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1/?
You know what always surprises me?
Llywelyn Fawr, Prince of Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon and de facto king of Wales, held estates all across the english border counties and the english midlands by virtue of his marriage to Siwan, the daughter of King John.
You know what always surprises me?
Llywelyn Fawr, Prince of Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon and de facto king of Wales, held estates all across the english border counties and the english midlands by virtue of his marriage to Siwan, the daughter of King John.
2/?
Some of those were essentially handed down to his political heirs. Ellesmere for example, in Shropshire, spent a large chuck of the middle ages under the control of successive Welsh princes and served as an important "outpost" of Welsh power in England.
Some of those were essentially handed down to his political heirs. Ellesmere for example, in Shropshire, spent a large chuck of the middle ages under the control of successive Welsh princes and served as an important "outpost" of Welsh power in England.
3/?
People tend to think of Offa's Dyke being this hard border between Wales and England when the situation, by simple virtue of the nebulous and personal nature of power in the middle ages, was far more complicated.
People tend to think of Offa's Dyke being this hard border between Wales and England when the situation, by simple virtue of the nebulous and personal nature of power in the middle ages, was far more complicated.
4/?
Welsh rulers could and did own land in England, English rulers held land in France, French nobles held land in England. When land and power was inherited the systems that upheld and transferred that power simply didn't care about the notion of borders
Welsh rulers could and did own land in England, English rulers held land in France, French nobles held land in England. When land and power was inherited the systems that upheld and transferred that power simply didn't care about the notion of borders
5/?
When war broke out between Wales and England the english kings often seized the english estates of the Welsh princes, denying them access to the finances and resources of those manors and access to areas from which they could act "behind enemy lines" as it were
When war broke out between Wales and England the english kings often seized the english estates of the Welsh princes, denying them access to the finances and resources of those manors and access to areas from which they could act "behind enemy lines" as it were
