Welsh Journals

Search over 450 titles and 1.2 million pages

THE ENGLISHRY OF DENBIGH: AN ENGLISH COLONY IN MEDIEVAL WALES' by D. HUW OWEN, B.A., Ph.D. A he Edwardian conquest of Wales in the late thirteenth century was accompanied by the formulation of measures which aroused conflicting reactions. Activities and attitudes in the later middle ages included loyal adherence to and open rebellion against the established government. The multiple personality of Wales in this period seems to have been influenced by the nature of the settle- ment of lands formerly subject to native rulers, and this is suggested by an examination of tenurial arrangements in the lordship of Denbigh, the largest of the four lordships established in 1282 in north-east Wales.4 This lordship, comprising territory lying to the east of the river Conway, consisted of the commotes of Is Dulas and Uwch Dulas, in the cantref of Rhos and the commotes of Is Aled, Uwch Aled and Ceinmeirch, in the cantref of Rhufoniog. The two cantrefi had periodically been attached to the principality of Gwynedd in the XI am grateful to Mr. J. Beverley Smith who read the manuscript and offered valuable suggestions; the responsibility for the views expressed and for any errors is entirely mine. The article is based upon the author's unpublished Ph.D., thesis, 'The Lordship of Denbigh, 1282-1425' (Wales, 1967). 2G. Roberts, Wales and England: Antipathy and Sympathy 1282-1425', in Aspects of Welsh History (Cardiff 1969) pp. 295-318; Glanmor Williams, 'Prophecy, Poetry and Politics in Medieval and Tudor Wales' in H. Hearder and H. R. Loyn (ed.), British Government and Administration, Studies presented to S. B. Chrimes, (Cardiff 1974), pp. 104-116; and R. R. Davies, 'Cymru yn Oes Dafydd ap Gwilym', Taliesin cyf. 28, (1974) examine the complex motives underlying the behaviour of many Welshmen at this time. 3T. P. Ellis, 'The English in the Perfeddwlad', Y Cymmrodor, vol. XXXV (1925), pp. 187-199 assesses the extent of English settlement in the lordship of Denbigh in 1334. 4 The lordships of Denbigh, Ruthin, Bronmeld and Yale, and Chirk were granted to royal commanders who had participated in the conquest of these lands.