How Was Wales Formed?

How was Wales formed? In December 1282, the severed head of the man recognized as Prince of Wales was sent to London and put on display at the Tower. Less than twenty years later, the English king who had defeated him gave that same title to his own son. Ever since, the title Prince of Wales has passed to heirs of the English, and later British, crown. Yet, the Welsh had their own language, their own laws, and their own princes, and for centuries they came close to building a state of their own. From prehistoric settlement through to the spread of Celtic influence, Roman conquest, English domination, the area of modern-day Wales has undergone dramatic change. transformations. These included a near-successful attempt at national unification during the Middle Ages, only for the creation of a Welsh state to remain a dream. So why has a Welsh state been so hard to achieve? Runs from its earliest history through to its incorporation into the The English legal and administrative system under Henry VIII. Long before the formation of what is known today as Wales, the area had been inhabited by ancient humans. For tens of thousands of years, they roamed the landscape as nomadic hunter-gatherers before pastoralism and agriculture eventually took hold during the Neolithic period. For tens of thousands of years, they roamed the landscape as nomadic hunter-gatherers before pastoralism and agriculture eventually took hold during the Neolithic period. These later Neolithic farmers left their mark on the landscape in the form of burial chambers and stone circles, many of which still stand today. It was during the Iron Age, from around 500 BC onwards, that Celtic language and culture became increasingly established across Britain. This added a new layer to the formative identity of future Wales, with Celtic culture infusing with pre-existing customs. Following the Celts came the Romans, with their conquest reaching Wales in 48 AD. Within around 30 years, The entire region was under Roman control. For the next three centuries, Wales was a frontier province dotted with Roman forts and other infrastructure. While not subject to as much Roman influence as much as England, their presence undoubtedly had an impact on the developing Welsh identity, not to mention the legacy of their roads and the Roman town at Caerwent. From the late 4th century, Roman authority began to fall apart. In 383 A.D., Magnus Maximus withdrew his troops from Britain and by around 410 AD, Roman rule had effectively ended. Local rulers were left to govern themselves, which provided an unexpected period of autonomy for the local Welsh. These Britonic-speaking peoples were increasingly referring to themselves as Cymru, meaning fellow countrymen. This was in part in opposition to the emerging Saxon threat. With the Germanic group pushing into England from the southeast, their own records start referring to the people occupying these lands as Waelas. This simply meant foreigners, and eventually evolved into the Wales in use in the modern day. Competing kingdoms and high medieval attempts at unity, Wales remained a patchwork of small and divided kingdoms for centuries following Roman withdrawal. Each was ruled by its own king or chieftain, all competing for land, power, and status. This would gradually shift, with key kingdoms beginning to solidify into the early medieval period. This included Gwynedd in the north, Powys in the east, Deheubarth in the southwest, and many smaller kingdoms between these. They had shared a common Proto-Welsh language, which had developed from the ancient Brythonic spoken by the Celts, though by this period was distinct from the Cornish and Breton variants. Into the High Middle Ages, and attempts were made to address this disunity and create a national movement. The most significant of these attempts was under Llywelyn the Great. Ruler of the Kingdom of Gwynedd from 1195, he was a capable strategist. Through a combination of warfare and diplomacy, he brought much of Wales under his control. Styling himself Prince of Aberfraw and Lord of Snowdon rather than Prince of Wales, Llywelyn's power was such that he was recognized in the 1218 Treaty of Worcester with the English as the ruler of Gwynedd. Future generations would continue this trend up to Llywelyn's grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, Claiming the title of Prince of Wales with the full backing of Welsh lords for the first time, he also controlled more territory than any Welsh ruler before him. This power was again recognized by the English crown in the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. This was undoubtedly the closest Wales had come to national emergence and unification, yet it would remain a dream which English plans would soon shatter. English Conquest Possibly in part due to Wales' increasing movement towards unification under the Gwynedd dynasties, England had been keeping a close eye on it. Under its king, Edward I, English policy would soon change and take a violent turn towards Wales. Edward was a ruthless military commander, and when war broke out with Wales in 1276, he forced Llywelyn's surrender within a year. In the process, The Welsh king, already under significant internal pressure, lost territory and power. Not satisfied with this new status quo, Llywelyn joined a new rebellion in 1282, sparked when his brother David attacks the English at Harlech Castle. This time, Edward's response was swift and decisive. The Welsh king was killed on the 11th of December, 1282, at the Battle of Orewin Bridge, near la Bala. Afforded no dignity in death, Llywelyn's severed head was sent to London, where it was displayed on a spear outside the Tower of London. The message it was designed to send was clear. The time of independence for Wales is over. Edward sought to capitalize on his victory and consolidate English control of Wales. He constructed a formidable series of castles, which included Harlech, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Beaumaris. These Goliath stone structures stood as symbols of English power. The Statute of Rhuddlan followed in 1284, which formalized Edward's conquest and brought the territories of the former princes of Gwynedd under the control of the English crown. Eastern Wales, however, remained under the control of Anglo-Norman marcher lords and was governed as a semi-independent authority. While Wales was now under nominal English control, it was not yet a fully formed nation or part of England. This would take another 250 years. The Last Rebellion and Legal Union The memories of autonomy and dreams of an independent nation had not died with English domination. Another leader, Owain Glyndŵr, would take up the cause some two centuries later. A Welsh nobleman with a dream of a free Wales, he embarked on a rebellion in the year 1400. It soon spread across the country, with Owain's cause proving popular among the Among the many sections of society dissatisfied with English rule. Significant success for the rebellion soon followed, with Owain's forces capturing key castles including Harlech and Aberystwyth, as well as holding a parliament in Machynlleth. He had plans for a native Welsh church as well as a national university, and even won recognition and support from some foreign powers, including France. This was the closest Wales had come to independence since the English conquest two centuries earlier. However, much like the last rebellion, it would not end well for the Welsh. English forces, now led in part by future Future King Henry V gradually increased pressure on the rebellion, and eventually, Owain's fate, though, like Llywelyn before him, was less clear. Neither recorded as killed or captured, he simply vanished from the historical record. Yet the dream of Welsh independence would not vanish with him. For the next century, England's grip over Wales remained steadfast. English kings ruled. While the marcher Norman Lords continued to hold power in the east, then an interesting historical twist occurred, which would have significant effects on the future Wales. For the first time, a Welsh noble family held the English crown. The king in question was Henry Tudor, soon to be Henry VII, following his defeat of Richard III at Bosworth. From a Welsh family and having been raised in Wales, Henry VII had personal experience of Welsh issues and considered them of importance. This would be an approach built on by his son, Henry VIII, who greatly accelerated English action in Wales. He was determined to bring order to the chaotic governance system there, as well as overhaul the marcher-lord system, which had become another source of instability. Welsh law also remained different to English, with the border between the two also being porous and ill-defined. So in 1536 and 1543, his government passed a series of Acts of the Union. This brought Wales into a unified English administrative system, as well as creating well-defined borders and abolishing the Marcher Lordships. For the first time, Wales was fully incorporated into the English legal and administrative system. It had unified governance under English rule and clearly defined borders, but this came at the cost of any remaining political independence. The Welsh people have maintained their identity through Roman occupation and centuries of English pressure, yet they were still ruled by a Tudor king. 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