A Short History of Wales [12]
patron of learning. One of the chief events of the period was Lord Rees' great Eisteddvod at Cardigan in 1176.
It was an age of new ideals. The Crusades were preached in Wales; the grave of Christ was held by a cruel unbeliever, and it was the duty of a soldier to rescue it. It appealed to an inborn love of war, and many Welshmen were willing to go. It did good by teaching them that, in fighting, they were not to fight for themselves. It was in Powys that feuds were most bitter. A young warrior told a preacher, who was trying to persuade him to take the cross: "I will not go until, with this lance, I shall have avenged my lord's death." The lance immediately became shivered in his hand. The lance once used for blind feuds was gradually consecrated to the service of ideals--of patriotism or of religion.
The age of Owen Gwynedd and the Lord Rees and Owen Cyveiliog brought a higher ideal still. If the Crusader made war sacred, the monk made labour noble. The chief aim of the monk, it is true, was to save his soul. He thought the world was very bad, as indeed it was; and he thought he could best save his own soul by retiring to some remote spot, to live a life of prayer. But he also lived a life of labour; he became the best gardener, the best farmer, and the best shepherd of the Middle Ages. Great monasteries were built for him, and great tracts of land were given him, by those who were anxious that he should pray for their souls. The monk who came to Wales was the Cistercian. The monasteries of Tintern, Margam, and Neath were built by Norman barons; and Strata Florida, Valle Crucis, and Basingwerk showed that the Welsh princes also welcomed the monks.
Better, then, than the brilliant wars were the poets and the great Eisteddvod. Better still, perhaps, were the orchards and the flocks of the peaceful monks.
CHAPTER X--LLYWELYN THE GREAT
On the death of the Lord Rees, one of the grandsons of Owen Gwynedd becomes the central figure in Welsh history. Llywelyn the Great rose into power in 1194, and reigned until 1240--a long reign, and in many ways the most important of all the reigns of the Welsh princes.
Llywelyn's first task was to become sole ruler in Gwynedd. The sons of Owen Gwynedd had divided the strong Gwynedd left them by their father, and their nobles and priests could not decide which of the sons was to be supreme. Iorwerth, the poet Howel, David, Maelgwn, Rhodri, tried to get Gwynedd, or portions of it. Eventually, David I. became king; but soon a strong opposition placed Llywelyn, the able son of Iorwerth, on the throne. Uncles and cousins showed some jealousy; but the growing power of Llywelyn soon made them obey him with gradually diminishing envy.
His next task was to attach the other princes of Wales to him, now that the Lord Rees and Owen Cyveiliog were dead. To begin with, he had to deal with the astute Gwenwynwyn, the son of Owen Cyveiliog; and he had to be forced to submit. He then turned to the many sons and grandsons of the Lord Rees--Maelgwn and Rees the Hoarse especially. They called John, King of England, into Wales; but they soon found that Llywelyn was a better master than John and his barons. Gradually Llywelyn established a council of chiefs--partly a board of conciliation, and partly an executive body. It was nothing new; but it was a striking picture of the way in which Llywelyn meant to join the princes into one organised political body.
His third task was to begin to unite Norman barons and Welsh chiefs under his own rule. He had to begin in the old way, by using force; and Ranulph of Chester and the Clares trembled for the safety of their castles. He then offered political alliance; and some of the Norman families of the greatest importance in the reign of John--the Earl of Chester, the family of Braose, and the Marshalls of Pembroke- -became his allies. His other step was to unite Welsh and Norman families by marriage. He himself married a daughter of King John, and he gave his own daughters in marriage to a Braose and a Mortimer.
It was an age of new ideals. The Crusades were preached in Wales; the grave of Christ was held by a cruel unbeliever, and it was the duty of a soldier to rescue it. It appealed to an inborn love of war, and many Welshmen were willing to go. It did good by teaching them that, in fighting, they were not to fight for themselves. It was in Powys that feuds were most bitter. A young warrior told a preacher, who was trying to persuade him to take the cross: "I will not go until, with this lance, I shall have avenged my lord's death." The lance immediately became shivered in his hand. The lance once used for blind feuds was gradually consecrated to the service of ideals--of patriotism or of religion.
The age of Owen Gwynedd and the Lord Rees and Owen Cyveiliog brought a higher ideal still. If the Crusader made war sacred, the monk made labour noble. The chief aim of the monk, it is true, was to save his soul. He thought the world was very bad, as indeed it was; and he thought he could best save his own soul by retiring to some remote spot, to live a life of prayer. But he also lived a life of labour; he became the best gardener, the best farmer, and the best shepherd of the Middle Ages. Great monasteries were built for him, and great tracts of land were given him, by those who were anxious that he should pray for their souls. The monk who came to Wales was the Cistercian. The monasteries of Tintern, Margam, and Neath were built by Norman barons; and Strata Florida, Valle Crucis, and Basingwerk showed that the Welsh princes also welcomed the monks.
Better, then, than the brilliant wars were the poets and the great Eisteddvod. Better still, perhaps, were the orchards and the flocks of the peaceful monks.
CHAPTER X--LLYWELYN THE GREAT
On the death of the Lord Rees, one of the grandsons of Owen Gwynedd becomes the central figure in Welsh history. Llywelyn the Great rose into power in 1194, and reigned until 1240--a long reign, and in many ways the most important of all the reigns of the Welsh princes.
Llywelyn's first task was to become sole ruler in Gwynedd. The sons of Owen Gwynedd had divided the strong Gwynedd left them by their father, and their nobles and priests could not decide which of the sons was to be supreme. Iorwerth, the poet Howel, David, Maelgwn, Rhodri, tried to get Gwynedd, or portions of it. Eventually, David I. became king; but soon a strong opposition placed Llywelyn, the able son of Iorwerth, on the throne. Uncles and cousins showed some jealousy; but the growing power of Llywelyn soon made them obey him with gradually diminishing envy.
His next task was to attach the other princes of Wales to him, now that the Lord Rees and Owen Cyveiliog were dead. To begin with, he had to deal with the astute Gwenwynwyn, the son of Owen Cyveiliog; and he had to be forced to submit. He then turned to the many sons and grandsons of the Lord Rees--Maelgwn and Rees the Hoarse especially. They called John, King of England, into Wales; but they soon found that Llywelyn was a better master than John and his barons. Gradually Llywelyn established a council of chiefs--partly a board of conciliation, and partly an executive body. It was nothing new; but it was a striking picture of the way in which Llywelyn meant to join the princes into one organised political body.
His third task was to begin to unite Norman barons and Welsh chiefs under his own rule. He had to begin in the old way, by using force; and Ranulph of Chester and the Clares trembled for the safety of their castles. He then offered political alliance; and some of the Norman families of the greatest importance in the reign of John--the Earl of Chester, the family of Braose, and the Marshalls of Pembroke- -became his allies. His other step was to unite Welsh and Norman families by marriage. He himself married a daughter of King John, and he gave his own daughters in marriage to a Braose and a Mortimer.