Medieval Wales c.1050–1332: Centuries of Ambiguity

242 Pages·2019·20.447 MB·English

by  David Stephenson

RETHINKING THE
HISTORY OF WALES
MEDIEVAL
WALES
c.1050–133 2
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RETHINKING THE HISTORY OF WALES SERIES
Series Editors:
Professor Paul O’Leary, Aberystwyth University
and Professor Huw Pryce, Bangor University
This series aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the history of Wales
by introducing particular periods and themes in ways that challenge
established interpretations. Whether by offering new perspectives on
familiar landmarks in the historiographical landscape or by venturing
into previously uncharted terrain, the volumes, each written by
a specialist in the field, will provide concise and selective surveys
that highlight areas of debate rather than attempting to achieve
comprehensive coverage. The series will thus encourage an engagement
with diverse understandings of the Welsh past and with its continuing
– and sometimes contested – significance in the present day.
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RETHINKING THE
HISTORY OF WALES
MEDIEVAL
WALES
c. 1 0 5 0 – 1 3 3 2
C E N T U R I E S O F A M B I G U I T Y
David Stephenson
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
2019
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© David Stephenson, 2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material
form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic
means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this
publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in
accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission to reproduce any
part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales Press,
University Registry, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NS.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78683-386-0
eISBN 978-1-78683-387-7
The right of David Stephenson to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Typeset by Marie Doherty
Printed by CPI Antony Rowe, Melksham.
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For Jan
g
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements • ix
Abbreviations • xi
Maps • xv
Genealogical tables • xxiii
Introduction • 1
CHAPTER 1
An outline survey of Welsh political history,
c.1050–1332 • 7
CHAPTER 2
The Age of the Princes:
shifting political cultures and structures • 35
CHAPTER 3
The other Wales: the March • 63
CHAPTER 4
The limits to princely power • 85
CHAPTER 5
New ascendancies • 121
Envoi • 153
Notes • 159
Select bibliography • 191
Index • 201
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I
should like to thank Huw Pryce both for the invitation to
write this book, and also for the time and effort which he put
in to comment, with typical perceptiveness, on a draft of it. I
owe a great debt of gratitude to fellow historians of medieval
Wales, past and present, for the stimulus which their works have
provided. The extent of that debt will be apparent throughout this
book. Conversations with Hugh Brodie, whose work promises to shed
much light on this period, have proved consistently stimulating and
enlightening. I am particularly grateful to Emma Cavell for allow-
ing me to read important papers prior to their publication, and for
her careful scrutiny of, and illuminating comments on, a draft of the
book. Cath D’Alton has drawn the maps with her customary skill and
forbearance. I am grateful to Llion Wigley and all his colleagues at the
University of Wales Press for their guidance and support. Particular
thanks are due to Elin Nesta Lewis for her careful and very helpful
copy-editing. In the course of the volume’s preparation I have received
notable help from Bethan Phillips and Dafydd Jones. The biennial
Bangor Colloquia on medieval Wales and the meetings of the Welsh
Chronicles Research Group have been important sources of ideas. Not
for the first time I want to thank the members of the medieval history
groups at Llanidloes, Newtown and Berriew. They have heard much
of this book. Their good humour and their comments are invaluable.
The Powysland Club remains a great source of learned companion-
ship and of resources, not least in its splendid library. As always, my
greatest thanks are due to my wife Jan, who has contributed to this
book in so many ways: she has borne with remarkable tolerance my
frequent disappearances into the medieval centuries and has offered
crucial support when it has been most needed.
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