History

The Celts who had first arrived in Wales in the 6th and 7th centuries BC were defeated by the invading Romans in 43 AD. The Romans also killed large numbers of Druids, the Celtic religious leaders, who had formed communit(i)es in the north and on the island of Anglesey.

In the 5th and 6th centuries AD many European saints travelled to Wales as Christian missionaries. Their names are remembered in some present-day Welsh place names. St Teilo and St Cybi are remembered by Llandeilo and Llangybi. Llan is the Welsh word for an area where a church stands.

The Saxons pushed the Welsh further and further towards the west until, in the 8th century, a Saxon king called Offa built a long ditch to keep them out of England! This ditch or dyke is 167 miles (269 km.) long and follows the line of much of today's border for most of the way. Then came the Normans who built enormous castles to protect themselves from attack from the west. Caerphilly Castle, 6 miles (10 km.) north of Cardiff, was one of the strongest in Europe. Even Oliver Cromwell, during the English Civil War, was unable to blow it up!

The Welsh fought for many years to win back their freedom. The Welsh king, Llewellyn the Great, tried to unite his people against the English, but his grandson, Llewellyn the Last, was finally defeated in 1282. The English built great castles at Harlech and Caernarfon, and in 1301 Edward I of England made his eldest son Prince of Wales. This tradition has been kept until the present day and in 1969 a similar ceremony took place again. The present Queen made her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales at Caernarfon castle.

In 1536 Henry VIII brought Wales under the English parliament through a special law. He insisted on the use of English for official business, but at the same time he gave the Welsh the freedom which the English already enjoyed. Since the 16th century Wales has been governed from London and in 1978 the Welsh voted by a large majority against a separate Welsh Parliament. In today's Government there is a special department and minister for Welsh affairs.

Susan Sheerin, Jonathan Seath, Gillian White: Spotlight on Britain; Oxford University Press, 1985, page 92