David Stephenson - Medieval Wales c. 1050-1332: Centuries of Ambiguity

RETHINKING THE

HISTORY OF WALES

RETHINKING THE HISTORY OF WALES SERIES

Series Editors:

Professor Paul OLeary, Aberystwyth University

and Professor Huw Pryce, Bangor University

This series aims to stimulate fresh thinking about the history of Wales by introducing particular periods and themes in ways that challenge established interpretations. Whether by offering new perspectives on familiar landmarks in the historiographical landscape or by venturing into previously uncharted terrain, the volumes, each written by a specialist in the field, will provide concise and selective surveys that highlight areas of debate rather than attempting to achieve comprehensive coverage. The series will thus encourage an engagement with diverse understandings of the Welsh past and with its continuing and sometimes contested significance in the present day.

UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS

2019

David Stephenson, 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright owners written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the University of Wales Press, University Registry, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff CF10 3NS.

www.uwp.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-1-78683-386-0

eISBN 978-1-78683-388-4

The right of David Stephenson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

The cover design combines images from a Latin text of the Laws of Hywel Dda , MS Peniarth 28, fols 21r (dog) and 24v (horse). By permission, National Library of Wales.

Cover design: Olwen Fowler

An outline survey of Welsh political history, c .10501332

The Age of the Princes: shifting political cultures and structures

The other Wales: the March

The limits to princely power

New ascendancies

Ishould like to thank Huw Pryce both for the invitation to write this book, and also for the time and effort which he put in to comment, with typical perceptiveness, on a draft of it. I owe a great debt of gratitude to fellow historians of medieval Wales, past and present, for the stimulus which their works have provided. The extent of that debt will be apparent throughout this book. Conversations with Hugh Brodie, whose work promises to shed much light on this period, have proved consistently stimulating and enlightening. I am particularly grateful to Emma Cavell for allowing me to read important papers prior to their publication, and for her careful scrutiny of, and illuminating comments on, a draft of the book. Cath DAlton has drawn the maps with her customary skill and forbearance. I am grateful to Llion Wigley and all his colleagues at the University of Wales Press for their guidance and support. Particular thanks are due to Elin Nesta Lewis for her careful and very helpful copy-editing. In the course of the volumes preparation I have received notable help from Bethan Phillips and Dafydd Jones. The biennial Bangor Colloquia on medieval Wales and the meetings of the Welsh Chronicles Research Group have been important sources of ideas. Not for the first time I want to thank the members of the medieval history groups at Llanidloes, Newtown and Berriew. They have heard much of this book. Their good humour and their comments are invaluable. The Powysland Club remains a great source of learned companionship and of resources, not least in its splendid library. As always, my greatest thanks are due to my wife Jan, who has contributed to this book in so many ways: she has borne with remarkable tolerance my frequent disappearances into the medieval centuries and has offered crucial support when it has been most needed.