conceived and too hastily organised. With just two legions, he failed to do much more than force his way ashore at Deal and win a token victory that impressed the senate in Rome more than it did the tribesmen of Britain. In 54 BC, he tried again, this time with five legions, and succeeded in re-establishing Commius on the Atrebatic throne. Yet he returned to Gaul disgruntled and empty-handed, complaining in a letter to Cicero that there was no silver or booty to be found in Britain after all.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/questions_01.shtml 100 years later, in 43 AD, the Emperor Claudius determined Read more…
What is the significance of ‘After Cilmeri’?
Today is the anniversary of the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in a field at Cilmeri, Wales. I titled my books after Cilmeri because the books are an alternate timeline of what happened after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd at Cilmeri. It has been over 700 years since Llywelyn ap Gruffydd’s death on 11 December 1282. J. Beverley Smith writes: “Intimations of treachery, of breach of faith, are so often conveyed darkly, and no chronicle, nor any other source, provides the unequivocal testimony which might enable us to unravel the threads in the various accounts of the tragic happening in the vicinity of Builth. It was alleged at the time, or shortly afterwards, in the most explicit statement we have, that the prince’s decision to venture into the area was influenced by one of the sons of his old Read more…
The Evolution of Welsh
The first thing you learn in linguistics is that languages evolve. The second is that they are arbitrary. This does not mean language isn’t important, or that it isn’t integral to culture. (see this article on Quebec’s policing of language). It does mean that there is nothing inherent in the word ‘spoon’ that denotes the rounded tool with which you cook or eat. Medieval Welsh, or Middle Welsh, was the language spoken in the 12th to 14th centuries. Like when a modern English-speaker attempts to read Chaucer in English, it is possible for a modern Welsh speaker to read middle Welsh, which is the language of much of the Welsh literature (Four Tales of the Mabinogi, for example) that we have, although the tales themselves are much older. You can find out about learning it here: http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/cat/cat_h.html#H.2 The root of the changes between medieval and modern Welsh lie in Read more…
The Senghenydd Mine Disaster
Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of the worst mining disasters ever, and certainly the worst in Wales. “Britain’s worst ever mining disaster has been remembered a century after 439 miners and one rescuer lost their lives in an explosion at Senghenydd in South Wales. A new monument has been unveiled on the site of the old mine and a memorial garden opened to remember more than 5,000 miners killed in accidents across Wales since the 18th century.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24516312 The explosion killed almost the entire male population of the town. “The demand for Welsh steam coal before World War I was enormous, driven by the Royal Navy and its huge fleet of steam battleships, dreadnoughts and cruisers, and by foreign Navies allied to Britain and the British Empire. Coal output from British mines peaked in 1914, and there were Read more…
Is Time Travel Possible?
I wrote a post on time travel that is being featured over at Historical Fiction ebooks. ____ We are all time travelers; we travel through time every millisecond of our lives. It’s just that we can only move in one direction—into the future. Theoretically, time travel into the future and into the past are two distinct concepts. Traveling into the future could happen merely by slowing down your own time, rather than popping in and out of the future like in the television show, Primeval. Unfortunately, at the moment, the kind of time travel we want to experience—into the past—isn’t possible. Traveling in the future is only possible if we travel more quickly or more slowly than everyone else, but then we still can’t ‘get back’ to our own time: “If you want to advance through the years a little faster than the Read more…
The Thirteen Treasures of Britain
Dyrnwyn, the flaming sword, lost for centuries beneath the earth. A hamper that feeds a hundred, a knife to serve twenty-four, A chariot to carry a man on the wind, A halter to tame any horse he might wish. The cauldron of the Giant to test the brave, A whetstone for deadly sharpened swords, An entertaining chess set, A crock and a dish, each to fill one’s every wish, A cup that bestows immortality on those worthy of it, And the mantle of Arthur. His healing sword descends; Our enemies flee our unseen and mighty champion. –Taliesin, The Thirteen Treasures, The Black Book of Gwynedd I wrote that poem (on behalf of Taliesin) for my Last Pendragon Saga, but it has deep roots in Celtic mythology. When JK Rowling talks about the deathly hallows in the Harry Potter books, she is giving a Read more…
King Owain Gwynedd
Owain was born Owain ap Gruffydd around 1100 AD, the second son of Gruffydd ap Cynan. Owain ruled from 1137 to 1170 AD. His rule was marked by peace initially, at least with England, as Owain took advantage of the strife in England between Stephen and Maud for the English throne to consolidate his power in Wales. That conflict lasted for 19 years (http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/history/owain-gwynedd.htm), finally resolving in the rule by Stephen but with the inheritance of the throne upon his death by Maud’s son, Henry. Owain “married, firstly, Gwladys, the daughter of Llywarch ap Trahaearn; and secondly, Christina, his cousin, the daughter of Goronwy ap Owain ‘the Traitor,’ Lord of Tegeingle, to whom he remained constant despite the active disapproval of the Church.” He had many sons and daughters, not all of whom are documented. http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/owaingd.html His first relationship was with a woman named Read more…
The Revolt of 1136
Warfare was nearly constant in Wales both before and after the Norman conquest. Of course, the Normans didn’t actually conquer Wales–only parts of it–until the final defeat of Llywelyn in 1282. In the years since 1066, however, the native Welsh princes and kings had lost out to the conquering Normans. Deheubarth, the southwestern region of Wales, was flatter and more accessible than the northern areas, and had been of particular interest to the conquerers. They had successfully overrun much of it by 1136, but in that year, the time was ripe for rebellion: “By 1136 an opportunity arose for the Welsh to recover lands lost to the Marcher lords when Stephen de Blois displaced his cousin Empress Matilda from succeeding her father to the English throne the prior year, sparking the Anarchy in England. The usurption and conflict it caused eroded Read more…
Ewloe Castle
Very little is known about Ewloe Castle, other than it appears to have been built by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd to counter the English fortresses in eastern Gwynedd of Hawarden and Flint. It was built in a hollow beneath a field, that actually set on a small hill overlooking two creeks: the Wepre and the New Inn Brook. “Ewloe castle rises at northwest of the town of Hawarden and is one of the symbols of the brief triumph of the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Last that began its construction in 1257 after the reconquest of this part of Wales. Of all the native castles in North Wales Ewloe is the only with a non spectacular setting. It stands on a promontory overlooking the junction of two streams but is overwhelmed by higher ground at south. Its position, near the English border, Read more…
Simon de Montfort
Simon de Montfort led a rebellion, successful for a time, against King Henry III of England, and paid the ultimate price at the battle of Evesham, falling in defeat to the forces of Edward (at the time, Prince of England). “Simon de Montfort was born in France in about 1208. His father was a large landowner, but when he died he left his land to Simon’s older brother Amaury. The de Montfort family had owned land in England in the past and Amaury suggested that Montfort should visit Henry III in to see if the land could be reclaimed. Montfort arrived in England in 1230. Henry liked Simon, was sympathetic to his claim and gave him back his family lands. The king also agreed that Montfort should become the new earl of Leicester. In return, Montfort promised to pay a fee Read more…
King Offa of Mercia
Offa of Mercia ruled much of England from 757 AD to 29 July 796. He was known primarily to history as the man who built–or organized the building of–‘Offa’s Dyke’ the earthenwork wall that stretches the length of the border between England and Wales. Unfortunately, though we know the dates of his rule, some of what happened before and after, and the wars we fought, we know little of Offa as a man. The date that he ruled is very exact for that time period because of the wall and the history surrounding it. He was buried in Bedford and succeeded by his son, Ecgfrith, whom Offa had consecrated as his heir before his death. “According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ecgfrith died after a reign of only 141 days. A letter written by Alcuin in 797 to a Mercian ealdorman Read more…
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