12: Conquered Wales
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The war between Edward and Llywelyn was not a war between England and
Wales, as we think of these countries now. Some of the best soldiers
under Edward were Welsh, especially the bowmen who followed the Earl
of Gloucester and Roger Mortimer from the Wye and Severn valleys.
It is not right that we Welshmen should feel bitter against England,
because, in this last war, Edward won and Llywelyn fell. It is easy
to say that Edward was cruel and faithless, and it is easy to say
that Llywelyn was shifty and obstinate; but it is quite clear that
each of them thought that he was right. Edward thought that Britain
ought to be united: Llywelyn thought Wales ought to be free. Now,
happily, we have the union and the freedom.
On the other hand, I should not like you to think that Wales was more
barbarous than England, or Llywelyn less civilised than Edward I.
Giraldus Cambrensis saw a prince going barefoot, and the fussy little
Archbishop Peckham saw that Welsh marriage customs were not what he
liked; and many historians, who have never read a line of Welsh
poetry, take for granted that the conquest of Wales was a new victory
for civilisation.
In many ways Wales was more civilised than England at that time. Its
law was more simple and less developed, it is true; but it was more
just in many cases, and certainly more humane. Was it not better
that the land should belong to the people, and that the youngest son
should have the same chance as the eldest? And, in crime, was it not
better that if no opportunity for atonement was given, the death of
the criminal was to be a merciful one? In the reign of John, a Welsh
hostage, a little boy of seven, was hanged at Shrewsbury, because his
father, a South Wales chief, had rebelled. In the reign of Edward
I., the miserable David was dragged at the tails of horses through
the streets of the same town, and the tortures inflicted on the dying
man were too horrible to describe to modern ears. And what the
Norman baron did, his Welsh tenant learnt to do. In Wales you get
fierce frays and frequent shedding of blood; on the borders you get
callous cruelty to a prisoner, or the disfiguring of dead bodies—
even that of Simon de Montfort, the greatest statesman of the Middle
Ages in England—on the battlefield when all passion was spent.
Take the rulers of Wales again. Griffith ap Conan and Llywelyn the
Great had the energy and the foresight, though their sphere was so
much smaller, of Henry II. And what English king, except Alfred,
attracts one on account of lovableness of character as Owen Gwynedd
and Owen Cyveiliog and the Lord Rees do?
When Edward entered into Snowdon, Welsh was spoken to the Dee and the
Severn, and far beyond. There were many dialects, as there are
still, though any two Welshmen could understand each other wherever
they came from, with a little patience, as they can still. But there
was also a literary language, and this was understood, if not spoken,
by the chiefs all through the country. It was more like the Welsh
spoken in mid-Wales—especially in the valley of the Dovey—than any
other. There are many signs of civilisation; one of them is the
possession of a literary language—for romance and poem, for court
and Eisteddvod.
Conquered Wales may be divided into two parts—the Wales conquered by
the Norman barons and the Wales conquered by the English king.
The Wales conquered by the English king was the country ruled by
Llywelyn and his allies. In 1284, by the statute of Rhuddlan, it was
formed into six shires. The Snowdon district—which held out last—
was made into the three shires of Anglesey, Carnarvon, and Merioneth.
The part of the land between Conway and Dee that belonged to the
king, not to barons, was made into the shire of Flint. The lands of
Llywelyn's allies beyond the Dovey were made into the shires of
Cardigan and Carmarthen. Instead of the chiefs of the Welsh prince,
the king's sheriffs and justices ruled the country. But much of the
old law remained.
The Wales conquered by the Norman barons lay to the east and south of
the Wales turned into shires in 1284. It included the greater part
of the valleys of the Clwyd, Dee, Severn, and Wye; and the South
Wales coast from Gloucester to Pembroke. It remained in the
possession of lords who were subject to the King of England, but who
ruled almost like kings in their own lordships. The laws and customs
of the various lordships differed greatly; sometimes the lord used
English law, and sometimes Welsh law. The great ruling families
changed much in wealth and power, from century to century. In
Llywelyn's time the most important were the Clares (Gloucester and
Glamorgan), the Mortimers (Wigmore and Chirk), Lacy (Denbigh),
Warenne (Bromfield and Yale), Fitzalan (Oswestry), Bohun (Brecon),
Braose (Gower), and Valence (Pembroke).
Llywelyn was the last prince of independent Wales. From that time
on, the title is conferred by the King of England on his eldest son,
who is then crowned. The present Prince of Wales also comes, through
a daughter of Llywelyn the Great, from the House of Cunedda, the
princes of which ruled Wales from Roman times to 1284. Of all the
houses that have gone to make the royal house, this is the most
ancient.
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