Wales Flashcards
Political opportunities
- Top political opportunities reserved for English men
- Suspicion after Owain Glyndwr revolt
- Sir John Griffith was the only Welshman to be appointed constable to North Wales (Aberystwyth, 1422), but he was more interested in his English lands
- Walter Brugge (Welsh) was the receiver-general (the chief financial officer) of the Mortimer estates
- Philip ap Morgan became steward of Lord Mortimer’s estates (Davies, 1995)
- Welshmen exercising power were exercising it on behalf of English lords
- Welsh judges and rhingyll (Welsh judicial officers) were appointed for the Welsh courts
- Welsh courts disadvantaged the Welsh
– Welshmen were excluded from the benefits of English law, like the right to essoin (excuse not to attend court for valid reason)
Revolt
- Owain Lawgoch claimed to be the Prince of Wales before being assassinated in 1378
- Context of Owain Glyndwr revolt = political instability
– Richard II confiscated lands of three of most important marcher lords and exhaled two for life
– His deposition - By 1903 the revolt was widespread in Wales
- Different to Welsh wars of 13th C = 13th C = Gwynydd’s princes wanted to establish themselves as princes of Wales to give homage to English King, Glyn Dwr wanted independence from England – wanted to make church independent to earl of canterbury
- Many ordinary Welsh people kept their heads down, were subject to intimidation and kidnapped to extract ransoms (Davies, 1989)
- Mix of Welsh squirearchy who supported revolt and who stayed loyal to the English Crown
- Suggests that taking sides during the revolt was influenced by self-interest for the advantaged in society, and self-preservation for the disadvantaged in society
– Many paid Glyndwr and his men protection money to prevent them from raiding them - Not unifying
– Some royal to Crown – generated civil war as well as struggle for independence
– Rhys Davis = most Welsh people sat on the fence as long as possible and would change sides depending on who was winning – most Welsh people trying to survive - The initial revolt in 1400 led to English Parliament demanding harsh repression of the Welsh
Language + culture
- Gerald of Wales spoke Welsh but rarely spoke it
- He sided towards the English, writing: ‘Indeed, it may well be […] preferable to eject the entire population […] so that Wales can be colonised anew
Act of Union 1536 (Henry VIII)
– Ended distinction between the marches and principality
– Wales would be governed under English law
– Made English the language of courts in Wales
– Those using the Welsh language were not to receive public office
Act of Union 1543
– Be more precise + clarify things from 1536 statute
– Argument that these Acts made the Welsh appear English
– But, argument that since there was no advantage of identifying as English, everyone was Welsh
- The Welsh culture of romanticizing past rulers – bards + singers would recount previous Welsh rulers (often by memory), Welsh respected noble heritage / lineage – glory days of Wales
Co-operation with England
- Gruffudd ap David Holland = ‘on the way to becoming a Welshman but he was still technically “an Englishman (by blood) and an English tenant”’ (Davies, 1974-5)
- Mixing of names = William Fychan ap Gwilym Sourdevall
- Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn’s children had surname ‘de la Pole’
Racial differences
Customs
– Different customs between the Welsh and English heightened racial differences and tensions
– Welsh were described as “bare-footed rascals” and “men of poor reputation” (Davies, 1974-5)
– Lived together before marriage, different agricultural practices, went bare foot
– Gerald of Wales = Welsh behave ‘with no attempt whatsoever at etiquette’
Blurring of distinctions
– R. R. Davies = ‘societies of […] Gwent, Glamorgan, Gower and Pembroke […] had much more in common with English county society than with native Welsh society’ (Davies, 1974-5)
– “The English community of Glamorgan”, “the English people of the county of Pembroke” –> advantages gained from identifying as English
Inter-marriage
– But still not equal – 1359: a Welshman who married an Englishwoman but wasn’t allowed to inherit her English lands after her death, despite ‘courtesy of the English’, because he was Welsh
– But day-to-day living peacefully together
- Began adopting English customs like wearing stockings + shoes, sleeping under sheets
Women
- Welsh women couldn’t be witnesses against men in legal proceedings
- The law tracts say that the man is the ‘woman’s “lord” (dominus eius est)’ (Lansing, 2006)
- But husbands couldn’t act badly towards their wives without penalty
- Divorce possible, women could leave husbands for things like leprosy, impotence or bad breath
- Both free to remarry after divorce
- ‘Property arrangements were designed in such a way as to ensure the wife’s ability to support herself should the marriage fail’ (pg827)
- If they split during 1st 7 years of marriage and wasn’t due to a ‘fault of the wife’, she was entitled to a portion of the property, and if it was after 7 years they had to split all moveable property
- But 1517 – record of wife being “sold” ‘to another man by her husband’ (Lansing, 2006)
- Only 3 nunneries in Wales before the Dissolution, only around 35 (estimated) nuns in the country
- Gwerful Mechain – female poet (1460–1502) - but only female Welsh poet where many of her works have survived
