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Welsh Chronicles
A number of medieval chronicles of the history of Wales survive, notably the 9th century ''Historia Brittonum'' and the 10th century ''Annales Cambriae''. These early chronicles are written in Latin, while from the 12th century, some are composed in Middle Welsh. The oldest surviving manuscripts of chronicles kept in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth date to the 13th century. The history of Wales becomes tangible from the 7th century. Accounts in the chronicles pertaining to Dark Age Wales of the 5th and 6th century, including Historical basis for King Arthur, early references to King Arthur, Vortigern, Maelgwn Gwynedd and others, may contain semi-legendary or semi-historical material, which however cannot be substantiated as historical with any certainty. ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' is the title given to Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Brut y Tywysogion'' is a continuation of ''Historia Regum Britanniae'', covering the period o ...
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Chronicle
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the chronicler. A chronicle which traces world history is a universal chronicle. This is in contrast to a narrative or history, in which an author chooses events to interpret and analyze and excludes those the author does not consider important or relevant. The information sources for chronicles vary. Some are written from the chronicler's direct knowledge, others from witnesses or participants in events, still others are accounts passed down from generation to generation by oral tradition.Elisabeth M. C. Van Houts, ''Memory and Gender in Medieval Europe: 900–1200'' (Toronto; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, 1999), pp. 19–20. Some ...
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Brut Y Brenhinedd
''Brut y Brenhinedd'' ("Chronicle of the Kings") is a collection of variant Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. About 60 versions survive, with the earliest dating to the mid-13th century. Adaptations of Geoffrey's ''Historia'' were extremely popular throughout Western Europe during the Middle Ages, but the ''Brut'' proved especially influential in medieval Wales, where it was largely regarded as an accurate account of the early history of the Celtic Britons. Geoffrey's ''Historia'' and the ''Brut y Brenhinedd'' Geoffrey's ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' (completed by ) purports to narrate the history of the Kings of Britain from its eponymous founder Brutus of Troy to Cadwaladr, the last in the line. Geoffrey professed to have based his history on "a certain very ancient book" written in ''britannicus sermo'' (the "British tongue", i.e. Common Brittonic, Welsh, Cornish or Breton) which he had received from Walter of Oxford. It bec ...
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List Of Legendary Kings Of Britain
The following list of legendary kings of Britain derives predominantly from Geoffrey of Monmouth's circa 1136 work ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' ("the History of the Kings of Britain"). Geoffrey constructed a largely fictional history for the Britons (ancestors of the Welsh, the Cornish and the Bretons), partly based on the work of earlier medieval historians like Gildas, Nennius and Bede, partly from Welsh genealogies and saints' lives, partly from sources now lost and unidentifiable, and partly from his own imagination (see bibliography). Several of his kings are based on genuine historical figures, but appear in unhistorical narratives. A number of Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey's ''Historia'' exist. All post-date Geoffrey's text, but may give us some insight into any native traditions Geoffrey may have drawn on. Geoffrey's narrative begins with the exiled Trojan prince Brutus, after whom Britain is supposedly named, a tradition previously recorded in less elaborate form ...
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King Of The Britons
The title King of the Britons ( cy, Brenin y Brythoniaid, la, Rex Britannorum) was used (often retrospectively) to refer to the most powerful ruler among the Celtic Britons, both before and after the period of Roman Britain up until the Norman invasion of Wales and the Norman conquest of England. Britons were the Brittonic languages, Brittonic-speaking (ancestral language of Welsh language, Welsh) peoples of what is now Wales, England and Scottish Lowlands, southern Scotland. The Britons are the ethnic ancestors of the Welsh people, Welsh in addition to the Cornish people, Cornish and Bretons. During the House of Normandy, Norman and House of Plantagenet, Plantagenet periods, only Wales (or parts thereof) remained under Brittonic rule in Britain and the term "Britons" (''Brythoniaid'', ''Britaniaid'', ''Brutaniaid'') was used in Britain to mean the Welsh people (''Cymry'' in modern Welsh language, Welsh). This, and the diminishing power of the Welsh rulers relative to the King ...
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Wales In The Early Middle Ages
Wales in the early Middle Ages covers the time between the Roman departure from Wales c. 383 until the end of the 10th century. In that time there was a gradual consolidation of power into increasingly hierarchical kingdoms. The end of the early Middle Ages was the time that the Welsh language transitioned from the Primitive Welsh spoken throughout the era into Old Welsh, and the time when the modern England–Wales border would take its near-final form, a line broadly followed by Offa's Dyke, a late eighth-century earthwork. Successful unification into something recognisable as a Welsh state would come in the next era under the descendants of Merfyn Frych. Wales was rural throughout the era, characterised by small settlements called ''trefi''. The local landscape was controlled by a local aristocracy and ruled by a warrior aristocrat. Control was exerted over a piece of land and, by extension, over the people who lived on that land. Many of the people were tenant peasants or sl ...
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Glyndŵr Rising
The Welsh Revolt (also called the Glyndŵr Rising or Last War of Independence) ( cy, Rhyfel Glyndŵr) or ( cy, Gwrthryfel Glyndŵr) was a Welsh rebellion in Wales led by Owain Glyndŵr against the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages. During the rebellion's height between 1403 and 1406, Owain exercised control over the majority of Wales after capturing several of the most powerful English castles in the country, and formed a national parliament at Machynlleth. The revolt was the last major manifestation of a Welsh independence movement before the annexation of Wales into England by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. The uprising began in 1400, when Owain Glyndŵr, a descendent of several Welsh royal dynasties, claimed the title Prince of Wales following a dispute with a neighbouring English lord. In 1404, after a series of successful castle sieges and battlefield victories, Owain was crowned Prince of Wales in the presence of Scottish, French, Spanish and Breton e ...
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Brut Y Tywysogion
''Brut y Tywysogion'' ( en, Chronicle of the Princes) is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. ''Brut y Tywysogion'' has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has not itself survived. The most important versions are the one in Robert Vaughan's Peniarth MS. 20 and the slightly less complete one in the Red Book of Hergest. The version entitled '' Brenhinoedd y Saeson'' (''Kings of the English'') combines material from the Welsh annals with material from an English source. The Peniarth MS. 20 version begins in 682 with a record of the death of Cadwaladr and ends in 1332. The entries for the earlier years are brief, usually records of deaths and events such as eclipses, plagues or earthquakes, but later entries are much more detailed. The main focus is on the rulers of the kingdoms of Gwynedd, Powys and ...
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Historia Regum Britanniae
''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons over the course of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons assumed control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain. Although taken as historical well into the 16th century, it is now considered to have no value as history. When events described, such as Julius Caesar's invasions of Britain, can be corroborated from contemporary histories, Geoffrey's account can be seen to be wildly inaccurate. It remains, however, a valuable piece of medieval literature, which contains the earliest known version of the story of King Lear and his three daughters, and helped ...
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Geoffrey Of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth ( la, Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, cy, Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy; 1095 – 1155) was a British cleric from Monmouth, Wales and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle ''The History of the Kings of Britain'' ( la, De gestis Britonum or ') which was widely popular in its day, being translated into other languages from its original Latin. It was given historical credence well into the 16th century, but is now considered historically unreliable. Biography Geoffrey was born between about 1090 and 1100, in Wales or the Welsh Marches. He had reached the age of majority by 1129 when he is recorded as witnessing a charter. Geoffrey refers to himself in his ''Historia'' as ''Galfridus Monemutensis'' (Geoffrey of Monmouth), which indicates a significant connection to Monmouth, Wales, and may refer to his birthplace. His works atte ...
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Maelgwn Gwynedd
Maelgwn Gwynedd ( la, Maglocunus; died c. 547Based on Phillimore's (1888) reconstruction of the dating of the ''Annales Cambriae'' (A Text).) was king of Gwynedd during the early 6th century. Surviving records suggest he held a pre-eminent position among the Brythonic kings in Wales and their allies in the " Old North" along the Scottish coast. Maelgwn was a generous supporter of Christianity, funding the foundation of churches throughout Wales and even far beyond the bounds of his own kingdom. Nonetheless, his principal legacy today is the scathing account of his behavior recorded in ''De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae'' by Gildas, who considered Maelgwn a usurper and reprobate. The son of Cadwallon Lawhir and great-grandson of Cunedda, Maelgwn was buried on '' Ynys Seiriol'' (now known as Puffin Island in English), off the eastern tip of Anglesey, having died of the "yellow plague"; quite probably the arrival of Justinian's Plague in Britain. Name ''Maelgwn'' (IPA: /mɑːɨlg� ...
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History Of Wales
The history of what is now Wales () begins with evidence of a Neanderthal presence from at least 230,000 years ago, while ''Homo sapiens'' arrived by about 31,000 BC. However, continuous habitation by modern humans dates from the period after the end of the last ice age around 9000 BC, and Wales has many remains from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age. During the Iron Age the region, like all of Britain south of the Firth of Forth, was dominated by the Celtic Britons and the Brittonic language.Koch, pp. 291–292. The Romans, who began their conquest of Britain in AD 43, first campaigned in what is now northeast Wales in 48 against the Deceangli, and gained total control of the region with their defeat of the Ordovices in 79. The Romans departed from Britain in the 5th century, opening the door for the Anglo-Saxon invasion. Thereafter, the Brittonic language and culture began to splinter, and several distinct groups formed. The Welsh people were the largest of these ...
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