By setting an example with his new towns and their civilised English inhabitants, Edward believed he was ultimately doing the Welsh a thumping great favour, dragging them into the 13th Century from their backward lifestyles and obsession with farming sheep.
Master James of St George taking instructions from Edward on his new castles in Wales
But the Welsh didn’t see it that way. They hated the towns, seeing them as colossal markers of their subjugation and oppression by an unwelcome foreign ruler. And in 1294, unsurprisingly, this led to an uprising.
The nominal leader of this latest rebellion was one Madog ap Llywelyn, a distant relative of the deceased ap Gruffudd brothers, and a would-be successor to the title of Prince of Wales. Edward’s three new castles became the targets of well-planned attacks, and the jewel in his crown, Caernarfon, fell victim to the insurgents breaching and tearing down the still unfinished north walls, killing the burgesses and officials within and burning everything in sight.
Edward was incensed when he heard the news of this latest uprising against his rule; even more so as he was now busy planning a war with France. So he put his French campaign on the back burner to deal yet again with the unruly Welsh. He diverted a staggering thirty thousand men to the cause, more than either of the previous conflicts of 1277 and 1282, and for a third time he set out himself from Chester at the head of sixteen thousand men on a warpath across the North to recapture his castles.
Things started well and for a while were going according to plan, until they reached Conwy. It was then that things went horribly wrong…
… all will be revealed at Conwy tomorrow… See you then!
medievalwanderings.com 
Lol! Not another blooming uprising?! You would have thought they’d have learnt by then!
Great post my Love 😀
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Yup, they’re at it again. 😉
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😀
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Turns out, the Welsh had a point. The cities and towns have ruined us. We should have stuck with the sheep.
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Good point, Marilyn! 🙂
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Many a form bachelor sheepherder, come late to marriage, would agree with you, Marilyn.
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I can see now why they start speaking in Welsh when an Englishman walks into the room.
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They do that a lot in the North. Mind you, it was 750 years ago! 😊
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I don’t blame the Welsh not wanting to be urbanised (or Anglicised)
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Yes, I agree. They thought differently back then though. For centuries we thought we were doing various ‘heathens’ a big favour. 😊
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all over the world!
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Very true, Carol!
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Especially in North Wales. They’ve got good memories up there 🙂
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Yes they have – very long ones! 😊 Move on, guys!
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Oh my – can’t wait until tomorrow!
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Thanks, Robyn! Conwy is a stunner, and the story continues with its walls. 😊
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So the Welsh are to blame for the uptake in sheep farming in Australia – albeit some 500 years later and it looks like they were unruly even before the Irish!
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Probably! 😉
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you have teased us a bit!
and side note – i was no
longer following your blog either –
sniff! not sure why the reader does that
–
also / i wish you would have your name “active” so i can get to your blog from
clicking your gravatar
but your blog name is pretty easy to remember so if your hubs did not link your blog tonight (grateful he did) well
i would have googled the name
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The wonders of WordPress! 🙂
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We noticed on our brief visit to Wales in 1990 that the English were not well-liked. This was at the height of the row over Poll Tax and I believe English owned houses were being burned in some places. Even though it was a contemporary issue I felt that it was just the latest in a long line of grudges.
Largely thanks to my Australian born husband we were always treated much better once people knew we were not from England. I must say all the Welsh people we met were lovely though and I was in awe at how easily they could switch between English and Welsh.
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Oh yes, there’s a lot of grudges against the English that have lasted centuries. Some Welsh people won’t even set foot in the castles. You do feel like saying ‘move on, folks. It was 750 years ago! I’m mostly Welsh, but they don’t realise it as I have an English accent, but none of it bothers me now. 😊
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