| Copyright | ||
|
Home An Early Great Britain and its Failure Wales; Part 1 |
Wales; Part 1The Conqueror had hedged in the Welsh by setting on their borders the most warlike of his barons, trusting thereby to employ their turbulent energy to his own gain. His son Rufus blundered into South Wales with an invading army, only to find his slow-moving mail-clad array helpless against the nimble Welshmen. He speedily saw his mistake, and returned to his father's policy, making in it, however, an improvement. He left the task of coping with the Welsh to the barons on the marches - the "lords marcher" - but he stimulated them by granting to them all the land that they could conquer. Piece by piece the lords marcher drove the Welsh back. Each forward step was secured by castles, whose remains still crown so many hilltops in South Wales. The Welsh were pinned in among the hills in the rugged north. All that remained to them was "the Principality", the Snowdon country (Merioneth and Carnarvon, and the Island of Anglesea).Had things gone on thus, an effective but no doubt very brutal conquest might have been completed. But in the reign of Henry III came a sudden revival in the Welsh power, such as often occurs in a downtrodden race. The barons, too, were fighting among themselves, and the Welsh prince, Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, took Simon de Montfort's side, and induced Edward to buy him off in 1269 by surrendering much of the country that had been conquered. Llewelyn, not content with the success of his first effort at fishing in troubled waters, tried again. In 1277 he planned a marriage between himself and Eleanor, the dead Simon's daughter. This being clearly a prelude to rebellion, Edward led an army into Wales. Llewelyn retired with his forces into the Snowdon range, feeling sure that the mountains would fight his battles should Edward follow him. Edward was much too wise to try. Instead of wasting his men among steep rocks he blocked all the passes, brought up a fleet to guard the coast, and starved Llewelyn out. Yet, when the Welshman surrendered, Edward did not treat him harshly; he made him pay homage, but left him some of his power, and let him marry Eleanor. But in the attempt to settle the conquered country, by dividing it into shires after the English fashion, and bringing in English laws to replace the Welsh ones, Edward stirred up much bad feeling. Three years later David, Llewelyn's brother, rebelled Llewelyn at once joined him. Their plans failed completely. Llewelyn was killed in a single combat by one of Edward's followers; David was captured and put to death as a traitor. The whole of the north thus came into Edward's hands, and he showed that he meant to keep it by bestowing on his son the title of the Prince of Wales, a title which has since become familiar in our history. The strong castles of Harlech and Conway still bear witness to his firm grasp of the Principality. In his dealings with the Welsh, Edward showed no desire to be harsh. He was determined to be master of the country, and to make his power a reality; but it was not till Llewelyn and David proved themselves traitors to their words that Edward became relentless in destroying all elements of Welsh rule. It was not till statesmanship and treaty proved useless that he used the blunter method of conquest. In his dealings with Scotland we shall see Edward pursue the same plan. When his schemes failed he resorted to force. But while little Wales could be crushed, Scotland proved more stubborn. Before studying the circumstances which tempted Edward to meddle in Scotland, we must see what the kingdom of Scotland was, and how it had been formed. |
Chronology |
| copyright by uus-ununseptium.info |