Lordship of Denbigh
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The Lordship of Denbigh was a
marcher lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...
ship in
North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
created by
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
in 1284 and granted to the
Earl of Lincoln Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England, most recently in 1572. The title was borne by the Duke of Newcastle, Dukes of Newcastle-under-Lyne from 1768 to 1988, until the dukedom became extinct. Earl ...
. It was centred on the borough of
Denbigh Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills. History ...
and
Denbigh Castle Denbigh Castle and town walls (; cy, Castell Dinbych a waliau tref; ) were a set of fortifications built to control the lordship of Denbigh after the conquest of Wales by Norman King Edward I in 1282. The King granted the lands to Henry de Lac ...
. The lordship was held successively by several of England's most prominent aristocratic families in the 14th and 15th centuries. Title to the lordship was disputed for much of the second half of the 14th century between two powerful noble families: the Mortimer Earls of March and the Montagu Earls of Salisbury. Eventually, the lordship returned to the crown when
Edward, Duke of York Edward, 2nd Duke of York, ( – 25 October 1415) was an English nobleman, military commander and magnate. He was the eldest son of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and a grandson of King Edward III of England. He held significant appointment ...
, who had inherited the lordship through his grandmother, acceded to the throne in 1461 as Edward IV. In 1563,
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
revived the lordship and granted it to her favourite Lord Robert Dudley, later becoming the Earl of Leicester. Leicester mortgaged it to raise money and the lordship was finally returned to the crown when Elizabeth redeemed the mortgage in 1592/3. The crown disposed of much of the lordship's lands over the following centuries. Although the lordship still technically exists, with
the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
as its holder, its remaining lands, chiefly
common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
(for example, on
Denbigh moors Denbigh Moors (Welsh: Mynydd Hiraethog) is an upland region in Conwy and Denbighshire in north-east Wales, between Snowdonia and the Clwydian Range. It includes the large reservoirs Llyn Brenig and Llyn Alwen, and the Clocaenog Forest, which has ...
), are vested in the
Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
. The Crown Estate also conducts the annual Lordship of Denbigh Estray Court which continues to exercise a historic jurisdiction over the area's stray sheep.


Origins

Prior to the creation of the lordship of Denbigh in 1284, the territory of the lordship was part of the Principality of Gwynedd. Since the
Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
in the 11th century, Wales had been divided between the
native Welsh The Welsh ( cy, Cymry) are an ethnic group native to Wales. "Welsh people" applies to those who were born in Wales ( cy, Cymru) and to those who have Welsh ancestry, perceiving themselves or being perceived as sharing a cultural heritage and sh ...
principalities and lordships in the north and centre of the country, and the
Marcher lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...
ships of
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
origin in the south and south-east. The Marcher lords exercised effectively independent power in their territories and had only a nominal feudal allegiance to the king of England. During the 13th century, the Welsh princes of Gwynedd, taking the title
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
, had built up their power to such an extent that the English king,
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
, launched a war of conquest of north Wales between 1277 and 1283. Following the final defeat of the last Prince of Wales,
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...
, in 1282,
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...
distributed the territories of the former principality between himself and his supporters. The majority of the territory became a personal fief of the crown and, in 1301, was granted to his son, the future
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
, as a revived
Principality of Wales The Principality of Wales ( cy, Tywysogaeth Cymru) was originally the territory of the native Welsh princes of the House of Aberffraw from 1216 to 1283, encompassing two-thirds of modern Wales during its height of 1267–1277. Following the con ...
. The rest was granted to nobles that had supported him in the conquest. In 1284, Edward granted the
cantred A cantred was a subdivision of a county in the Anglo-Norman Lordship of Ireland between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, analogous to the cantref of Wales or the hundred of England. In County Dublin the equivalent unit was termed a serjeant ...
s of Rhos and
Rhufuniog {{coord, 52.950, -3.275, display=title, region:GB_scale:20000 Rhufoniog was a small sub-kingdom of the Dark Ages Gwynedd, and later a cantref in medieval Wales. Geography The cantref Rhos lay between it and the Irish Sea. Sometimes the tw ...
and the
commote A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...
of
Dinmael Dinmael was a medieval lordship and cwmwd in north Wales which usually formed a part of the patrimony of the kingdom of Powys. The name, of Old Welsh origin, means "the King's Fort" (''Din'' "fort" + ''Mael'' "king") and probably refers to a now fo ...
to
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1251February 1311), Baron of Pontefract, Lord of Bowland, Baron of Halton and hereditary Constable of Chester, was an English nobleman and confidant of King Edward I. He served Edward in Wales, France, and Sc ...
as the lordship of Denbigh. The Earl was one of the closest counsellors of Edward I and had played a leading role in the campaigns in Wales of 1277 and 1282.


History


Marcher lordship

As a marcher lordship, the lordship of Denbigh was not a part of the
Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...
and was a ''de facto'' independent territory, subject to feudal allegiance to the crown. As with the other marcher lordships created by Edward I in North Wales, it was, in fact, held as a
tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as op ...
of the
Principality of Wales The Principality of Wales ( cy, Tywysogaeth Cymru) was originally the territory of the native Welsh princes of the House of Aberffraw from 1216 to 1283, encompassing two-thirds of modern Wales during its height of 1267–1277. Following the con ...
rather than directly from the king. The administration was conducted by a steward who presided over a '' Curia Baronis'' and the territory was divided for administrative purposes into the five
commotes A commote ( Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wal ...
of Ceinmerch, Isaled, Uwchaled, Isdulas, and Uwchdulas. The ''Curia Baronis'', with two
Courts Leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Etym ...
, had wide jurisdiction over all criminal and civil matters. Following the grant of the lordship to him, the Earl of Lincoln founded the borough of
Denbigh Denbigh (; cy, Dinbych; ) is a market town and a community in Denbighshire, Wales. Formerly, the county town, the Welsh name translates to "Little Fortress"; a reference to its historic castle. Denbigh lies near the Clwydian Hills. History ...
and constructed
Denbigh Castle Denbigh Castle and town walls (; cy, Castell Dinbych a waliau tref; ) were a set of fortifications built to control the lordship of Denbigh after the conquest of Wales by Norman King Edward I in 1282. The King granted the lands to Henry de Lac ...
as the centre of the lordship. He also began a programme of moving the native Welsh out of key areas and giving their land to English settlers. Several discrete English communities were formed within the lordship, concentrated in the two
commotes A commote ( Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wal ...
of Ceinmerch and Isaled, where, by 1334, 10,000 acres were occupied by the settlers. The Earl of Lincoln died in 1311, leaving his daughter, Alice, as his sole heir. The lordship therefore passed to Alice's husband,
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, ''jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Lincoln and ''jure uxoris'' 5th Earl of Salisbury (c. 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman. A member of the House of Pl ...
, but returned to the crown after Thomas was executed in 1322 for leading a revolt against
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
. The lordship then came into the hands of
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
's favourite, Hugh Despenser. Following Despenser's fall from power in 1326, it was granted to the powerful Earl of March, Roger Mortimer who, in turn, forfeited it for treason in 1330. In 1331,
Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
granted it to
William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury William Montagu, alias de Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 3rd Baron Montagu, King of Man (1301 – 30 January 1344) was an English nobleman and loyal servant of King Edward III. The son of William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu, he entered the r ...
as a reward for his assistance in overthrowing Mortimer. To make good his title to the lordship, Montagu had to pay substantial compensation to Lancaster's widow and the Despenser family. In 1354, Mortimer's grandson succeeded, in a court case against Montagu's son, in having the lordship returned to his family. The basis of the decision was that the Montagus did not have lawful title to the lordship following the reversal of the 1330
attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...
of Mortimer's grandfather. The Montagus refused to accept the decision and continued to fight, unsuccessfully, for the return of the lordship until at least 1397. The contest between the Montagus and the Mortimers over the lordship of Denbigh became one of the most celebrated aristocratic land disputes of the 14th century. From the Mortimer Earls of March the lordship passed in 1425 to Richard, Duke of York, the
Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...
claimant to the crown during the
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
. Richard inherited it, through his mother,
Anne Mortimer Anne de Mortimer, also known as Anne Mortimer (27 December 1388 – 22 September 1411), was a medieval English noblewoman who became an ancestor to the royal House of York, one of the parties in the fifteenth-century dynastic Wars of the Roses. ...
, when the last Mortimer Earl of March died. On Richard's death in 1460, his son, Edward of York, inherited the lordship and his father's claim to the throne. When he became king in 1461, as Edward IV, the lordship of Denbigh was united with the crown.


Merger with the Crown and revival

Although it became merged with the crown in 1461, it retained its identity as a Lordship outside of the Kingdom of England until, as with the rest of Wales, it was effectively incorporated into the kingdom by the
Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542 ( cy, Y Deddfau Cyfreithiau yng Nghymru 1535 a 1542) were Acts of the Parliament of England, and were the parliamentary measures by which Wales was annexed to the Kingdom of England. Moreover, the legal sys ...
. The Laws in Wales Acts ended the special position of the Marcher Lords and effectively abolished their independent jurisdictions. However, the baronial courts were allowed to maintain significant rights in respect of tenurial disputes between the tenants and the lordship. This and its corporate identity gave the lordship significance even after 1542. In 1563,
Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...
granted the lordship to her favourite Lord Robert Dudley, who later became the Earl of Leicester. The grant claimed that Denbigh was given to him, Although the Laws in Wales Acts had not been modified – and the claim to have the same rights as a Marcher Lordship could not therefore be legally possible – Leicester had such political power that he could make this a reality in practice. Leicester's administration of the lordship aroused violent hostility from the residents. After putting down a "rebellion" of the townspeople of Denbigh, Leicester sought to reconcile them by building the first Town Hall together with a Market Hall, and began the construction of a chapel. In 1585, Leicester mortgaged the lordship to a group of London merchants for £15,000. On his death, with the debt unpaid, the Queen redeemed the mortgage and the Lordship returned to the crown in 1592/3. In 1696,
William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
briefly made a grant of the lordship of Denbigh, to the
Earl of Portland Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, firstly in 1633 and secondly in 1689. What proved to be a long co-held title, Duke of Portland, was created in 1716 and became extinct in 1990 upon the death of t ...
. The inhabitants of Denbigh objected to this so strongly that they petitioned Parliament and had the grant rescinded. Over time, the crown sold off much of the original territory of the lordship, particularly during the reign of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
and, also during the Commonwealth period.


Modern vestiges of the lordship

The lordship of Denbigh remains in existence, with the Queen as its ''Lord of the Manor''. As is the case with all crown land, the remaining lands of the lordship are vested in and managed by the
Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
. The Crown Estate in
Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
now comprises exclusively
common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...
, together with the coastline, and includes areas of the lordship such as parts of the Denbigh Moors (known in Welsh as
Mynydd Hiraethog Denbigh Moors ( Welsh: Mynydd Hiraethog) is an upland region in Conwy and Denbighshire in north-east Wales, between Snowdonia and the Clwydian Range. It includes the large reservoirs Llyn Brenig and Llyn Alwen, and the Clocaenog Forest, which h ...
). Additionally, there is a Lordship of Denbigh "Estray Court". According to a 2011 report on the
Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
in Wales published by the
National Assembly of Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gov ...
: When the last of the manorial courts were proposed to be abolished in 1977, the Estray Court was one of a handful that were maintained. In proposing the legislation to abolish these local courts, Lord Elwyn-Jones, the then
Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
, told Parliament that "the Estray Court for the Lordship of Denbigh ... is a very useful court, and it would be quite wrong to abolish it".


Lords of Denbigh

*
Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1251February 1311), Baron of Pontefract, Lord of Bowland, Baron of Halton and hereditary Constable of Chester, was an English nobleman and confidant of King Edward I. He served Edward in Wales, France, and Sc ...
, 1284–1311 *
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, ''jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Lincoln and ''jure uxoris'' 5th Earl of Salisbury (c. 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman. A member of the House of Pl ...
, 1311–1322, in right of his wife Alice de Lacy *
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester Hugh le Despenser (1 March 126127 October 1326), sometimes referred to as "the Elder Despenser", was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England. He was created a baron in 1295 and Earl of Winchester in 1322. One day after being c ...
, 1322–1326 *
Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marri ...
, 1327–1330 *
William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury William Montagu, alias de Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 3rd Baron Montagu, King of Man (1301 – 30 January 1344) was an English nobleman and loyal servant of King Edward III. The son of William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu, he entered the r ...
, 1331–1344 *
William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, 4th Baron Montagu, King of Mann, KG (25 June 1328 – 3 June 1397) was an English nobleman and commander in the English army during King Edward III's French campaigns in the Hundred Years War. He was ...
, 1344–1354 *
Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March Sir Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, 4th Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, KG (11 November 132826 February 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was the son of Sir Edmund Mortimer (d. 1331) an ...
, 1354–1360 *
Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and ''jure uxoris'' Earl of Ulster (1 February 135227 December 1381) was the son of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, by his wife Philippa, daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Catherine Gr ...
, 1360–1381 *
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 137420 July 1398) was an English nobleman. He was considered the heir presumptive to King Richard II, his mother's first cousin. Roger Mortimer's father, the 3rd Earl of Marc ...
, 1381–1398 *
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster (6 November 139118 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive to ...
, 1398–1425 *
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantage ...
, 1425–1460 * Edward of York, 4th Duke of York, later Edward IV 1460–1461 *merged with the crown following Edward IV's accession 1461–1563 *
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ov ...
, 1563–1588 *reverted to the crown, 1588/1592-1696 *
William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. H ...
, 1696 *reverted to the crown, from 1696


References

{{reflist Marcher lordships Denbighshire History of Wales Medieval Wales 13th century in Wales Titles