Cymru -Wales- Le Pays de Galles

1. Cymru-Wales- Le Pays de Galles

2. Who are the Welsh? • The word ‘welsh’ was given to the Celtic-speaking Britons by the first ‘Anglo-Saxons’ who settled in Britain in the 4-5th centuries. It was often used to mean Romanised Celt. (as in France).

3. The word ‘Welsh’ • In Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the word used for the Britons was ‘wealas’ which can be translated as ‘stranger’, ‘foreigner’, Briton, even slave. In time the word wealas became Wales.

4. The Britons to ‘Welsh’ • The Britons called themselves by several names including ‘Brython’ (Britons), and especially ‘Cymry’ (fellow-countrymen/women.

5. Who are the Welsh? • Eventually the ‘Welsh’ (Celtic Britons), were only in a majority in western Britain, especially today’s Wales, Cornwall and Cumbria (NE England). • Eventually the word was only used for the descendants of the Britons (Celtic Britons) in Wales itself.

6. The ‘Welsh’ before Wales. • The Britons had inhabited the island of Britain for at least one thousand years before. • They were the Celts of Britain, and by the 3rd century BC shared the La Tene Celtic culture of the continent.

10. Found in Tal-y-Llyn. C150-50BC

11. Boudica

12. Boudica of the Iceni The revolt in 60AD

13. Magnus Maximus 383AD Declared Emperor in Britain. ‘left the nation as one’.

14. Circa 600-700AD ‘Welsh’ ‘Cymry’ ‘Britons’

15. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • With the end of the Roman presence in Britain (c430AD), and the beginnings of the early medieval period (or as it used to called the ‘dark ages’), we see the emergence of Wales as a series of political entities, all contributing to a sense of independence.

16. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • The colonisation of the east of Britain by Germanic peoples (‘Anglo-Saxons’) meant that Celtic culture and language was increasingly restricted to northern and western Britain. • This is many ways ‘created’ Wales.

17. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • And in mainland Britain it was in Wales, that Celtic culture was mostly preserved and promoted after the 6th century AD. • Nowhere were the ties to the past stronger. • A past which the Welsh remembered as a Golden Age of British (ie=Celtic) heroes, saints and above all political autonomy.

18. Christianity in Early Wales 400-1000AD

19. The Celtic Church in Wales • Although Christianity was introduced into Britain under Roman rule, it was mainly concentrated in the south-east of Britain in urban locations. • After the end of Roman rule (c410AD), Christianity in the Celtic west between the fifth and the eighth centuries was diffused by groups of monks, often led by charismatic leaders.

20. The Celtic Church in Wales • Such leaders known as ‘saints’ spearheaded the growth of Christianity in the Celtic west of Britain as the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the east. • The British Celts (Welsh, Cornish, Cumbrians), the Bretons and the Galicians developed a cultural and spiritual consciousness which was clearly identifiable as ‘Atlantic’.

21. The Celtic Church in Wales • Shipping routes played an important role in bringing new ideas from one region to another. • As far as Wales was concerned, the sea acted as a major Christianizing superhighway. • Links between Wales, Cornwall (also devon and Somerset), Ireland and Brittany.

22. The Celtic Saints of Wales • The ‘Lives’ of the saints (biographies). • One of the most influential was St Dyfrig (d c 550). • He was undoubtedly one of the first of these saints. • He was a teacher, bishop and organizer.

23. The Celtic Saints of Wales • One of his students was St Illtud who converted his own monastery into a proto-University. • One of his students was St Samson who brought this version of Christianity to Brittany. (The bishopric of Dol).

24. The Celtic Saints of Wales • The most prominent of all Welsh saints was St David (d.c.589AD). • He was the acknowledge abbot-bishop in St David’s in south-west Wales. • He lived in an area where was Irish influence. • St David became a potent symbol of the distinctive identity of the Welsh Church.

25. The Celtic Saints of Wales • The hallmark of the monastic settlements was austerity, simplicity and purity. • The most widely used word for church or Christian foundation was llan, a word often followed by a saint’s name: • Llanddewi (the church of St David), Llanbadarn, Llanilltud. • Their churches were made of timber, and were very small indeed.

26. The early Christian treasures of Wales The Gospels of St Chad 730AD

31. Survival of Latin in The early Welsh church Survival of Romano-British culture

32. Cadwgan’s Stone

33. The Stone of Paulinus Peulin)

34. The Bell Of Gwynhoedl

35. Cross of Houelt

36. Cross of Conbelin (Cynfelin)

37. Cross of Nevern (Nanhyfer) Pembrokeshire

39. St Melangell

40. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • In inhabitants of Wales were soon cut off from the Britons (ie=Celts) of Cornwall and Cumbria (northern Britain) by the expansion of the Germanic kingdoms of Wessex, and Northumbria. • The Vikings too, who assumed power on the Isle of Man were able to attack the Welsh coastal areas.

41. Britain c.600AD Cumbria Elmet Wales Cornwall

43. The Kings of Early Wales • CuneddaWledig (Cunedag) • He and his eight sons left the territory of the Uotadini (Gododdin- today’s Scotland) for Gwynedd (NW Wales) • They expelled Irish settlers and founded a new dynasty. The Royal House of Gwynedd. • Rhufoniog; Edeirnion, Ceredigion, Meirionydd.

44. The Kings of Early Wales • Other kingdoms were formed in the south of Wales in Dyfed, Brycheiniog and Morgannwg. • In north central Wales, the kingdom was called Powys- which may possibly have existed from Roman times. • (Paganses)

45. Irish influence in early Wales • During the late Roman period, parts of Wales became Irish colonies especially in the NW and SW. • Inscriptions in ogam are found in both parts of the country. • Irish missionaries passed through Wales on their way to the Continent. • Some words were borrowed from Irish into Welsh (eg cerbyd=chariot).

46. The Kings of Early Wales • Although Wales was largely a patchwork of small kingdoms until the 800s, by 855, Rhodri Mawr (‘the Great;’) started to unify Wales.

47. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • One of the most prominent Welsh kings of that time was Rhodri Mawr (Rhodri the Great), who became ruler of Gwynedd in 844. He became an internationally famous warrior king by defeating the Danes in 856 AD. He extended his kingdom to all of North and mid Wales.

48. Offa’s Dyke-Clawdd Offa

49. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • The opinion today is that Offa’s Dyke was a boundary, a means of economic and political control between Offa and the Welsh kings. • The bank itself was 7 meters high, with a ditch 2 meters deep, and up to 20 meters wide. This would have made it difficult for troops or livestrock to cross this cultural, political and linguistic border.

50. Wales- Cymru- Pays de Galles • With the dangers posed by the heathen Vikings, the Welsh made alliances with English kingdoms to withstand their attacks. • Around 893 the Welsh princes stood with their Wessex allies against the Viking invasion of c893AD.