History Of Snowdonia - The Dark Ages
Once the Romans had withdrawn from North Wales, the area, along with the rest of the country, reverted to much the same as it was before the Romans arrived.
Although officially Christian, the countryside, especially the mountains, remained Pagan until the start of the 6th century.
The main historical documents of the time, concerning Wales, were Brut y Tywysogyon (Chronicles Of The Princes), which recorded events from the 7th century until 1283.
The area known in the dark ages as Briton stretched from Cornwall up through today's Wales and parts of the Midlands (Mercia), through Cheshire and Lancashire and up into Cumbria. During this time the Saxons of eastern England began to look westward for new land to conquer. The lands of Cornwall were separated from Briton after the Battle of Dyrham in 577 and the region from Cheshire to Cumbria was lost after the Battle of Chester in 616. This left Wales and Mercia alone against the Saxons. There were many raids into North Wales; during one raid in 615 the monks of Bangor were massacred. Gwynedd became the strongest kingdom and the centre of resistance - a position it held until the Edwardian Conquest of 1283. It was around this time that the Welsh started to call themselves Cymry (meaning 'fellow countrymen').
In the early 7th century the Saxon ruler, Edwin of Northumbria, led a fleet from Chester to Ynys Mon. He landed on the island, but was unable to cross the Menai Straits. In 632 Cadwallan of Gwynedd and Penda of Mercia joined forces against the Saxons. They killed Edwin at the battle of Meigan, Edwin's brother Oswald succeeded him and killed Cadwallan in revenge. In 642 Penda avenged Cadwallan's death by killing Oswald at Maserfield. As Penda was a heathen and Oswald a Christian, Oswald became a martyr in the Christian church.
The Saxons had soon conquered all of England, and Mercia became the most powerful of its kingdoms. Former Welsh territory in Cheshire, Hereford and Shropshire became part of Mercia. Mercia means border or march - hence the 'Welsh Marches' were born.
In 784 Offa, king of Mercia, built a dyke to mark the edge of his kingdom. This provided a definable border between Mercia and Wales, meant to deter Welsh attacks and control trade. By this time Wales was split into the feuding kingdoms of Gwynedd, Powys, Dyfed, Ceredigion, Buillth and Glywysyng. Gwynedd remained, as always, the most dominant.
In 825 Merfyn Frych seized power in Gwynedd, he ruled for 19 years and was succeeded, in 844, by his son Rhodri Mawr. In 850 the Vikings started raiding North Wales, they settled for a while and set up trading posts on Anglesey and the Great Orme (both of which are Viking names). By 855 Rhodri Mawr had succeeded in uniting the Welsh against the Vikings, and they killed the Viking leader, Gormor Horn, on Anglesey. When Rhodri was killed, in 878, Gwynedd was split between his sons, who formed an alliance with the Saxon king, Alfred. This was possibly the start of medieval Wales's dependence on England for protection from her enemies.
In 904 Hywel ap Cadell (Hywel Dda/The Good) became ruler of Deheubarth. He married Elen, the daughter of the Prince of Dyfed and became its ruler. When Prince Idwal died in 942, Hywel took control of Gwynedd and Powys. Now only Gwent and Morganwy were independent and Hywel was known by the Saxons as 'King of the Britons'. Hywel issued his own money (a silver penny minted in Cheshire). Most importantly though, Hywel wrote his own laws for Wales. These were probably the fairest and most democratic in the Christian world at the time. Welsh law came before Canon Law - something that was unprecedented at the time. Hywel's laws included:-
- Illegitimate children had the same rights as legitimate ones, so long as the father recognises them as his.
- Women had more rights than in the rest of Europe - they could end a marriage, could claim custody of their children, they could not be beaten by their husbands and widows could not be forced into a marriage against their will.
- Property was split between all the sons (legitimate and illegitimate) upon the fathers death. This law may appear fair but it was to lead to problems in Gwynedd, as we will see later.
The laws of Hywel Dda were practiced in Wales until the Act Of Union in 1536.
By now the most powerful kingdom in England was Wessex and, to keep peace and gain help against their common enemy, the Vikings, Hywel was forced to accept subservience to the King of Wessex. When Hywel died, in 950, Wales was again split into separate feuding kingdoms. In 973 the Welsh princes paid homage to Edgar, King of Wessex, at Chester. In 978 Ethelred came to power in Wessex. Sick of continually fighting off Vikings raids, he paid them 'Danegeld', this provided peace for 30 years. The Welsh though couldn't afford to pay the Danegeld and the Vikings continued to raid the coast.
In 1013 Llywelyn ap Seisull became ruler of Gwynedd, but was violently removed from power ten years later and succeeded by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. In 1039 Gruffydd defeated the English in a battle at Rhyd-y-Groes. He then conquered Deheubarth and Herefordshire and forced the English to come to terms with him. His constant raiding across the border forced the English leaders into a war with Wales. Eventually peace was declared and Gruffydd met with Edward The Confessor at Aust On Severn.
The peace between England and Wales couldn't last forever though and in the winter of 1061 King Edward and Harold Godwineson attacked Gruffydd's army at Rhuddlan, before withdrawing back to England. In the spring of 1062 Harold's brother, Tostig, marched on Gwynedd from Chester, while Harold led a large force from Bristol. By 1063 Gruffydd's support had started to fall off. In August his men betrayed him and he was murdered - his head was sent to King Edward as the price for peace.
The Norman Conquest Of England
Although the conquest of England by the Normans in 1066, didn't have an immediate impact on North Wales, the presence of these new English rulers would soon be felt across the border.
In January 1066 Edward The Confessor died and England's throne was offered to Harold Godwinson, an act which angered Duke William of Normandy. He claimed that Edward had made him his heir in 1051 and had subsequently sworn an oath in 1064 to defend William's claim to England's throne. The oath is thought to have been made under duress, as he was William's 'guest' at the time.
William wanted to invade England and seize the throne. This would have been an expensive gamble and his supporters and advisors were not enthusiastic. William would not be deterred and he petitioned the Pope to support his claim. England's relationship with Rome was not good and, unsurprisingly, the Pope agreed. William's personal feud with Harold Godwinson had now been turned into a Holy War and men flocked to William's banners.
In September 1066 William's fleet landed at Pevensey on the coast of Sussex. They marched towards Hastings and the road to London. Harold and his army had just returned from defeating Harold's renegade brother, Tostig, in Northumbria, and the exhausted men now had to march from London to Hastings to fight the Normans. The two armies met at Senlach, near Hastings, on 14 October. The battle raged for many hours, by the time it was over Harold Godwineson and his brothers were dead, the Saxon army were defeated. So began the Norman Conquest of England.
At first the Normans left Wales alone, they had enough problems in England and back home in Normandy (see the above Conquest link). They didn't intend crossing the Welsh border just yet, but they did want to keep the Welsh behind it and King William sent knights to guard the border. In 1067 the Marcher Lordships were born when William fitz Osborn built Chepstow Castle and Hugh of Avranche built his castle at Chester. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's death had left Wales in disarray and the knights soon took advantage and crossed into Wales, by 1081 they had reached Caer-yn-Arfon.
King William I died in 1087 and was succeed by William II (William Rufus) who encouraged the conquest of South Wales. North Wales was also being infiltrated. In 1090 the Earl of Chester built a motte and bailey castle at Caer-yn-Arfon. In 1094 the Welsh united temporarily against the Normans, led by Gruffydd ap Cynan they defeating the Normans at Coed Yspwys and drove them out of Gwynedd. A truce was declared in 1095 and William Rufus went to Tomen-y-Mur (near Trawsfynedd) to accept Welsh homage.
In 1100 William II was killed by a stray arrow while hunting. As William had no sons, the throne was now up for the taking and his younger brother Henry wasted no time in securing his claim, riding to Winchester (were the Royal treasury was kept) as soon as he knew that William was dead and soon being crowned Henry I.
King Henry's only legitimate son died in November 1120, when the White Ship sank while leaving Balfleur harbour. Henry named his daughter Maude (also known as Matilda) as his heir, but England was not ready to accept a female sovereign. When Henry died in 1135 his nephew, Stephen of Blois, rushed to England and seized the throne. At first Maude's followers changed their allegiance to Stephen (Maude was after all across the Channel in France while Stephen was firmly on English soil). Soon though Stephen started to make enemies and Maude's cause drew more support. When she crossed the Channel and landed in England, war broke out. The devastating civil war in England was to last 20 years, during which time the Normans had other concerns than Welsh conquest and Wales was left alone.
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