1.
Owen Glendower (novel)
–
Owen Glendower, An Historical Novel by John Cowper Powys was first published in America in January 1941, and in the UK in February 1942. Powys returned to Britain from the USA in 1934, with his lover Phyllis Playter, living first in Dorchester, where he began work on his novel Maiden Castle. This move to the land of his ancestors led Powys to write this, Owen, Powyss ninth novel, reflects his increasing sense of what he thought of as his bardic heritage. Powys has used Shakespeares anglicised version of Owain Glyndŵrs name, Owen Glendower for the title of his novel, however, within the novel, he uses Owen Glyn Dŵr. This was when he assumed the ancestral title of Prince of Powys at his manor house of Glyndyfrdwy. But Powys first had to complete Maiden Castle, which he did in February 1936 and he then worked on his anti-vivisection book, Morwyn, which was finished in January 1937. However, already in September 1935 Phyllis Playter has suggested that he should write a novel about Owain Glyndŵr. On 24 April 1937, in the Chapter House, Abbey of Valle Crucis, Powys began and he also visited Sycharth where Glendower had maintained a residence. These places would have an important role in Owen, Powys finished Owen on 24 December 1939, on the hill fort of Mynydd y Gaer, above Corwen, which, according to legend, was one of the places associated with Owain Glyndŵrs last days. Owen Glendower was first published by his American publisher Simon and Schuster in a two volume edition, in 1941, however, Powys had considerable difficulty getting the British edition published. Finally, after it was turned down by eight publishers, the Bodley Head agreed to publish it, though Powys only received ₤20 for this edition and these difficulties were possibly related to the books length and a war time paper shortage. On 13 October 1399 Henry IV had been crowned king, after deposing Richard II, then in February 1400 Richard had died in unexplained circumstances. On 16 September of that year Owain Glyndŵrs rebellion began, the story of the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr is seen through the eyes of his young relation, Rhisiart ab Owen of Hereford for the first eleven chapters. Then, in the paragraph of chapter XI the point of view switches to Glendower. However, Powys slips into full-scale omniscient narration, in which the narrator is presented as knowing virtually everything, in addition to Glyndŵr and his family, the cast of characters includes real historical figures such as Gruffydd Young and the Lollard Walter Brut. On 23 June 1400, the Eve of St Johns Day and he arrives at Dinas Bran Castle, high above Llangollen, just across the border from England in a group that includes Walter Brut, a Lollard, and a group of monks led by the Abbot of Caerleon. Here he saves Mad Huw, who has preached that King Richard II of England is still alive, Rhisiart and his fellow travellers then precedes to Owen’s stronghold at nearby Glyndyfrdwy, along with Owen Glendowers son Meredith. Here after feasting and entertainment, they witness the death of the bard Iolo Goch, Rhisiart, Brut, Mad Huw, Master Young and a few other chosen individuals are summoned by Owen to give their opinions on the best course of action
Owen Glendower (novel)
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Owen Glendower's seal
Owen Glendower (novel)
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Valle Crucis Abbey where Powys began writing Owen on 24 April 1937.
Owen Glendower (novel)
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Dinas Bran, Llangollen. "Was he afraid that the sight of the real Dinas Brân would make the ideal one […] dissolve into air?" Owen Glendower (1941), p. 9.
Owen Glendower (novel)
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Harlech Castle was taken by Glendower in 1404 and recaptured by the English in 1409.
2.
Prince of Wales
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Prince of Wales was a title granted to princes born in Wales from the 12th century onwards, the term replaced the use of the word king. Since the 13th century, the title is granted to the apparent to the English or British monarch. The title is granted to the heir apparent as a personal honour or dignity. The title Earl of Chester is always given in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales, the Prince of Wales usually has other titles and honours. The wife of the Prince of Wales is entitled to the title Princess of Wales, Prince Charless first wife, Diana, used that title but his second wife, Camilla, uses only the title Duchess of Cornwall because the other title has become so popularly associated with Diana. The Prince of Wales is the heir apparent of the monarch of the United Kingdom, no formal public role or responsibility has been legislated by Parliament or otherwise delegated to him by law or custom, either as heir apparent or as Prince of Wales. He has also represented the Queen and the United Kingdom overseas at state, for most of the post-Roman period, Wales was divided into several smaller states. Before the Norman conquest of England, the most powerful Welsh ruler at any time was generally known as King of the Britons. In the 12th and 13th centuries, this evolved into Prince of Wales. In Latin, the new title was Princeps Walliae, and in Welsh it was Tywysog Cymru, the literal translation of Tywysog is leader. Only a handful of native princes had their claim to the overlordship of Wales recognised by the English Crown, the first known to have used such a title was Owain Gwynedd, adopting the title Prince of the Welsh around 1165 after earlier using rex Waliae. In 1240, the title was inherited by his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn. Instead he styled himself as Prince of Wales around 1244, the first Welsh prince to do so, in 1246, his nephew Llywelyn ap Gruffudd succeeded to the throne of Gwynedd, and used the style as early as 1258. In 1267, with the signing of the Treaty of Montgomery, three Welshmen, however, claimed the title of Prince of Wales after 1283. The first was Madog ap Llywelyn, a member of the house of Gwynedd and his revolt was suppressed, however, after the Battle of Maes Moydog in March 1295, and the prince was imprisoned in London. It is Owain Glyndŵr, however, whom many Welsh people regard as being the last native Prince, on 16 September 1400, he was proclaimed Prince of Wales by his supporters, and held parliaments at Harlech Castle and elsewhere during his revolt, which encompassed all of Wales. It was not until 1409 that his revolt in quest of Welsh independence was suppressed by Henry IV. However, the story may well be apocryphal, as it can only be traced to the 16th century, and, in the time of Edward I, the English aristocracy spoke Norman French, not English
Prince of Wales
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Incumbent
HRH The Prince Charles since 26 July 1958
Prince of Wales
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Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
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Edward of Caernarfon
Prince of Wales
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Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince
3.
Owain Lawgoch
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Owain Lawgoch, full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri, was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace, and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years War, as the last politically active descendant of Llywelyn the Great in the male line, he was a claimant to the title of Prince of Gwynedd and of Wales. Following the death of Llywelyn the Last in 1282 and the execution of his brother and successor Dafydd ap Gruffudd in 1283, Gwynedd paid fealty to and accepted English rule. Llywelyns daughter Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn was committed to a nunnery at Sempringham, another of Llywelyns brothers, Rhodri ap Gruffydd, renounced his rights in Gwynedd and spent much of his life in England as a royal pensioner. His son Thomas inherited lands in England in Surrey, Cheshire and Gloucestershire. Rhodri was content to end his life as a gentleman in England. Owain, his son, was born in Surrey, where his grandfather had acquired the manor of Tatsfield. Tatsfield, a village only 17 miles from the centre of London. Thomas died in 1363 and Owain returned from abroad to claim his patrimony in 1365, Owain Lawgoch was in French service by 1369 and his lands in Wales and England were confiscated. The year in which Owain entered the service of the king of France is uncertain, froissart claims that he fought on the French side at the Battle of Poitiers, but there is no other evidence to support this. His French name was Yvain de Galles, Owains company consisted largely of Welshmen, many of whom remained in French service for many years. The second in command of company was Ieuan Wyn, known to the French as le Poursuivant dAmour. Owain also received financial support while in France from Ieuan Wyns father, while in French service Owain had good relations with Bertrand du Guesclin and others and gained the support of Charles V of France. Welsh soldiery and longbowmen who had fought for Edward I in his campaigns in North Wales remained armed and sold their services to Norman kings in their battles in Scotland at Crecy, in May 1372 in Paris, Owain announced that he intended to claim the throne of Wales. He set sail from Harfleur with money borrowed from Charles V. Owain defeated an English and Gascon force at Soubise later that year, capturing Sir Thomas Percy and Jean de Grailly, the Captal de Buch. Another invasion of Wales was planned in 1373 but had to be abandoned when John of Gaunt launched an offensive, in 1374 he fought at Mirebau and at Saintonge. In 1375 Owain was employed by Enguerrand de Coucy to help win Enguerrands share of the Habsburg lands due to him as nephew of the former Duke of Austria, however, during the Gugler War they were defeated by the forces of Bern and had to abandon the expedition. In 1377 there were reports that Owain was planning another expedition, the alarmed English government sent a spy, the Scot Jon Lamb, to assassinate Owain, who had been given the task of besieging Mortagne-sur-Gironde in Poitou
Owain Lawgoch
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A depiction of Owain's death at
Mortagne from a medieval manuscript. Owain is pictured as killed by an arrow, rather than by an assassin' knife.
Owain Lawgoch
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The arms of the royal house of Gwynedd
4.
Powys Fadog
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Powys Fadog was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys, which split in two following the death of Madog ap Maredudd in 1160. The realm was divided under Welsh law, with Madogs nephew Owain Cyfeiliog inheriting the south and his son Gruffydd Maelor I, Gruffydd received the cantref of Maelor and the commote of Iâl as his portion and later added Nanheudwy, Cynllaith, Glyndyfrdwy and Mochnant Is Rhaeadr. This northern realm became known as Powys Fadog after the accession of his son Madog ap Gruffudd in 1191 who reigned until 1236, and after whom it may be named. During his reign, Madog initially adopted a position between Gwynedd and England but by 1215 had settled on an alliance with Llywelyn ab Iorwerth of Gwynedd. This policy of alliance with Gwynedd continued under his successor Gruffudd II over his thirty-three year reign and this alliance was formalised when Powys Fadog became vassal of Llywelyn the Great in his role as Prince of Wales under the terms of the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. In early 1277 an army led by the Earl of Warwick with support from the brother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Dafydd ap Gruffydd. Madog II was compelled to submit and under the terms of his surrender the realm would be divided between himself and his younger brother Llywelyn. The royal centre at Castell Dinas Brân, widely considered the strongest native castle in all Wales, was to be had by neither and dismantled. It appears that Madog II remained at Dinas Brân for some time after this accord because the Earl of Lincoln commanded an English force to take the castle on 10 May 1277. Before they could complete their encirclement of the centre they learnt that the small garrison inside had abandoned the cause. Madog II was forced to flee to the protection of Gwynedd and he was killed in battle while campaigning alongside Llywelyn ap Gruffudd later that same year. The castle of Dinas Brân would be reduced, the ruins of which may still be seen today. His surviving brothers Llywelyn Fychan and Gruffudd Fychan I accepted the overlordship of England, special provision was also made for the two sons of Madog II. Under the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 all of the former princely titles and territories in Wales were abolished. Gruffydd Fychan was pardoned but reduced in status to that of a local noble or uchelwyr. His direct descendant, Owain Glyndŵr, would become the leader of a later Welsh rebellion in 1400, the territory of Powys Fadog was broken up into a series of lordships based on the former cantrefi. He became more known as Owain Glyndŵr. After his death at least one of his sons survived him and this cadet branch of the House of Mathrafal survived the purges which eradicated most of the Welsh royalty in the 13th and 15th centuries
Powys Fadog
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Powys as divided in 1190.
Powys Fadog
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Banner of Powys Fadog, known as the Black Lion of Powys
Powys Fadog
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Dinas Brân (top left), the capital of Powys Fadog viewed from the north west
5.
Margaret Hanmer
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Margaret Hanmer, sometimes known by her Welsh name of Marred ferch Dafydd, was the wife of Owain Glyndŵr. Princess of Wales, an English honorific given to the wife of the English prince of Wales, was first used by Joan of Kent. Only one wife of a Welsh prince is known to have used the title, Eleanor de Montfort, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, nothing is known of Margarets early life, not even the precise date of her marriage. She was the daughter of Sir David Hanmer and his wife Angharad ferch Llywelyn Ddu and her father was a law professor of Owain Glyndwr, it is not known when she married Owain, although it may have taken place in 1383 in the church of St Chads in Hanmer. The number of children she bore, and the dates of their births, are likewise uncertain, the poet Iolo Goch praises Margaret and her generosity in his poem Llys Owain Glyndŵr yn Sycharth, one of three he composed in Owains honour. A gwraig orau o’r gwragedd, Gwyn fy myd o’i gwin a’i medd, merch eglur llin marchoglyw, Urddol hael anional yw, A’i blant a ddeuant bob ddau, Nythaid teg o benaethau. And the best of wives, Blessed am I in her wine, a fine lady of knightly line, Most generous by nature, Her children come in two by two, A beautiful nest of chieftains. Margaret had three brothers, Gruffydd, Philip and John, all of whom supported Glyndŵr when he assumed his ancestral title of Prince of Powys in 1400. The Hamners were still with Owain when a Welsh parliament proclaimed the latter Prince of Wales at Machynlleth in 1404, Margarets husband held estates at Sycharth, Glyndyfrdwy, and elsewhere in North Wales. According to Sir John E. Lloyd, Margaret bore her husband five sons, another daughter, Alys, married Sir John Scudamore of Monnington Straddle, Sheriff of Hereford and castellan of several royal border fortresses. Gruffudd and Maredudd were certainly Margarets sons, but which of the four were also hers remains unknown. After their homes at Sycharth and Glyndyfrdwy were burned in 1403, they lived, among other places, at Harlech Castle, upon the fall of Harlech, Margaret was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London with her daughter Catrin, another daughter, and Catrins three daughters. Margarets oldest son, Gruffudd, died in the Tower in 1411, Margaret survived the deaths of her two daughters and three granddaughters, but her own death is unrecorded. She is known to have survived by her son Maredudd, who was alive in 1421
Margaret Hanmer
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Sycharth from field, showing motte
Margaret Hanmer
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Sycharth, showing motte and moat
Margaret Hanmer
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Harlech Castle
Margaret Hanmer
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Harlech Castle gatehouse
6.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
Dynasty
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Charles I of England and his son, the future
James II
7.
House of Mathrafal
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The House of Mathrafal began as a cadet branch of the House of Dinefwr, taking their name from Mathrafal Castle, their principal seat and effective capital. Although their fortunes rose and fell over the generations, they are remembered as kings of Powys in central Wales. They—along with the Houses of Aberffraw, Dinefwr, and Seisyll—traced their descent from Merfyn the Oppressor who, along with his son Rhodri, established their control over northern and western Wales. Rhodri replaced King Cyngen in Powys after the latter died while on pilgrimage to Rome, allegedly because of his mother or wife Nest, cyngens true heirs were either exiled or reduced to the level of minor land owners. In the traditional accounts, Rhodri divided his kingdom among his sons and gave Powys to his youngest, King Cadell in Ceredigion then dispossessed his brother and added Powys to his inheritance. On the death of Hywels grandson Maredudd ab Owain in 999 and these were removed by Llywelyn ap Seisyll, from a cadet branch of the Aberffraw line in the commote of Rhuddlan. The house of Mathrafal was effectively established in the wake of Harold and they installed Bleddyn ap Cynfyn over Powys and Gwynedd and he kept his base in Mathrafal close to the Saxon border. From this point forward, his family jockeyed with the Dinefwr, the House of Mathrafals influence was greatest between 1063 and 1081, when they lost control of Gwynedd to a resurgent Aberffraw family following the Battle of Mynydd Carn. By 1191, Powys was divided between Powys Fadog in the north and Powys Wenwynwyn in the south, the first became a more-or-less loyal vassal of Gwynedd, the latter, one of its main competitors. Historian John Davies points out that, following the division of Powys, Mathrafal Castle was utterly destroyed by Gwynedd in 1212 and thenceforth it was entirely dependent on English support for its survival. However, the Mathrafal dynasty continued to some influence, undermining. Thereafter, they avoided his campaign of extermination against the Welsh royal houses and they were finally displaced by the lords of Mortimer in the early 14th century. Members of the Mathrafal Dynasty include Bleddyn ap Cynfyn, Maredudd ap Bleddyn, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon, Trahaearn ap Caradog, Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog, and Griffith and Owen de la Pole
House of Mathrafal
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Arms of the Mathrafal House of Powys
8.
Welsh People
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The Welsh people or the Welsh are a nation and ethnic group native to, or otherwise associated with, Wales and the Welsh language. Prior to the 20th century, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh, the term Welsh people applies to people from Wales and people of Welsh ancestry perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and shared ancestral origins. Over 300,000 Welsh people live in London, the same etymological origin is shared by the names of various other Celtic or Latin peoples such as the Walloons and the Vlachs, as well as of the Swiss canton of Valais. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. They thus carry a sense of land of fellow-countrymen, our country, the word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century. It is attested in a poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. During their time in Britain, the ancient Romans encountered tribes in present-day Wales that they called the Ordovices, the Demetae, the Silures and the Deceangli. The people of what is now Wales were not distinguished from the rest of the peoples of southern Britain, all were called Britons and spoke the common British language, a Brythonic Celtic tongue. Celtic language and culture seems to have arrived in Britain during the Iron Age, the claim has also been made that Indo-European languages may have been introduced to the British Isles as early as the early Neolithic, with Goidelic and Brythonic languages developing indigenously. The genetic evidence in this case would show that the change to Celtic languages in Britain may have occurred as a cultural rather than through migration as was previously supposed. The assumed genetic imprint of Neolithic incomers is seen as a cline, with stronger Neolithic representation in the east of Europe, when the Roman legions departed Britain around 400, a Romano-British culture remained in the areas the Romans had settled, and the pre-Roman cultures in others. According to Stephen Oppenheimer 96% of lineages in Llangefni in north Wales derive from Iberia, Genetic marker R1b averages from 83–89% amongst the Welsh. The people in what is now Wales continued to speak Brythonic languages with additions from Latin, the surviving poem Y Gododdin is in early Welsh and refers to the Brythonic kingdom of Gododdin with a capital at Din Eidyn and extending from the area of Stirling to the Tyne. John Davies places the change from Brythonic to Welsh between 400 and 700, offas Dyke was erected in the mid-8th century, forming a barrier between Wales and Mercia. The genetic tests suggested that between 50% and 100% of the population of what was to become England was wiped out. In 2001, research for a BBC programme on the Vikings suggested a strong link between the Celts and Basques, dating back tens of thousands of years. The UCL research suggested a migration on a huge scale during the Anglo-Saxon period and it appears England is made up of an ethnic cleansing event from people coming across from the continent after the Romans left, said Dr Mark Thomas, of the Centre for Genetic Anthropology at UCL
Welsh People
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William Morgan
Welsh People
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Sculpture of
Owain Glyndŵr, the last native Welsh person to hold the title
Prince of Wales.
9.
Kingdom of England
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In the early 11th century the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, united by Æthelstan, became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown, from the accession of James I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament and this concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its state the United Kingdom. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning land of the English, by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period. The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French, by the 14th century, England was also used in reference to the entire island of Great Britain. The standard title for all monarchs from Æthelstan until the time of King John was Rex Anglorum, Canute the Great, a Dane, was the first king to call himself King of England. In the Norman period Rex Anglorum remained standard, with use of Rex Anglie. The Empress Matilda styled herself Domina Anglorum, from the time of King John onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of Rex or Regina Anglie. In 1604 James VI and I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, the English and Scottish parliaments, however, did not recognise this title until the Acts of Union of 1707. The kingdom of England emerged from the unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general, the English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927 CE. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, the decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825, the kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore, in 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that all of the English people not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred, asser added that Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly
Kingdom of England
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The dominions of
Cnut the Great (1014–1035)
Kingdom of England
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Flag
Kingdom of England
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King John signs
Magna Carta at
Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage. Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.
Kingdom of England
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Fifteenth-century miniature depicting the English victory over France at the
Battle of Agincourt.
10.
Wales in the Late Middle Ages
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Wales in the Late Middle Ages covers the period from the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd in late 1282 to the incorporation of Wales into the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542. After the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, his brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd carried on resistance for a few months and he was captured and executed by hanging, drawing and quartering at Shrewsbury in 1283. King Edward I of England now had control of Wales. The Statute of Rhuddlan was issued from Rhuddlan Castle in north Wales in 1284, the Statute divided parts of Wales into the counties of Anglesey, Merioneth and Caernarvon, created out of the remnants of Llewelyns Gwynedd. It introduced the English common law system, and abolished Welsh law for criminal cases and it allowed the King to appoint royal officials such as sheriffs, coroners, and bailiffs to collect taxes and administer justice. In addition, the offices of justice and chamberlain were created to assist the sheriff, the Marcher Lords retained most of their independence, as they had prior to the conquest. Most of the Marcher Lords were by now Cambro Norman i. e. Norman Welsh through intermarriage. King Edward I built a ring of stone castles to consolidate his the domination of Wales. Wales became, effectively, part of England, even though its people spoke a different language and had a different culture, English kings paid lip service to their responsibilities by appointing a Council of Wales, sometimes presided over by the heir to the throne. This Council normally sat in Ludlow, now in England but at that time part of the disputed border area of the Welsh Marches. Welsh literature, particularly poetry, continued to flourish however, with the lesser nobility now taking over from the princes as the patrons of the poets and bards. Dafydd ap Gwilym who flourished in the middle of the century is considered by many to be the greatest of the Welsh poets. There were a number of rebellions including ones led by Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294-5 and by Llywelyn Bren, Lord of Senghenydd, in 1316-18. In the 1370s the last representative in the line of the ruling house of Gwynedd, Owain Lawgoch. The English government responded to the threat by sending an agent to assassinate Owain in Poitou in 1378, the Black Death arrived in Wales in late 1348. What records survive indicate that about 30% of the population died, in 1400, a Welsh nobleman, Owain Glyndŵr, revolted against King Henry IV of England. Owain inflicted a number of defeats on the English forces and for a few years controlled most of Wales, some of his achievements included holding the first ever Welsh Parliament at Machynlleth and plans for two universities. Eventually the kings forces were able to control of Wales and the rebellion died out. His rebellion caused an upsurge in Welsh identity and he was widely supported by Welsh people throughout the country
Wales in the Late Middle Ages
–
Harlech Castle was one of a series built by
Edward I to consolidate his conquest.
Wales in the Late Middle Ages
–
Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII
11.
Kingdom of Powys
–
The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the top two thirds of the county of Powys and part of the east midlands. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found here, the name Powys is thought to derive from Latin pagus the countryside and pagenses dwellers in the countryside, also the origins of French pays and English peasant. During the Roman Empire, this region was organised into a Roman province, with the capital at Viroconium Cornoviorum, an entry in the Annales Cambriae concerning the death of King Cadell ap Brochfael says that the land later called Powys was originally known as Ternyllwg. Throughout the Early Middle Ages, Powys was ruled by the Gwerthrynion dynasty, a family claiming descent jointly from the marriage of Vortigern and Princess Sevira, the daughter of Magnus Maximus. Archaeological evidence has shown that, unusually for the period, Viroconium Cornoviorum survived as an urban centre well into the 6th century. The Historia Brittonum, written around AD828, records the town as Caer Guricon, in the following centuries, the Powys eastern border was encroached upon by English settlers from the emerging Anglian territory of Mercia. This was a process, and English control in the West Midlands was uncertain until the late 8th century. In 549 the Plague of Justinian - an outbreak of a strain of bubonic plague - arrived in Britain, however, the English were less affected by this plague as they had far fewer trading contacts with the continent at this time. In 616, the armies of Æthelfrith of Northumbria clashed with Powys, seeing an opportunity to further drive a wedge between the North Welsh and those of Rheged, Æthelfrith invaded Powys northern lands. Æthelfrith forced a battle near Chester and defeated Selyf and his allies, if King Cynddylan of Pengwern hailed from the royal Powys dynasty, then forces from Powys may also have been present at the Battle of Maes Cogwy in 642. However, this account is now thought to represent ninth-century imaginings of what must have been going on in the seventh. Powys enjoyed a resurgence with successful campaigns against the English in 655, 705-707 and 722, the court was moved to Mathrafal Castle in the valley of the river Vyrnwy by 717, possibly by king Elisedd ap Gwylog. Elisedds successes led King Æthelbald of Mercia to build Wats Dyke and this endeavour may have been with Elisedds own agreement, however, for this boundary, extending north from the Severn valley to the Dee estuary, gave Oswestry to Powys. King Offa of Mercia seems to have continued this consultive initiative when he created an earth work. Davies wrote of Cyril Foxs study of Offas Dyke, In the planning of it, there was a degree of consultation with the kings of Powys and Gwent. And for Gwent Offa had the dyke built on the eastern crest of the gorge, clearly with the intention of recognizing that the river Wye and its traffic belonged to the kingdom of Gwent. This new border moved Oswestry back to the English side of the new frontier, and Offa attacked Powys in 760 at Hereford, and again on 778,784 and 796
Kingdom of Powys
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Medieval kingdoms of Wales.
Kingdom of Powys
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Banner of the Mathrafal House of Powys
Kingdom of Powys
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Powys landscape near Foel
Kingdom of Powys
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Approximate extent of Powys before division in 1160
12.
Glyndyfrdwy
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Glyndyfrdwy, or sometimes Glyn Dyfrdwy, is a village in the modern county of Denbighshire, Wales. It is situated on the A5 road halfway between Corwen and Llangollen in the Dee Valley, historically, the village is renowned for its association with Owain Glyndŵr. Near this village, at his manor of Glyndyfrdwy, Owain Glyndŵr proclaimed himself Prince of Wales on 16 September 1400, the eroded remains of a 12th-century castle motte, known locally as Owain Glyndŵrs Mount, was built to command the route through the Dee Valley. Owains manor is likely to have been in the moated area across a nearby field. This would have been defended by a moat, a palisade. The site was devastated in 1403 by the forces of Harry of Monmouth, English Prince of Wales, the parish of Glyndyfrdwy was created in 1866 from the former Corwen townships of Carrog, Mwstwr and Tir Llanerch, along with portions of Bonwm and Rhagat. The parish was in the county of Merionethshire until 1974 when it became part of the short-lived county of Clwyd. Following further local government reorganisation in 1996 it is now in the new county of Denbighshire, the Great Western Railway line from Ruabon to Llangollen was extended via Corwen, Llanuwchllyn and Dolgellau to Barmouth. Glyndyfrdwy railway station was opened in 1866 and, later, a passing loop, the line was closed in the 1960s under the Beeching Axe and Glyndyfrdwy station was eventually demolished. In 1977 a group of enthusiasts came together to form the Llangollen Railway, with the intention to restore. The work was undertaken in stages and by 1991 the track had been replaced as far as Glyndyfrdwy, on 17 April 1992 the first Llangollen Railway passenger train arrived at Glyndyfrdwy. Glyndyfrdwy was also the terminus of the Deeside Tramway, a gauge railway built to serve the local slate quarries. The tramway was one of the last operating industrial railways in Britain that used wooden rails, castles of Wales Llangollen Railway www. geograph. co. uk, photos of Glyndyfrdwy and surrounding area
Glyndyfrdwy
–
Glyndyfrdwy railway station
13.
Deheubarth
–
Deheubarth was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd. In the oldest British writers, Deheubarth was used for all of modern Wales to distinguish it from Y Gogledd or Hen Ogledd, the northern lands whence Cunedda and the Cymry originated. Deheubarth was united around 920 by Hywel Dda out of the territories of Seisyllwg and Dyfed, later on, the Kingdom of Brycheiniog was also added. Caerleon was previously the court of the area, but Hywels dynasty fortified and built up a new base at Dinefwr, near Llandeilo. After the high-water mark set by Hywel, Dinefwr was repeatedly overrun. First, by the Welsh of the north and east, by Llywelyn ap Seisyll of Gwynedd in 1018, by Rhydderch ab Iestyn of Morgannwg in 1023, in 1075, Rhys ab Owain and the noblemen of Ystrad Tywi succeeded in treacherously killing their English-backed overlord Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. In 1093, Rhys was killed in unknown circumstances while resisting their expansion into Brycheiniog, following the death of Henry I in 1136, Gruffydd formed an alliance with Gwynedd for the purpose of a revolt against Norman incursions. He took part in Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydds victory over the English at Crug Mawr, the newly liberated region of Ceredigion, though, was not returned to his family but annexed by Owain. On his death in 1197, though, Rhys redivided his kingdom among his several sons, by the time Llywelyn the Great won the wars in Gwynedd, in the late 12th century, lords in Deheubarth merely appear among his clients. Following the conquest of Wales by Edward I, the South was divided into the counties of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire by the Statute of Rhuddlan. In the arena of the church, Sulien was the leader of the community at Llanbadarn Fawr in Ceredigion. 1030, he became Bishop of St Davids in 1073 and again in 1079/80, both of his sons followed him into the service of the church. At this time the prohibition against the marriage of clerics was not yet established and his sons produced a number of manuscripts and original Latin and vernacular poems. They were very active in the ecclesiastical and political life of Deheubarth, one son, Rhygyfarch of Llanbadarn Fawr, wrote the Life of Saint David and another, Ieuan, was a skillful scribe and illuminator. He copied some the works of Augustine of Hippo and may have written the Life of St. Padarn, goronwy Foel House of Dinefwr List of Welsh kings The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff, University of Wales Press,2008 ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6 Deheubarth at Castle Wales
Deheubarth
–
Medieval kingdoms of Wales.
Deheubarth
–
Banner of the House of Dinefwr
Deheubarth
–
Dinefwr Castle, 1740
14.
Henry IV of England
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Henry IV, also known as Henry of Bolingbroke, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1399 to 1413, and asserted the claim of his grandfather, Edward III, to the Kingdom of France. Henry was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, one of Henrys elder sisters, Philippa of Lancaster, married John I of Portugal, and the other, Elizabeth, was the mother of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter. His younger half-sister Catherine, the daughter of his fathers second wife and he also had four half-siblings by Katherine Swynford, originally his sisters governess, then his fathers longstanding mistress, and later his third wife. These four children were given the surname Beaufort after a castle their father held in Champagne, Henrys relationship with his stepmother, Katherine Swynford, was a positive one, but his relationship with the Beauforts varied. In youth he seems to have close to all of them. His brother-in-law Ralph Neville remained one of his strongest supporters, and so did his eldest half-brother John Beaufort, Thomas Swynford, a son from Katherines first marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford, was another loyal companion. Thomas was Constable of Pontefract Castle, where King Richard II is said to have died, Henrys half-sister Joan Beaufort through his fathers relationship with Katherine Swynford was the grandmother of Edward IV and Richard III. Joan had married Ralph Neville, the 1st Earl of Westmorland, when their daughter Cecily married Richard Plantagenet, the 3rd Duke of York, and had several offspring, including Edward IV and Richard III, Joan became the grandmother of two York kings of England. Henry experienced a rather more inconsistent relationship with King Richard II than his father had, first cousins and childhood playmates, they were admitted together to the Order of the Garter in 1377, but Henry participated in the Lords Appellants rebellion against the king in 1387. After regaining power, Richard did not punish Henry, although he did execute or exile many of the rebellious barons. In fact, Richard elevated Henry from Earl of Derby to Duke of Hereford, Henry spent the full year of 1390 supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius by Teutonic Knights with his 300 fellow knights. During this campaign he bought 300 captured Lithuanian princes and then took them back to England. Henrys second expedition to Lithuania in 1392 illustrates the benefits to the Order of these guest crusaders. His small army consisted of over 100 men, including longbow archers and six minstrels, despite the efforts of Henry and his English crusaders, two years of attacks on Vilnius proved fruitless. In 1392–93 Henry undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he made offerings at the Holy Sepulchre, later he vowed to lead a crusade to free Jerusalem from the infidel, but he died before this could be accomplished. The relationship between Henry Bolingbroke and the king met with a second crisis, in 1398, a remark by Bolingbroke regarding Richard IIs rule was interpreted as treason by Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk. The two dukes agreed to undergo a duel of honour at Gosford Green near Caludon Castle, Mowbrays home in Coventry, yet before the duel could take place, Richard II decided to banish Henry from the kingdom to avoid further bloodshed. Mowbray himself was exiled for life, John of Gaunt died in 1399
Henry IV of England
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Monument to King Henry IV and Queen Joan, Canterbury Cathedral, north side of Trinity Chapel
Henry IV of England
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Henry of Bolingbroke, flanked by the lords spiritual and temporal, claims the throne in 1399. From a contemporary manuscript, British Library,
Harleian Collection
Henry IV of England
–
The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of
Jean Froissart 's
Chronicles.
Henry IV of England
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16th-century imaginary painting of Henry IV,
National Portrait Gallery, London
15.
Henry V of England
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Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 36 in 1422. He was the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster, after his fathers death in 1413, Henry assumed control of the country and embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years War between the two nations. His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt and he was the son of 20-year-old Henry of Bolingbroke, and 16-year-old Mary de Bohun. He was also the grandson of the influential John of Gaunt, at the time of his birth, Richard II of England, his cousin once removed, was king. As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne and his grandfather, John of Gaunt, was the guardian of the king at that time. Upon the exile of Henrys father in 1398, Richard II took the boy into his own charge, the young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland, and while in the royal service, he visited Trim Castle in County Meath, the ancient meeting place of the Irish Parliament. He was created Prince of Wales at his fathers coronation, and Duke of Lancaster on 10 November 1399 and his other titles were Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, and Duke of Aquitaine. A contemporary record notes that during that year Henry spent time at The Queens College, Oxford, under the care of his uncle Henry Beaufort, from 1400 to 1404, he carried out the duties of High Sheriff of Cornwall. It was there that the prince was almost killed by an arrow that became stuck in his face. An ordinary soldier might have died from such a wound, the operation was successful, but it left Henry with permanent scars, evidence of his experience in battle. The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyndŵr absorbed Henrys energies until 1408, then, as a result of the kings ill health, Henry began to take a wider share in politics. From January 1410, helped by his uncles Henry Beaufort and Thomas Beaufort – legitimised sons of John of Gaunt – he had control of the government. Both in foreign and domestic policy he differed from the king, the quarrel of father and son was political only, though it is probable that the Beauforts had discussed the abdication of Henry IV, and their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince. It may be that the tradition of Henrys riotous youth, immortalised by Shakespeare, is due to political enmity. Henrys record of involvement in war and politics, even in his youth, the most famous incident, his quarrel with the chief justice, has no contemporary authority and was first related by Sir Thomas Elyot in 1531. The story of Falstaff originated in Henrys early friendship with Sir John Oldcastle, shakespeares Falstaff was originally named Oldcastle, following his main source, The Famous Victories of Henry V. However, his descendants objected, and the name was changed. That friendship, and the political opposition to Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. If so, their disappointment may account for the statements of ecclesiastical writers like Thomas Walsingham that Henry, after Henry IV died on 20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey, London, Kingdom of England
Henry V of England
–
Henry V
Henry V of England
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Halfpenny of Henry V
Henry V of England
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Henry, while Prince of Wales, presenting
Thomas Hoccleve 's, Regement of Princes to
the Duke of Norfolk,
British Library, 1411–13
Henry V of England
–
A gold
noble coin of Henry V
16.
William Shakespeare
–
William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
William Shakespeare
–
The
Chandos portrait, artist and authenticity unconfirmed.
National Portrait Gallery, London.
William Shakespeare
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John Shakespeare's house, believed to be
Shakespeare's birthplace, in
Stratford-upon-Avon.
William Shakespeare
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Shakespeare's coat of arms, as it appears on the rough draft of the application to grant a coat-of-arms to John Shakespeare. It features a spear as a
pun on the family name.
William Shakespeare
–
Shakespeare's funerary monument in Stratford-upon-Avon.
17.
Henry IV, Part 1
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Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the play in Shakespeares tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV. From the start it has been a popular play both with the public and critics. Henry Bolingbroke—now King Henry IV—is having an unquiet reign and his personal disquiet at the usurpation of his predecessor Richard II would be solved by a crusade to the Holy Land, but broils on his borders with Scotland and Wales prevent that. Moreover, he is increasingly at odds with the Percy family, who helped him to his throne, and Edmund Mortimer, adding to King Henrys troubles is the behaviour of his son and heir, the Prince of Wales. Hal has forsaken the Royal Court to waste his time in taverns with low companions and this makes him an object of scorn to the nobles and calls into question his royal worthiness. Hals chief friend and foil in living the low life is Sir John Falstaff, fat, old, drunk, and corrupt as he is, he has a charisma and a zest for life that captivates the Prince. The play features three groups of characters that interact slightly at first, and then together in the Battle of Shrewsbury. First there is King Henry himself and his immediate council and he is the engine of the play, but usually in the background. Next there is the group of rebels, energetically embodied in Henry Percy and including his father, the Scottish Earl of Douglas, Edmund Mortimer and the Welshman Owen Glendower also join. Finally, at the centre of the play are the young Prince Hal and his companions Falstaff, Poins, Bardolph, streetwise and pound-foolish, these rogues manage to paint over this grim history in the colours of comedy. As the play opens, the king is angry with Hotspur for refusing him most of the prisoners taken in a recent action against the Scots at Holmedon, Hotspur, for his part, would have the king ransom Edmund Mortimer from Owen Glendower, the Welshman who holds him. Henry refuses, berates Mortimers loyalty, and treats the Percys with threats, stung and alarmed by Henrys dangerous and peremptory way with them, they proceed to make common cause with the Welsh and Scots, intending to depose this ingrate and cankered Bolingbroke. By Act II, rebellion is brewing, meanwhile, Henrys son Hal is joking, drinking, and thieving with Falstaff and his associates. He likes Falstaff but makes no pretense at being like him, Hal believes that this sudden change of manner will amount to a greater reward and acknowledgment of prince-ship, and in turn earn him respect from the members of the court. The revolt of Mortimer and the Percys very quickly gives him his chance to do just that, the high and the low come together when the Prince makes up with his father and is given a high command. He vows to fight and kill the rebel Hotspur, and orders Falstaff to take charge of a group of foot soldiers, Henry needs a decisive victory here. He outnumbers the rebels, but Hotspur, with the hope of despair
Henry IV, Part 1
–
The first page of Henry the Fourth, Part I, printed in the
First Folio of 1623
Henry IV, Part 1
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John Farmanesh-Bocca as Prince Hal in the Carmel Shakespeare Festival production of Henry IV, Part 1.
Henry IV, Part 1
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Hal confronting Falstaff with his lies in Henry IV, Part 1, engraving after
Robert Smirke
Henry IV, Part 1
–
An 1829 watercolor by
Johann Heinrich Ramberg of Act II, Scene iv: Falstaff enacts the part of the king.
18.
Cadwaladr
–
Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was king of Gwynedd in Wales from around AD655 to 682. Two devastating plagues happened during his reign, one in 664, little else is known of his reign. Though little is known about the historical Cadwaladr, he became a mythical figure in Welsh culture. He is a prominent character in the stories of Geoffrey of Monmouth. In Geoffreys account, he not die of plague. He renounces his throne in 688 to become a pilgrim, in response to a prophecy that his sacrifice of personal power will bring about a victory of the Britons over the Anglo-Saxons. Geoffreys story of Cadwaladrs prophecy and trip to Rome is believed to be an embellishment of the events in the life of Cædwalla of Wessex, Cædwalla renounced his throne and travelled to Rome in 688. For later Welsh commentators, the myth provided a messianic hope for the deliverance of Britain from the dominion of the Saxons. The red dragon has long known as a Welsh symbol, appearing in the Mabinogion, the Historia Brittonum. Since the accession of Henry VII to the English throne, it has often referred to as The Red Dragon of Cadwaladr. The association with Cadwaladr is a one, without a firm historical provenance. Cadwaladr was the son of a father, Cadwallon ap Cadfan. His name appears in the pedigrees of the Jesus College MS.20, Cadwaladr appears to have suffered a major military defeat at the hands of the West Saxons at Pinhoe near Exeter in 658. He is said to have been of a peaceful and pious temperament, the church of Llangadwaldr in Anglesey identifies him as its founder. Cadwaladrs name appears as Catgualart in a section of the Historia Brittonum, the great plague of 664 is not noted in the Annales Cambriae, but Bedes description makes clear its impact in both Britain and Ireland, where its occurrence is also noted in the Irish Annals. The plague of 682 is not noted by Bede, but the Annales Cambriae note its occurrence in Britain, both the Annales Cambriae and the Irish Annals note the plagues impact in Ireland in 683, as do other sources. The genealogies in Jesus College MS.20 and the Harleian genealogies give Cadwaladr as the son of Cadwallon, Idwal, who fathered the later king Rhodri Molwynog, may have been his successor. Cadwaladrs name is invoked in a number of works such as in the Armes Prydein
Cadwaladr
–
The red dragon, which was attributed as a badge referring to Cadwaladr during the High Middle Ages.
19.
King Arthur
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King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthurs story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, the sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthurs name also occurs in early sources such as Y Gododdin. Arthur is a figure in the legends making up the so-called Matter of Britain. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouths fanciful, how much of Geoffreys Historia was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot, in these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics. The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long debated by scholars. These culminate in the Battle of Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men, recent studies, however, question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum. The other text that seems to support the case for Arthurs historical existence is the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, the Annales date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often used to bolster confidence in the Historias account. Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the Historia Brittonums account, the latest research shows that the Annales Cambriae was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the textual history of the Annales Cambriae precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at point in the 10th century. The Badon entry probably derived from the Historia Brittonum and this lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. These modern admissions of ignorance are a recent trend, earlier generations of historians were less sceptical
King Arthur
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Tapestry showing Arthur as one of the
Nine Worthies, wearing a
coat of arms often attributed to him (c. 1385)
King Arthur
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Statue of King Arthur at the
Hofkirche in
Innsbruck, designed by
Albrecht Dürer and cast by
Peter Vischer the Elder (1520s)
King Arthur
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The 10th-century
Annales Cambriae (from a copy c. 1100)
King Arthur
–
A facsimile page of
Y Gododdin, one of the most famous early Welsh texts featuring Arthur (c. 1275)
20.
Welsh nationalism
–
Through most of its history before the Anglo-Norman Conquest, Wales was divided into several kingdoms. From time to time, rulers such as Hywel Dda, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn and Rhodri the Great managed to unify many of the kingdoms, incursions from the English and Normans also amplified divisions between the kingdoms. In the 12th century, Norman king Henry II of England exploited differences between the three most powerful Welsh kingdoms, Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth, allowing him to make gains in Wales. He defeated and then allied with Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1157 and he then turned on Rhys ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth, who finally submitted to him in 1171, effectively subjugating much of Wales to Henrys Angevin Empire. By 1282, only Gwynedd stood out, whose ruler was accorded the title Prince of Wales, following the defeat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd by Edward I Wales lost its last independent kingdom and became subject to the English crown, either directly or indirectly. It retained some vestiges of distinction from its neighbour however, retaining the Welsh language, law, until the victory of Henry VII at Bosworth in 1485, the Welsh on many occasions revolted against English rule in an attempt to gain their independence. The greatest such revolt was that of Owain Glyndŵr, who gained support in 1400. In response, the English parliament passed repressive measures that included denying the Welsh the right of assembly, Glyndŵr himself vanished, and his final resting place remains a mystery. Throughout the period of conquest the Welsh poets kept alive the dream of independence, during the reign of Henry VIII the Laws in Wales Acts were passed without any democratic mandate, annexing Wales into the English legal system. The repressive measures against the Welsh that had been in place since the revolt of Owain Glyndŵr over a century earlier were removed and these Acts also gave political representation for Wales in the Westminster Parliament. Wales continues to share an identity with England to a large degree as part of a joint entity known simply as England until 1967 and England. The laws also finished the partitioning of Wales into counties that was begun in 1282, the laws had the effect of making English the language to be used for all official purposes, thus effectively excluding non-English speakers from formal office. Patriotism, or a form of nationalism, remained a strong force in Wales, with pride in its language, customs. Along with the rest of Europe the effects of the French Revolution were felt in Wales and it brought to the forefront a small minority of Welsh people who sympathised with revolutionary ideas, people such as Richard Price, Iolo Morganwg, and Morgan John Rhys. This radicalism was exemplified by the Congregationalist minister David Rees of Llanelli, but he was not a lone voice, William Rees established the radical Yr Amserau in 1843, and in the same year Samuel Roberts also established another radical magazine, Y Cronicl. The growth of radicalism and the politicisation of Welsh life did not include any successful attempt to establish a separate political vehicle for promoting Welsh nationalism. On the contrary Welsh nationalism weakened under the pressure as the coal industry of South Wales increasingly was integrated links with English industry. On the whole nationalism was the preserve of antiquarians not political activists, but voices did appear within the Liberal Party, which made great gains in Wales in the 19th century with the extension of the franchise and the tacit support of Welsh nonconformity
Welsh nationalism
–
The medieval kingdoms of Wales
Welsh nationalism
–
The Senedd, home to the National Assembly for Wales
21.
Gentry
–
Gentry are well-born, genteel and well-bred people of high social class, especially in the past. In the United Kingdom, the term refers to the social class of the landed aristocracy or to the minor aristocracy whose income derives from their large landholdings. The idea of gentry in the sense of noblesse is extinct in common parlance in modern day Britain. Though the untitled nobility in modern day Britain are normally termed gentry, the older sense of nobility is that of a quality identical to gentry. The fundamental social division in most parts of Europe in the Middle Ages was between the nobiles, i. e. the tenants in chivalry, and the ignobles, i. e. the villeins, citizens and burgesses. The division into nobles and ignobles in smaller regions of Europe in the Middle Ages was less due to a more rudimentary feudal order. After the Reformation, intermingling between the class and the often hereditary clerical upper class became a distinctive feature in several Nordic countries. Besides the gentry there have been other analogous traditional elites, the Indo-Europeans who settled Europe, Western Asia and the Indian subcontinent conceived their societies to be ordered in a tripartite fashion, the three parts being castes. Castes came to be divided, perhaps as a result of greater specialisation. The classic formulation of the system as largely described by Georges Dumézil was that of a priestly or religiously occupied caste, a warrior caste. Dumézil divided the Proto-Indo-Europeans into three categories, sovereignty, military, and productivity and he further subdivided sovereignty into two distinct and complementary sub-parts. One part was formal, juridical, and priestly, but rooted in this world, the other was powerful, unpredictable, and also priestly, but rooted in the other, the supernatural and spiritual world. The second main division was connected with the use of force, the military, finally, there was a third group, ruled by the other two, whose role was productivity, herding, farming, and crafts. This system of roles can be seen in the castes which flourished on the Indian subcontinent. Emperor Constantine convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325 whose Nicene Creed included belief in one holy catholic and apostolic Church, emperor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. In this power vacuum, the Church rose to become the dominant power in the West, the classical heritage flourished throughout the Middle Ages in both the Byzantine Greek East and Latin West. During the Middle Ages it was customary to classify the population of Christendom into laboratores, bellatores, the last group, though small in number, monopolized the instruments and opportunities of culture, and ruled with almost unlimited sway half of the most powerful continent on the globe. The clergy, like Platos guardians, were placed in authority, in the latter half of the period in which they ruled, the clergy were as free from family cares as even Plato could desire
Gentry
–
Cleric, Knight, and Peasant archetypes represent the virtues of
prudence,
fortitude and
temperance. In
Classical antiquity and
Christendom, prudence and fortitude were seen as the
cardinal virtues that should govern society.
Gentry
–
This part of a 12th-century Swedish tapestry has been interpreted to show, from left to right, the one-eyed
Odin, the hammer-wielding
Thor and
Freyr holding up an ear of corn. This
triad corresponds closely to the trifunctional division: Odin is the patron of priests and magicians, Thor of warriors, and Freyr of fertility and farming.
Gentry
–
Europe and the
Byzantine Empire AD 1000
Gentry
–
Clergy from the Greek Catholic Church in a procession
22.
Welsh Marches
–
The Welsh Marches is an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods, in modern usage, the Marches is often used to describe those English counties which lie along the border with Wales, particularly Shropshire and Herefordshire, and sometimes adjoining areas of Wales. Over the next few centuries, the Angles, Saxons and others gradually conquered and settled in eastern and southern Britain, the kingdom of Mercia, under Penda, became established around Lichfield, and initially established strong alliances with the Welsh kings. However, his successors sought to expand Mercia further westwards into what is now Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire. Campaigns and raids from Powys then led, possibly around about AD820, to the building of Wats Dyke, the Dyke still exists, and can best be seen at Knighton, close to the modern border between England and Wales. In the centuries which followed, Offas Dyke largely remained the frontier between the Welsh and English, by the mid-eleventh century, Wales was united under Gruffudd ap Llywelyn of Gwynedd, until his death in 1063. The process took a century and was never permanently effective, the term March of Wales was first used in the Domesday Book of 1086. Over the next four centuries, Norman lords established mostly small marcher lordships between the Dee and Severn, and further west, military adventurers went to Wales from Normandy and elsewhere and after raiding an area of Wales, then fortified it and granted land to some of their supporters. One example was Bernard de Neufmarché, responsible for conquering and pacifying the Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog, the precise dates and means of formation of the lordships varied, as did their size. By about AD1100 the March covered the areas which would later become Monmouthshire and much of Flintshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Brecknockshire, Glamorgan, ultimately, this amounted to about two-thirds of Wales. During the period, the Marches were a society in every sense. Hundreds of small castles were built in the area in the 12th and 13th centuries, predominantly by Norman lords as assertions of power as well as defences against Welsh raiders. The area still contains Britains densest concentration of motte-and-bailey castles, the Marcher lords encouraged immigration from all the Norman-Angevin realms, and encouraged trade from fair haven ports like Cardiff. Peasants went to Wales in large numbers, Henry I encouraged Bretons, Flemings, Normans, many new towns were established, some such as Chepstow, Monmouth, Ludlow and Newtown becoming successful trading centres, and these tended also to be a focus of English settlement. At the same time, the Welsh continued to attack English soil, the Norman lords each had similar rights to the Welsh princes. The lordships were geographically compact and jurisdictionally separate one from another, Marcher lords ruled their lands by their own law—sicut regale as Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester stated— whereas in England fief-holders were directly accountable to the king. However, Welsh law was used in the Marches in preference to English law. The Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284 followed the conquest of the Principality by Edward I of England
Welsh Marches
–
Offa's Dyke near
Clun in Shropshire
Welsh Marches
–
A
Class 175 'Coradia' running through currently closed
Dinmore railway station, Herefordshire on the
Welsh Marches Line on an
Arriva Trains Wales service.
23.
David Hanmer
–
Sir David Hanmer, KS, SL was a fourteenth century Anglo-Welsh Justice of the Kings Bench from Hanmer, Wales best known as Owain Glyndŵrs father-in-law and the father of Glyndŵrs chief supporters. In 1376, Hanmer was appointed a serjeant-at-law, as a contemporary of Chaucer, a rough portrait of Hanmer as a serjeant-at-law may be found in Chaucers depiction of the Sergeant of the Lawe in the Canterbury Tales. In 1377, Hanmer was elevated to the position of Kings Serjeant, on 26 February 1383, Hanmer was appointed the sole Justice of the Kings Bench. The position was one of the highest to which an attorney could aspire, from 1383 through 1387, Hanmer was summoned to and sat in Parliament as one of the triers of petitions in the House of Lords. Hanmers fellow triers included Thomas of Woodstock, Constable of England, Henry le Despenser, Bishop of Norwich, Walter Baron Fitzwalter, other triers of petitions included John Bokyngham, Bishop of Lincoln, and Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. David Hanmer was knighted by Richard II in 1387, Sir Thomas and his heirs also received grants of lands near Cronemoss in Hanmer, from which the family eventually took its name. John married Hawis ferch Einion, a descendant of the Welsh rulers of mid-Wales, Hawiss grandfather was Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog, Hawiss paternal grandmother and namesake was a daughter of John Lestrange of Knockin, from whose family Sir Davids son-in-law, Owain Glyndŵr, descended. Davids father was Philip Hanmer, son of John and Hawis, through whom David, another familial connection between the Hanmers and Owain Glyndŵr was through Davids mother, Nest, daughter of Dafydd ap Rhirid ab Ynyr ab Ionas of Maelor Saesneg. Thus, Sir David and his famous son-in-law were related by blood several times over, David married Angharad, daughter of Llywelyn Ddu ap Gruffudd ab Iorwerth Foel of Pengwen, a landowner in nearby Chirkland. Angharad bore David at least four children, three sons, Gruffudd, Philip, and John, and a daughter, Margaret, or Marred. All four of Davids children were most certainly Welsh-speaking, as well as fluent in French, David Hanmer may have had the wardship of Owain Glyndŵr when the latters father died in his youth. Philip, the son, was also probably a lawyer. Davids daughter Margaret married Owain Glyndŵr, to whom she bore some nine children
David Hanmer
–
Hanmer Mere and the Church of St Chad in the village of
Hanmer
24.
Inns of Court
–
The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. All barristers must belong to one such association and they have supervisory and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional accommodation, several centuries ago the Inns of Court were any of a sizable number of buildings or precincts where barristers traditionally lodged, trained and carried on their profession. The records of Grays Inn begin in 1569, but teaching is thought to have there in the late fourteenth century. The Inns are near the boundary of the City of London, nearby are the Royal Courts of Justice. Each Inn is a complex with a great hall, chapel, libraries, sets of chambers for many hundreds of barristers, and gardens. The layout is similar to that of an Oxbridge college, the chambers were originally used as residences as well as business premises by many of the barristers, but today, with a small number of exceptions, they serve as offices only. Each of the four Inns of Court has three grades of membership, students, barristers, and Masters of the Bench or benchers. The benchers constitute the body for each Inn and appoint new members from among existing barrister members. As a rule, any member of the Inn is eligible for appointment. Prospective students may choose which Inn to apply to for membership, an applicant may choose a particular Inn because he or she knows someone already a member, or it has a student association at their university. It makes no difference which Inn a barrister joins. The senior bencher of each Inn is the Treasurer, a position which is held for one year only, each Inn usually also has at least one Royal Bencher. They may also appoint Honorary Benchers, from academics, the world of politics, all prospective Bar School students must be a member of one of the four Inns, and must attend twelve qualifying sessions before being eligible to qualify as a barrister. Qualifying sessions traditionally comprise formal dinners followed by law-related talks, the Inns still retain the sole right to call qualified students to the bar, a right currently found in section 207 of the Legal Services Act 2007. The Inns disciplinary functions are carried out by a joint Council of the Inns of Court, barristers are prosecuted by the Bar Standards Board. The four Inns are near one another in central London, middle Temple and Inner Temple are liberties of the City of London, which means they are within the historic boundaries of the City but are not subject to its jurisdiction. They operate as their own local authorities and these two Inns neighbour each other and occupy the core of the Temple area
Inns of Court
–
Combined arms of the four Inns of Court. Clockwise from top left: Lincoln's Inn, Middle Temple, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple.
25.
Apprentice
–
An apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeship also enables practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulated profession, Apprenticeships typically last 3 to 7 years. People who successfully complete an apprenticeship reach the journeyman or professional level of competence. In early modern usage, the clipped form prentice was common, the system of apprenticeship first developed in the later Middle Ages and came to be supervised by craft guilds and town governments. A master craftsman was entitled to employ young people as a form of labour in exchange for providing food, lodging. Most apprentices were males, but female apprentices were found in such as seamstress, tailor. Apprentices usually began at ten to fifteen years of age, in Coventry those completing seven-year apprenticeships with stuff merchants were entitled to become freemen of the city. Subsequently, governmental regulation and the licensing of technical colleges and vocational education formalized and bureaucratized the details of apprenticeship, Australian Apprenticeships encompass all apprenticeships and traineeships. They cover all sectors in Australia and are used to achieve both entry-level and career upskilling objectives. There were 470,000 Australian Apprentices in-training as at 31 March 2012, Australian Government employer and employee incentives may be applicable, while State and Territory Governments may provide public funding support for the training element of the initiative. Australian Apprenticeships combine time at work with formal training and can be full-time, part-time or school-based, Australian Apprentice and Traineeship services are dedicated to promoting retention, therefore much effort is made to match applicants with the right apprenticeship or traineeship. This is done with the aid of aptitude tests, tips, information and resources on potential apprenticeship and traineeship occupations are available in over sixty industries. The distinction between the terms apprentices and trainees lies mainly around traditional trades and the time it takes to gain a qualification, Australia also has a fairly unusual safety net in place for businesses and Australian Apprentices with its Group Training scheme. It is a safety net, because the Group Training Organisation is the employer and provides continuity of employment and it lasts two to four years – the duration varies among the 250 legally recognized apprenticeship trades. About 40 percent of all Austrian teenagers enter apprenticeship training upon completion of compulsory education and this number has been stable since the 1950s. The five most popular trades are, Retail Salesperson, Clerk, Car Mechanic, Hairdresser, there are many smaller trades with small numbers of apprentices, like EDV-Systemtechniker which is completed by fewer than 100 people a year. The Apprenticeship Leave Certificate provides the apprentice with access to two different vocational careers, the person responsible for overseeing the training inside the company is called Lehrherr or Ausbilder. An Ausbilder must prove he has the qualifications needed to educate another person
Apprentice
–
The profession of
thatching is learned through apprenticeship in Germany
Apprentice
–
Carpentry is another profession learned through apprenticeship
Apprentice
–
A medieval baker with his apprentice. The Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Apprentice
–
A
master chimney sweep and apprentice in 2008
26.
Sycharth
–
Sycharth is a motte and bailey castle and town in Llansilin, Powys, Wales. Until 1996 Sycharth was in the county of Denbighshire, but was then transferred to the Shire area of Montgomeryshire within Powys. Sycharth Castle was the birthplace of Owain Glyndŵr, Sycharth sits in the valley of the river Cynllaith, a tributary of the Afon Tanat. The site of Owain Glyndŵr’s castle lies about a kilometer to the west of the boundary between England and Wales with a belt of woodland on the ground to the east known as Parc Sycharth. Immediately to the west of the castle is a farm that was the courthouse for the township until the 19th century, the site is on minor road close to the B4580, south of Llansilin and to the S W of Oswestry. The site is in the guardianship of Cadw and there is a carpark with information boards. The castle was situated in the Welsh territory of Powys Fadog which had formed part of the Welsh Kingdom of Powys, following the Norman Conquest two of the commotes, Cynllaith and Edeyrnion came under the control of the Normans. There seems little doubt that Sycharth or ‘Cynllaith Owain’ was a Motte-and-bailey built by the Normans, an entry in the Domesday Book, would indicate that this had taken place before 1086. The Normans also built a castle at Rhug that would have been the centre for Edeyrnion and these commotes passed into the possession of Madog Crypl c1275-1304, described as Lord of Glyndyfrdwy and Lord of Cynllaith Owain. Madog was a descendant of the Princes of Powys and Gruffudd Fychan II. Owain Glyndŵr inherited Sycharth in 1369 and it was here that Glyndŵr lived with his wife Margaret Hanmer and we caused a fine lodge in his park to be burned and all the country therabout and we lodged at rest there all that night. 115, 108-27 Higham, Robert & Barker, Philip, Timber Castles, Batsford, London,1992 Johnston Dafydd, Iolo Goch, The Poems, Gomer Welsh Classics Series, the mediaeval castles of north Montgomeryshire, a topographical survey. Montgomeryshire Collections 1942, Vol.47 p. 164-82 Richards, R. Sycharth Montgomeryshire Collections 1948, Vol.50 p
Sycharth
–
Sycharth, Motte and Bailey Castle, Llansilin, Powys
Sycharth
–
Owain Glyndwr’s Seal
27.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
–
Berwick-upon-Tweed is a town in the county of Northumberland. It is the northernmost town in England and it is located 2 1⁄2 miles south of the Scottish border, at the mouth of the River Tweed on the east coast. It is about 56 miles east-south east of Edinburgh,65 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne and 345 miles north of London, the United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Berwicks population as 12,043. A civil parish and town council were created in 2008, Berwick was founded as an Anglo-Saxon settlement during the time of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was annexed by England in the 10th century. The area was for more than 400 years central to historic border wars between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and several times possession of Berwick changed hands between the two kingdoms, the last time it changed hands was when England retook it in 1482. Berwick remains a market town and also has some notable architectural features, in particular its medieval town walls, its Elizabethan ramparts. The name Berwick is of Old English origin, and is derived from the term bere-wīc, combining bere, meaning barley, Berwick thus means barley village or barley farm. In the post-Roman period, the area was inhabited by the Brythons of Bryneich, later, the region became part of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia. Bernicia later united with the kingdom of Deira to form Northumbria, Berwick remained part of the Earldom of Northumbria until control passed to the Scots following the Battle of Carham of 1018. The town itself was founded as an Anglo-Saxon settlement during the time of the Kingdom of Northumbria, between the late 10th and early 11th centuries, the land between the rivers Forth and Tweed came under Scottish control, either through conquest by Scotland or through cession by England. Berwick was made a burgh in the reign of David I. A mint was present in the town by 1153, while under Scottish control, Berwick was referred to as South Berwick in order to differentiate it from the town of North Berwick, East Lothian, near Edinburgh. Berwick had a hospital for the sick and poor which was administered by the Church. Dated at Edinburgh June 8, in the 20th year of his reign, Berwicks strategic position on the Anglo-Scottish border during centuries of war between the two nations and its relatively great wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and takeovers. William I of Scotland invaded and attempted to capture northern England in 1173-74, after his defeat, Berwick was ceded to Henry II of England. It was later back to William by Richard I of England in order to raise funds for his Crusade. Berwick had become a town by the middle of the 13th century. In 1291–92 Berwick was the site of Edward I of Englands arbitration in the contest for the Scottish crown between John Balliol and Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, the decision in favour of Balliol was pronounced in the Great Hall of Berwick Castle on 17 November 1292
Berwick-upon-Tweed
–
View over Berwick-upon-Tweed town centre
Berwick-upon-Tweed
–
Part of the
town walls
Berwick-upon-Tweed
–
Berwick on Tweed Fortress Detail
Berwick-upon-Tweed
–
The Barracks (1717–21)
28.
John of Gaunt
–
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third of five surviving sons of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. He was called John of Gaunt because he was born in Ghent, when he became unpopular later in life, scurrilous rumours and lampoons circulated that he was actually the son of a Ghent butcher, perhaps because Edward III was not present at the birth. This story always drove him to fury, due to some generous land grants, John was one of the richest men in his era. John of Gaunts legitimate male heirs, the Lancasters, include Kings Henry IV, Henry V and his other legitimate descendants include his daughters Queen Philippa of Portugal and Elizabeth, Duchess of Exeter, and Queen Catherine of Castile. John fathered five children outside marriage, one early in life by a lady-in-waiting to his mother, the children of Katherine Swynford, surnamed Beaufort, were legitimised by royal and papal decrees after John and Katherine married in 1396. Through his daughter Philippa, he was grandfather of King Edward of Portugal, through John II of Castiles great-granddaughter Joanna the Mad, John of Gaunt is also an ancestor of the Habsburg rulers who would reign in Spain and much of central Europe. When John of Gaunt died in 1399, his estates and titles were declared forfeit to the crown, since King Richard II had named Henry a traitor, Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile to reclaim his inheritance and depose Richard. Bolingbroke then reigned as King Henry IV of England, the first of the descendants of John of Gaunt to hold the throne of England, John was the fourth son of King Edward III of England. His first wife, Blanche of Lancaster, was also his third cousin and they married in 1359 at Reading Abbey as a part of the efforts of Edward III to arrange matches for his sons with wealthy heiresses. He also became the 14th Baron of Halton and 11th Lord of Bowland, John inherited the rest of the Lancaster property when Blanches sister Maud, Countess of Leicester, died without issue on 10 April 1362. John received the title Duke of Lancaster from his father on 13 November 1362, by then well established, he owned at least thirty castles and estates across England and France and maintained a household comparable in scale and organisation to that of a monarch. He owned land in almost every county in England, a patrimony that produced a net income of between £8,000 and £10,000 a year, however, Johns ascendancy to political power coincided with widespread resentment of his influence. Although he fought in the Battle of Nájera, for example, when Edward III died in 1377 and Johns ten-year-old nephew succeeded as Richard II of England, Johns influence strengthened. However, mistrust remained, and some suspected him of wanting to seize the throne himself, John took pains to ensure that he never became associated with the opposition to Richards kingship. As de facto ruler during Richards minority, he made unwise decisions on taxation that led to the Peasants Revolt in 1381, when the rebels destroyed his home in London, the Savoy Palace. Unlike some of Richards unpopular advisors, John was away from London at the time of the uprising and thus avoided the direct wrath of the rebels. In 1386 John left England to seek the throne of Castile, claimed in Jure uxoris by right of his wife, Constance of Castile. However, crisis ensued almost immediately in his absence, and in 1387 King Richards misrule brought England to the brink of civil war
John of Gaunt
–
A retrospective portrait commissioned in c.1593 by Sir
Edward Hoby for
Queenborough Castle, Kent, probably modelled on Gaunt's tomb effigy.
John of Gaunt
–
Kenilworth Castle, a massive fortress extensively modernised and given a new Great Hall by John of Gaunt after 1350
John of Gaunt
–
1640 drawing of tombs of Katherine Swynford and daughter Joan Beaufort
John of Gaunt
–
The tomb of Gaunt and
Blanche of Lancaster in
St. Paul's Cathedral, as represented in an etching of 1658 by
Wenceslaus Hollar. The etching includes a number of inaccuracies, for example in not showing the couple with joined hands.
29.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
Scotland
–
Edinburgh Castle. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of this early settlement is unclear.
Scotland
–
Flag
Scotland
–
The class I
Pictish stone at
Aberlemno known as Aberlemno 1 or the Serpent Stone.
Scotland
–
The
Wallace Monument commemorates
William Wallace, the 13th-century Scottish hero.
30.
Scrope v. Grosvenor
–
Scrope v Grosvenor was one of the earliest heraldic law cases brought in England. The case resulted from the fact two different families were using the same undifferenced coat of arms. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the composition of coats of arms was very simple, most shields consisted of only one charge and two tinctures, and there were times when two families bore the same coat of arms in the same jurisdiction. In the fourteenth century, though, cases of two unrelated families bearing the coat of arms became less tolerated. When this happened, the monarch was usually called on to make a decision, in 1385, King Richard II of England invaded Scotland with his army. During this invasion, two of the king’s knights realized that they were using the coat of arms. Richard Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton from Bolton in Yorkshire, when Scrope brought an action, Grosvenor maintained that his ancestor had come to England with William the Conqueror bearing these arms and that the family had borne them since. The case was brought before a court and presided over by the Constable of England. It was not until 1389 that the case was decided in Scropes favor. Grosvenor was allowed to continue bearing the arms within a bordure argent for difference, neither party was happy with the decision, so when King Richard II gave his personal verdict on 27 May 1390 he confirmed that Grosvenor could not bear the differenced arms. His opinion was that these two shields were too similar for unrelated families in the country to bear. According to many of the witnesses, there was a person who bore the arms Azure a Bend Or. During an expedition to France in 1360, Grosvenor challenged the right of a Cornish knight, Thomas Carminow and it is unclear what the outcome of this case was, but both parties continued to use the undifferenced arms. On a separate occasion, Carminow challenged the right of Scrope to bear the arms, in this case, the constable declared that both claimants had established their right to the arms. Carminow had proven that his family had borne the arms from the time of King Arthur, neither of these claims to great antiquity were in fact possible as at both periods there was no such thing as an inheritable coat of arms. The two families were considered of different heraldic nations—Scrope of England, Carminow of Cornwall—and thus could both bear the same arms, as stated in the records of the case, Cornwall was in effect a separate country, a large land formerly bearing the name of a kingdom. Since the judgment of 1390, both the Carminow and Scrope families have used the arms undifferenced, Grosvenor had to choose a new shield, though. He assumed arms of Azure a Garb Or, the ancient arms of the Earls of Chester and these arms are still used by the familys descendant, the Duke of Westminster
Scrope v. Grosvenor
–
The shield blazoned Azure, a Bend Or, which was the subject of the case
31.
Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel
–
Richard FitzAlan, 5th or 11th Earl of Arundel and 9th Earl of Surrey, KG was an English medieval nobleman and military commander. Born in 1346, he was the son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and he succeeded his father to the title of Earl of Arundel on 24 January 1376. His brother was Thomas Arundel, the Bishop of Ely from 1374 to 1388, Archbishop of York from 1388 to 1397, at the coronation of Richard II, Richard FitzAlan carried the crown. In 1377, Richard FitzAlan held the title of Admiral of the West, in this capacity, he attacked Harfleur at Whitsun 1378, but was forced to return to his ships by the defenders. Later, he and John of Gaunt attempted to seize Saint-Malo but were unsuccessful, FitzAlan was closely aligned with Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, who was uncle of King Richard II. Thomas was opposed to Richard IIs desire for peace with France in the Hundred Years War, in late 1386, Gloucester forced King Richard II to name himself and Richard FitzAlan to the Kings Council. This Council was to all intents and purposes a Regency Council for Richard II, however, Richard limited the duration of the Councils powers to one year. In 1386, Richard II named Richard FitzAlan Admiral of England, as Admiral of England, he defeated a Franco-Spanish-Flemish fleet off Margate in March 1387, along with Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham. The King summoned Gloucester and FitzAlan to a meeting, however, instead of coming, they raised troops and defeated the new Council at Radcot Bridge on 22 December 1387. During that battle, they took the favourites prisoner, the next year, the Merciless Parliament condemned the favourites. FitzAlan was one of the Lords Appellant who accused and condemned Richard IIs favorites and he made himself particularly odious to the King by refusing, along with Gloucester, to spare the life of Sir Simon de Burley who had been condemned by the Merciless Parliament. This was even after the queen, Anne of Bohemia, went down on her knees before them to beg for mercy, King Richard never forgave this humiliation and planned and waited for his moment of revenge. In 1394, FitzAlan further antagonized the King by arriving late for the queens funeral, Richard II, in a rage, snatched a wand and struck FitzAlan in the face and drew blood. Shortly after that, the King feigned a reconciliation but he was biding his time for the right moment to strike. Arundel was named Governor of Brest in 1388, peace was concluded with France in 1389. However, Richard FitzAlan followed Gloucesters lead and stated that he would never agree with the peace that had been concluded and his first wife was Elizabeth de Bohun, daughter of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere. They married around 28 September 1359 and had seven children, Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel Lady Eleanor FitzAlan, on 28 October 1371, at the age of about six, Elizabeth FitzAlan, married first William Montacute, no issue. Married second, in 1384, Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, had issue, married third, before August 1401, Sir Robert Goushill of Hoveringham, had issue
Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel
–
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel;
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester;
Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham;
Henry, Earl of Derby (later Henry IV); and
Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, demand
Richard II to let them prove by arms the justice for their rebellion
Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel
–
gules, a lion rampant or
32.
Battle of Radcot Bridge
–
The Battle of Radcot Bridge was fought on 19 December 1387 at Radcot Bridge in England, a bridge over the River Thames now in Oxfordshire but then the boundary between Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It was fought between troops loyal to Richard II, led by court favourite Robert de Vere, and an army captained by Henry Bolingbroke, the previous year had seen increasing hostility between the young King Richard II and his magnates. This crisis reached a head in November 1386, when the Wonderful Parliament compelled King Richard to remove his chancellor, according to the 16th century chronicle Raphael Holinshed, In 1387, King Richard II. Molineux executed his commission with great zeal, imprisoning all who would not join him, thus was raised an army of 5,000 men. The Duke of Ireland, having with him Molineux, Vernon, supposing that none durst come forth to withstand him. If I come, said Molineux, will ye save my life, I will make ye no such promise, replied Sir Roger Mortimer, but, notwithstanding, either come up, or thou shalt presently die for it. Well then, said Molineux, if there be no other remedy, suffer me to come up, and let me try with hand blows, either with you or some other, and so die like a man. But as he came up, the knight caught him by the helmet, plucked it off his head, and straightways drawing his dagger, stroke him into the brains, and so dispatched him. Molineux, a varlet, and a boy were the slain in the engagement,800 men fled into the marsh, and were drowned, the rest were surrounded, stript. The Duke of Ireland made his escape to the Continent, in the words of a modern English historian, De Veres army arrived at the twin Thames bridges, only to find the first sabotaged and the second guarded by Derbys troops. Gloucesters men were still closing in from the north, the Royalists turned and deserted at the first shock of Bolingbrokes pikes. They could only surrender or else make desperate rushes over or through the river in an attempt to escape. Mounting a fresh horse, De Vere pushed forward but, with Pidnell Bridge demolished, hugging the bank, he lightened his load by dropping his gauntlets, sword and casque. At Radcot Bridge, stood a company of archers, dodging their deadly arrows through the stream again, he sought a ford but none was to be found. As night came on, he slipped from his horse, put off his cuirass, plunged into the stream, hiding in the woods by day, De Vere stole away into the western shires where, for a while, he was safe. Horse, casque, sword and cuirass being found next morning by the riverbank, however, he eventually managed to flee to France, where he died in exile. With their victory at Radcot Bridge, the Lords Appellant were able to gain a short-lived control over the country and this culminated in the Merciless Parliament in which King Richards main allies were condemned. It is strange that Pidnell is the northerly of the two bridges and Radcot the southerly, while the villages are the other way round
Battle of Radcot Bridge
–
Robert de Vere fleeing Radcot Bridge, 1387: taken from the Gruthuse manuscript of
Froissart 's Chroniques (ca. 1475).
33.
Bard
–
For example, William Shakespeare, and Rabindranth Tagore, are known as the Bard of Avon and the Bard of Bengal respectively. The word is a Celtic loan word from Scottish Gaelic bàrd, Irish bard, in 16th-century Scotland, it was a derogatory term for an itinerant musician, but it was later romanticised by Sir Walter Scott. The equivalent Cornish bardh was retained in English in the form of the drollteller, in medieval Gaelic and Welsh society, a bard or bardd was a professional poet, employed to compose eulogies for his lord. If the employer failed to pay the amount, the bard would then compose a satire. In other Indo-European societies, the function was fulfilled by skalds, rhapsodes, minstrels and scops. A hereditary caste of professional poets in Proto-Indo-European society has been reconstructed by comparison of the position of poets in medieval Ireland and in ancient India in particular. Bards were those who sang the songs recalling the tribal warriors deeds of bravery as well as the genealogies, the pre-Christian Celtic peoples recorded no written histories, however, Celtic peoples did maintain an intricate oral history committed to memory and transmitted by bards and filid. Bards facilitated the memorisation of such materials by the use of metre, rhyme, in medieval Ireland, bards were one of two distinct groups of poets, the other being the fili. According to the Early Irish law text on status, Uraicecht Becc, bards were a class of poets. However, it has also argued that the distinction between filid and bards was a creation of Christian Ireland, and that the filid were more associated with the church. By the Early Modern Period, these came to be used interchangeably. Irish bards formed a professional caste of highly trained, learned poets. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles and they were chroniclers and satirists whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. It was believed that a well-aimed bardic satire, glam dicenn, the bardic system lasted until the mid-17th century in Ireland and the early 18th century in Scotland. In Ireland, their fortunes had always linked to the Gaelic aristocracy. The early history of the bards can be known indirectly through mythological stories. The first mention of the profession in Ireland is found in the The Book of Invasions, in a story about the Irish colony of Tuatha De Danann. They became the aos sí, comparable to Norse alfr and British fairy, during the tenth year of the reign of the last Belgic monarch, the people of the colony of Tuatha De Danann, as the Irish called it, invaded and settled in Ireland
Bard
–
The Bard (ca. 1817), by
John Martin
Bard
Bard
–
William Blake's hand painted engraving of his poem "
The Voice of the Ancient Bard " in the
Songs of Innocence and of Experience
34.
Croft Castle
–
Croft Castle is a castle, church and garden located at Yarpole, Herefordshire, England. It is a National Trust property which is open to the public, the site is located at Yarpole,5 miles north-west of Leominster, in Herefordshire, England. It is surrounded by 1,500 acres of woodland, farmland and parkland and it is at grid reference SO449655. The Mortimer Trail, a footpath, passes by. A building has been on the site from the 11th century and it has from this time been the home of the Croft family, the Croft family were closely linked to their neighbours the Mortimers of Wigmore and later Ludlow. The Battle of Mortimers Cross took place on Croft lands nearby in 1461, the present building originated as a castle in the 14th century and has been much altered since. It was the home of a John Croft who married one of Owain Glyndŵrs daughters, in the 15th century the Croft family adopted the Welsh Wyvern crest, a wounded black dragon, seen as a subtle allusion to their Glyndwr heritage. Croft Castle was restored after slighting in the Civil War and it now consists of a stone quadrangular manor house with a small castellated round tower at each corner and a small square tower flanking the north side. The castle is under the care of the National Trust and members of the Croft family still live within it, the manor house has a quadrectangular structure around a central courtyard. The north side of the building is not parallel to the south side, the outside walls of the building date from the 15th century. The building has four towers on each corner of the structure. The north range is Elizabethan, while the other ranges date later than 1746, the building originally had a parapet, which was later removed. The sash windows were a later addition, the entrance porch, which has flanking parapets, is also Georgian, although it may have been located on the site of a former gatehouse. The castle was the home of the Croft family for nearly 1000 years and it may have been built by Richard Croft. The Croft family was recorded as living in the structure in the Domesday Book and it was purchased by Richard Knight in 1746. The building was back by the Croft family in 1923. It was Grade I listed by Historic England on 8 November 1956 and it is similar in appearance to Treago Castle. The chapel is dedicated to St Michael, and dates to the 13th century and it contains the tomb of Richard Croft and his wife Eleanor
Croft Castle
–
Croft Castle in 2010
Croft Castle
Croft Castle
35.
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn
–
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, a powerful Welsh marcher lord, succeeded to the title on his fathers death in July 1388. Reginald Grey was the eldest son of Reginald Grey, 2nd Baron Grey de Ruthyn and his paternal grandparents were Roger Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Ruthyn and Elizabeth de Hastings. His maternal grandparents were John Le Strange, 2nd Baron Strange of Blackmere and his youngest sister Ida de Grey, who married Sir John Cockayne, was an ancestress of Anne and Mary Boleyn. Sir John Grey, eldest surviving son, who predeceased his father and he married Constance Holland, the daughter of Elizabeth Plantagenet and John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter by whom he had issue. Margaret Grey, who married William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville and these were the great-grandparents of wealthy heiress Cecily Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington who married Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, a descendant of Reginald Grey by his second marriage. Catherine Grey, married George Lucy, Baron Lucy, Eleanor Grey, who married Robert Poynings, 4th Baron Poynings, by whom she had three sons, Sir Richard Poynings, Sir Robert Poynings and Edward Poynings. Robert Grey, who married Eleanor Lowe, Constance Grey, who married Sir John Cressy. Elizabeth Grey, who married Sir William Calthorpe, by whom she had issue, Eleanor Grey, who married William Lucy, esquire, of Charlecote, Warwickshire. Since he had gained the right to bear arms from his claim through his paternal grandmother, he displayed Quarterly 1 &4, Grey de Ruthyn,2 &3. More important from a perspective, he gained title to certain properties of the estate. De Grey enjoyed the favour both of Richard II and Henry IV, and his military exploits were against the Welsh. Reynold de Grey was responsible for issuing and enforcing royal demands in the Northern March, such as calling the local nobility and gentry and their men to Royal and he was already in a long-running legal dispute with Glyndŵr, claiming a tranche of Glyndwrs land as his own. Under King Richard II the case had found in favour of Glyndŵr. Early in September 1400, Henry IV left Newcastle and traveled south to Northampton, there news reached the King of the quarrel that had broken out between Grey and Glyndwr. Grey was a member of the Kings Council, Glyndŵr responded in law early in 1400 but his case was not granted a hearing, instead it was asked of Glyndŵr that he grant Lord Grey further concessions. Such an act as refusal or failure to respond to an order of the King was deemed a treasonous act, Glyndŵrs estates were deemed forfeit until he could prove his loyalty or receive due punishment. On 16 September Owain and brothers had taken up arms and burned Greys property, on 24 September, Glyndwrs forces were encircled at Welshpool and defeated. De Grey now invited Glyndŵr to a meeting, but arrived with a large force, attempting to surround Glyndŵr
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn
–
Arms of Grey de Ruthyn: Barry of six argent and azure in chief three torteaux
36.
Chester
–
Chester is a walled city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales. With a population of 81,340 in 2014, it is the most populous settlement of Cheshire West and Chester, Chester was granted city status in 1541. Chester was founded as a castrum or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix in the reign of the Emperor Vespasian in 79 AD, one of the main army camps in Roman Britain, Deva later became a major civilian settlement. Chester was one of the last cities in England to fall to the Normans, william the Conqueror ordered the construction of a castle, to dominate the town and the nearby Welsh border. Chester is one of the best preserved walled cities in Britain and it has a number of medieval buildings, but some of the black-and-white buildings within the city centre are Victorian restorations. Apart from a 100-metre section, the listed Grade I walls are almost complete, the Roman Legio II Adiutrix during the reign of the Emperor Vespasian founded Chester in AD79, as a castrum or Roman fort with the name Deva Victrix. The victrix part of the name was taken from the title of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix which was based at Deva, Central Chesters four main roads, Eastgate, Northgate, Watergate and Bridgegate, follow routes laid out at this time. A civilian settlement grew around the base, probably originating from trade with the fortress. The civilian amphitheatre, which was built in the 1st century and it is the largest known military amphitheatre in Britain, and is also a Scheduled Monument. The Minerva Shrine in the Roman quarry is the rock cut Roman shrine still in situ in Britain. The fortress was garrisoned by the legion until at least the late 4th century, after the Roman troops withdrew, the Romano-British established a number of petty kingdoms. Chester is thought to have part of Powys. Deverdoeu was a Welsh name for Chester as late as the 12th century, another, attested in the 9th century History of the Britons traditionally attributed to Nennius, is Cair Legion, this later developed into Caerlleon and then the modern Welsh Caer. King Arthur is said to have fought his ninth battle at the city of the legions and later St Augustine came to the city to try to unite the church, and held his synod with the Welsh Bishops. In 616, Æthelfrith of Northumbria defeated a Welsh army at the brutal and decisive Battle of Chester and her name is still remembered in St Werburghs Street which passes alongside the cathedral, and near the city walls. It was Alfreds daughter Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, that built the new Saxon burh, a new Church dedicated to St Peter alone was founded in AD907 by the Lady Æthelfleda at what was to become the Cross. Taking the helm of a barge, he was rowed the short distance up the River Dee from Edgars Field to the great Minster Church of St John the Baptist by six tributary kings called reguli. In 1071 he made Hugh dAvranches, who built Chester Castle, from the 14th century to the 18th century the citys prominent position in North West England meant that it was commonly also known as Westchester
Chester
–
Bridge Street showing
Chester Rows and
St Peter's Church
Chester
–
4, 5 and 6 Abbey Square
Chester
–
Diorama of the Roman Legionary fortress
Deva Victrix in
Grosvenor Museum, Chester.
Chester
–
Photochrom of the
Chester Rows as seen from the
Cross, 1895
37.
Bishop of St Asaph
–
The Bishop of St Asaph heads the Church in Wales diocese of St Asaph. The diocese covers the counties of Conwy and Flintshire, Wrexham county borough, the Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of St Asaph in the city of St Asaph in Denbighshire, north Wales. The Bishops residence is Esgobty, St Asaph, the current bishop is Gregory Cameron, who was elected on 5 January and consecrated on 4 April 2009. He became Bishop of St Asaph in succession to John Davies, who was consecrated in October 1999 and this diocese was supposedly founded by St Kentigern about the middle of the 6th century, although this is unlikely. The date often given is 583, nothing is known of the history of the diocese during the disturbed period that followed. Domesday Book gives scanty particulars of a few churches but is silent as to the cathedral, a return made in the middle of the thirteenth century shows the existence of eight rural deaneries, seventy-nine churches, and nineteen chapels. By 1291 the deaneries had been doubled in number and there were Cistercian houses at Basingwerk, Aberconwy, Strata Marcella and Valle Crucis, the cathedral, which had been burnt in the wars, was rebuilt and completed in 1295. Dedicated to St Asaph, it was a massive structure of simple plan. At the end of the century there was a great revival of church building. The chief shrines in the diocese were St Winefreds Well, St Garmon in Yale, St Derfel Gadarn in Edeirnion, St Melangell at Pennant, all these were demolished at the Reformation. At that time the diocese contained one archdeaconry, sixteen deaneries, the names and succession of the bishops after Saints Kentigern and Asaph are not clearly known until 1143. The last bishop in communion with Rome was Thomas Goldwell, who acceded in 1555 and was in the process of being transferred to Oxford when Queen Mary died and Elizabeth I came to the throne. Goldwell fled to the Continent and died in Rome on 13 April 1585, the see continued to be part of the Church of England until the Church was disestablished in Wales in 1920, since when it has been part of the Church in Wales
Bishop of St Asaph
–
Bishop of
St Asaph
38.
Corwen
–
Corwen is a Town, community and electoral ward in the county of Denbighshire in Wales, it was previously part of the county of Merioneth. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains, the town is situated 10 miles west of Llangollen and 13 miles south of Ruthin. At the 2001 Census, Corwen had a population of 2,398, a life-size bronze statue of the prince mounted on his battle horse was installed in The Square in 2007. It commemorates the day he was proclaimed the last true Prince of Wales in 1400, the town grew as a centre for cattle drovers. Attractions in Corwen include the motte of a Norman castle, the thirteenth century Church of St Mael and St Sulien, Corwen Golf Club was founded in 1909. The club closed at the onset of WW2, located in the hills of north Wales, the main economy of Corwen is based in and around farming. The towns main employer is local trailer manufacturer Ifor Williams Trailers, the station was a vital development in the towns importance as the centre of the local Agriculture industry. Unfortunately neither survived the Beeching Axe in the 1960s, the town is now linked to the Llangollen Railway, with a temporary station, Corwen East, which opened on 22 October 2014. The permanent way had been extended into Corwen in late spring 2014, llew Jones operate a twice daily, weekday service to Llanrwst with one journey extended to/from Bala. Corwen is the last sizeable town on the A5 road from London to Holyhead until Betws-y-Coed is reached, because of this it still contains a number of hotels which were used in the past as coaching inns for the Mail coach and stagecoaches. Corwen hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1919, the Pavilion in the town has played an important part in Welsh culture throughout the 20th century. It has hosted concerts and eisteddfodau. It was also the venue for the first concerts performed by Edward H. Dafis, novelist John Cowper Powys lived in Corwen with his common-law wife Phyllis Playter from 1935 until 1955, when they moved to Blaenau Ffestiniog. He wrote two novels both set in this region of Wales, while living in Corwen, Owen Glendower and Porius. Corwen Football Club Panoramic 360 View Of Corwen Church
Corwen
–
The former workhouse of the Corwen Poor Law Union in Heol Llundain (London Road)
Corwen
–
Corwen, circa 1875
39.
Henry Hotspur Percy
–
Sir Henry Percy KG, commonly known as Sir Harry Hotspur, or simply Hotspur, was a late-medieval English nobleman. He was a significant captain during the Anglo-Scottish wars and he later led successive rebellions against Henry IV of England and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his career. He was knighted by King Edward III in April 1377, together with the future Kings Richard II, in 1380, he was in Ireland with the Earl of March, and in 1383, he travelled in Prussia. He was appointed warden of the east march either on 30 July 1384 or in May 1385, as a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack on the Scottish borders, the Scots bestowed on him the name Haatspore. In April 1386, he was sent to France to reinforce the garrison at Calais, between August and October 1387, he was in command of a naval force in an attempt to relieve the siege of Brest. In appreciation of these endeavours he was made a Knight of the Garter in 1388. During the next few years Percys reputation continued to grow and he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Cyprus in June 1393 and appointed Governor of Bordeaux, deputy to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, in the Duchy of Aquitaine. He returned to England in January 1395, taking part in Richard IIs expedition to Ireland, in the summer of 1396, he was again in Calais. On Henrys return from exile in June 1399, Percy and his father joined his forces at Doncaster, after King Richards deposition, Percy and his father were lavishly rewarded with lands and offices. Under the new king, Percy had extensive civil and military responsibility in both the east march towards Scotland and in north Wales, where he was appointed High Sheriff of Flintshire in 1399. In north Wales, he was increasing pressure as a result of the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr. Among others, they made a prisoner of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas, in spite of the favour that Henry IV showed the Percys in many respects, they became increasingly discontented with him. Spurred on by these grievances, the Percys rebelled in the summer of 1403, according to J. M. W. Bean, it is clear that the Percys were in collusion with Glyndŵr. On his return to England shortly after the victory at Homildon Hill, joined by his uncle, Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, he marched to Shrewsbury, where he intended to do battle against a force there under the command of the Prince of Wales. The ensuing Battle of Shrewsbury was fierce, with casualties on both sides, but when Henry Percy himself was struck down and killed, his own forces fled. The circumstances of Percys death differ in accounts, the chronicler Thomas Walsingham stated, in his Historia Anglicana, that while he led his men in the fight rashly penetrating the enemy host, was unexpectedly cut down, by whose hand is not known. Another is that he was struck in the face by an arrow when he opened his vizor for a better view, the legend that he was killed by the Prince of Wales seems to have been given currency by William Shakespeare, writing at the end of the following century. The Earl of Worcester was executed two days later, King Henry, upon being brought Percys body after the battle, is said to have wept
Henry Hotspur Percy
–
The
pennon of Sir Henry Percy captured by James Douglas, Earl of Douglas
Henry Hotspur Percy
–
Warkworth Castle, the home of Henry Percy
40.
Henry VII of England
–
Henry VII was King of England from seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, and the first monarch of the House of Tudor. He ruled the Principality of Wales until 29 November 1489 and was Lord of Ireland, Henry won the throne when his forces defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the culmination of the Wars of the Roses. Henry was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle and he cemented his claim by marrying Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and niece of Richard III. Henry was successful in restoring the power and stability of the English monarchy after the civil war and his supportive stance of the islands wool industry and stand off with the Low Countries had long lasting benefits to all the British Isles economy. However, the capriciousness and lack of due process that many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VIIs death. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil, simple greed underscored the means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henrys final years, Henry VII was born at Pembroke Castle on 28 January 1457 to Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond. His father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond, died three months before his birth, Henrys paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor, originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd, Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of Henry V. He rose to one of the Squires to the Body to the King after military service at the Battle of Agincourt. Owen is said to have married the widow of Henry V. One of their sons was Edmund Tudor, father of Henry VII, Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and formally declared legitimate by Parliament. Henrys main claim to the English throne derived from his mother through the House of Beaufort, Henrys mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort, was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III, and his third wife Katherine Swynford. Katherine was Gaunts mistress for about 25 years, when married in 1396, they already had four children. Thus Henrys claim was somewhat tenuous, it was from a woman, in theory, the Portuguese and Castilian royal families had a better claim as descendants of Catherine of Lancaster, the daughter of John of Gaunt and his second wife Constance of Castile. Gaunts nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunts children by Katherine Swynford by Letters Patent in 1397, in 1407, Henry IV, who was Gaunts son by his first wife, issued new Letters Patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings, but also declaring them ineligible for the throne. Henry IVs action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an Act of Parliament, but it further weakened Henrys claim. Henry also made political capital out of his Welsh ancestry, for example in attracting military support. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr and he took it, as well as the standard of St George, on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henrys biographer, Bernard André, also much of Henrys Welsh descent
Henry VII of England
–
Portrait of King Henry VII holding a
Tudor Rose, wearing collar of the
Order of the Golden Fleece, dated 1505, by unknown artist, National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 416).
Henry VII of England
–
Pembroke Castle
Henry VII of England
–
Young Henry VII, by a French artist (
Musée Calvet,
Avignon)
Henry VII of England
–
Perfected and fluted armour of Henry VII
41.
Edward I of England
–
Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. He spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law, through an extensive legal inquiry, Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edwards attention was drawn towards military affairs, the first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his fathers reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he sided with a baronial reform movement. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained throughout the subsequent armed conflict. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land, the crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster on 19 August, after suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest. After a successful campaign, Edward subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside, next, his efforts were directed towards Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over the kingdom. In the war followed, the Scots persevered, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. At the same there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation and these crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the King died in 1307, he left to his son, Edward II, Edward I was a tall man for his era, hence the nickname Longshanks. He was temperamental, and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man, nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Among his childhood friends was his cousin Henry of Almain, son of King Henrys brother Richard of Cornwall, Henry of Almain would remain a close companion of the prince, both through the civil war that followed, and later during the crusade. Edward was in the care of Hugh Giffard – father of the future Chancellor Godfrey Giffard – until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffards death in 1246, there were concerns about Edwards health as a child, and he fell ill in 1246,1247, and 1251
Edward I of England
–
Portrait in Westminster Abbey, thought to be of Edward I
Edward I of England
–
Early fourteenth-century manuscript
initial showing Edward and his wife Eleanor. The artist has perhaps tried to depict Edward's
blepharoptosis, a trait he inherited from his father.
Edward I of England
–
Medieval manuscript showing
Simon de Montfort 's mutilated body at the field of
Evesham
Edward I of England
–
Operations during the Crusade of Edward I
42.
Conwy
–
Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd, the community, which includes Deganwy and Llandudno Junction, had a population of 14,208 at the 2001 census, and is a popular tourist destination. The population rose to 14,753 at the 2011 census, in the 2015 census “The size of the resident population in Conwy County Borough on the 30th June 2015 was estimated to be 116,200 people. ”The town itself has a population of 4,065. The name Conwy derives from the old Welsh words cyn and gwy, Conwy Castle and the town walls were built, on the instruction of Edward I of England, between 1283 and 1289, as part of his conquest of the principality of Wales. The church standing in Conwy has been marked as the oldest building in Conwy and has stood in the walls of Conwy since the 14th century, however, the oldest structure is part of the town walls, at the southern end of the east side. Here one wall and the tower of Llewellyn the Greats Llys have been incorporated into the wall. Built on an outcrop, with an aspidal tower, it is a classic, native, Welsh build and stands out from the rest of the town walls. It dates from the early 13th century and is the most complete remnant of any of his Llys, people born within the town walls of Conwy in north Wales are nicknamed Jackdaws, after the jackdaws which live on the walls there. A Jackdaw Society existed until 2011, Conwy was the original site of Aberconwy Abbey, founded by Llywelyn the Great. Edward and his troops took over the site and moved the monks down the Conwy valley to a new site at Maenan. The parish church still retains parts of the original abbey church in the east and west walls. English settlers were given incentives to move to the garrison town. Conwy has other tourist attractions that draw visitors to the town. Conwy Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford to replace the ferry, was completed in 1826, Telford designed the bridges supporting towers to match the castles turrets. The bridge is now open to pedestrians only and, together with the house, is in the care of the National Trust. The Conwy Railway Bridge, a Tubular bridge, was built for the Chester, the first tube was completed in 1848, the second in 1849. The bridge is still in use on the North Wales Coast Line, along with the station, which is located within the town walls. In addition to a modern bridge serving the town, the A55 road passes under the river by a tunnel, Britains first immersed tube tunnel, the old mountain road to Dwygyfylchi and Penmaenmawr runs through the Sychnant Pass, at the foot of Conwy Mountain
Conwy
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Conwy Castle and the bridges
Conwy
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Conway c.1850
Conwy
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A view of the original walled town, viewed from one of the towers. Conwy Castle is visible to the right, with the suspension bridge barely visible.
Conwy
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Conway Town and Castle, 1800
43.
Mynydd Hyddgen
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The Battle of Mynydd Hyddgen was part of the Welsh revolt led by Owain Glyndŵr against English rule that lasted from 1400 to 1415 and the battle occurred in June 1401. Its location was on the slopes of Pumlumon, near to the present-day Ceredigion/Powys boundary. The settlers were reinforced by a force of English soldiers. This was Owains early base as his rebellion started and spread and it is thought that Owains force would have been made up mostly of archers mounted on hill ponies that would have been well suited for travelling across boggy or mountainous regions. The English-Flemish army meanwhile would have consisted of infantry with some light cavalrymen supporting them. Despite having decent equipment, many of the English-Flemish soldiers were lacking in military experience, the precise location of the battle is not known, and little is known of the course of the battle itself. However, it is known that Glyndŵrs army was able to back these attackers, killing 200, chasing the main force away. It can be assumed that Owains success lay in the maneuverability of his light troops, the English army would have had more trouble traversing the marshy ground of the valley
Mynydd Hyddgen
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Memorial to the slain of Mynydd Hyddgen
44.
Pumlumon
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Plynlimon is the highest point of the Cambrian Mountains in Wales, and the highest point in Mid Wales. It is a massif that dominates the countryside of northern Ceredigion, the highest point of the massif itself is Pen Pumlumon Fawr at 752 metres. Its other important peaks are Pen Pumlumon Arwystli, Y Garn, Pen Pumlumon Llygad-bychan, the longest river in Britain, the River Severn, has its source on the mountain, as do the rivers Wye and Rheidol. Folklore says there is a giant in Plynlimon. The Pumlumon area is the largest watershed in Wales and is the source of the rivers Wye, Severn, since 2007 the Wildlife Trusts of Wales have been working to improve the habitat as a living landscape project. This watershed area has been affected by loss of biodiversity, erosion of the peaty soils structure, some believe the drainage issues have contributed significantly to flooding in areas some distance downstream, though this cannot be clearly proved. Like most of the uplands across Wales, intensive land use activities have resulted in many habitats being either lost or degraded, over-grazing of sheep has induced soil compaction, which has resulted in increased flooding of the lowland areas. Agriculturally improved grassland, broadleaved woodlands and forestry plantation are also features of the area. The Severn Way runs for 210 miles along the River Severn between the mouth of the Severn at Bristol, England, and its source at Plynlimon, Wales. Computer generated summit panoramas Plynlimon index THE PUMLUMON PROJECT, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust www. geograph. co. uk, photos of Plynlimon and surrounding area
Pumlumon
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The northern slopes of Pumlumon Fawr
45.
Strata Florida Abbey
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Strata Florida Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164, Strata Florida is a Latinisation of the Welsh Ystrad Fflur, Valley of Flowers. The Welsh word ystrad is synonymous with strath and dale, while fflur is also the name of the nearby river, the Monastery was founded in 1164 by the Norman Knight Robert FitzStephen. In the 12th century, Cistercian monks from Whitland Abbey, Narbeth, Carmarthenshire started to construct a settlement on the banks of the Afon Fflur. This was at a time of fast expansion of the Cistercian order, the site of this first settlement is known as Hen Fynachlog. Around 1164 the Abbey of Strata Florida was founded through the patronage of Rhys ap Gruffydd, in 1184, a further charter was issued by Lord Rhys, reaffirming Strata Florida as a monastery under the patronage of Deheubarth, a principality of South Wales. The church was consecrated in 1201, Strata Florida became an important and powerful religious centre. Around 1238, Prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth held a council at Strata Florida and it was here that he made the other Welsh leaders acknowledge his son Dafydd as his rightful successor. Strata Florida controlled many farms throughout Wales, these provided the monastery with food. The most important primary source for early Welsh history, the Brut y Tywysogion, was compiled at Strata Florida. In 1401, during the years of Owain Glyndŵrs rebellion, Strata Florida Abbey was taken by King Henry IV. The monks were deemed to be sympathetic to Glyndŵr, so they were evicted from the monastery, Henry IV turned the religious buildings into a military base as he planned to capture or defeat any Welsh rebel forces active in the area. By 1402 the Earl of Worcester held the Abbey for the English Crown with a garrison of several hundred men-at-arms, archers and it continued to be used as a military base for further campaigns against the Welsh rebels in 1407 and 1415. The monastic site was returned to the Cistercians with the end of the Glyndŵr rebellion, beginning in 1539, Henry VIII used his dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church in Rome to dissolve and sack the monasteries of England and Wales. Strata Florida Abbey was dissolved in 1539 by church commissioners, the buildings and their contents were valued and then sold off. The church and most of the buildings were demolished for building materials such as the window glass and stone as well as the roof tiles. However, the refectory and dormitory were rebuilt as Ty Abaty, the property has been owned by a number of notable families including the Steadmans and the Powells of Nanteos. Much of the monastic lands of the Cistercian abbey at Strata Florida were given to Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex who sold them on to Sir John Vaughan
Strata Florida Abbey
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Entrance archway
Strata Florida Abbey
Strata Florida Abbey
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The remains of Strata Florida Abbey as depicted in the 1851 Illustrated London Reading Book
Strata Florida Abbey
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Excavation of the 'gatehouse' 2008
46.
Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl
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Sir Edmund Mortimer, was an English nobleman who played a part in the rebellions of the Welsh leader, Owain Glyndŵr and the Percys at the beginning of the 15th century. He perished at the siege of Harlech as part of these conflicts, Edmund was born on 10 December 1376 at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire as the second son of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, by his wife Philippa Plantagenet. He was a grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, thus a great-grandson of King Edward III, Edmund was financially well provided for, both by his father, who died when Edmund was 5 years old, and by his elder brother Roger. Both Edmund Mortimer and his brother-in-law Henry Hotspur Percy fought for Henry IV against the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr, however, at the Battle of Bryn Glas on 22 June 1402, Mortimer was defeated, allegedly because some of his Welsh forces defected, and was taken prisoner. King Henrys suspicions were fuelled by rumours that Mortimer had fallen into captivity by his own design and he forbade the Percys to seek their kinsmans ransom, and by October 1402 began seizing Mortimers estates, plate, and jewels. Mortimer thereupon transferred his allegiance to Glyndŵr, in the summer of 1403, the Percys rebelled and took up arms against the king. According to J. M. W. Bean, it is clear that the Percys were in collusion with Glyndŵr, Mortimers brother-in-law Henry Hotspur Percy and Hotspurs uncle, Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, moved south with their army. However, Hotspurs father, Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, was, for never fully explained. Hotspur and Worcester met Henry IVs forces at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403 without Northumberlands assistance and they were defeated, Hotspur was slain, and Worcester was executed two days later. The alliance of Glyndŵr and Edmund Mortimer with the Percys survived the setback at Shrewsbury, in February 1405, Glyndŵr, Mortimer, and Northumberland entered into the Tripartite Indenture, which proposed a threefold division of the kingdom. Mortimer was to have most of the south of England and this agreement was apparently connected to the attempted abduction of Mortimers nephew Edmund in the same month and Northumberlands second rising in May 1405. However, after Shrewsbury, Glyndŵrs attacks on the forces were largely unsuccessful. He died in 1409, either during or shortly after the siege of Glyndŵrs stronghold of Harlech Castle by Henry IVs son, Henry. Edmund Mortimer and his wife Catrin had one son, Lionel, after Mortimers death the king had Catrin and her daughters brought to London, where they were held in custody. In 1413 she and two of her daughters were buried at St Swithin, London Stone, events in the life of Sir Edmund Mortimer were dramatized by Shakespeare in Henry IV, Part 1. In the play Shakespeare accurately identifies him as Hotspurs brother-in-law, Percy, Henry, first earl of Northumberland. The Complete Peerage, edited by H. A, Mortimer, Edmund, third earl of March and earl of Ulster. The Greatest Traitor, The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, Ruler of England 1327–1330, everingham, Kimball G. ed. Magna Carta Ancestry, A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families
Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl
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Ludlow Castle, birthplace of Edmund Mortimer
47.
Battle of Bryn Glas
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The Battle of Bryn Glas, was fought on 22 June 1402, near the towns of Knighton and Presteigne in Powys. It was a victory for the Welsh rebels under Owain Glyndŵr, and it resulted in the prolongation of the Welsh rebellion. Owain Glyndŵrs revolt occurred against a background of instability in the English monarchy, King Richard II of England had become alienated from many of the nobles, and had been overthrown by Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV of England. In Wales and the Welsh Marches, there were many supporters of the deposed Richard. In that year, Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn, in response, Glyndwr declared himself the true Prince of Wales, and began a rebellion. After Glyndwr gained early successes in 1400, King Henry led an expedition into North Wales. However, Glyndwr remained at large, and anti-Welsh legislation by Parliament ensured that few Welshmen had reason to support continued English rule, on 1 April 1401, two brothers from Anglesey, Rhys ap Tudur and Gwilym ap Tudur, seized Conwy Castle by trickery. Glyndwr himself won a victory over an army of English and Flemish settlers in Pembrokeshire at Mynydd Hyddgen in mid-Wales and these two events reinvigorated the rebellion. Henry led another expedition into mid-Wales, but achieved nothing. Early in 1402, Glyndwrs men ambushed and captured Grey of Ruthyn, who had caused the rebellion. In June, Glyndwr himself was near Knighton, and only 12 miles from Leominster, then an important English garrison, King Henry had appointed Henry Percy, widely known as Hotspur, as his principal lieutenant and justiciar in North Wales and the adjacent Marches. Hotspurs uncle, the Earl of Worcester, held an appointment in the south. However, the force which confronted Glyndwr near Knighton was a county levy of Herefordshire under Sir Edmund Mortimer, Mortimer was uncle of the young Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, and either of them had a better hereditary claim to be King of England than Henry. However, Sir Edmund Mortimer had so far loyally supported the new king, there were few contemporary sources for details of the battle, and some, such as that of Adam of Usk, contained inaccuracies. Most details must therefore be assumptions, although the ground remains largely unchanged, Mortimers army was seeking to bring Glyndŵrs smaller army to battle. Although the location was only just inside Wales, Glyndŵr undoubtedly had many local informants and sympathisers, probably, he had also been able to summon reinforcements from other parts of Wales, which moved rapidly over hill tracks, and was therefore far stronger than Mortimer realised. Though always a tactic, Glyndwr divided his army. Part of the army, including many armed with the powerful longbow, was placed on the slopes of the hill
Battle of Bryn Glas
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St Mary's Church, Pilleth
48.
Brittany
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Brittany is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Brittany has also referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain. It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and its land area is 34,023 km². Since reorganisation in 1956, the administrative region of Brittany comprises only four of the five Breton departments. The remaining area of old Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique department around Nantes, at the 2010 census, the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,475,295. Of these, 71% lived in the region of Brittany, while 29% lived in the Loire-Atlantique department, in 2012, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes, Rennes, and Brest. Brittany is the homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the French Republic, the word Brittany, along with its French, Breton and Gallo equivalents Bretagne, Breizh and Bertaèyn, derive from the Latin Britannia, which means Britons land. This word had been used by the Romans since the 1st century to refer to Great Britain and this word derives from a Greek word, Πρεττανικη or Βρεττανίαι, used by Pytheas, an explorer from Massalia who visited the British Islands around 320 BC. This term probably comes from a Gallic word, aremorica, which close to the sea. Another name, Letauia, was used until the 12th century and it possibly means wide and flat or to expand and it gave the Welsh name for Brittany, Llydaw. Later, authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth used the terms Britannia minor, breton-speaking people may pronounce the word Breizh in two different ways, according to their region of origin. Breton can be divided into two dialects, the KLT and the dialect of Vannes. KLT speakers pronounce it and would write it Breiz, while the Vannetais speakers pronounce it, the official spelling is a compromise between both variants, with a z and an h together. In 1941, efforts to unify the dialects led to the creation of the so-called Breton zh, on its side, Gallo language has never had a widely accepted writing system and several ones coexist. For instance, the name of the region in that language can be written Bertaèyn in ELG script, or Bertègn in MOGA, Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic. This population was scarce and very similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe and their only original feature was a distinct culture, called Colombanian. One of the oldest hearths in the world has found in Plouhinec
Brittany
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The
Carnac stones.
Brittany
Brittany
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The five Gallic tribes of Brittany.
Brittany
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The temple of Mars in
Corseul.
49.
Oxford University
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The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, after disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient universities are frequently referred to as Oxbridge. The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges, All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Being a city university, it not have a main campus, instead, its buildings. Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious scholarships, the university operates the worlds oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain. Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates,27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford has no known foundation date. Teaching at Oxford existed in form as early as 1096. It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris, the historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, the university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, the students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two nations, representing the North and the South. In later centuries, geographical origins continued to many students affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. At about the time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College, thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III. Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London, thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, the new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, as a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxfords reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment, enrolments fell and teaching was neglected
Oxford University
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Balliol College – one of the university's oldest constituent colleges
Oxford University
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University of Oxford
seal
Oxford University
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Aerial view of
Merton College 's
Mob Quad, the oldest
quadrangle of the university, constructed in the years from 1288 to 1378
Oxford University
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In 1605 Oxford was still a walled city, but several colleges had been built outside the city walls (north is at the bottom on this map)
50.
Archery
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Archery is the sport, practice or skill of using a bow to propel arrows. The word comes from the Latin arcus, historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity, a person who participates in archery is typically called an archer or a bowman, and a person who is fond of or an expert at archery is sometimes called a toxophilite. The bow and arrow seems to have invented in the later Paleolithic or early Mesolithic periods. The oldest signs of its use in Europe come from the Stellmoor in the Ahrensburg valley north of Hamburg, Germany and dates from the late Paleolithic, about 10, 000–9000 BC. The arrows were made of pine and consisted of a mainshaft, there are no definite earlier bows, previous pointed shafts are known, but may have been launched by spear-throwers rather than bows. The oldest bows known so far come from the Holmegård swamp in Denmark, bows and arrows have been present in Egyptian culture since its predynastic origins. In the Levant, artifacts that could be arrow-shaft straighteners are known from the Natufian culture, the Khiamian and PPN A shouldered Khiam-points may well be arrowheads. Classical civilizations, notably the Assyrians, Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Parthians, Indians, Koreans, Chinese, akkadians were the first to use composite bows in war according to the victory stele of Naram-Sin of Akkad. The Welsh longbow proved its worth for the first time in Continental warfare at the Battle of Crécy, in the Americas archery was widespread at European contact. Archery was highly developed in Asia, the Sanskrit term for archery, dhanurveda, came to refer to martial arts in general. In East Asia, Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea was well known for its regiments of skilled archers. Central Asian tribesmen and American Plains Indians became extremely adept at archery on horseback, lightly armoured, but highly mobile archers were excellently suited to warfare in the Central Asian steppes, and they formed a large part of armies that repeatedly conquered large areas of Eurasia. Shorter bows are more suited to use on horseback, and the bow enabled mounted archers to use powerful weapons. It is possible that barbarian peoples were responsible for introducing archery or certain types of bows to their civilized counterparts—the Xiong-nu, similarly, short bows seem to have been introduced to Japan by northeast Asian groups. The development of firearms rendered bows obsolete in warfare, albeit efforts were made to preserve archery practice. In Wales and England, for example, the government tried to practice with the Longbow until the end of the 16th century. This was because it was recognised that the bow had been instrumental to military success during the Hundred Years War, early firearms were inferior in rate-of-fire, and were very susceptible to wet weather
Archery
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Archery competition in
Mönchengladbach, Germany, in 1983
Archery
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A
Rikbaktsa archer competes at Brazil's Indigenous Games
Archery
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Tibetan archer, 1938
Archery
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Master Heon Kim demonstrating
Gungdo, traditional Korean archery (Kuk Kung), 2009
