The More Things Change . . .

King Edward the First has had an almost universally bad press in Wales, especially among Welsh nationalists and those who teach in Welsh medium schools. Quite understandably so. The King, who went on to become “the Hammer of the Scots,” is blamed for the subjugation of Wales by the English and for the death of the last native-born Prince of Wales. Edward himself has had an often-mixed reception among an audience wider than the Welsh. Some have seen him as the first truly British King, seeking to forge a new nation, while others view him as an unhinged tyrant in the image of Patrick McGoohan’s portrayal of him in Mel Gibson’s movie Braveheart. In all this, Llywelyn is portrayed as the victim. However, history is seldom as clear cut as a cartoon with white hats and black hats, and some attention needs to be paid on Llywelyn and his squandering of a “good hand” after reaching the pinnacle of his triumphs and conquests in the mid-1260s. It’s reasonable to ask whether he might have remained great and founded a dynasty had he been as skilful a negotiator and strategist as that other great Welshman, David Lloyd-George. And if he’d had a better family.

It's impossible to understand the conquest of Wales without considering the political situation in England, especially under the reign of Edward’s father, Henry the Third. Henry had come to the throne in 1216 when he was a child, and his tenure was one of weak governance and almost continual political turmoil, often boiling over into outright civil war with members of the aristocracy. Perhaps the most serious of these wars was the Second Barons’ War during which Simon de Montfort ran the country with his own men and during which time he imprisoned the young Prince Edward. The heir to the throne escaped his confinement and the matter was finally resolved at the battle of Evesham in 1265 when de Montfort met his bloody end.

Llywelyn had been struggling for control of his own lordship of Gwynedd and succeeded in establishing his mastery in 1255 when he had his younger brother (and rival ) Owain imprisoned. The following year, he struck out from his fastness to overrun the Four Cantrefs – the area between the Rivers Conway and Clwyd – conquered by Henry III a decade previously. Welsh men and women suffering under clear injustice and misrule by the English responded readily. Some of the other Welsh lords may have exhibited more caution initially, but gradually their support for Llywelyn increased as his successes accumulated. The prince, having run the English out of north east Wales, now turned south, eventually coming into conflict with the Marcher lords – powerful men by the English crown to police the border between Wales and England – and with the young Prince Edward himself, who held much land in the southern coastal area of the country. It was because he couldn’t get money from his parents – Henry III was himself in financial difficulties – to support his military fightback that he turned to the Marcher Lords, themselves alarmed by Llywelyn, for help.

By 1267, after the conclusion of the Barons’ war, Llywelyn found himself master of most of Wales, with either direct control or recognition of his pre-eminence paid to him by local rulers such as the Lord of Powys. His success was embodied in the recognition of his conquests as well as his recognition as Prince of Wales by the English Crown in the 1267 Treaty of Montgomery. This involved Llywelyn paying homage to the English king, a seeming defeat, but in fact a victory as no Welsh-born prince had ever received such a recognition. The Treaty might have stabilised the situation had it been between a stable English state and a stable Welsh one. However, matters were complicated by the continuing disputes Llywelyn had with many of the powerful (and violent) Marcher Lords.

Trouble began to brew when Henry died in 1272. Edward ascended to the throne while abroad on crusade leaving power in the hands of ac council of regents whose number contained men like the marcher lord, Roger Mortimer. Llywelyn’s difficulties were made worse by his decision to invade the marcher lordship of Glamorgan in 1270, leading Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester to begin work on Caerphilly Castle. The result may have been one of the most magnificent castles in these islands, but for Llewellyn it meant financial woes. These problems were added to by the low level of income the prince received from his own impoverished principality, and by the fact that he had agreed to pay a hefty sum of money to the English crown for this recognition of his status. Llywelyn resorted to increasingly repressive measures to raise the money he needed, and this led to a fall in his popularity.

In early 1274 a plot was discovered involving Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, who wanted to break with Llywelyn. Gruffydd had some of his Powys land taken from him, but further investigations uncovered the fact at the heart of the conspiracy was a plan to assassinate Llywelyn and that the prince’s own brother Dafydd was a principal actor. Llywelyn’s younger brother had “form” as regards betrayal of his elder sibling, and so he and Gruffydd fled across the border, further inflaming tensions with England when London refused to return them.

By this time, Edward had returned to England after his participation in the crusades and the coronation took place in August 1276, an event which Llywelyn failed to attend. Edward overlooked this as he was, like the prince, deeply in debt and hoped to get some money out of the Welsh. However, Llywelyn’s refusal to attend to pay homage to Edward the following year enraged the King, especially when the prince gave as his reason the lack of safety he felt he would enjoy while under the King’s protection. And as if that wasn’t enough, Llywelyn had arranged to marry Eleanor de Montfort, the daughter of the dead rebel, she being discovered hiding on a ship bound for England from France. Memories of the late civil war were fresh and the de Montforts were still considered a danger to the throne and to public peace and safety. Thus, the stage was set for the war of 1277 which culminated the following year in a humiliating defeat, with Llywelyn stripped of most of his Welsh lands and confined to his starting point of Gwynedd. More than twenty years of effort were undone, almost in the blink of an eye.

The humiliating peace was but pause in what now was clearly a process of colonisation, and the pause came to an end when Llywelyn’s treacherous younger brother, having received lands from the King in 1278 as reward for his part in the earlier Welsh war, staged an uprising. Initially, Llywelyn stayed aloof, likely waiting for his wife Eleanor de Montfort – the King had eventually permitted the match – to give birth to a child the prince hoped would be his son and heir. Sadly, Eleanor died after giving birth to a daughter and Llywelyn realised his hopes of establishing a dynasty were in ruins. He joined the uprising and subsequently perished at the Battle of Orewin Bridge near Builth Wells on 11^th December 1282, the last native-born Prince of Wales.

I don’t know whether Llywelyn (or an independent Wales) would have survived if the Prince had been more circumspect. However, the question needs to be discussed as we ought to take some responsibility for what may be our failures. More than seven centuries on, and over two decades after devolution, many Welsh leaders still have a “Blame the English for everything” mindset. Problems with the National Health Service? Blame London for not supplying enough cash. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

If you would like to read more on the politics and history of the times here's a good start.