Indigenous habitation in Wales dates to 200,000 years ago. Following 1400 BC, the Welsh population became highly skilled in bronze and gold and developed a highly skilled reputation of craftsmanship. The use of hill forts became common for defense. The earliest hill fort has been discovered at Dinorben and has been dated to 1000 BC. These hill forts were established on the top of hills and was generally an enclosed defensive structure. Some six hundred hill forts have been discovered in Wales and range in size from over fifteen acres to small rings probably consisting of a single farmstead. Grain mills have been discovered inside some of these hill forts though the primary method of profiding food was hunting.

Raths were also developed during this time period; a cliff fort found most often in southwest Wales. Raths employed a ditch and a dyke, which cut across a headland or promontory that created an enclosure defended on three sides by the sea. These raths most often consisted of only a few small huts and were probably family defensive measures rather than communal.

The pre-Celtic population in Wales was developed in tribal units. The Ordovices in the northeast and Silures in the southeast were two such early tribes, named by the Romans. Their original name is unknown. These tribes developed regional styles of working with iron, gold and other metals in the same style as the La Tene in Switzerland suggesting that these earlier peoples were an earlier Celtic peoples known as the Beaker People.

European Celts arrived in Wales about during the iron age, about 500-100 BC. This was not an invasion but rather an infiltration. These later Celts were fewer in number than the original population and yet they managed to dominate the culture of the earlier inhabitants. These later Celts established magnificent art and were vividly described by the Romans.

In order to fully understand the history of Wales, one must understand the situation in southern England during the time. The Catevellauni tribe controlled England from Surrey to Essex and had strong ties to the Belgae in Gaul. They produced their own coins and enjoyed a thriving trade with the Continent. The Catevellauni suffered powerful enemies as well as internal strife. Cunobelinus (Old King Cole) was king of the Catevellauni in the fourth decade. Cunobelinus had three sons: Caratacus, Togodumnus and Amminius who was exiled by his father in 40 A.D. After the death of Cunobelinus, his sons Caratacus and Togodumnus inherited the throne. The exiled Amminius appealed to Rome, demanding his share of the throne.

In 43 A.D., Roman troops, under Aulus Plautius landed in southeast England and dealt quickly with the Catevellauni before establishing for themsleves a strong presence in southern England. The northern border of the Roman rule was a road from Exeter to London known as Fosse Way. North of Fosse Way ruled the powerful Brigante tribe and to the southeast of the Brigantes was the Silures. Caratacus fled to the Silures and encouraged them to take up arms against the Romans.

The Romans, seeking to divide the tribes of Britain from one another, established forts along the border of the Silures in the land of the Deceangli (present day Gloucester and Usk). Caratacus, or Caradog as he was known by the Welsh, moved north into the territory of the Ordovices in Anglesey and Caernarfon where in 51 A.D., he was defeated and his family captured. He fled to the Brigantes. The queen of the Brigantes, Cartamundua, betrayed him to the Romans who then took him in chains to Rome. Caratacus is recorded as saying, "Why do you, with all these grand possessions, still covet our poor huts?"

In 52 A.D., the Silures defeated the Romans and the Roman grip in Britain remained tentative. Roman campaigns in 57 and 60 A.D. drove deep into Welsh territory. The expedition in 60 A.D. was directed at the seat of druidical power in Wales, the Isle of Anglesey. Tacitus records that the Roman soldiers swam naked across the Menai Straights in order to battle the druid-led Celts.

A revolt by the Iceni, led by Boudicca, left Rome with a very tenuous hold upon Welsh territory. After 70 A.D., the Romans built forts at several strategic locations along the Welsh border, particularly at Chester and Caerleon and garrisoned these forts with as many as 30,000 troops. At least 35 smaller fortified camps were built to support these troops and these were linked with a network of roads. It appears that the Deceangli and the Demetae tribes of Wales presented little opposition to Rome.

The Silures and the Ordovices continued to resist the Romans but after the mid 2d century,the Silures appear to have accepted the Roman rule. The Ordovices in the northwest of Wales continued to resist Roman rule. In those areas in which the tribes had submitted to Roman rule, we find the tribes building "civitas" around major Roman forts such as Caerleon, Caerfnarfon and Casws. This privilege was granted by Rome to tribes whose allegiance was secured. These civitas contained the ammenities expected in a Roman city: public baths, a forum, a basilica, temples and merchant houses. The areas surrounding these civitas hosted a large number of villas. Upper class citizens adopted the Roman state religion, though druidism continued as a force in Wales, in spite of Roman attempts to arrest it. Rome attempted to link Celtic gods with those of Rome.

Though Latin became the language of the civitas, the vast proportion of the population continued to speak a Celtic Brittonic.

Throughout this period, the Irish made several settlements in western Wales. Irish pirates were a constant nuisance to Wales. The Roman Empire, from 200-400 consisted of a series of Emperors, sometimes several at one time and the period was marked by tumultuous politics. The area of modern Wales had its own Emperors 286-296: Carausius and Allectus. Allectus was defeated by Constantius, ruler of the Empire in the West, while Diocletian ruled in the East.

In the fourth century, the Roman Empire grew increasingly unstable and barbarian attacks increased along its borders. The legions in Wales and England were withdrawn to counter threats on the Continent. By 390 A.D., there were no remaining Roman troops in Great Britain, leaving Brittania essentially undefended.

It was at this time that the Irish saw their opportunity and in 405 Irish pirates under Nial ravaged the west coast of Wales and a fresh supply of Irish settlers arrived into Wales.

In 597, when St. Augustine brought Christianity to the British Isles, there was already a strong Christian church established in Wales. Irish monks had already brought the Word to Scotland and Northumbria. When Augustine attempted to assert authority as Archbishop over Britain in 603, the Welsh bishops told him that he had no authority over them. The Celtic Church was well established in Wales and the Pope's authority was not universally accepted.

The Age of Saints began in Wales with Dyfrig (Saint Dubricus), a bishop at Ariconium in the kingdom of Erdig about 425-505 A.D. At a time when Christianity was waning in England and paganism was revived, Dyfrig kept Christianity alive in Wales. Dyrfig was followed by Illtud, an abbot, proving that monasticism was alive in Wales. Illtud established a school in Llantwit Major, which drew scholars from across the Celtic world: Ireland, Brittany and Cornwall. Gildas was a scholar at Llantwit Major, author of "De Excidio Britanniae", a history of the fall of Rome in Britain and one of the few records we have of this time in English history.

Illtrud himself is associated with King Arthur and said to be one of the knights entrusted with the HolyGrail, while others state that he was Sir Gallahad.

In the early sixth century, monks left organized communities and settled in isolated areas to lead lives of prayer and communion with God. The Welsh saints were not interested in spreading the Gospel but rather in retreating from society.

The patron saint of Wales is David, said to have been born to the royal house of Ceredigion around 530 A.D.; he is also said to have been born at Henvynyw (Vetus-Menevia) in Cardiganshire. He founded the monastery of Mynyw (Menevia) at the present site of St.David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire. He was a bishop as well as an abbot and his monastery was a center of learning, especially for Irish scholars. David also appears in the stories of King Arthur in which he is presented as Arthur's nephew, though Geoffrey of Monmouth presents him as Arthur's uncle. David attended the Synod of Brewi where it is said that a hill miraculously arose before him from which he preached and converted the Pelagian heretics. It is said that he asked King Arthur to allow him to move his Bishop's See from Caerleon to Menevia, from where he ruled the church of Wales until his death at the age of 147. It is likely that David died about 589.

The fifth through the eleventh centuries were characterized by the Anglo-Saxon invasion. It was during this time that the Brythons (Britons) characterized themsleves by the name of Cymry.

Following the fall of Rome in Britain, the history of Wales is obscure. It is believed that initially Wales was divided into numerous small kingdoms held in the control of leading families of the former Romano-British aristocracy. Several traditions state that these leaders came from Scotland, the "Men of the North". The most powerful of these kings was Maelgwn Gwynedd, possibly a descendant of these Scots. It appears as though the Scots held the kingdoms of northern Wales while the Irish held the kingdoms of southern Wales. The area of Dyfed was heavily colonized by Irish settlers following the fall of Rome in England.

The kingdom of Powys incorporated the lands of the Cornovii tribe and those of the royal family of Gwryheymion, while the former lands of the Silures became the foundation for the kingdom of Gwent. To the north lay Erdig and to the west Glwywysing. Eventually, Glwywysing, under the king Meurig and his descendants, extended control over Gwent and Erdig to form the new kingdom of Morgannwg (Glamorgan).

In the early writings of Wales appears Magnus Maximus (Macsen Wledig) of the Mabinogion, a Roman official who may have been responsible for the withdrawal of Roman troops in Wales about 383 A.D. and as part of his attempt to seize control of the Empire. Magnus Maximus ruled for a period in the West. Later scholars would credit him with being the founder of the Welsh nation.

Following the fall of Rome in Britain, one of the British leaders was Vortigern (Gwyrtheryn), perhaps a Welsh border native and claimed as an ancestor by the kings of Powys. Vortigern was said to have been responsible for the arrival of the Saxon mercenaries.

One of the resistors of the Saxons was Ambrosius (Emrys Wledig), said to have been a rival of Vortigern. Ambrosius is closely related to King Arthur and some scholars state that he is Arthur, while others state that Arthur was a war leader for Ambrosius. It is this Ambrosius that led the British forces against the Saxons.

Around 496 A.D., the Saxons were halted at a battle called Mons Badonicus and it is known that some Saxons left Britain at this time to resettle on the Continent. This was only temporary and by 550, several areas of Saxon dominance had been established in southeastern England and in Northumbria. About 550, the Saxons began a series of campaigns that pushed the British back.

In the ninth and tenth centuries, Viking invasions plagued the land of the Britons and served to unify the individual Welsh kingdoms under one king.

In 927, the Welsh kings recognized the Anglo Saxon king, Athelstan, as their overlord. Later, William the Conqueror would use this to establish feudal barons along the Welsh border in order to force Wales to acknowledge the overlordship of the Norman English.

William the Conqueror led the Norman Invasion of England and defeated the Anglo-Saxon king, Harald in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. William had no intentions of invading Wales but merely sought to secure the frontier by placing his strongest and most loyal supporters along the Welsh hinterlands.

Roger Montgomery received Shrewsbury, William fitzOsbern received Hereford and Hugh of Avranches received Chester. These barons encouraged their followers to push westward into Welsh territory. The Normans held the advantage over the Welsh in their armor and horses and they fortified each advance with a garrisoned castle to hold the territory. At first the castles were merely an earthen mound with a wooden palisade but these were gradually replaced with castles of stone.

William fitzOsbern overran Gwent but died in 1071 and his son was imprisoned for treason in 1075, when the Earldom of Hereford was abandoned. A number of small Norman landowners established small fiefdoms along the border.

William the Conqueror, himself, visited Wales in 1081 and made a pilgimage to the shrine of St.David, allowing him to display his wealth and power to the Welsh. He acknowledged Rhys of Deheubarth as ruler of that kingdom, however Rhys agreed to pay William an annual tribute. Grufudd ap Cynan was captured by Hugh d'Avranches of Chester and imprisoned for twelve years.

Hugh's cousin, Robert, took much of Grufudd's lands and the Normans regarded Gwynedd as part of their kingdom.

Roger, Earl of Shrewsbury, pushed deep into Powys and around 1068, he built a castle at the ford of Rydwhiman across the Severn, naming it Montgomery.

These Marcher Lords held land in Wales as far as the Irish Sea and they were not subject to the laws of England and held their own courts. Within the lands of these Norman lords were pockets of Welsh territory with the English holding the lowlands and the Welsh holding the highlands but there are exceptions. Unlike barons in England, who needed approval from the king to build castles, the Marcher Lords were free to build castles at will. They also had the freedom to wage war independent of the king's approval. Many of these Marcher Lords held estates in England, as well as their border lands and most lived on their English estates.

The King of England did have power in Wales as proven by Henry I who confiscated the lands of the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1102 and built Pembroke Castle as his own. He also built Carmarthen Castle and established some control over the Marcher Lords of Deheubarth.

Peasants migrated to Wales to serve the Marcher Lords in large numbers. Bretons, Flemings, Normans and English were encouraged by Henry I to settle in Welsh territory, mostly in the south. Knights were granted lands, which were held in feudal service to the Marcher Lords. Settlement also took place in towns, which developed in the shadow of Norman castles.

In 1088, Norman lord Bernard of Neufmarche drove into Deheubarth and captured Brycheiniog. Rhys of Deheubarth (Rhys ap Tewdwr) sought to defend his territories but in 1093, he was killed in battle.

The Earl of Shrewsbury drove from Powys into Ceredigion and then south to Dyfed, building castles at Cardigan and Pembroke, capturing Rhys' youngest son, Hywel. Simultaneously, Glamorgan was falling to Robert fitzHammo and by 1090, it seemed all of Wales was under Norman control.

However, the highlands continued in Welsh control from which they launched attacks on the Norman settlements and within a decade, the apparant Norman control of Wales was broken.

The leaders of the Welsh revival were the sons of Bleddyn ap Cynfin: Cadwgan, Maredudd and Iowerth. With the aid of the now escaped Grufudd ap Cynan who quickly regained his lands in Gwynedd. By 1096, the sons of Bleddyn ap Cynfin had captured Montgomery Castle and pushed the Earl of Shrewsbury out of Powys and Ceredigion. The Earls of Shrewsbury and Chester marched into Gwynedd in 1098 where they met a force of Norwegians on the Menai Straight under the King of Norway, Magnus Barefoot. In a fierce battle, the Normans were repulsed and the Earl of Shewsbury was killed by an arrow in the eye shot by Magnus.

The Normans were pressing the Welsh from one side, while the Norse warriors were pressing them from the other side.

Grufudd ap Cynan regained control of Gwynedd, while Powys and the remaining Deheubarth was in the control of the three brothers. Gwynedd and Powys would never again be united under one king.

In 1097, William sent royal troops into Wales in support of his Marcher barons and for the next two centuries the Normans could not subdue the Welsh and the Welsh could not force the Normans out of Wales.

The thirteenth century was marked by attempts to establish Wales as an independent nation and in 1267, Llwelyn managed to gain recognition as the first Prince of Wales by Henry III. Henry III's successor, Edward I soon forced Wales into a position of fealty and in 1302, the title of Prince of Wales was given to Edward's eldest son. Edward erected a number of massive castles in Wales and assigned English colonists to establish English boroughs and counties within Wales.

In 1400, Owain Glyndwr made a claim to the principality of Wales, a descendant of the Northern Powys but his rebellion was crushed by Henry IV who then imposed severe punishments upon Wales.

Tribes of Wales

References

History of Wales