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The Norman invasion of Wales began shortly after the Norman invasion of England. It was not undertaken with the fervor and intentionality of the invasion of England, and, as such, a specific date is difficult to pin down; nonetheless, it can be said that the invasion gradually played itself out through the 1060s into the 1070s, though the situation did not solidify until the early 1200s.
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Setting the Stage
By the mid-eleventh century, Wales had been united by a king of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. Gruffudd pushed into England, burning the city of Hereford, overwhelming border patrols, and proving the English – and by extension, the Normans – entirely inadequate to response to Welsh invasions 1. Subsequent to his uniting of Wales and his victories over Mercia and other English kingdoms, Gruffudd was turned upon by his own men, who killed him and shipped his head off to Edward the Confessor, a sign of victory over Wales2. This left a vacuum of power in Wales in which princes and kings were free to squabble over their land. In addition, they were left without the presence of Gruffudd to ward off English attacks.
First Conflicts
See also The Norman Invasion of Gwynedd
It took some time for the Normans to concentrate any level of might against the Welsh, however, as they were more concerned, in the aftermath of Hastings, with England and Normandy3. In addition, it was not William’s goal to conquer Wales; he had come to inherit what he believed to be his birthright, the English throne, which entailed taking on the responsibilities of Edward and the Anglo-Saxon kings, including their relationships with Wales and Scotland. By the late 1060s, however, Wales had begun to force the matter, attacking English soil and supporting English rebellions against the Normans.
Norman Response
In response to Welsh advances, William established a series of earldoms in the borderlands, specifically at Chester, under Hugh d'Avranches; Shrewsbury, under Roger de Montgomerie; and Hereford, under William FitzOsbern. He instilled a great deal of power into each earldom, allowing them control of the surrounding towns and land, rather than retaining it within the kingship. The inspiration for such an action seems to have been the overextended nature of the Norman troops, thus preventing William from exercising his own power in the area4. It very well may have been implicit in the power granted the earldoms that they were to attack Wales, and, indeed, they did, beginning with south-east Wales, where many of the previous rebellions against England had begun. By the time of FitzOsbern's death in 1071, a castle had been established at the mouth of the Wye, and it served as a base from which the Normans continued to expand westward into Wales, establishing a castle at Caerleon by 1086 and extinguishing the Welsh Kingdom of Gwent.5 However, the attacks in south-east Wales "faltered badly when the earl of Hereford’s] son Roger de Breteuil... forfeited his estates for treason in 1075 and involved some of his vassals on the Welsh frontier in his downfall"6. Nonetheless, the Normans pressed on.
Relations with Henry I
These movements continued well into the twelfth century, into the reign of Henry I. There was relative peace in the early twelfth century, however, with a great deal of English influence over Wales but relatively little conflict. The only real expedition into Wales made by Henry was in 1114, when "he set in motion three separate armies intended to overware the ageing prince of Gwynedd"7. The prince, Gruffydd ap Cynan, however, saw fit to make peace with the king rather than engage in open warfare or hostility. Throughout the period, however, Henry exerted a great deal of control over Wales, establishing a series of new castles and placing new Lords into positions of power. Upon Henry’s death, however, revolts once again broke out in parts of Wales. These revolts caused Norman retreat in many areas, most surprisingly in Deheubarth, where, according to R.R. Davies, "the Normans had made their most striking advances in the previous generation"8. The period saw a role reversal of sorts, as well, with infighting amongst the Normans, the same sort which had enabled the relative fall of Wales in the previous century. However, by the 1150s, Henry II had set upon fighting back, leading his first expedition into Wales in 1157. Though met with some setbacks, Henry seems to have been primarily successful9. He moved into Wales again in 1163, this time showing his true force of political power, forcing homages from the two most powerful princes of Wales, Rhys and Owain. Minor changes in power continued into the 1200s, until 1277, with Wales consolidating and retaining their basic political and geographic structure through this period.
References
Bibliography
- Carr, A.D. (1995). Medieval Wales, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-3335477-2-1.
- Davies, R.R. (2000). The Age of Conquest: Wales, 1063-1415, St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-1982019-8-2.
- Walker, David (1990). Medieval Wales, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5213115-3-5.
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