Llywelyn's fall and Edward I's conquest
Edward I of England conquers the last independent Welsh principality, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd is killed in 1282, and a ring of great castles is built to hold the north.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Between 1277 and 1283 Edward I of England conquered Gwynedd, the last independent Welsh principality. Its prince, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, was killed in a skirmish near Cilmeri on 11 December 1282, and Edward built a ring of massive stone castles, from Conwy and Caernarfon to Harlech and Beaumaris, to hold the land he had taken.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
The princes of Gwynedd
Since the Norman Conquest, Marcher lords had seized much of south and east Wales, but the princes of Gwynedd, in the mountainous north-west, built a real Welsh state. Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Llywelyn the Great (d. 1240), dominated most of Wales. His grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd went further: in the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267 Henry III recognised him as Prince of Wales, the only native ruler ever formally granted that title by the English Crown.
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
War
Relations soured under Henry’s son Edward I. Llywelyn refused to do homage, and in 1277 Edward invaded and forced him back to Gwynedd’s heartland. In 1282 Llywelyn’s brother Dafydd rose against English rule and Llywelyn joined him. Llywelyn was killed in December, apparently cut off from his army; his head was sent to London and displayed at the Tower. Dafydd was captured and executed at Shrewsbury in 1283.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
Castles and colonies
The Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284 divided the conquered lands into English-style shires under the Crown. Edward’s master mason, James of St George, built or rebuilt castles at Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and later Beaumaris, with walled towns settled by English colonists, where for generations Welsh people were restricted in trading and living. The castles are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and among the finest military buildings in Europe.
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
The Prince of Wales
In 1301 Edward made his son, born at Caernarfon in 1284, Prince of Wales. The story that he presented the Welsh with a baby “who spoke no English” is a later legend. Since then, the title has usually gone to the heir to the English and later British throne. The investiture of Prince Charles at Caernarfon in 1969 was met with both celebration and protest, and Llywelyn’s memorial at Cilmeri remains a place of pilgrimage for those who see him, in the Welsh phrase, as ein Llyw Olaf, “our last leader”.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
The conquest destroyed a Welsh state and imposed colonial rule, with English-only boroughs inside castle walls; Llywelyn's death is remembered as a national tragedy, mourned in the great elegy by Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch.
- Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales — J. Beverley Smith, University of Wales Press (1998)
- The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063–1415 — R. R. Davies, Oxford University Press (1991)
Edward's castles are masterpieces of medieval architecture, and the title Prince of Wales has become a ceremonial link between the Crown and Wales that many Welsh people also accept and support.
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd — UNESCO World Heritage Centre, UNESCO
- Wales since 1939 — Martin Johnes, Manchester University Press (2012)
Why it matters today
1282 is the moment Wales lost its independence, and Llywelyn "the Last" is remembered at Cilmeri every December. Edward's castles are now World Heritage Sites that many Welsh people regard with mixed feelings, as both glorious buildings and monuments to conquest. The English heir's title, Prince of Wales, comes from this conquest, which is why investitures in 1969 and the naming of a new prince in 2022 stirred debate.