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Wales and Scotland
Scottish and Welsh hill folk grew up as separate people, kept their own rulers, language and tradition. Welsh land is rugged mountainous land. There are very few areas flat enough to be plowed and sown with crops - along river valleys and on the Isle of Anglesey. Up in the hills, scattered tribes of herdsmen lived. Wales and Scotland, unprotected by sea, faced frequent attacks from the neighboring English.

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Edward I (1272 - 1307)
Under Edward I, the English made their great assault on Welsh and Scottish freedom. Edward tried to master the mainland of Britain.

"Warlike as a leopard, Edward shines out like a new Richard."

Left: Edward I is pictured "creating" his son, Edward Prince of Wales. The scene
symbolizes the English acquisition of the principality of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.
Right: King Edward I faces king Philip IV of France.

Llewellyn
When Edward I became king, Snowdonia was ruled by a powerful chief named Llewellyn (Llywelyn). He had recently re-conquered most of central Wales. In a treaty made with Edward's father, Henry III, Llewellyn had agreed to pay homage to the English King as his overlord. But when Edward came to the throne the Lord of Snowdonia, Llewellyn missed the coronation ceremony and proudly refused to renew his homage.

Edward declared war. Llewellyn retired to the safety of the mountains. He was soon starved into surrender when Edward's ships cut off corn supplies from Anglesey. The King treated Llewellyn fairly. Once he had paid homage, he was left in control of Gwynedd, but he had to give up his other lands.

David
David was Llewellyn's brother. Complaining at the harsh treatment of his countrymen by English officials, David rebelled in the spring of 1282. Llewellyn joined him, reluctantly, and all Wales rose in revolt. The King now decided to crush the troublesome Welsh once and for all.

The death of Llywelyn ab Forwerth in 1240. His sons, Gruffydd (a bastard) and David look on. It took Llywelwyn's grandson, Llywelyn ab Gruffydd, almost a decade to reassert undivided princely rule in Gwynedd.

Llewellyn was killed in a skirmish December 1282. Llewellyn's head was sent in triumph to London and fixed on a spear above the Tower. Six months later, David was captured and executed.

The Welsh were no longer independent, but to this day they have kept alive their Celtic language and many old customs.

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Castles Among the Conquered
To strengthen his hold on Wales, Edward built castles round the fringes of Snowdonia. Instead of having a single square keep, like earlier stone castles, Edward's architects planned concentric defenses - Inner ward. Here any attackers who got past the main gate would be caught between two showers of arrows. In these later castles, towers curving outward made it easy for defenders inside to shoot along faces of the wall. Edward I's great Welsh castles still stand today as monuments.

Edward II, Prince of Wales
Edward II was born in 1284. When the young Edward was seventeen, his father gave him the title "Prince of Wales." Ever since, the king's eldest son has received the same honor.