Owain Glyndwr

The Welsh William Wallace?

Loss of independence After the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (the last) in 1282, the people of Wales had little to believe in. The Welsh independance died with Llywelyn. It took the Welsh people over 100 years to regain their faith. They rose in rebellion in 1400 under the last Welsh ruler to proclaim himself Prince of Wales...Owain Glyndwr. He led the Welsh people to their final but unsuccessful bid to regain their independence from England. Wales had enjoyed their indepedence since the last Romans left in the 5th Century. Then came the Anglo-Saxons who ruled England, but Wales stayed independent. At this time Wales was divided into a number of smaller kingdoms, often at war with the Anglo-Saxons and each other. Norman Conquest William the conquoror planted powerful Norman lords along the Welsh borders, and within a few years these lords began to push forward into the heart of Wales, from the early English settlements of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford. The quarrelling Welsh only aided the Norman cause. Having taken over large parts of SE Wales, the Normans set up their own lordships, small kingdoms which were independent of the King of England. At first they built wooden castles (motte and bailey), but these were to be replaced later by stone ones.. To be continued......