CHAPTER VI
WALES CONQUERED
Between Prince Edward and Llewelyn, in so far as the latter represented his grandfather's policy, there was no fundamental conflict of ideal. The essence of that policy was that Wales should remain independent and united, but within the bounds of allegiance to the King of England. To the modern man, who has inherited from the century of the Reformation the conception of national sovereignty, such a position may appear to be an impossible one; but to the man of the Middle Ages, accustomed as he was to the underlying principles of feudalism, there was nothing at all paradoxical in the position. Now in recent years we have again learned the soundness of the principle; and it has become the foundation upon which the British Empire rests. There are many of the elements of real tragedy in this mighty conflict between Edward and Llewelyn. Both were able, valiant, sincere, and high-minded men. Both were statesmen of more than ordinary capacity. It is hard that a modus vivendi should not have been discovered between them; and it looks as if some cruel Fate had placed each of them in a false position of inevitable hostility the one towards the other. To Edward the Welsh appeared in the light only of rebellious subjects. They owed him fealty; and with the strict sense of feudal obligations which, with Edward, amounted almost to an obsession, he viewed their disobedience as the breach of a legal and a moral duty. "The last survivor of that race of traitors" were the words with which the Parliament of Shrewsbury described Davydd, Llewelyn's brother. To Llewelyn and the people of Wales, on the other hand, the struggle was that of an independent State, fighting for the preservation of its independence against the encroachments of a powerful neighbour. It was unfortunate that Edward had come to think of Llewelyn as shifty and faithless, and that Llewelyn had come to think of Edward as cruel, crafty, and deceitful. The two men regarded one another with intense personal hatred and suspicion; and an accommodation which might have proved fairly easy of attainment in an atmosphere of goodwill and confidence, was rendered quite impossible by the atmosphere of dislike and distrust in which negotiations were conducted.
The trouble began when Henry III presented his son Edward, then a boy of sixteen, with the palatine earldom of Chester, upon the extinction of the great Norman family by which it had hitherto been held. This grant carried with it, as we have seen, certain lands in Wales—the Four Cantrefs, and the lands between the Dovey and Carmarthen Bay. These lands were recent acquisitions of the English Crown; and it was with extreme reluctance that the chieftains of Gwynedd had acquiesced. Nevertheless, all might have been well but for the ruthless policy of anglicisation upon which Edward's officials immediately embarked. Professor Tout is undoubtedly right when he says that "the germ of all Edward's later Welsh policy lies in his early attempts to establish the shire system in his Welsh estates." He might have added with equal truth that therein lies too the germ of all Edward's subsequent troubles in Wales; for the introduction of the shire system meant the substitution of English law for the laws of Howel, a new and different division of the country for administrative purposes, and eventually the imposition of English manners and the English language upon the Welsh people.
The brutality of the soldiers left by Edward in the Four Cantrefs infuriated the inhabitants so that they rose in rebellion, and appealed to Llewelyn for help. Llewelyn knew that it would be impolitic for him to go to their assistance; but his chivalrous and patriotic soul was stirred to its depths by their tale of outrage and oppression, and reluctantly he agreed to go. Within the course of a few days the whole country from the Conway to the Dee was overrun. But Llewelyn knew that it would not be possible to confine the struggle within one locality. The whole might of England would be brought against him; and to resist such overwhelming power the united efforts of the whole of Wales would be required. It was thus that Llewelyn, from being the avenger of the wrongs of the people of a small province, came to be the champion of the whole of Wales. The country rose with rare unanimity; and Llewelyn moved on irresistibly towards Chester, where Edward was stationed, impotent in the face of the superior power of his foes. Edward appealed to his father for help; but at first the appeal was met only with a rebuke. In 1257, however, Henry came to his assistance with a big army. He succeeded in reaching Deganwy; but further he was unable to penetrate, and his retreat was disastrous. Indeed the only effect of the whole campaign was to demonstrate to all waverers the feebleness of Henry and the strength of Llewelyn.
Llewelyn was now as powerful as any Welsh prince had ever been; while England was in the throes of the bitter struggle between the king and the barons led by Simon de Montfort. An alliance was concluded between the Welsh and Simon; and the defeat and capture of Henry at Lewes in May 1258 gave Llewelyn a respite in which to consolidate his gains and to strengthen his position. So long as England remained disunited Llewelyn was perfectly secure, but the death of Simon, and the triumph of the king, altered the whole situation. This Llewelyn knew perfectly well, for he was no idle dreamer; and he was then, as indeed always, willing to come to terms with the king upon the old conditions—Wales to be independent, and the Prince of Wales to do homage to the King of England. In September 1267 Henry led an army to Shrewsbury; and with them came the legate Ottobon, for the purpose of negotiating with Llewelyn. The Welsh prince had now, for some years, been excommunicated. Indeed, throughout the long struggle the Church proved itself to be the implacable enemy of Welsh independence. Recognizing the hopelessness and the futility of war against the whole strength of England, Llewelyn, at Shrewsbury, came to terms with Henry; and four days afterwards the terms were embodied in the Treaty of Montgomery. Llewelyn was to do homage to Henry, and to pay him an indemnity. His own position as Prince of Wales was recognized; and he was to retain possession of the Four Cantrefs. This was the position in 1273, when Henry III died.
The accession of Edward I completely altered the situation. He and Llewelyn were ancient enemies, and each was, from the first, on the lookout for assault and aggressions on the part of the other. Edward was crowned in London, upon his return from the Holy Land in August 1274. In accordance with feudal usage he summoned the King of Scotland and the Prince of Wales to do homage to him. Alexander of Scotland obeyed and went; but Llewelyn refused. He sought to justify his refusal on the ground that Edward had proved so faithless in the past that he dare not venture his life inside the English capital; furthermore he accused Edward of having broken the Treaty of Montgomery. A year elapsed; and then Edward came to Chester, and again summoned Llewelyn to his presence. Acting on the advice of his council, Llewelyn refused to go; and Edward returned to London in deep displeasure. At this juncture Fate played into the hands of the English king. Llewelyn was betrothed to Eleanor, daughter of Simon de Montfort, at that time living with her mother in France. It was arranged that she should come over in 1275 for the purpose of getting married; but on the way she was captured by a vessel from Bristol and taken to London, where Edward kept her in captivity. The crafty monarch saw his opportunity. Eleanor should not become the wife of Llewelyn until the latter had performed the long-delayed act of homage. This condition Llewelyn indignantly refused; and in 1277 war began. The English army moved in four divisions, one from Chester, one from Shrewsbury, one from Hereford, and one from Carmarthen. South Wales was speedily reduced to subjection; and Llewelyn presently found himself besieged in the fastnesses of Snowdonia, an army hemming him in on the land side, while a fleet from the Cinque Ports rendered escape by sea impossible. Perceiving that further resistance would be useless, in November 1277 he signed the Treaty of Rhuddlan in Edward's presence. The terms of the treaty were severe—an indemnity of fifty thousand marks, the restoration of the Four Cantrefs, a yearly rent to be paid for Anglesey, all barons except those of Snowdon to hold their lands of the English king, the title Prince of Wales to cease with Llewelyn's life, and Llewelyn to come to England once every year to do homage. It was made a condition that the inhabitants of the Four Cantrefs were to be allowed to retain their old customs, and to be judged by their own laws. Eleanor was then released; and her marriage to Llewelyn took place at Worcester in October 1278.
It is well known by all historians and statesmen that a too severe treaty is always the parent of new wars, and the Treaty of Rhuddlan was undoubtedly too severe. The latent discontent which was felt throughout Wales, and especially in the North, was greatly exacerbated by the oppressive administration of the king's Welsh lands by his officials. Justice was denied. Englishmen might murder and steal with impunity so long as their victims were only Welsh. Offices were sold; and extortionate fines were exacted. The old Welsh laws were disregarded, the excuse being that they conflicted with the king's superior sense of justice. So terrible was the oppression, and so impossible was it to obtain redress by constitutional means, that in 1282 revolts broke out in many parts of the country. Llewelyn had scrupulously abstained from giving the least encouragement to any of these revolts; but once they had broken out of their own accord, he perceived how essential it was that they should be directed by one mind, and placed himself at their head.
This time Edward determined to make an end of his troublesome vassal, and to crush the independent power of the Welsh chieftain once and for all. Llewelyn prepared himself to meet the enormous English army which was marching against him, his mind filled with evil forebodings, and his heart heavy with sorrow at the recent death of his wife. The meddlesome Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury, after first excommunicating Llewelyn, tried to mediate. But Edward insisted upon unconditional surrender, and that Llewelyn would not stoop to make. Meanwhile winter was coming on, and Edward had only succeeded in reaching Penmaenmawr. To try to penetrate the towering mountain barrier of Arfon at that season of the year would be reckless folly; and so he retreated to Rhuddlan to await the return of spring.
Accorded this brief respite, Llewelyn paid what was intended to be a flying visit to South Wales, in order to encourage his allies. In a lonely dell near Builth, on December 11th, the last Prince of Wales was slain in a chance skirmish with some Cheshire soldiers who were quite ignorant of his identity. He was refused Christian burial by the Archbishop; and whether his body eventually found a resting place within the sacred precincts of Cwm Hir, as tradition says it did, we have no means of ascertaining.