Wales in the late Middle Ages in the context of "Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Wales in the late Middle Ages in the context of "Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542"




⭐ Core Definition: Wales in the late Middle Ages

Wales in the late Middle Ages spanned the years 1282–1542, beginning with conquest and ending in union. Those years covered the period involving the closure of Welsh medieval royal houses during the late 13th century, and Wales' final ruler of the House of Aberffraw, the Welsh Prince Llywelyn II, also the era of the House of Plantagenet from England, specifically the male line descendants of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou as an ancestor of one of the Angevin kings of England who would go on to form the House of Tudor from England and Wales.

The House of Tudor would go on to create new borders by incorporating Wales into the Kingdom of England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, effectively ever since then new shires had been created in place of castles, by changing the geographical borders of the Kingdoms of Wales to create a new definitions for towns and their surrounding lands. Historians referring to the end of the late Middle Ages in Britain often reference the Battle of Bosworth Field involving Henry VII of England, which began a new era in Wales.

↓ Menu

In this Dossier

Wales in the late Middle Ages in the context of Owain Glyndŵr

Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 1354 – 20 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈoʊain ɡlɨ̞nˈduːr], also Glyn Dŵr; anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the late Middle Ages, who led a 15-year-long Welsh revolt with the aim of ending English rule in Wales. He was an educated lawyer, forming the first Welsh parliament under his rule, and was the last native-born Welshman to claim the title Prince of Wales.

During the year 1400, Glyndŵr, a Welsh soldier and Lord of Glyndyfrdwy had a dispute with a neighbouring English Lord, the event which spiralled into a national revolt pitted common Welsh countrymen and nobles against the English military. In response to the rebellion, discriminatory penal laws were implemented against the Welsh people; this deepened civil unrest and significantly increased support for Glyndŵr across Wales. Then, in 1404, after a series of successful castle sieges and several battlefield victories for the Welsh, Glyndŵr gained control of most of Wales and was proclaimed by his supporters as the Prince of Wales, in the presence of envoys from several other European kingdoms, and military aid was given from France, Brittany, and Scotland. He proceeded to summon the first Welsh parliament in Machynlleth, where he outlined his plans for Wales which included building two universities, reinstating the medieval Welsh laws of Hywel Dda, and build an independent Welsh church.

↑ Return to Menu