Wales, Tucson Clubs, European Multi-ethnic Alliance of Tucson, Tapestry Project, Wales

FACTS

PEOPLE

INFO

CONTACT

MAP

Hanes cor Cymru � A Short History of Wales
Wales fought off the Romans, the Saxons and the Normans for over a
thousand years before finally falling to the English. Despite generations of
alternating between war and diplomacy, the English government could not coerce
the Welsh to accept their rule, so in 1283 AD, King Edward I (a.k.a. Edward Longshanks) decided on treachery and murder. The following is a compilation from the following sources: Ysgol Bryn Hedydd, Cymuned, the BBC, DataWales, and Professor Rees Davies.

Llewellyn Fawr and Llewellyn Olaf
The Norman kings sought to weaken the power of the Welsh kingdoms in the 1200s. The princes of Gwynedd reacted by trying to unite Wales. Llewellyn ap Iorworth (a.k.a. Llewellyn Fawr � the Great) had the daunting task to trying to unite the Welsh princes against the invaders. He knew that should the Normans and later the English succeed in ruling Wales, the Welsh people would suffer terribly, and the Welsh way of life would die. But like Vercingetorix before him who battled Julius Caesar, he failed in uniting the headstrong Celts. It was his grandson, Llewellyn ap Gruffydd (a.k.a. Llewellyn Olaf � the Last) who won recognition as prince of Wales in 1267, with authority over the other Welsh rulers. In 1273, Llewellyn Olaf refused to pay homage to the new English king, Edward I, who in 1276 invaded Wales and compelled Llewellyn to submit to humiliating terms, including the surrender of the eastern portion of his lands and the annual acknowledgement of fealty. Llewellyn rebelled in 1282, but was killed in battle.

Llewellyn ap Gruffydd�s brother David ap Gruffydd carried on the struggle for Wales, and was captured in 1283. He was imprisoned for several years, then awarded the most brutal and torturous death. His was the first known incident of death by being drawn, quartered, hung and beheaded in British history. 30 years later, William Wallace also suffered this fate at the hands of King Edward I.

In 1284 Edward I completed the conquest of Wales and, by the terms of the Statute of Rhuddlan, it became an English principality. To ensure his control, Edward I built a string of powerful castles, including the castles at Harlech, Beaumaris on Anglesey, and Caernarfon. But Wales was not united with England. The March continued as a series of lordships, while Llewellyn's territories were divided into the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfon, Meirionydd, Flintshire, Cardiganshire, and Carmarthenshire. The Welsh clamoured for a prince who �spoke no English�. To appease them, King Edward I gave the title Prince of Wales to his infant son, born 1284, who indeed spoke no English. To this day, the title is given to the infant sons of the English monarchy. In that same year, Edward built the city of Flynt in northern Wales, in which no Welsh were permitted to live.

Owain Glyndwr
The Welsh national spirit survived English conquest, however. In the following 200 years literature flourished; poets wrote alliterative verse known as cyn ghahedd. Bards kept Welsh oral traditions alive, and towns and trade developed. When Henry IV seized the English throne, a revolt began in Wales, which, under the leadership of Owain Glyndwr in 1402, became formidable. Glyndwr set up a separate parliament for Wales, and although Henry IV's forces led by his son (later Henry V) invaded the country and won several battles, the revolt was not finally suppressed until the death of Glyndwr in about 1416. Glyndwr's was the last nationalist uprising and his defeat left the Welsh considerably embittered. The Welsh supported Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) in his pursuit of the English crown, regarding him as their countryman. However, Tudor policy under Henry VII and his successors towards Wales stressed assimilation.

Ymosod ar Iaith Gymraeg - Attack on the Welsh Language

The Act of Union of 1536 incorporated the Welsh Marches with England. This was possibly the most painful of treasons to the Welsh. The former lordships were divided into the counties of Denbighshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Breconshire, Monmouthshire, Glamorganshire, and Pembrokeshire, and their inhabitants received all the rights and privileges of English subjects. The Act of Union (1536) was an attempt to doom Welsh language and culture to extinction:

�Also be it enacted by the authority aforesaid that all justices, Commissioners, sheriffs, coroners, escheators, stewards and their Lieutenants, and all other officers and ministers of the law, shall proclaim and keep the sessions, courts � in the English tongue, and all oaths of officers, juries and inquests and all other affidavits � to be given and done in the English tongue; and also that from henceforth no person or persons that use the Welsh speech or language shall have or enjoy any manner office or fees within this realm of England, Wales or other the King's Dominion upon pain of forfeiting the same offices or fees, unless he or they use and exercise the English speech or language.�

Welsh could no longer be used in any formal transaction, and was no longer allowed to be taught in schools. This Act was effective in Southern Wales, but there are still pockets of native Welsh speakers. It was just after this time that the Adams family moved from Wales to Braintree, Massachusetts and carried on the fight for freedom from the English through their sons Samuel, John, and John Quincy Adams (the latter two being the 2nd and 5th presidents of the United States).

A second Act of Union in 1543 completed the unification of the rest of Wales, administratively, legally, and politically, with England. Welsh representatives took their seats in Parliament. Customary Welsh laws which differed from those of England were abolished and the use of the Welsh language for official purposes prohibited. The Welsh gentry continued to exercise local authority in the name of the monarch, from whom they held their lands.

In an act of frustration Parliament passed the Penal Code, which now prohibits the rebellious Welsh from ��gathering together, gaining access to office, carrying arms and dwelling in fortified towns, with the same restrictions being imposed upon Englishmen married to Welsh women.�

Mae Ysbryd Ymladd Para � The Fighting Spirit Continues

The Welsh continue to rail against the English crown. The actions of three prominent members of Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) protested the English government's decision to erect a "bombing school" at Penyberth on the unspoiled (and very Welsh) Llyn Peninsular. In September, 1936, the three sober, rational gentleman, all upstanding pillars of their communities, started a small fire at one of the government's outbuildings and reported their "dastardly deed" to the local police. The governments' decision to prosecute Saunders Lewis, D.J. Williams and Lewis Valentine, was termed "a black day" by W.J. Gruffydd, and helped re-ignite Welsh patriotism.

"The Penyberth Three" all confessed their guilt; they had hoped for a trial in Wales before a Welsh jury, but at Caernarfon no verdict was reached. The proceedings were then moved to the Old Bailey, London. Here, the three accused were refused permission to testify in their own language and were duly convicted and sentenced. As a result, one of the three, poet and dramatist Saunders Lewis was dismissed from his position at Swansea University.

Following the Labour Party's victory in 1997 the government published a White Paper, A Voice for Wales , which was a detailed description of the Party's proposals for devolution. On 18 September 1997 a referendum on the proposals was held, with 559,419 votes in favor. The first Assembly Elections were held on 6 May 1999 and on the 26 May the National Assembly for Wales was officially opened in Cardiff Bay.

Gwrthdystio gan Cenhedloedd Unedig - Protection from the United Nations
The future of Wales and the Welsh language is now looking considerably brighter. There has been a resurgence of interest in Welsh language and culture. Even celebrities are acting on this, such as Catherine Zeta Jones is sending her child Dylan to a Welsh school. The following is from a report by Cymuned:

�At the end of May 2002, Jerry Hunter from Penygroes in North Wales gave evidence on behalf of the Communities Pressure Group CYMUNED to the United Nations Working Group on Minorities. The evidence was well received. The Working Group Chairman remarked that it was of significance to the international community. A situation existed, he said, where "some people could afford two or three houses, and others have none", and the whole subject of in-migration has "particular significance for the disintegration of language communities.

�Welsh speakers have been oppressed in a variety of ways since the conquest of Wales in the late middle ages, including the legislative relegation of the language to a secondary status within Wales and the practice of the 'Welsh not' in the 19th century, which led to beating children for speaking their native tongue in school. The discrimination was less brutal and obvious during the 20th century, and the U.K. Government made some legislative amends by passing Welsh Language Acts in 1967 and 1993 which removed some of the official stigma formerly placed upon the language. However, the weight of past centuries� injustices and a failure to make this minority language truly equal in all spheres of Welsh life has meant that the language continued to decline.

�A little over 500,000 people speak Welsh today, or about 18% of the three million people who live in Wales. As Wales is part of the United Kingdom, and as the total population of the U.K. is now estimated at around 60 million people, it will be seen that those who speak Welsh constitute a very small minority within the greater state in which they live, being less than 1% of the entire population of the United Kingdom.�
The United Nations has granted protection to the Welsh Language as an endangered indigenous language. For more information, please visit www.cymuned.org

Diwylliant Cymreig - Welsh Culture
Y Ddraig Goch � the Red Dragon

The dragon has long been a symbol of Wales. It features (in its proper red colour) on the national flag and is often to be found marking goods of Welsh origin. How did this exotic oriental beast find its way to Wales? The dragon was perhaps first seen in Wales in Roman times. The Romans were thought to have gained knowledge of the dragon from their Parthian enemies (in lands later to become part of the great Persian Empire) and it is to be seen carved on Trajan's column. It is probable that the dragon had been seen in the West much earlier than this, as a result of Alexander the Great's epic journey which commenced it 334 B.C. Alexander marched as far as northern India and after his death, the break up of his mighty empire saw an increase in trade with Africa and India and for the first time commerce with China.

The Roman draco was a figure fixed by the head to the top of a staff, with body and tail floating in the air and was the model for the dragon standard used by the Anglo Saxons. In the Bayeux Tapestry, this device is depicted as the standard of King Harold, although written records seem to disagree. In 1190 "the terrible standard of the dragon" was borne before the army of Richard Coeur-de-Lion in an attack at Messina.

The seventh century Welsh hero Cadwaladr carried the dragon standard and the dragon had become a recognized symbol of Wales by the time Welsh archers were serving in the English army at the battle of Crecy in 1346. It is said that a dragon banner was thrown over the Black Prince when he was unhorsed at Crecy, in protection while his enemies were beaten off. The future King Henry VII carried the dragon banner at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. (See our note on the Welsh roots of the Tudor monarchs.) This battle signalled the end of the War of the Roses between Lancastrian and Yorkist factions and led to unification. Henry later decided that the red dragon should figure on the official flag of Wales.

Dewi Sant � Saint David
St. David is the only Welsh saint to be canonized and culted in the Western Church. He has been the patron saint of Wales since the 12th century, but very little is known about his life. He died in 589 or 601 after founding a monastery in the area of Pembrokeshire which now bears his name, and living an austere life devoted to God. He is first to be found in an Irish Catalogue of Saints dating from around 730 and by 800 his feast day was determined as March 1st, the day of his death. People wear leeks and daffodils to church as part of their celebration.

By the 9th century he had gained the name Aquaticus because he and the monks of his establishments were supposed to have drunk only water. His earliest Life* appeared around 1090 and was composed by a son of Sulien, bishop of St. David's. The aim of this work was to promote the independence of the Welsh church. The Life tells us that St. David founded ten monasteries (including Glastonbury) and that the monks were vegetarian. Their regime included manual labour, study and worship.

Saint David has worked his way into modern sea faring. According to Merriam-Websters, the term �Davy Jones locker� refers to St. David, since Jones is a common Welsh surname.

Leeks and Daffodils � Ceninen a Ceninen
These two symbols of Wales have the same name in Welsh. The leek is known to have been displayed as a Welsh emblem in 1536 and in Henry V, Shakespeare acknowledged this as an ancient custom. One legend tells of a battle between the Welsh and the Saxons fought in a field of leeks. At some time in the past, the leek was an important part of the diet but it is not commonly eaten today. It is delicious when part of the traditional leek and potato soup.

The daffodil has no such claim to literary and historical distinction. It has become the more favoured emblem of late, however, since some people find that it makes a more attractive buttonhole on St. David's day. Daffodils and new-born lambs herald the summer in Wales.

by:Caitlyn Johnston

W a l e s

Site by: Art of Computers - Featured on: www.tucsonisgreat.com - Contact EMAT