The Tudors and the Laws in Wales Acts
Under Henry VIII, two Acts of Parliament annex Wales to England, giving the Welsh equal legal rights but making English the only language of law and government.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- A Concise History of Wales — Geraint H. Jenkins, Cambridge University Press (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
In 1536 and 1543, Acts of Parliament under Henry VIII, later called the Laws in Wales Acts, annexed Wales to the kingdom of England. Wales was divided into shires on the English model, given members of Parliament, and placed under English law, with the Welsh given the same rights as the English; but English became the only language of the courts and of public office.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
The background was the Tudor dynasty. Henry VII, born at Pembroke Castle and grandson of the Anglesey squire Owain Tudur, marched through Wales under a red dragon banner to win the crown at Bosworth in 1485, and many Welsh people hailed him as the long-prophesied son of the Britons. His son’s government wanted a uniform realm, especially during the upheaval of the break with Rome, and abolished the patchwork of Marcher lordships.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A Concise History of Wales — Geraint H. Jenkins, Cambridge University Press (2007)
The Acts did not ban the Welsh language, which remained the language of almost everyone in Wales for centuries. But by excluding from office anyone who did not use English, they encouraged the gentry to abandon Welsh, which gradually became the language of the common people rather than of power.
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
Many Welsh gentry welcomed the Acts, which ended the discriminatory penal laws, gave the Welsh the same rights as the English and seats in Parliament, and opened careers in Tudor England, under a dynasty they saw as Welsh.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
- A Concise History of Wales — Geraint H. Jenkins, Cambridge University Press (2007)
The Acts absorbed Wales out of legal existence and made English the language of power, starting the anglicisation of the Welsh gentry and the long marginalisation of the Welsh language.
- When Was Wales? A History of the Welsh — Gwyn A. Williams, Penguin (1985)
- A History of Wales — John Davies, Penguin (2007)
For Henry VIII's government this was administrative tidying, making Wales part of the English realm in law, which is why English institutions long spoke of "England" when they meant England and Wales.
- Recovery, Reorientation and Reformation: Wales c.1415–1642 — Glanmor Williams, Oxford University Press (1987)
Why it matters today
These Acts are why Wales was treated for centuries as part of "England and Wales", sharing English law; a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction is still debated. The language clause, which kept Welsh speakers out of public office unless they used English, is remembered as the start of official discrimination against Welsh, the wrong that later Welsh Language Acts set out to reverse.