Anglo-Welsh War (1244-1247)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Anglo-Welsh War from 1244 to 1247 was a war between the Kingdom of England and the Principality of Gwynedd , supported by almost all other Welsh principalities and lordships.

Starting position

After his victory over Prince Dafydd by the campaign of 1241 , the English King Henry III. English supremacy in Wales continued. Royal officials exercised the rights of the king, troops were recruited from among the Welsh for the Saintonge War and construction of the royal castles continued. This pressure led the Welsh lords to ally in 1244 to shake off English supremacy. Only Gruffydd Maelor ap Madog of Powys Fadog , Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys Wenwynwyn and Morgan ap Hywel of Caerleon did not join the alliance. When Gruffydd ap Llywelyn , the older brother of Prince Dafydd, who was held in the Tower of London as pledge of the king , had a fatal accident while trying to escape, Dafydd took over the leadership of the Welsh again.

The Welsh uprising and the English counter-campaign

In a general uprising in the spring of 1244, large areas were liberated from English rule. The Welsh besieged Dyserth and other royal castles. The king, initially bound by a conflict with Scotland, initially left the defense of the Welsh Marches to the Marcher Lords Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford and his officials John of Monmouth and John Lestrange . Finally he had Owain Goch , the eldest son of the unfortunate Gruffydd ap Llylweyn, brought to Wales in the vain hope that the latter could attract supporters of Prince Dafydd to the side of the English king. In 1245, the English defeated a Welsh force at Montgomery Castle , but on the other hand the Welsh captured Mold Castle on March 28th . Only then did the king call his feudal army to Chester in June . After a long but ultimately insufficient preparation, the king began a campaign from there to Wales in August 1245. As in 1241, the English troops advanced along the coast of North Wales to the mouth of the Conwy , which they reached on August 26th. There the advance stopped and the English began to rebuild the mighty Deganwy Castle . For the next two months the English army camped at the Conwy. Welsh night raids and supply shortages demoralized the soldiers, leading to the sacking of Aberconwy Abbey and other rioting. The Welsh responded with further raids and executions of prisoners. An English force coming from Ireland sacked the island of Anglesey , but at the end of October the main force of the English army withdrew to Chester with the approaching winter. The king appointed John Gray as the new justiciar of Chester and imposed a trade blockade on Wales. Both sides expected that the decision would have to be made next spring.

Only a few remains are evidence of Deganwy Castle, which Heinrich III. was built from 1245 to secure its conquests

Death of Prince Dafydd and victory of the English

The decision was made with the sudden death of Prince Dafydd in February 1246. Demoralized by the death of their leader and weakened by the blockade of the English and a consequent famine, Maredudd from Owain and Maredudd ap Rhys, the first Welsh lords, submitted from April 1246 onwards of Central and South Wales. When, in the summer of 1246, the royal commander Nicholas de Moels, with the help of his new Welsh allies, led an English army from Carmarthen through the highlands of Wales to Deganwy, he proved that the English could also operate successfully in the highlands of Wales. Politically isolated and militarily inferior, Owain Goch and Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , the sons of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who had inherited Gwynedd, had to submit to the English.

The Woodstock Treaty

In the Treaty of Woodstock they had to make further concessions to the king on April 30, 1247 and renounce all of Perfeddwlad . Henry III. secured his rule with the construction of Dyserth and Deganwy Castle, in addition Montgomery , Builth , Cardigan and Carmarthen Castle were expanded. In addition, English boroughs were created near Dyserth and Deganwy .

literature

  • Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Edward Lloyd: History of Wales from the earliest times to the edwardian conquest , Part 2, Longmans, Green, London 1912. p. 702
  2. ^ John Edward Lloyd: History of Wales from the earliest times to the edwardian conquest , Part 2, Longmans, Green, London 1912. p. 704
  3. ^ John Edward Lloyd: History of Wales from the earliest times to the edwardian conquest , Part 2, Longmans, Green, London 1912. p. 705
  4. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990, ISBN 0-521-32317-7 , p. 106
  5. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 303
  6. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 304