England and Wales, medieval

During the Middle Ages, the English crown conquered and subdued Wales, a country that had been divided into many small principalities before the Norman Conquest. After William (I) the Conqueror established his Norman barons on the Welsh border during the Norman Conquest, the next two centuries saw a prolonged struggle against Anglo-Norman aggression. English dominance was completed by the end of the 13th century with the defeat of Llewelyn (II) ap Gruffydd by Edward I. Although the self-styled ‘Prince of Wales’, Owen Glendower made a strong bid for Welsh independence in the early 15th century, Wales was reconquered. The Act of Union (1536) formerly united Wales to England.

Norman Conquest The Norman barons established on the Welsh border, known as the Marcher Lords, took advantage of the disunity of the principalities to expand their territories. Following a Welsh revolt in 1097 Henry I of England attacked the region with three armies simultaneously, reducing most of the Welsh princes to submission by 1114. Although the Welsh recovered some of their independence during the civil wars of Stephen's reign, Henry II re-established control over Wales. Meanwhile, the Welsh church was merged completely into the English church, although this was opposed by the Welsh historian and cleric Giraldus Cambrensis, who was elected bishop of St Davids in 1198 but failed to gain control of his see.

Welsh rebellion King John (I) Lackland invaded and conquered Wales in 1211, but a Welsh prince, Llewelyn I (Llewelyn ap Iorwerth or Llewelyn the Great), used the baron's revolt of 1215 to regain a measure of independence for Wales. After extending his rule over all Wales outside Norman control, and ousting the Normans from north Wales, Llewelyn realized that he could not defeat the English kings, so he made the country a feudal dependency of England. By this treaty Llewelyn gave away the semblance of Welsh independence while retaining the reality of it.

In 1272, however, Llewelyn's son, Llewelyn (II) ap Gruffydd, refused to do homage to Edward I as his vassal (feudal tenant); Edward was absent at the time on the Crusades. After his return to England, Edward aimed to destroy Llewelyn's power completely. In 1282, Llewelyn was killed in a chance encounter. From this date Wales ceased to have any separate political existence. Government by Welsh princes was replaced by that of the king's officials. Llewelyn's lands were divided into shires, like those of England. Edward spent £100,000 building ten new castles – Builth, Aberystwyth, Flint, Rhuddlan, Ruthin, Hope, Conwy, Harlech, Caernarfon, and Beaumaris. Edward I's young son, the future Edward II, born at Caernarfon Castle, was declared the new Prince of Wales.

In 1400 the Welsh lord Owen Glendower (Owain Glyndwr) led a nationalist revolt. By 1404 Glendower was ruler of Wales, holding his own parliament, but the revolt ended with his death. The English took over Wales, and introduced a number of repressive laws.

Further details are given in Wales: history to 1066, Wales: history 1066 to 1485, and England: history to 1485.