Conquerors and conquered in medieval Wales

Between the last decades of the eleventh century and the mid-sixteenth century the society, culture and government of Wales were fundamentally recast by powerful forces, Norman and English, from the east. These essays, published between 1963 and 1991, examine some of the consequences of this process, which was often violent and stoutly resisted by Welsh communities and their rulers. Gradually, Wales came to terms with its conquerors and the leaders of society, be they Welsh or immigrant in origin, adopted attitudes that had much in common. Despite periodic uprisings, peculiar modes of government and administration evolved in the marches of Wales (which were the first conquests) and the principality of Wales (which Welsh princes lost during the reign of Edward I) that lasted until Henry VIII's time. In particular, the foundation of scores of new towns and chartered boroughs aided the transformation of the country and the evolution of a distinctive Anglo-Welsh society with important links with England and the wider world. These essays illuminate these and other themes, drawing on evidence - some of it revealed for the first time when the essays were published - that explains the resistance movements against Edward I and Edward II, and the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr against Henry IV. They analyse the gentry class as it emerged in Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Glamorgan, and also the character of a range of towns, from Aberystwyth in the west to Cardiff in the south-east. Underlying all of these historical developments lies the crucially important - and older - link between Wales and the West Country across the Severn divide.