Wales History

The R omans invaded the British Isles in 43 AD. They called this wild land Britannia, and by 79 AD, Wales was mostly subdued and then partially controlled until the Roman Empire collapsed upon itself in 410 AD.
Over the next 200 years Christianity was introduced and Wales was divided  into individual small kingdoms and principalities. Regional wars became commonplace and the land grab was on.
The English Saxons applied pressures along its then disputed border with Wales, and in 770, the Saxon King, Offa of Mercia, built a dyke between England and Wales.
In some places it was 65 feet wide. The Saxons called the land on the other side of the dyke "Wales." People in that land called "Wales" referred to their land as "Cymru," and their individual cultures blended together, both economically and linguistically.

The Viking invasions in the 9th and 10th centuries actually bonded the Welsh together, making them stronger. When the Norman conquest of England began in 1066, it had little initial affect on Wales.
But then, after William the Conqueror established power bases along the Welsh border, the Normans easily controlled the south and began to covet the north.
In the north the story ending was much different as powerful Welsh princes successfully held the persistent Normans at bay. Llywelyn the Last was in fact named Prince of Wales by Henry III, but this victory streak of sorts for Wales would eventually end.

In 1536, the Act of Union brought England and Wales together, united into one. England grew rapidly, but Wales languished in the background, remaining isolated with zero population growth and a very weak economy.
In the mid 1700's the Industrial Revolution took hold, as the mining of coal and the production of iron and tin brought Wales springboarding back to life; the railroads arrived; population surged and small southeastern communities grew into larger towns - almost overnight.
In 1926, Plaid Cymru, the Welsh National Party was formed. However, in the early 1960's the coal and steel businesses all but collapsed and mass unemployment was a countrywide epidemic.


On the positive side, growing tourism revenues and high tech jobs have helped to restore some of the economy. In addition, the legal acceptance of the Welsh language, Cardiff declared the official capital, and Plaid Cymru continually holding seats in the British House of Commons, fan the fires of that positive trend.
Today Wales is certainly evolving, but some things here will never change, as the raw beauty of the land and the pride of the Welsh people will live forever.