Welsh uprising of 1211

The Welsh uprising of 1211 was a rebellion by several Welsh princes, orchestrated by Llywelyn ap Iorwerth with primary support from Gwenwynwyn of Powys, Maelgwn ap Rhys, Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor and Maredudd ap Robert against King John of England.[1] Although technically defeated, this uprising resulted in increased independence from England for the Welsh.

Welsh Uprising of 1211
Part of List of Anglo-Welsh wars
Date1211
Location
Wales
Result Peace treaty calling for less involvement from King John in Wales
Belligerents
Welsh Forces English Forces
Commanders and leaders
Llywelyn the Great
William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber
Robert of Shrewsbury		 King John
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester
Madog ap Gruffydd Maelor
Peter des Roches
Thomas Moulton (knight)
Strength
~15000 ~2000

Background

In the Norman conquest of 1066, the Norman army of William the Conqueror conquered England, and English earldoms of Chester, Shrewsbury, and Hereford were created on England's border with Wales. These strategic political centres served as key points in military action against the Welsh. Despite the strategic advantage these areas gave the Normans, only one Welsh kingdom fell under Norman control during William's reign: the southeast Kingdom of Gwent.

By 1100, Norman lords control included Brecon, Cardigan, Glamorgan and Pembroke. This led to the establishment of the March of Wales, an area previously ruled by Welsh kings.

The Welsh resisted Norman and Anglo-Saxon control in the twelfth century. The kingdoms of Deheubarth, Gwynedd and Powys, became a firmly established base for Welsh statehood. Aberffraw (Gwynedd), Dinefwr (Deheubarth), and Mathrafal (Powys) had become the centers of Welsh culture and politics. The establishment of these kingdoms started a period of stability and growth for the Welsh, including flourishing agriculture, scholarship and Welsh literature. The Welsh lacked strength as an entity, however, because although allies, the Welsh kings ruled separately, and swore allegiance to England's crown.

The uprising

The end of the twelfth century marked a period of political unrest due to the contested succession following the deaths of the three Welsh kings. Several factions fought for control of the region. Deheubarth and Powys never did return to stability, but Gwynedd was once again united under the reign of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn Fawr, the Great), following a rather brief power struggle.

King John was unsettled by the new power gained by Llywelyn, and so he led a military campaign against him which led to Llywelyn's defeat in 1211. Llywelyn, although humiliated, did secure the allegiance of other Welsh leaders, since the Welsh feared total subjugation under King John. Llywelyn led Welsh forces through continued conflict with King John, and successfully united the Welsh politically. The result was John and Llywelyn reached an agreement and a peace treaty was signed in July 1211, but only after Joan, Lady of Wales, Llywelyn's wife, who was also the illegitimate daughter of King John intervened as a diplomat for her husband . This provided for minimal involvement by the king of England in Welsh affairs.

Bibliography
  • Caradoc of Llancarvan; Williams, John, Brut y Tywysogion or The Chronicle of the Welsh Princes." Longman and Roberts, London, 1860, p. 271.
gollark: What? Of course they are in our universe.
gollark: Those aren't heaven and hell, silly.
gollark: > The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed from available data. Our authority is Isaiah 30:26, “Moreover, the light of the Moon shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days.” Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition seven times seven (49) times as much as the Earth does from the Sun, or fifty times in all. The light we receive from the Moon is one ten-thousandth of the light we receive from the Sun, so we can ignore that. With these data we can compute the temperature of Heaven. The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it to the point where the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation, i.e., Heaven loses fifty times as much heat as the Earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E)^4 = 50, where E is the absolute temperature of the earth (-300K), gives H as 798K (525C). The exact temperature of Hell cannot be computed, but it must be less than 444.6C, the temperature at which brimstone or sulphur changes from a liquid to a gas. Revelations 21:8 says “But the fearful, and unbelieving … shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” A lake of molten brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, or 444.6C (Above this point it would be a vapor, not a lake.) We have, then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than Hell at 445C. – “Applied Optics”, vol. 11, A14, 1972
gollark: This is because it canonically receives 50 times the light Earth does.
gollark: Heaven is in fact hotter.

References
  1. Caradoc of Llancarvon, "The Chronicle of the Welsh Princes." Longman and Roberts, London, 1860, p.271.
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