Campaign of Edward I against Wales in 1277
The campaign of Edward I against Wales of 1277 was a war that the English King Edward I of his rebellious vassal submission Llywelyn ap Gruffydd led the Prince of Wales.
prehistory
In the Treaty of Montgomery , Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the Prince of Gwynedd in 1267 from King Henry III of England . recognized as Prince of Wales . However , there was armed conflict between the Anglo- Norman Marcher Lords and Llywelyn over the next few years. Llywelyn therefore refused Edward I, the son and successor of Henry III., The homage demanded as crown vassal , as long as he did not take action against the attacks of the Marcher Lords. Edward I therefore regarded Llywelyn as a defiant vassal and declared him a rebel on November 12, 1276.
English campaign of 1277
Edward I had carefully planned and prepared his campaign to Wales. The successful campaigns to Gwynedd by King John in 1211 and by his father Heinrich III served as models . from 1241 and 1245. Edward I did not rely on his feudal army alone, but had recruited additional mercenary troops, including large Welsh contingents from South Wales. Among the Welsh troops were at least two leaders who had been forced by Llywelyn in 1271 to hold hostages as proof of their loyalty and therefore now supported the English king. The Marcher Lords also provided troops for the king's army, as they hoped for territorial gains after an English victory. Gilbert de Clare , the Lord of Glamorgan , also wanted to repay Llywelyn's attack on Glamorgan in 1270. Humphrey de Bohun wanted to retake Brecknockshire , which was occupied by Llywelyn in 1262 , and John Giffard , William de Braose of Gower and the Lords of Llanstephan and Laugharne Castle also supported the campaign.
The king gathered three armies in Chester , Montgomery and Carmarthen , and gave leadership to the Earl of Warwick in Chester, Roger Mortimer in Montgomery and Payn de Chaworth , Lord of Kidwelly in Carmarthen. Chaworth made an advance into the valley of the Tywi as early as January 1277 . In April and May he was able to persuade the most important Welsh lords in South West Wales, Gruffydd ap Maredudd and Rhys ap Maredudd , who surrendered to him in the hope of preserving the territories of their Welsh relatives and neighbors as a reward for their submission. On July 1, Rhys ap Maredudd, Rhys Wyndod , Gruffydd, and Cynan ap Maredudd, and Rhys Fychan, paid homage to the king. Chaworth occupied Dinefwr Castle , the old residence of the Princes of Deheubarth, as well as Llandovery and Carreg Cennen Castle , then occupied Ceredigion surprisingly quickly. He was eventually replaced by Edmund Crouchback , the king's brother, who began building Aberystwyth Castle on July 25, 1277 .
Royal troops from Chester occupied Powys Fadog, where the Welsh garrison of Dinas Bran set the castle on fire in May before it could fall into English hands. Llywelyn's new castle at Dolforwyn in Mid Wales surrendered to Roger Mortimer's troops on April 8 after an eight-day siege. In occupied Builth , the rebuilding of Builth Castle began in May .
The king called his feudal army to Worcester on July 1st , and when he and his army appeared in Chester on July 15th, 1277, Llywelyn's allies were already defeated or surrendered. In addition to the knights of his household, the king had raised an army of over 15,600 foot soldiers, accompanied by Dafydd , Llywelyn's brother, who had lived in exile in England since 1274 after a failed conspiracy against his brother. The king led his army westward in small stages along the coast of North Wales. He had about 1,800 woodcutters cut wide aisles in the woods so that his army could advance to the River Conwy without danger from ambushes . As in Builth and Aberystwyth, he began in Flint and Rhuddlan with the building of new castles to secure his conquests . As early as August 2300 workers were busy building Flint Castle. On August 29th the royal army reached Deganwy on the Conwy. The king had ordered a fleet of 26 ships to the River Dee . Most of the ships were provided by the Cinque Ports , with Stephen de Pencester, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , in command of the fleet . The fleet first took over the transport of supplies for the English army marching along the coast. In August, with the help of the ships, a force of 2,000 soldiers under the command of Otton de Grandson and John de Vescy crossed to the island of Anglesey . Anglesey was considered the granary of Wales and supplied all of North Wales with grain. The English soldiers conquered the island, and afterwards 360 English workers brought in the grain, so that Gwynedd was threatened with famine. Llywelyn and his Welsh troops had retreated into the hill country of Snowdonia . Since most of the feudal army ended their service at the end of their 40-day service, the king behaved and waited and moved his headquarters from Deganwy to Rhuddlan on September 12th. He could wait in peace, because the result of the campaign was devastating for the Welsh people. Llywelyn agreed to negotiate in September, and on November 9, 1277, a year after he had been declared a rebel, he accepted his defeat in the Treaty of Aberconwy .
Compared to King John in 1211, Edward I had not advanced far to Gwynedd, and his father Heinrich III. had advanced faster in 1241. Nevertheless, Edward I's campaign was also successful. Not only the occupation of Anglesey with the help of a fleet contributed to the success, but also the securing of the advance and the supplies by the construction of new aisles through the dense Welsh forests.
literature
- Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2
- David Walker: Medieval Wales. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990, ISBN 0-521-32317-7
- John Edward Morris: The Welsh wars of Edward I. Ardent Media, New York 1968
Individual evidence
- ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 323
- ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California Press, Berkeley 1988. ISBN 978-0-520-06266-5 , p. 177
- ^ David A. Carpenter: The struggle for mastery. Britain, 1066-1284. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2003. ISBN 978-0-19-522000-1 , p. 503
- ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 334