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 m NORMANS in
South Wales, 1070-1171

By LYNN H. NELSON

f
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS, AUSTIN

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 Library of Congress Catalog card No. 65-21296
Copyright © 1966 by Lynn H. Nelson
All Rights Reserved
Printed by the University of Texas Printing Division, Austin
Bound by Universal Bookbindery, Inc., San Antonio

ISBN 978-0-292-78105-4 (library e-book)

ISBN 978-0-292-78107-8 (individual e-book)

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 I dedicate this book to my parents,
Lynn and Helen Nelson

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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
 CONTENTS

Acknowledgments vii

i. The Land and the People 3

ii. The Opening of the Norman Conquest 21
iii. Social Classes on the Domesday Frontier . . . . 42
iv. The Domesday Frontier 62
v. The Establishment of the Marcher Lordships . . . 79
vi. The Welsh Reaction 112
vii. The Cambro-Norman Reaction:
The Invasion of Ireland 131
viii. The Cambro-Norman Society of South Wales . . . 151
ix. Conclusions 176

A Selected Bibliography 185

Index 205

MAP: Wales, 1070-1171 5

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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The present work was designed not as a history of the Normans in

South Wales but as an extended commentary upon that history. This
particular approach was made possible only through the previous
efforts of Sir Goronwy Edwards, J. E. Lloyd, T. Pierce-Jones, William
Rees, and others. Therefore, the first task of these Acknowledgments
must be to record my indebtedness to those scholars upon whose
work I have attempted to build.
Whatever new I have brought to this task also I owe to others.
Among these are three of my former teachers to whom I feel a special
debt of gratitude. Barnes F. Lathrop introduced me to those stand-
ards of judgment and performance which make up the historian's
craft. What is more, by precept and example he made those standards
worthwhile for a man to pursue. Walter Prescott Webb introduced
me to a greater breadth of vision by pointing out that History is one
great whole and that the arbitrary divisions of time and function of
which historians are so fond lead more often to confusion than to
convenience. My chief debt, however, I owe to A. R. Lewis, who
insisted always that research be something more than the mere col-
lection and arrangement of data. He guided me in undertaking the
present work, and offered advice and encouragement at every step.
He has been both teacher and friend, and I cheerfully attribute all
the virtues of this book to him. The defects I keep for myself.
I have been encouraged and assisted by a host of people, and can
single out but a few for special thanks. The Regents of The University
of Texas made possible the grant under which I was able to pursue
research in England and Wales. The libraries and staff of the Univer-
sities of Texas, Kansas, London, and Wales, together with those of
the Institute of Historical Research and the British Museum, have
been unfailingly kind and helpful.
My friends and associates have been generous with both time and

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 viii The Normans in South Wales
patience. To them I can only say that I hope that my work is worthy
of the good will they have shown. Finally, my special thanks to my
wife, Carolyn, who has steadfastly refused to be bored by the whole
affair.
L. H. NELSON
Lawrence, Kansas

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 The Normans in South Wales, 1070-1171

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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
 i. The Land and the People

IN THE WEST OF ENGLAND the rich and rolling fields of the

Midlands gradually give way to a rougher and less hospitable
terrain. By the time one has reached the border shires of
Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Monmouthshire, the aspect of the
countryside has altered considerably. The rolling slopes and the
deep soils of the Midlands have disappeared. Instead, the region
consists of a series of low foothills deeply cut by many rivers and
streams. The tilled fields which seem so characteristic of the lands
lying to the east are here replaced by meadows and by tracts of the
ubiquitous oaks which do so much to lend a special flavor to the
border shires.
Perhaps the dominant characteristic of the border is the ever-
present mass which the Cambrian Mountains rear to the west. This
rampart, because of its constant presence, often fades from the visi-
tor's consciousness. And yet, by always lying at the edge of one's
vision, and by effectively delimiting the western horizon, these moun-
tains help to maintain a frontier flavor in the region. One seems con-
stantly aware that these shires are the edge of England and that on
the western horizon one can see the beginning of another and quite
different land.
The country beyond this steep slope in many ways fulfills the
promise of its eastern border. It consists of a high plateau upon which
massive peaks alternate with deep and narrow valleys. This rugged
region forms the mountainous heartland of the peninsula of Wales,
today the home of over two million people. The Welsh dairy and

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 4 The Normans in South Wales
sheep-raising industries, together with extensive coal deposits, make
a significant contribution to the British economy. A growing tourist
trade continues to open up large areas of the peninsula to an even
closer and more profitable connection with England. Despite its
small size and scanty population, Wales plays a well-integrated and
important role in the life of the United Kingdom. 1
It is obvious to even the most casual visitor to Wales that such was
not always the case. The Welsh countryside abounds with fortifica-
tions—prehistoric hill-forts, Roman castra, and Norman castles. The
native heroes—Caratacus, Owen Glendower, and King Arthur—
echo this martial note. These and many other things serve to remind
the visitor of the long struggle of the Welsh to avoid domination and
absorption by their wealthier and more numerous neighbors to the
east.2 It was a bloody and lengthy battle, but it was one in which the
Welsh were foredoomed to failure. Although their mountainous iso-
lation afforded them great defensive advantages, it also condemned
them to a poverty which made it impossible for them to compete
with their more favorably situated neighbors. In the course of time
it was inevitable that the superior wealth and numbers of their
enemies should succeed in bringing the independence and isolation
of Wales to an end. 3
The final stages of this process began almost nine hundred years
ago, when the tide of Norman conquest rolled into the border shires
and reached the frontier of the old Anglo-Saxon state. It soon be-
came clear to the conquerors that the existence of an independent
Wales posed a serious problem. Sudden descents by the turbulent
Welsh tribesmen had terrorized the border for years, and Norman
control over the region would never be secure as long as this threat
remained unchecked. Nor were hands wanting for the task of sub-
duing the Welsh. For some of the invaders, at least, Wales repre-
sented not so much a threat as an opportunity. Beyond the border lay
1
A number of books and articles pertaining to the geography and economy
of Wales have been included in the Bibliography. For an excellent introduction to
these subjects, see E. G. Bowen (ed.), Wales: A Physical, Historical and Re-
gional Geography.
2
Also included in the Bibliography are some selected books and articles
covering the earlier periods of Welsh history. The best general account of the
history of Wales up to 1272 is provided by J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales from
the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest.
3
This is not to say that Wales' defeat in this struggle was complete. The Welsh
people have managed to retain a high degree of cultural integrity and national
consciousness, even in a world dominated by their English neighbors.

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 WALES 1070-1171 A.D.

HIRE

VMBI

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 6 The Normans in South Wales
lands to be had for the taking; lands that were, to all intents and
purposes, free and empty. Impelled by twin considerations of poli-
tical expediency and personal gain, the Norman conquest of Wales
began.
The first century of their endeavor was to prove crucial to the
invaders of South Wales. During these years the conquerors were
forced to adapt to the new circumstances in which they found them-
selves. The nature of the land, the personality of their adversaries,
and even the act of conquest itself all combined to transform the
character of the invaders. As the century came to a close, a distinctive
Cambro-Norman society had emerged in South Wales. Neither
purely Welsh nor wholly Norman, it was a society peculiarly suited
to the endemic warfare and incessant land-hunger which character-
ized the Welsh frontier.
This remarkable process took place in a setting quite different
from that which confronts the modern visitor to Wales.4 The low-
lands, which are today the richest and most fertile portion of the
peninsula, were untitled and undrained nine hundred years ago.
Dense forests and deep swamps covered what are today well-tilled
fields. Great oaks dominated the forest growth, except in dales where
primroses and bluebells brought a touch of color. The undergrowth
was composed for the most part of gorse and bramble, presenting an
almost impenetrable obstacle to communication and travel. Much of
the region was the habitat of creatures which have long since disap-
peared from Wales. Beavers, bears, wolves, wildcats, boars, and wild
oxen infested the forests, adding to the difficulties the early inhabit-
ants must have faced.5
A somewhat less formidable landscape lay along the upper slopes
of the interior, where forest growth thinned out under the influence
of the increased elevation. Although relatively pleasant, these areas
were rather small. The trees came to an end at about a thousand-foot
elevation, and above this point lay the moorlands. Here was an en-
vironment far different from the forests of the lowlands. The moors
and ridges were subjected to the full force of the moisture-laden

4
It must always be remembered in such discussions, that human activity often
works great changes, for good or evil, on the land and its capacity to produce.
For a well-written essay which illustrates this factor, see Christopher Trent,
The Changing Face of England: The Story of the Landscape through the Ages.
5
See Colin Matheson, Changes in the Fauna of Wales within Historic Times.

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 The Land and the People 7
westerly winds. The soil was poor and thin, and the characteristic
vegetation of the region was low bracken, gorse, bilberry, and moss.
Then, as now, the climate was cool and extremely damp, and the
ground was soggy underfoot. Bogs were common, and in the valleys
and hollows of the highlands, peat beds were being laid down.
Thus early Wales was composed of two quite distinct environ-
ments, and the early inhabitants of the peninsula were forced to
choose between them. Both contained great obstacles to settlement.
The fertile lowlands were covered by dense forests, tenanted by wild
beasts, and blocked by impenetrable undergrowth. The uplands, on
the other hand, were incapable of supporting agriculture. In a process
beginning in the Mesolithic era, if not earlier, the Welsh chose the
highlands. 6 By this choice they determined the direction in which
their culture was to travel, and also set a limit on the degree of de-
velopment they could hope to achieve.7 They settled the moor and
ridges, and only very slowly moved down into the valley floors. They
left the potentially rich and fertile lowlands to be the prize of the
more complex and dynamic societies which were developing in the
lowland zone of Britain and in the plains of northern Europe.
Restricting themselves to their highland environment, the Welsh
developed a pastoral society, depending upon the cattle for which
the region was suited, rather than upon the agriculture for which it
was not. Their basic diet was not bread, but meat, milk, and cheese;
and their drink was distilled from the honey their bees drew from
the gorse and anemones of the moors. Relying upon their cattle, they

6
See H. J. Fleure and W. E. Whitehouse, "Early Distribution and Valley-Ward
Movement of Population in South Britain," Archaeologia Cambrensis, Series VI,
Vol. XVI (1916), pp. 101-140; H. J. Fleure and T. C. James, "Geographical
Distribution of Anthropological Types Found in Wales/' The Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute, XLVI (1916): 35-153; C. F. Fox, The Person-
ality of Britain: Its Influence on Inhabitants and Invader in Preehistoric Times,
especially page 94.
7
It seems difficult to dispute the point that the Welsh uplands are incapable
of supporting any highly developed material culture. For a general discussion of
the role of physical environment in limiting social achievement, see B. J. Meg-
gers, "Environmental Limitation on the Development of Culture," The Amer-
ican Anthropologist, LVI (1954), 801-824. This provocative essay suggests some
general factors which may well have played a role in determining the overall
pattern of the Norman conquest of Wales, especially the Norman failure to take
and hold the highlands. See also R. I. Hirshberg and J. F. Hirshberg, "Meggers'
Law of the Environmental Limitation of Culture," The American Anthropologist,
LIX (1957), 890-892.

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 8 The Normans in South Wales
were self-sufficient in matters of food and clothing, while their simple
way of life awakened little need or desire for the importation of
foreign manufactured goods.
These free tribesmen were seminomadic herdsmen, reckoning their
wealth in cattle, and practicing only the simplest agriculture. Their
dwellings were crude and simple, since they served only a temporary
purpose. Archaeological excavations have revealed much about the
daily life of these people. One series in particular, that on Gelligaer
Common, well illustrates the basic patterns of their activities.8
There were three houses in this little settlement on the steep slope
of the common. These were of the rather common type known as
platform construction. The slope had been prepared for the struc-
tures by a combination of excavation and terracing which had formed
a building platform cut partially into the hill. Upon this platform had
been raised a rude wall of unmortared stone, perhaps supplemented
with turf or wattle. Roof construction was of the ridgepole type, with
interior uprights, and most probably a thatch covering. Two doors
pierced the long walls of the rectangular buildings, and there were
no windows. The hearth consisted of a flat stone placed near one end
of the building, behind which rubbish had been allowed to accumu-
late. An open fire was the only source of heat for this extensive struc-
ture, 9 and smoke was apparently left to escape through the roof. An
internal drainage gutter lay along the walls of the upper end of the
house, indicating that the buildings were quite damp, in addition to
being cold and dark.
The major occupation of the two or three families living here was
most probably grazing. Goats, sheep, and cattle could have been
maintained, and the woods of the valley below would have provided
8
The results of the excavations were summarized or noted in the following
articles: Aileen Fox, "Dinas Noddfa, Gelligaer Common, Excavations in 1936,"
Archaeologia Cambrensis, Series VII, Vol. XCII (1937), pp. 247-268; Aileen
Fox, "Early Welsh Homesteads on Gelligaer Common, Glamorgan, Excavations
in 1938," Archaeologia Cambrensis, Series VII, Vol. XCIV (1939), pp. 163-
199; Aileen Fox, "Excavations on Gelligaer Common," The Bulletin of the Board
of Celtic Studies, IX (1937-1939), 297-299; C. F. Fox, "Dinas Noddfa, Gel-
ligaer Common, Glamorgan," The Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, IX
(1937-1939), 295-297. The site excavated in 1938, from which most of the
information in the text is drawn, dates from considerably later than the period
under discussion. All evidence indicates, however, that modes and standards of
living remained relatively unchanged for long periods of time in the Welsh
highlands.
9
The largest building at the site under discussion measured sixty feet by
eighteen.

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 The Land and the People 9
10
excellent pannage for swine. Near the building platforms were
found a series of low, wide banks, ranging in length from fifty to two
hundred feet. Excavation showed that these banks were composed
of loose stones, and that the soil in their vicinity was unusually deep
for the area. The conclusion is obvious that these patches represented
arable land which had been laboriously created by the removal of
the stones which formed the banks. Agriculture must have been im-
portant, judging from the labor invested in it, but it could not have
been very intensive, even in the small patches. Finally, numerous
nodules of low quality iron were found in and about the homestead
sites. The inhabitants must have smelted their own iron, but the poor
quality of the nodules, and the numerous stone tools found in the
same vicinity, indicate that the process was both crude and expensive.
These homesteads on Gelligaer Common were not representative
of all Welsh settlements. Permanent peasant communities did exist
in some areas where a more intensive agriculture was practicable,
but their population was generally restricted to the nonfree tribes-
men, or taeogs. In time such settlements became a more important
aspect of Welsh society, and many free tribesmen settled down to a
sedentary existence. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, how-
ever, the typical free Welshman was a seminomadic herdsman, and
only the lower classes, who had little choice, worked the soil.11 Thus
the settlement perched on the slope of Gelligaer Common character-
izes the life of the mass of early Welsh society—self-sufficient, but
lonely, rude, and uncomfortable.
Generally speaking, Welsh society was seminomadic, lacked a firm
agricultural base, but was economically self-sufficient. It can easily
be seen that these three factors acted against the necessity for, and
the possibility of, the growth of any concentrations of population like
the farming villages and trading towns which were developing in
England. The Welsh lived in scattered pastoral townships, such as
that on Gelligaer Common, or even in isolated family homesteads.
The activities of life were almost completely restricted to the local
level. Thus the factors which discouraged urbanization also acted to
protect Welsh society from those forces which elsewhere in western

10
A. Fox, "Early Welsh Homesteads," pp. 198-199. These woods have long
since disappeared, but charcoal remains indicate that the Gelligaer inhabitants
had a large supply of oak and hazel nearby. This can only have been in the
valley.
11
E . G. Bowen, The Settlements of the Celtic Saints in Wales, p. 144.

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 10 The Normans in South Wales
Europe were antiquating tribal structures as adequate bases for
social organization. The ancient tribal structure of society lived on
in isolated Wales, and was fundamental to every aspect of Welsh
life.12
Property rights, inheritance, citizenship, and marriage were regu-
lated by the kindred, and law was enforced primarily by the family
feud. Most other governmental functions were unnecessary in view
of the decentralized and primitive character of the society. Despite
this fact, much of Welsh life centered around the eighty political
bodies into which the country was divided. The fundamental unit
in this organization was the tref, the residence of a single kindred.
Numbers of such trefs were grouped into the territorial unit known
as the cantref (one hundred trefs), or, at a later date, the commote
(neighborhood) ,13
The commote was much more than simply a territorial unit. It was,
to all intents and purposes, the highest element in the Welsh political
structure. Regional groupings of commotes did exist, and Wales was
traditionally divided into four "kingdoms." In each of these a single
leader usually held some ascendancy, but his power was only a
matter of force, prestige, or tradition. Real political power lay in the
commote, and was there concentrated in the hands of the tywysog.14
12
Studies dealing with early Welsh political and social institutions are numer-
ous and sometimes confusing. The basis for most treatments is the Cyvreithiau
Hywel Dda, or "Laws of Hywel the Good." This early codification of Welsh law
may be found in Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales . . ., ed. A. Owen. Some
important secondary works drawing primarily on this source are H. Lewis, The
Ancient Laws of Wales . . ., and T. P. Ellis, Welsh Tribal Law and Custom in
the Middle Ages. Also see William Rees, South Wales and the March, 1284-
1415: A Social and Agrarian Study. Rees evaluates the "Laws of Hywel the
Good," and finds that the picture of Welsh society they reflect is in all proba-
bility seriously distorted. The student of early Welsh society must also beware
of works which rely on the so-called "Drioedd Dyvnwal Moelmud.,, These works
were long accepted by many as genuine, and were included by Aneurin Owen
in his definitive collection. It has been shown that these triads are spurious, and
were written by a Welsh antiquarian writing under the name of Iolo Morganwg.
See G. J. Williams, Iolo Morgannwg, a Chywyddaur Ychwanegiad, and Lloyd,
A History of Wales, I, 318-319.
13
See Lloyd, A History of Wales, I, 229-282. Lloyd here attempts to
enumerate the various cantrefs of Wales, describe them, and define their boun-
daries. Also see the excellent map included in the second volume of the same
work.
14
For an excellent summary of the position and powers of the tywysog, see
A. J. Otway-Ruthven, "The Constitutional Position of the Great Lordships of
South Wales," The Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Series V, Vol.
VIII (1958), pp. 1-20.

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 The Land and the People 11
This word is traditionally translated "prince," but the translation
tends to obscure rather than reveal the true nature of the institution.
Welsh law itself defined the tywysog as simply the possessor of one
or more commotes.
In each of the commotes he possessed, the tywysog erected at some
central location his llys, or court. This court was housed in a great
timber hall built to shelter and protect the tywysog, his retainers, and
bard, and the teulu, or armed band, which was necessary to his dig-
nity and safety. Quite frequently the hall and the area around it were
fortified against sudden attack. Huddled close to the hall, and often
within the fortified area, were the numerous huts and houses of the
tywysogs servants and administrative officials, the serfs who tilled
the nearby fields, and the few artisans required by the economic life
of the commote. Here also were located the warehouses in which was
stored the tribute which custom required of every tref. The llys acted
as the capital of the commote, and was the nearest thing to an urban
center most Welshmen ever saw.
It was here the tywysog held his judicial court, and decided all
cases, civil and criminal, high and low, which might be referred to
him. There was no appeal from this court. In this, as in all other
governmental functions, the tywysog was the final source of authority
within the commote. Within his own territory the tywysog exercised
all of those powers which are customarily associated with kingship.
He might fortify when and where he pleased; his legal competence
was all-inclusive; he might conduct war against anyone toward
whom he conceived an enmity; and all fee, dues, fines, and per-
quisites were his to dispense. As long as the tywysog remained in pos-
session of his commote, he was truly a king within its precincts and
was accorded a large measure of respect outside it.
These extensive powers, however, were entirely dependent upon
his continued possession of his commote. Envious brothers, hostile
tywysogion, and unscrupulous adventurers represented a constant
source of danger to the authority and security of the lord of a com-
mote. Any of these enemies could kill or overpower him and thus
gain possession of the commote. To all intents and purposes, the
usurper then became the rightful tywysog, and few questions of
legitimacy were ever raised. From the frequency with which such
forcible seizures are recorded in Welsh chronicles, one may conclude
that plotting and sedition of this sort were endemic to Welsh society.
This situation contributed much to the disunity and the shifting

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 12 The Normans in South Wales
alliances of expediency which formed the characteristic pattern of
Welsh political history.
This instability helped to develop a society in which such petty
warfare became a way of life rather than simply a necessity or a duty.
The free Welsh tribesman was a warrior born and bred. Giraldus
Cambrensis remarked of the Welsh that "The husbandman rushes as
eagerly from the plow as the courtier from his court" at the call of
battle. 15 Since they did not engage in extensive agriculture, the Welsh
were able to devote themselves to year-round military activity if they
chose to do so. As a consequence of frequent opportunities and mass
participation, they became expert in sudden raids and masterly am-
bushes. Pitched battles and protracted campaigns, on the other hand,
were beyond their capabilities, and the intricacies of siege warfare
were foreign to their experience. Within the limits of their training,
however, and in the terrain in which they operated, there were no
better warriors.
In religion, as in politics and warfare, the Welsh favored decen-
tralization and localism. The center of activity of the Church in Wales
lay in a type of monastic body known as the clas. The typical clas
consisted of a mixed group of clergy and laymen, living together
under the rule of an abbot, but observing no regular order of dis-
cipline. This lack of regulation allowed the development of a wide
range of local usages, and the clas was capable of excesses of both
piety and corruption. It is true that a series of episcopal sees existed
in Wales but even these had originally been monastic in character,
and only began to assume their regular episcopal functions under
Norman influence in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. During
most of the medieval period, the concept of the clas dominated re-
ligious affairs in Wales. Instead of being the center of a duly organ-
ized and regularly functioning parish, the typical Welsh church was
a chapel closely connected with a nearby clas.
Wales lay far on the fringe of western Europe, and had been pro-
tected by her position and her poverty from the forces of change
which were afoot in the tenth and early eleventh centuries. As a
consequence, Welsh society in the late eleventh and twelfth centuries
was still dominated by institutions of an early and more primitive
era—kindred, clas, blood-feud, and the like. These archaic institutions

15
Giraldus Cambrensis, Opera, eds. J. S. Brewer et ah, Part VI (Itinerarium
Kambriae), p. 72.

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 The Land and the People 13
embodied and perpetuated the decentralization and disorder which
characterized Welsh society.
Welsh society was not static, however, and new social and political
institutions were evolving. Especially important were the tentative
movements toward a political organization which would transcend
the localism of the commote. This continuing development can best
be seen in the growth of the traditional kingdoms of Gwynedd,
Powys, Deheubarth, and Gwent. The name "kingdom" is, in this case,
something of a misnomer, for these bodies bore little resemblance to
the more fully developed kingdoms of the era. They had few clearly
defined governmental institutions and their responsibilities and func-
tions were sharply limited. They were little more than conglomera-
tions of commotes recognizing a traditional affinity. The ties between
the commotes were weak and fluid, and the boundaries of the king-
doms were, as a consequence, vague and fluctuating.
Within each kingdom some individual was usually recognized as
king, but the title brought with it no grant of authority or jurisdic-
tion. It carried prestige, and little more. The base of the Welsh king's
power consisted of his authority as tywysog within the commotes he
possessed. What additional power he exercised depended primarily
upon the support he could obtain from the other tywysogion of his
kingdom. He had few legal guarantees of such support, and had to
secure it as best he could. Military strength, ruthlessness, or personal
magnetism could gain him such support, but only continued vigilance
and success could maintain his control over his following. While some
Welsh kings were able to command and retain much support, and to
create at least the semblance of a powerful state, others were kings
in name only and were actually weaker than many of the tywysogion
of their kingdom. The strength of these kingdoms depended ulti-
mately upon the forcefulness and continued good fortune of their
kings. A single misfortune could destroy the prestige of the monarch,
and the tywysogion would withdraw their support of him. The king-
dom would then dissolve once again into an ineffectual collection of
independent states.
Wales' greatest weakness lay in the fact that there were no stable
and effective political institutions beyond the level of the commote.
Under this decentralized political system, the Welsh wasted their
strength in petty wars, desultory cattle raids, and fruitless intrigue.
This weakness made little difference as long as they faced no greater
threats than Irish pirates or an occasional band of Scandinavian raid-

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 14 The Normans in South Wales
ers. The high plateau—the heartland of Welsh society—remained
secure from such attacks, and the Welsh could afford to continue to
defer the development of any real unity. The emergence of a strong
and united Anglo-Saxon state made it quite a different matter; the
question of unity became crucial to the continued independence of
Wales. A growing Anglo-Saxon pressure on the eastern border of
the peninsula was only a forerunner of the crisis the Welsh would
eventually face.
Anglo-Saxon expansion first reached the borders of Wales proper
sometime about the middle of the seventh century.16 At any rate, the
border regions of Shropshire and Herefordshire were in Mercian
hands by this time. The momentum of Mercian expansion to the west
apparently came to an end with these conquests. Little information
about the period has survived, but the failure of the Mercians to ad-
vance further indicates that Welsh resistance stiffened. The Mercians
halted short of the Cambrian Mountains, and contented themselves
with the exploitation of those lands lying in the shadow of the heights.
The barren uplands of Wales were apparently not worth the price the
Mercians would have to pay for them.
This pause created a great problem for the kings of Mercia. Hither-
to the Anglo-Saxons had been on the offensive, and the question of
defense had not arisen. They had now reached the natural limit of
their expansion, and possessed a large indefensible border stretching
from the Severn to the Dee. What had been a question of westward
expansion became a problem of frontier defense. This problem was
finally faced by the Mercian king, Offa (757-796). His answer was
to construct a boundary dyke stretching completely across the neck
of the Welsh peninsula. This work generally marked the western
limits of Anglo-Saxon settlement, although numerous later exceptions
might be noted.17 It seems clear that Offa's Dyke was intended to
define and stabilize Mercia's western border.
This new Mercian frontier policy probably made little actual differ-
ence in Saxon-Welsh relations. The Mercians had previously fought
to conquer and to settle; now they fought to terrorize and overawe.
At least this appears to have been Mercian policy in the period
following Offa's death. Raids deep into Welsh territory can be noted
for the years 796, 816, 818, and 822. It was not until the decline of
i6 Lloyd, A History of Wales, 1,195-196.
17
See C. F. Fox, Offas Dyke: A Field Survey of the Western Frontier Works
of Mercia in the Seventh and Eighth Centuries A.D.

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 The Land and the People 15
Mercia's power, and the increase of Viking attacks on England, that
this fierce Saxon pressure on Wales' eastern border was relaxed.18
By this time the traditional political structure of Wales had
emerged. The four kingdoms were gaining prominence, perhaps
partially as a result of the pressure and example of the Anglo-Saxons.
Even with this somewhat more sophisticated organization, however,
the Welsh were still far weaker than their eastern neighbors. Only
on occasions when two or more of these kingdoms were united were
the Welsh capable of defending themselves adequately. Such oc-
casions were rare, and the hegemonies thus established rarely out-
lived their founders. Each time such an event occurred, however, the
power of the Welsh was increased immeasurably, and the security of
the English border was severely threatened.
The first time this happened was in the year 942, when Hywel Dda,
king of Deheubarth, succeeded in uniting almost all of Wales under
his control. On this occasion, however, English security was not
threatened. Hywel maintained close and friendly relations with the
English court, and spent his time and energies in attempting to lay
the foundations of a stable kingdom. His aims were in advance of his
time, and the attempt failed. With his death in 950, the kingdom
quickly disintegrated into its constituent parts. Over a hundred years
elapsed before the second such hegemony was established; one which
was to prove far more dangerous to the security of the English
frontier. Its founder was Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, a man who lacked
the English affinities which, in Hywel's time, had prevented an open
clash. Gruffydd seized the throne of Gwynedd in 1039, and united it
to that of Powys. He immediately led the united forces of his two
kingdoms against an unsuspecting Mercian army encamped on the
Severn. He crushed his enemy completely, and served effective notice
that the Welsh were now masters of the border.
Rather than following up the advantage he had gained on the
frontier, Gruffydd immediately turned his attention to the conquest
of Deheubarth. He was unable to force a decisive encounter with
Hywel ab Edwin, king of Deheubarth, until 1041. When the en-
counter did occur, Hywel was badly defeated, and seems to have
lost most of his power within the kingdom. He did manage to retain
control of his commotes of Dyfed and Ystrad Tywy, however, and
was able to continue to frustrate Gruffydd's plan for the conquest of

is Lloyd, A History of Wales, 1,201-202.

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 16 The Normans in South Wales
Deheubarth. It was not until 1044 that the two met in battle once
again. On this occasion, Hywel was defeated and killed. Gruffydd
was now able to unite the crown of Deheubarth with that of Gwy-
nedd and Powys.
Despite this victory, localism remained strong in Deheubarth,
especially in Dyfed and Ystrad Tywy. A leader soon arose to use this
localism in an attempt to displace Gruffydd. This man was Gruffydd
ap Rhydderch, no less forceful a man than Gruffydd ap Llewelyn
himself. The movement soon became dangerous, and the king was
forced to conclude an alliance with the English border earl, Swegen
Godwinson. The alliance was obviously directed against the southern
independence movement, for, in 1046, an allied Welsh and English
army invaded Deheubarth, and devastated the countryside. This
course of action played into the hands of Gruffydd ap Rhydderch by
solidifying public opinion against the northern king. In 1047, Gruf-
fydd ap Llewelyn and his teulu were ambushed by the men of Ystrad
Tywy, and suffered a crushing defeat. He escaped with his life, but
this defeat lost him whatever support and prestige he might have
enjoyed in southwest Wales. He retired north, and Deheubarth re-
sumed its independent course of action.
In his place, Gruffydd ap Rhydderch emerged as the paramount
leader of the region, and was able to amass a considerable amount of
power and support. He proved to be an active ruler, and no better a
neighbor to the English than his predecessor had been. In 1049 he
struck a bargain with a force of Danish pirates, and led them, to-
gether with his native supporters, into Herefordshire. Here he
plundered the manor of Tidenham, and slaughtered an English force
which the bishop of Worcestershire led against him.19 He returned
to Wales unscathed, and laden with booty. This was but the first of
a series of raids into Herefordshire and Gloucestershire—raids which
no doubt discomfited their English inhabitants greatly.
It may have been due to this discomfiture and to the exposed
position of Herefordshire that a colony of Norman warriors was
established in the region. It may, on the other hand, simply have been
the result of English royal politics. Norman influences had been
prominent in Edward's court for some time, and a number of Norman
immigrants had risen to high position with the benefit of royal in-

19
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, According to the Several Original Authorities,
ed, and trans. Benjamin Thorpe, Part I, p. 302.

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 The Land and the People 17
fluence. A group of these immigrants had established themselves in
Herefordshire. Here they distinguished themselves, and gained the
hatred of the local populace by erecting the new type of fortress
which had been perfected in Normandy.20
Norman influence was increased in the area in the year 1051. In
this year King Edward found an opportunity to break, at least for a
time, the power of the house of Godwine. Earl Godwine and his ad-
herents were banished from England. This sentence included Swegen
Godwinson, earl of a border region which took in both Hereford-
shire and Gloucestershire. His successor proved to be a Norman,
Ralph, the son of the count of the Vexin and of Goda, King Edward's
sister. Herefordshire had become, to all intents and purposes, a
Norman colony.21
Earl Ralph apparently continued the Herefordshire Normans' pre-
occupation with defense. It is recorded that he made an effort to
convert his English levies into a cavalry force by ordering them to
join combat on horseback, rather than afoot as was their custom.
This was later to prove a worthless innovation. The Normans' con-
cern with Herefordshire's defensive strength was well founded, how-
ever. A new threat had been added to that posed by Gruffydd ap
Rhydderch. Released from his alliance with Earl Swegen, Gruffydd
ap Llewelyn was now free to resume his ravages on the border. He
was quick to use this new freedom, and advanced into Herefordshire
to test Ralph's new forces. The battle, fought in 1052, found the
Normans unprepared to meet the impetuous charges of the Welsh.
The Normans and English were defeated. Once again, however,
Gruffydd ap Llewelyn failed to exploit a military victory. He was
content to retire with his spoils and heightened prestige, and to turn
his attention to Welsh affairs.
In the following year a number of events were to conspire to place
the English borderlands in even greater danger. Gruffydd ap
Llewelyn was at last able to eliminate Gruffydd ap Rhydderch, and
to reunite Deheubarth to his realms. He soon received a powerful
ally from an unexpected source. An exiled English noble, Aelfgar,
20
For the location and identity of these castles, see J. H. Round, Feudal Eng-
land: Historical Studies on the Xlth and XHth Centuries, pp. 317-331. For an
intriguing essay on the development of the Norman castle, see Brian Hope-
Taylor, "The Norman Motte at Abinger, Surrey, and its Wooden Castle/' Recent
Archaeological Excavations in Britain, ed. R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford, pp. 223-249.
21
Florence of Worcester, Chronicon ex Chronicis . . ., ed. Benjamin Thorpe,
s.a. 1051,1, 205.

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 18 The Normans in South Wales
had gathered a fleet and army from the Dansk towns of Ireland, and
had returned to England to recoup his fortunes. He was quick to
strike an alliance with the Welsh chieftain, and the new allies im-
mediately marched on Herefordshire.
This allied Welsh, Danish, and Irish force met the Norman and
English defenders of Herefordshire a few miles from the city of
Hereford itself. The battle was quickly decided. The chronicles
intimate that the Normans, with Ralph at their head, took flight even
before battle was joined. In any event, the English levies, unac-
customed to the mounted combat to which Ralph had ordered them,
broke before the Welsh attack. The battle became a rout, and Aelfgar
and Gruffydd were able to enter Hereford, which they burned and
plundered.
The situation on the border had become extremely serious, and
Harold Godwinson, a rising figure on the English scene, determined
to meet the threat which Gruffydd and Aelfgar had posed. He in-
vaded Wales, but was unable to make headway in a difficult terrain
and in the face of powerful opposition. In the interests of peace, he
was forced to come to terms with his enemies. Under the terms of
this treaty, Aelfgar was reinstated as earl of East Anglia, and Gruf-
fydd appears to have been allowed to keep his border conquests.22
Gruffydd was content under the circumstances. He had won great
wealth, and even greater prestige, and was happy for the opportunity
to use both in further consolidation of his Welsh realms.23 His posi-
tion became even better in 1057, when Aelfgar became earl of
Mercia. As friends, allies, and neighbors, Aelfgar and Gruffydd were
powerful enough to meet all threats to their position.
This situation changed drastically in the year 1062. The death of
Aelfgar deprived Gruffydd of a great source of strength, and Harold
decided to use this occasion to destroy him completely. In the Christ-
mas season, he launched a lightning attack upon Gruffydd's capital
of Rhuddlan, and the Welsh leader barely escaped with his life.
Harold then put into operation a large-scale plan of attack. While
Earl Tostig drove along the northern coast of Wales, Harold ferried
a special force of light-armed troops into the heart of Gwynedd it-
self. Gruffydd was unable to resist the superiority of his enemies and
22
This is the view of Lloyd, A History of Wales, II, 365.
23
It may well be that it was during this period he added Morgannwg to his
conquests. See Lloyd, A History of Wales, II, 367.

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 The Land and the People 19
fled into the heights of Snowdonia. His power and prestige were
swiftly declining.
He was allowed no time to recuperate. Harold's light-armed troops
followed him into the mountains, harrying him and his supporters.
Continued reverses and a mounting English pressure began to tell,
and Gruffydd's followers began falling away from him. The end came
on the fifth of August, 1063, when his own men turned on him,
killed him, and sent his head to Harold as a pledge of their submis-
sion. With this victory Harold's immediate aims were achieved.
Gruffydd's hegemony disintegrated, and Wales fell back into the
disunity which for her spelled impotence. Harold concluded favor-
able treaties with the lesser figures who succeeded Gruffydd, and a
measure of peace returned to the Welsh frontier. With this threat to
the security of England ended, Harold was able to turn to the pur-
suit of his personal designs for power.
These centuries of border warfare provide material for some im-
portant generalizations. It is clear that English expansion had halted
short of a defensible border. This long frontier could not be ade-
quately defended unless the English were willing to establish strong
settlements on the highland plateau which commanded the border
shires. Their continuing acceptance of Offa's Dyke as their western
boundary makes it clear that the English were unwilling or unable
to fight to take and to hold land which had little value apart from
strategic considerations. This being the case, England's western
border would continue to be vulnerable to Welsh attack.
Little could be done to eliminate the threat of such raids. The
Welsh had no effective central government, and hence the English
could establish no stable relations with them, short of making a
treaty with every free Welsh tribesman. Even if the latter were pos-
sible a certain amount of perfidy was built into the Welsh political
system. Neither diplomacy nor terrorism could pacify the decentral-
ized and intensely localistic Welsh for any length of time. Peace
along the border could not be secured unless a Welsh leader emerged
who was strong enough to enforce it among the turbulent tribesmen.
On those occasions when such a leader emerged, however, the
peace of the Welsh frontier was threatened in a way far more serious
than desultory raids. Firmly united and properly directed, the Welsh
were formidable enemies, and were capable of threatening the se-
curity of the entire West of England. Thus it was advantageous for

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 20 The Normans in South Wales
the English to maintain the Welsh in a state of disunity. This meant,
on the other hand, that Welsh raids would continue to disturb the
peace of the border shires. The only effective defense lay in the cre-
ation of a strong local force under capable direction and with con-
siderable freedom of action.
This was a dangerous expedient. The alliance of Aelfgar and
Gruffydd had shown that a powerful frontier lord and a Welsh king
made an extremely formidable combination. Any frontier force strong
enough to oppose Welsh attack effectively, could, in alliance with its
opponents, threaten the security of the entire realm. The reliability
of marcher troops is always doubtful, and so this danger was very
real.
This was, in essence, the dilemma of the Welsh frontier. The Eng-
lish had found no solution after having wrestled with the problem
for almost three hundred years. They were no closer to an effective
and lasting frontier policy in 1066 than in 750. It was to remain a
dilemma for the Norman invaders, and much of the history of the
Welsh frontier turns upon their various attempts to solve this prob-
lem.

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 ii. The Opening of
the Norman Conquest

IN A GENERAL SENSE the Norman Conquest of England rep-

resented the final triumph of a continental Latin tradition
over the northern Teutonic cultures which had hitherto
dominated the island. As such, the Conquest fundamentally altered
England's orientation by drawing it firmly into the continental orbit.
The English history with which we are most familiar was dominated
by factors which arose as a direct result of this new political and
social alignment. For students of that history William's victory seems
to throw a new light on the English scene. A new orientation and a
new and purposive central authority inaugurated an era of change
and development. At the same time administrators and scholars fol-
lowing in William's train recorded and expounded upon this de-
velopment. Small wonder then that later historians have experienced
"an instinctive feeling that in England our consecutive political his-
tory does, in a sense, begin with the Norman Conquest." 1
Since English historians have traditionally regarded the Conquest
as the watershed of their national development, they have lavished
much energy and erudition in investigating and commenting upon
the event. The details of the Conquest have been treated so exten-
sively elsewhere that it is unnecessary to elaborate upon them here.
The same cannot be said for its more general aspects. The same fac-
tors of political, genealogical, and constitutional motivation which
prompted the historians to their task inevitably colored their results.
1
J. H. Round, Feudal England: Historical Studies on the Xlth and Xllth
Centuries, p. 317.

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 22 The Normans in South Wales
English treatments of their Conquest suffer from much the same
partisanship and political coloration as does American historiography
of the establishment of the Constitution, and for much the same rea-
son.2 Another factor also enters the situation. Until quite recently
historians have neglected to investigate fully the continental roots
of the conquerors. As a consequence, our understanding of the nature
of pre-Conquest Norman society is at present undergoing a basic
revision.3 It is well, in this maze of scholarship, to keep in mind a few
general points which help to explain something of the development
of England immediately after the Conquest.
In the first place, to view the Conquest in terms of a national strug-
gle, as some historians have done, 4 places a great strain on the avail-
able data. It is difficult to see any national solidarity in the motley
band of Norman, Breton, French, and Angevin adventurers who ac-
companied William. Little more can be discerned on the English side.
Harold seems to have been a usurper himself and was unable to gain
the support of the great nobles of the land, such as the earls Morcar
and Edwin. 5 As early as 1068 the English people were willing to aid
their conquerors in pacifying the rebellious city of Exeter.6 While the
English were to prove a source of strength to William, the early years
of the Conquest were to see numerous rebellions among his Norman
supporters. The solidarity of the conquering group was apparent
only when an identity of interest existed between William and his
followers. Rather than being an account of a national struggle, the
Conquest of England appears to be the story of a band of adven-
2
See D. C. Douglas, The Norman Conquest and British Historians: Being the
Thirteenth Lecture on the David Murray Foundation in the University of Glas-
gow, delivered on February 20,1946.
3
The traditional view of Norman society was developed by C. H. Haskins in
a number of works, including Norman Institutions; The Normans in European
History; "Knight-Service in Normandy in the Eleventh Century," The English
Historical Review, XXII (1907), 636-649; "Normandy under William the
Conqueror," The American Historical Review, XIV (1909), 453-476; "The Nor-
man 'Consuetudines et Iusticie' of William the Conqueror," The English His-
torical Review, XXIII (1908), 502-508. Some of the recent publications in this
field are Receuil des Actes des Dues de Normandie, 911-1066, ed. Marie Faroux;
D. C. Douglas, The Rise of Normandy; C. W. Hollister, "The Norman Con-
quest and the Genesis of English Feudalism," The American Historical Review,
LXVI (1961), 641-663.
4
See E. A. Freeman, The History of the Norman Conquest of England: Its
Causes and Results.
5
H. W. C. Davis, England under the Normans and Angevins, 1066-1272, pp.
5ff.
6
See Round, Feudal England, pp. 431-455.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 23
turers, predominantly Norman, who took the crown of a disunited
land from the hands of a usurper. Neither of the opponents enjoyed
any extensive popular support, and national feeling only became
apparent at a much later date.
A second point is concerned with the degree to which the Con-
queror pursued a conscious and consistent policy in establishing a
Norman state in England. We mentioned earlier that British his-
torians regard the Norman Conquest as marking the beginning of
the political development of modern England. From this belief it
follows that every act of the Conqueror constituted a precedent for
later development. It may well be that historians attempt to find in
these precedents something of the consistency and planning which
some legalists profess to see in the system of law which the precedents
ultimately produced. The facts of the Conquest do not support such
a view. William's policy appears to have been one of political empiri-
cism, and not of theoretical principles. He acted in response to what
must have been three overwhelming pressures: the need to maintain
control over a numerically superior and potentially hostile popula-
tion;7 the need to maintain solidarity amongst the heterogeneous
band of adventurers who had helped him to conquer the country and
upon whom he now had to rely to administer it; and, finally, the need
to continue a firm control over the turbulent duchy of Normandy,
still his major base of power. William succeeded in playing various
groups against each other and, by so doing, gained all three goals.
That he did so is a tribute to his political genius but does not attest
to any conscious and consistent program on his part.
This is perhaps overstating the case, for a certain measure of con-
sistency can be detected in the facts of the Conquest. In another con-
text, the historian William Rees has said:

Invasion may be prompted by other motives than mere lust for conquest
and, in spite of apparent exceptions, it may be established as a general
rule, that economic expediency rather than political passion is the pre-
dominating and guiding principle in conquest, while the minimum of dis-
turbance necessary to attain political subjection constitutes a rude working
policy.8

7
The military potential of the English is often underestimated. See R. Glover,
"English Warfare in 1066," The English Historical Review, LXVII (1952), 1-18.
8
William Rees, South Wales and the March, 1284-1415: A Social and
Agrarian Study, p. 32.

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 24 The Normans in South Wales
The second part of this statement appears to describe William's
policy of conquest accurately. This factor lies behind his usual
tendency to try to return, at least in form, to the state of England in
Edward's time. Where it was practical to do so, William simply
assumed the position and continued the policy of the kings of Eng-
land previous to Harold's accession. Where this was impractical, he
acted as the situation seemed to warrant. The rebellion of Exeter
was treated with benign majesty, while another rebellion in the
following year caused the entire North of England to be punished
with a ruthless savagery. The situations were different and so too
were William's responses. The Conqueror was also left to his own
devices where previous policy was lacking or had proven ineffective.
Here too he proceeded realistically and empirically toward a
solution.
Much more could be said about the Conquest, but a basic thesis
is clear. William had no clear-cut and well-developed program of
administration in mind when he began to establish the Conquest.
Insofar as possible he attempted simply to take over the pre-Con-
quest structure and to exploit it for his own ends, always trying to
satisfy the pressures acting upon him with a minimum of expendi-
ture and loss of personal power. His major concern was with practi-
cality rather than precedent, and with effectiveness rather than
theory. This means that when one considers any particular aspect of
the Conqueror's activities, it is well to begin with the specific person-
alities and situations involved before proceeding to the weightier
matters of political policy and constitutional development.
In terms of the history of the Welsh frontier, the most important
personalities were the three border earls whom William eventually
established in the region. These were Hugh of Chester, Roger Mont-
gomery and, of primary importance for the southern frontier, William
Fitz-Osbern. Fitz-Osbern was one of the guiding forces directing the
course of the Conquest of England, and it was he who set the pattern
for the conquest and administration of the Welsh frontier. With his
activities in the West of England the conquest of South Wales began.
Fitz-Osbern's youth had not been an easy one. His father was
seneschal to Robert, duke of Normandy. 9 When Robert died in 1035,
9
For an excellent account of the establishment and rise to power of Fitz-
Osbern's family, see D. C. Douglas, "The Ancestors of William fitz Osbern,"
The English Historical Review, LIX (1944), 62-79. The account is more than
genealogical; it is an investigation into early Norman history.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 25
he left his seneschal as guardian of the infant duke, William the
Bastard. The office was a dangerous one. Osbern protected the infant
duke loyally until 1049 or 1050, when he was struck down in the
course of an unsuccessful attempt made by William Montgomery on
the life of the duke. 10 With the loss of their respective father and
guardian, Fitz-Osbern and the duke fled together to the protection
of friends and relatives. As the duke's power grew, Fitz-Osbern
emerged as one of his most powerful and loyal supporters, and
eventually assumed his father's old post of seneschal.11 The two
worked together to establish and extend the duke's authority, and
Fitz-Osbern performed important functions both in court and along
the Norman frontier.
In Wace's long epic on the Conquest of England, Fitz-Osbern is
pictured as the driving force behind the expedition.12 If Wace is
correct, Fitz-Osbern was in the duke's company when word was
received of Edward's death and Harold's seizure of the throne. He
took this occasion to be the first to urge upon the duke the plan of an
overseas expedition to take England from Harold. 13 His suggestion
bore its first fruit when the duke summoned the greatest of his barons
to a council on the subject. Fitz-Osbern was prominent in a company
which included some of the greatest names of early Norman history.14
Once the group had assembled at Lillebone, it became apparent that
a considerable amount of opposition to the plan existed among the
barons. Doubting the possibility of success, and reminding them-
selves that none of their obligations to the duke entailed overseas
service, opponents of the expedition began to unite against the duke's
plan. Fitz-Osbern took it upon himself to defend the duke's wishes.
His oratory does not appear to have swayed the opposition, but it
did impress the assembled barons to such a degree that they asked
him to act as their emissary to the duke. According to Wace's ac-
count, he created great consternation among the barons by immedi-
ately exceeding the authority and ignoring the directives they had
given him. Acting as a plenipotentiary rather than as an emissary,
10
William of Jumieges, "Historiae Northmannorum libri octo," Patrologia
Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, vol. CXLIX, cols. 847-848.
11
Wace, Maistre Wace's Roman de Rou et des Dues de Normandie, nach
den Handschripen, ed. H. Andresen, 11. 4413-4414, p. 207.
12
Many scholars emphasize that Wace's account is late, and its reliability is
doubtful. See especially Round, Feudal England, pp. 399-418.
is Wace, 11. 5908 ff., pp. 265 ff.
« Ibid., 11. 6003 ff., pp. 265 ff.

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 26 The Normans in South Wales
Fitz-Osbern assured the duke that the barons would give him full
support in the venture, and that each of them would pledge double
his normal obligation to the expedition.
The barons immediately objected to this high-handed procedure,
and the council broke up amidst dissent and confusion. Fitz-Osbern
had achieved his end, however, by preventing baronial opposition
from crystallizing and uniting. 15 The barons of Normandy were
henceforth able to abstain from the venture, but not to obstruct it.
Fitz-Osbern was equally active in gathering resources for the coming
invasion and, in the meeting which organized its final details, made
one of the largest contributions to the force which was being made
ready. 16 If Wace's view is accurate, William Fitz-Osbern not only
was responsible for the original conception of the plan to invade
England, but was the major cause of its successful organization in
the face of a recalcitrant and hostile nobility.
The seneschal appears to have been as active on the battlefield as
in council in supporting his lord's pursuit of the English crown. He
held no personal command at Hastings but he and his contingent
were detached to stiffen the possibly unreliable right wing which
consisted primarily of French and mercenary troops under the com-
mand of Roger Montgomery.17
By 1067 the initial stages of the Conquest had ended in victory,
and Duke William prepared to return to Normandy to take care of
matters there. He left Odo of Bayeux and William Fitz-Osbern to
administer his conquest as wardens of England. The chronicler
Florence of Worcester notes that the new warden had already been
created earl of Hereford.18 From other sources we know that Fitz-
Osbern's jurisdiction extended far beyond the borders of Hereford-
shire, and included the entire area of Norman control north of the
Thames. His special charge was the great castle which had been
" ibid., 11. 6085 ff., pp. 271 ff.
16
"In Calce hujus libelli in eadem scriptura adjicitur catalogus suppeditantium
naves ad expeditionem Willelmi comitis in Angliani," Scriptores Rerum Gestarum
Willelmi Conquestoris, ed. J. A. Giles, p. 21.
" Wace, 11. 7673-7678, pp. 333-334.
18
Florence of Worcester, Chronicon ex Chronicis . . ., s.a. 1067, II, 1. Also see
Orderic Vitalis, "Historiae Ecclesiasticae libri XIII in partes tres divisi," Patro-
logia hatina, ed. J. P. Migne, vol. CLXXXVIII, cols. 330-331. Orderic would
seem to indicate that Fitz-Osbern did not receive his earldom until 1070 or
1071. Florence's statement is much more acceptable in view of the fact that
Fitz-Osbern died quite early in 1071.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 27
19
erected at Norwich in anticipation of Danish attack. These wardens
were to play an active role in establishing the Conquest in England.
A large number of William's troops had been left behind, and special
orders had been given to press the construction of fortresses from
which these forces could dominate the land.20 This program neces-
sarily involved the expropriation of property, the impressment of
labor, and the maintenance of free access to the various cities of the
realm. In short, while the Conqueror had led the Conquest of Eng-
land, he left to Odo and Fitz-Osbern the task of further subjugation
of the land.
It was an exceedingly difficult duty. Perhaps they used overly harsh
methods in fulfilling their orders, for the hitherto quiescent opposi-
tion soon became active and violent. One would expect the partisan
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to stigmatize the Normans' rule as oppressive,
just as one would expect William of Poitiers to extoll the virtues of
the wardens. 21 Ordericus Vitalis tends to corroborate the English
view in a curious passage in his obituary for Fitz-Osbern. He charac-
terizes his subject as "the first and greatest oppressor of the Eng-
lish/' 22 The passage refers to the period of Fitz-Osbern's wardenship,
and attributes the violent outbreaks to the effects of Fitz-Osbern's
arrogance.
Whatever its cause, trouble broke out first in the western frontier,
an area commanded by Fitz-Osbern. The English leader of this
region, Edric, surnamed "the Wild" by his opponents, had submitted
to the Conqueror before the latter's return to Normandy in 1067.23
The submission was more in name than in deed, however, and Edric's
refusal to allow Norman rule in his district quickly led to a series of
clashes between his Mercian levies and the Herefordshire Normans.
The Normans, led by Richard Fitz-Scrob, a pre-Conquest settler in
the shire, repeatedly attacked the Anglo-Saxon rebel, but they could

19
William of Poitiers states that Fitz-Osbern was given command of "Guenta."
This has usually been taken as Winchester. For the actual location, see Davis,
England under the Normans and Angevins, p. 13, n. 1.
20
Orderic Vitalis, col. 306.
21
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, According to the Several Original Authorities,
ed. and trans. B. Thorpe, s.a. 1066, Part I, p. 339. Also William of Poitiers,
"Gesta Willelmi Ducis Normannorum, et Regis Anglorum a Willelmo," in
Scriptores Rerum Gestarum Willelmi Conquestoris, ed. J. A. Giles, pp. 156-157.
22
Orderic Vitalis, col. 355.
2
s Ibid., col. 306.

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 28 The Normans in South Wales
little afford the casualties he inflicted on their forces.24 The situation
took a turn for the worse in the summer of 1067 when Edric struck
an alliance with the Welsh kings Bleddyn and Rhiwallon. The com-
bined Anglo-Saxon and Welsh forces took the offensive, and de-
vastated all of Herefordshire up to the river Lugg. 25 The castles, how-
ever, appear to have remained in Norman hands. Little is known
about Norman operations against Edric in the two years following
this massive raid. It seems clear, however, that they recovered suffi-
ciently to resume their incursions into Edric's territory. It also seems
quite probable that these expeditions were used to provide a screen
for efforts to rear castles in Shropshire, Edric's home district. At any
rate, in 1069 we find Edric and his Welsh allies besieging a Norman
garrison which had established itself at Shrewsbury. In the face of
these rising threats to Norman rule, Fitz-Osbern hurried to the fron-
tier to raise the siege.26 He was successful, and Edric was forced to
withdraw, although not before burning the town. Edric's resistance
was broken either at Shrewsbury or shortly after, for the summer of
1070 saw his final submission to King William.27
By the end of 1069, however, Fitz-Osbern had been transferred
from England to Normandy to assist Queen Matilda in facing grow-
ing threats from Maine, Anjou, and Brittany.28 New opportunities
were soon opened to him in Flanders, where civil war had broken
out over the question of succession. The dowager countess, Richildis,
offered herself in marriage to the widowed Fitz-Osbern, and he had
immediately pledged her his support in the struggle. With a small
force, he joined a French column, under the leadership of Philip of
France, and moved northward to aid the countess' party. In Febru-
ary of 1071, this Franco-Norman column was met by the insurgents
and was signally defeated. William Fitz-Osbern was slain,29 and his
body interred at Cormeilles, one of the two monasteries he had en-
24
Florence of Worcester, s.a. 1067, II, 1.
25 Ibid., s.a. 1067, II, 1-2.
26
Orderic Vitalis, col. 318. Orderic's account seems to send both Brian and
Fitz-Osbern to relieve both Shrewsbury and Exeter. It seems likely that the
chronicler has confused the operations of two separate expeditions. See Freeman,
The Norman Conquest, IV, 279, n. 2.
27
Florence of Worcester, s.a. 1070, II, 7.
28
Freeman, The Norman Conquest, IV, 531, n. 1. Freeman suggests that the
transfer was ordered at the midwinter gemot.
29
Orderic Vitalis, cols. 339-340; William of Malmesbury, De gestis regum
Anglorum, libri quinque; Historiae novellae, libri tres, ed. W. Stubbs, Part II,
pp.314-315.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 29
30
dowed on his Norman estates. His Norman holdings were given to
his eldest son, William, while Roger, the younger son, received most
of his father's English holdings, including the earldom of Hereford. 31
It can be seen that William Fitz-Osbern's influence upon the Welsh
frontier was limited to the period between the beginning of his
wardenship in March of 1067, and his death in February of 1071.
Even during this four-year period, he was occupied with many things
other than his earldom of Hereford. Despite the shortness of his rule
and the fact that the majority of his energies were directed elsewhere,
he made great strides toward pacifying and organizing the region.
Although the details of his administration are hazy, enough can be
discerned to indicate that Fitz-Osbern laid down the lines along
which the further expansion of Norman power into Wales was to
proceed.
One of the first steps he took was to increase the strength of the
Norman forces resident in the area. He accomplished this by offering
such liberal rewards to his followers that knights were soon flocking
to his service. His following assumed the proportions of a private
army—one large enough to cause some concern to the Conqueror
himself.32 Fitz-Osbern took additional steps to make Herefordshire
an attractive residence for other, unattached soldiers. He did this by
strictly limiting the amounts which such men could be fined for in-
fringements of the law. This law in particular set Herefordshire apart
from the rest of England. Here the natural license of fighting men
was curbed by the threat of fines of only seven shillings. Trans-
gressors in other shires faced fines of from twenty to twenty-five
shillings.33
These methods seem to have succeeded in attracting enough
battle-ready settlers to garrison the region adequately. Enough troops
were available for Fitz-Osbern to carry out an extensive castle-build-
ing program. A series of fortresses were constructed at various points
within the earldom itself and along its western border. Wigmore was
built at the point where the river Teme descends from the Welsh
30
Orderic Vitalis, cols. 339-340. His wife, Adeliza, was already buried at
Lyre, the second of the monasteries. See "Ex Chronico Lyrensis Coenobii,"
Receuil des Historiens de Gaules et de la France, eds. M. Bouquet et al, XII
(1877), 776.
31
Orderic Vitalis, cols. 339-340.
32
William of Malmesbury, Part II, pp. 314-315.
33
Ibid., Part II, pp. 314-315. It is surprising to note that this law remained
in effect in Herefordshire as late as the time of William of Malmesbury.

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 30 The Normans in South Wales
highlands; Clifford arose where the Wye enters Herefordshire; the
old fortifications of Ewyas Harold, located at the confluence of the
Monnow and the Dore, were restored; Monmouth was built at the
juncture of the Monnow and the Wye; and Strigoil was built where
the old Roman road crossed the Wye and passed into the Welsh king-
dom of Gwent. 34 Fitz-Osbern appears also to have strengthened the
defenses of Hereford, and may have been responsible for the first
Norman fortifications at Shrewsbury.35
Domesday Book provides evidence that small boroughs had
quickly arisen around some of these fortresses. There are indications
that these settlements were established as part of a consistent pro-
gram directed by Fitz-Osbern. The first step in this program lay in
the erection of the fortresses themselves. These provided a protec-
tion that encouraged settlers and at the same time insured a market
for merchants and artisans.36 Thus it seems clear that these towns
were intended to be based on trade rather than agriculture. It is
also apparent from the examples of Hereford and Shrewsbury that
the new boroughs were French, rather than English, in character.
Within their environment, the new towns were alien and artificial,
and constituted a by-product of the Conquest.
The creation of such centers within a newly conquered area, or
along an exposed frontier, was an established practice on the con-
tinent. To attract settlers into such new towns, it was customary for
their lords to offer liberal terms in the new borough charters. 37 These
were extremely important to the success of the ventures, and set the
pattern of life the new towns were to follow. Fitz-Osbern chose to
grant to the boroughs he established the privileges enjoyed by Bre-
teuil, a frontier settlement in Normandy which had long been in his
hands. These customs, which had been devised for a frontier settle-

34
Domesday Book, or The Great Survey of England by William the Con-
queror A.D. MLXXXVI, fol. 183b, Wigmore; fol. 183, Clifford; fol. 162, Strigoil;
fol. 186, Ewyas Harold. This last was refortified by Fitz-Osbern, having been
constructed by the pre-Conquest Herefordshire Norman colony. See Round,
Feudal England, pp. 317-331. For Monmouth, see The Liber Landavensis,
Llyfr Teilo, or the Ancient Register of the Cathedral Church of Llandaff . . .,
ed. and trans. W. J. Rees, p . 266.
35
Since these fortifications were first mentioned on the occasion of Edric's siege
of them in 1069, and since Fitz-Osbern had been in command of this portion
of the frontier for two years by this date, it seems not unlikely that Shrewsbury
had been garrisoned at Fitz-Osbern's command.
36 x . F. Tout, Medieval Town Planning: A Lecture, pp. 10-11.
37
Ibid., p . 9.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 31
ment in Normandy, proved just as popular in promoting frontier
settlements in England and Wales. The low amercement, moderate
rent, and other liberal features of the laws of Breteuil were to become
characteristics of the charters granted to the Welsh towns established
by the later Norman invaders of Wales, and were carried to Ireland
by the descendants of those same conquerors. It is no exaggeration to
say that the laws of Breteuil established the pattern for the next cen-
tury of urban life along the Welsh frontier.38
Under Fitz-Osbern's leadership, the Herefordshire Normans took
the offensive against the Welsh. Followed by Walter of Lacy and his
other troops, he invaded Brycheiniog and met his opponents in at
least one decisive encounter. According to one chronicler, he laid
low "Risen et Caducan et Mariadoth," all kings of the Welsh.39 These
were apparently Cadwgan ap Meurig, king of Morgannwg, Mare-
dudd ab Owain, king of Deheubarth, and his brother, Rhys ab
Owain.40 It was a considerable victory, and it may well be that Gwent
fell into Norman hands as a result of this operation. 41
Fitz-Osbern did not attempt to displace the Welsh population of
the area he had acquired. He appears to have followed a consistent
policy of accommodation and absorption rather than complete sub-
jugation and displacement. Domesday Book states that he obtained
license from the king to grant a group of Welsh villages the same
38
See M. Bateson, "The Laws of Breteuil," The English Historical Review,
XV (1900), pp. 73-78, 302-318, 496-523, 754-757; XVI ( 1 9 0 1 ) , pp. 92-110,
332-345.
39
Orderic Vitalis, col. 331.
40
So holds J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the
Edwardian Conquest, II, 375.
41
This is the view of J. E. Lloyd. It may be that the conquest of Gwent was
deferred until the time when Roger of Breteuil, in alliance with Caradog ap
Gruffydd, defeated Maredudd ab Owain at the Rhymney River. The pertinent
data is as follows:
( 1 ) Domesday Book for Gloucestershire (fol. 162) records certain lands in
the vicinity of a castle which Fitz-Osbern had granted to Ralf of Limesi. These
lands were in Gwent, it is true, but it does not follow necessarily that other areas
of Gwent were also under Norman control.
( 2 ) Monasticon Anglicanum . . ., ed. W. Dugdale, Vol. VI, Part 2, pp. 1092-
1093. This passage records a grant made to the abbey of Lyre of "a half of all
tithes between the Usk and the Wye." This gift is almost certainly the gift of
William Fitz-Osbern or his son. The later lords of the region of Gwent supported
other religious foundations. The scope of this gift indicates that it was made
shortly after the conquest of the area.
( 3 ) Liber Landavensis, pp. 262-263. Here a passage refers to "the lord of
Gwent, Roger, son of Osbern [sic]/' In any event, Gwent was in Norman hands
sometime before 1075.

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 32 The Normans in South Wales
tax-free status they had been granted under the Welsh king, Gruf-
fydd. These settlements were left under the same Welsh prepositi,
or maers, who had been governing them under the native Welsh
princes.42 This policy was perhaps one which Fitz-Osbern had in-
herited from his English predecessors, who had absorbed the Welsh
district of Erging, or Archenfield, on much the same terms. Whatever
its origin, this approach continued to be a fundamental part of the
policy of the Norman conquerors of Wales and led directly to the
"Welsheries" of the later marcher lordships. One last piece of infor-
mation from Domesday Book also shows Fitz-Osbern's care to stabi-
lize conditions in his earldom. It is recorded that he made a series of
grants to a certain king "Mariadoth." 43 This can only be his one-time
foe, Maredudd ab Owain.44 In this we can see how peace was made
with the Welsh chieftain, and how his interests were linked with
those of the Herefordshire Normans.
It is difficult to evaluate adequately the significance of Fitz-
Osbern's accomplishments along the border. During the years when
he was so active elsewhere he somehow managed to transform the
southern marches completely. When he first arrived in 1067, Here-
fordshire was weak and vulnerable to attack from many quarters.
The land itself was prostrate from over a decade of harrying and
devastation. Fitz-Osbern established the Conquest in the region,
immeasurably strengthened its border defenses, and reduced the
Welsh chieftains along the frontier to impotence. Finally, he initi-
ated a program of internal development which slowly repaired the
damages wrought by the border strife that preceded his coming.
Thanks to the security he brought to the region and to his enlight-
ened administration, Domesday Herefordshire seems comparatively
prosperous. It is not the prosperity of a frontier boom, but of a re-
gional recovery. The framework for this recovery had been laid by
Fitz-Osbern. That even more progress was not made by 1086 should
42
Domesday Book, fol. 162.
«Ibid., fols. 187,187b.
44
Cf. Freeman, The Norman Conquest, IV, 679, n. 1. Freeman believes "Maria-
doc" to be Maredudd ap Bleddyn. This is unlikely for two reasons. In the first
place, Maredudd ap Bleddyn was still very much alive in 1087, and his lands
would not have been held by his heir, "Grifin" (Domesday Book, fol. 187b).
Secondly, "Grifin" later attempted to seize the crown of Deheubarth {Brut y
Tywysogion, or The Chronicles of the Princes, ed. J. Williams ab Ithel, s.a.
1089, p. 54). This indicates a dynastic claim which could have come only
from Maredudd ab Owain. The Annales Camhriae, ed. J. Williams ab Ithel, p.
39, shows Maredudd ap Bleddyn to have died in 1132.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 33
not be considered a condemnation of his policies. The fault lay
rather with the political incompetence and overreaching ambition of
his son, Roger of Breteuil.
Roger took over his father's English lands in February of 1071. At
approximately the same time Ralph Guader, a Breton, took command
of Fitz-Osbern's old charge of East Anglia. The two young men were
apparently good friends, for Roger soon contracted to marry Ralph's
sister. The prospect that these two powerful marcher earls should
enter into such a close alliance was not to King William's liking.
He refused to allow the marriage to take place. The young earls took
advantage of William's absence in 1075 to conclude the marriage
without royal license. This act was but the symbol of a deeper dis-
affection, and the bridal feast was used as an opportunity to organize
a rebellious conspiracy.
The rebels presented a formidable combination. They both could
draw upon strong personal armies stationed along the frontier and
they both possessed virtually impregnable private castles. They
searched for outside aid and found it forthcoming. Ralph was able to
obtain a pledge of support from the Danish court, which still enter-
tained English ambitions. Together, they enlisted the aid of Waltheof,
the English earl of Northumbria. The addition of another marcher
earl increased the forces and fortresses at their disposal, and they
had some hopes that, with Waltheof as their figurehead, the English
could be induced to join their movement. The strength and prospects
of the rebels were sufficient to cause William's deputy, Lanfranc, no
little concern.
Actual rebellion, however, showed the real weakness of the rebels.
Waltheof quickly repented, and Ralph and Roger soon found that
they could not count on any English support of their cause. On the
contrary, when Roger tried to march overland to join Ralph, he found
his passage of the Severn blocked by the fyrd of Worcestershire.
Another fyrd marched against Ralph, whose Danish support had
failed to materialize. The rebellion soon collapsed, and with it the
fortunes of the house of Breteuil. Roger and his followers were
stripped of their possessions, and Roger himself was sentenced to
perpetual imprisonment.45
This rebellion forced King William to re-evaluate his system of

45
The details of Roger's rebellion are covered by Orderic Vitalis, cols. 351-
356.

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 34 The Normans in South Wales
frontier defense. In erecting a series of counties palatine along the
border—Chester, Shrewsbury, and Hereford—William had, in effect,
attempted to follow the same policy pursued by Edward the Con-
fessor in maintaining Harold Godwinson along this same border.
William had been guided by considerations of expediency and prac-
ticality in choosing his personnel and in establishing their authority.
Giving these men sufficient strength to protect the frontier meant
allowing them to recruit private armies of considerable size and
erect private fortresses of great defensive strength. In order to pro-
tect himself from the dangers that such a system implied, William
quite sensibly recruited his border earls from those men of whose
loyalty he was most assured. Only the wealthier of his followers could
afford such a position, however, for the defense of the Welsh frontier
required a far greater expenditure than the revenues of the border
shires could defray.46 It was necessary to make the arduous and often
costly business of frontier guard attractive to his men. William ac-
complished this by granting his border earls liberties, prestige, and a
certain measure of independence.
As long as loyal followers such as William Fitz-Osbern manned
the frontier, the system was efficient, economical, and effective. In
the normal course of things, however, thanks to inheritance, King
William could not always hope to dictate who would hold these po-
sitions and the privileges which went with them. The loyalty of the
fyrds during Roger's rebellion must have been gratifying to the king,
but his enforced reliance upon them at this critical juncture must
have been alarming. William saw the dangers of the frontier system
he had established, and did not return to it when the immediate
trouble had passed. The escheated earldom of Roger of Breteuil was
left vacant under royal administration. Meanwhile he searched for
other means to secure peace along the frontier.
Political developments within Wales eventually provided William
with a solution to his problem. It was not until 1081 that a measure
of order began to emerge from the confusion which had ensued after
the collapse of the Pax Anglicana which Harold had established
following the defeat of Gruffydd ap Llewelyn. The steps by which
this unity came about started inauspiciously, with the invasion of
Deheubarth by Caradog ap Gruffydd ap Rhydderch.
46
See W. J. Corbett, "The Development of the Duchy of Normandy and the
Norman Conquest of England," The Cambridge Mediaeval History, eds. J. R.
Tanner et al.y V, 506-511.

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 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 35
Caradog, king of the mountainous district of Gwynllwg, was an
inveterate opportunist whose power had increased steadily since the
elimination of Gruffydd ap Llewelyn. He maintained a free hand by
refusing to enter into the system which Harold had constructed.
Instead, he struck out at English power as soon as it was practical,
and he gained considerable prestige by doing so. In 1065, he plun-
dered a royal lodge which Harold had built in lower Gwent and
escaped to the mountains to enjoy his loot.47 In 1071, some seven
years later, he enlisted the aid of the Normans in defeating Mare-
dudd ab Owain, Fitz-Osbern's old enemy, in a battle fought on the
Rhymney River, on the western border of Gwynllwg. 48 Sometime
about 1073 or 1074, he succeeded in replacing Cadwgan ap Meurig
as king of Morgannwg. Now, in 1081, he was moving against Deheu-
barth.
His sudden attack was so successful that Rhys ap Tewdwr, king of
Deheubarth, was forced to take refuge at St. David's. Rhys soon
received an unexpected ally in Gruffydd ap Cynan, the deposed ruler
of Gwynedd. Gruffydd had sought aid in Ireland and had returned
to Wales at the head of a force of Welsh, Irish, and Danish troops,
intent on regaining his lost throne. It was only natural for the two to
strike an alliance, especially since Traehaearn ap Caradog, the reign-
ing king of Gwynedd, was marching south to join forces with Cara-
dog ap Gruffydd. The two sets of enemies met at Mynedd Cam, and
Rhys and Gruffydd were completely victorious.49 The defeat effec-
tively halted Caradog's climb to power. Rhys gained in prestige what
Caradog lost, and by 1081 had emerged as the paramount ruler of the
entire region of southwest Wales.
It is at this point that King William entered the scene. Later in the
year 1081, it is surprising to note, the Conqueror was moved to pay
a visit to the isolated see of St. David's. Contemporary accounts
ascribe differing motives for this arduous undertaking. 50 The Welsh
chronicle Brut y Tywysogion suggests that a pious regard for the
great saint of South Wales may have prompted the Conqueror's visit

47
Liber Landavensis, p. 278; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 1065, Part I,
p. 330.
48
Brut y Tywysogion, p. 26.
49
The location of Mynedd Cam has never been determined. See Lloyd, A
History of Wales, II, 384, n. 2.
50
For a full discussion of the various contemporary accounts, see Freeman,
The Norman Conquest, IV, 679-680, n. 3 and 4.

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 36 The Normans in South Wales
51
to his shrine. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, on the other hand, states
that William led a fyrd into Wales, and "freed many hundred men."52
It may well be that both of these sources missed the real point of the
event. Modern analysts have suggested that there may well have been
a diplomatic purpose in William's actions, and that William used this
opportunity to accept Rhys' homage and to reinvest him with Deheu-
barth as a feudal fief.53
This suggestion has much to recommend it. By making such a
treaty, William could have hoped to obtain peace along the frontier
while at the same time freeing himself to curb the dangerous border
barons. Prior to the battle of Mynedd Carn the pattern of political
power in South Wales had been such that no potential vassal existed
powerful enough to assure William that the peace would be kept.
The fact that William's visit followed so closely upon the heels of
Rhys' triumph strongly suggests that an agreement with the victor of
Mynedd Carn was the actual reason for the Conqueror's remarkable
journey.
Such an arrangement would not have been in the least unusual.
Ample precedent existed in the oaths of fealty which Welsh chief-
tains had made to the kings of Anglo-Saxon England. As late as 1063,
Harold, acting in the name of Edward, had granted the kingdoms of
Wales to Bleddyn and Rhiwallon. Bleddyn and Rhiwallon had then
sworn fealty to Edward and Harold, promising to obey their com-
mands and "to pay properly all which the country paid to preceding
kings."54 King William generally attempted to follow the customs of
Edward's time, and took great care that his followers enjoyed the
same dues and responsibilities as their predecessors. It does not seem
likely that he would have failed to pursue the same goal in his own
case, and to restore an arrangement which had been acceptable and
profitable to Edward the Confessor.
It is not sufficient, however, simply to prove that such a treaty was
possible; more positive evidence is required. Domesday Book may
well supply this evidence when it records the annual obligation of a
certain "Riset" to pay forty pounds to the king.55 It can be noted later

51
Brut y Tywysogion, p. 50.
52
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, s.a. 1081, Part I, p. 351.
53
Lloyd, A History of Wales, II, 394; Freeman, The Norman Conquest, IV,
679.
54
Florence of Worcester, I, 222.
55
Domesday Book, fol. 179.

Nelson_1136.pdf 44 11/27/2013 8:15:39 AM

 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 37
in the same compilation that Robert of Rhuddlan pays a similar
sum as the ferm of his fief of North Wales. It is tempting, therefore,
to infer that "Riset" is Rhys ap Tewdwr, and that his payment is the
ferm of his fief of South Wales. This suggestion has its opponents,
however, and among them is the redoubtable J. H. Round, who
states:

One must not introduce into the text the tempting conjecture that this
was Rhys ap Tewdwr, who became king of South Wales in 1079, an event
which, Mr. Freeman suggested, might not be unconnected with William's
expedition through South Wales not long after, when he is said to have
reduced the Welsh kings to submission. The absence of rex before "Riset"
is against the conjecture.56

If Round's argument is correct, a number of problems arise. What

was the actual purpose of William's visit to St. David's, and how can
one explain the peculiar peace which descended on the Welsh fron-
tier in the years following it? The treaty of 1081, if such existed,
would provide the key to the understanding of the history of the
Welsh frontier for the next decade. It would be well, therefore, to ex-
amine Mr. Round's admonition more closely before rejecting the pos-
sibility.
In the first place, Mr. Round argues from silence—in this case,
from the lack of the title rex. We must first ask ourselves how regu-
larly his contemporaries dignified Rhys with the title "king." The
Brut y Tyxvysogion, derived from a contemporary account probably
written in the vicinity of either St. David's or Aberystwyth, is likely
to have had a most ample knowledge of Rhys. He is mentioned in
five entries, but in only one of them is he styled "brenhin Deheu-
barth," or "king of Southwest Wales." In this single instance, more-
over, the chronicler was writing his obituary and had every reason
for stressing his high station.57 The Annates Cambriae deny him the
title even in this instance and call him "Rector dextralis partis" in-
stead.58 Both of these chronicles are drawn from the same contempo-
rary source and may share this source's peculiarities. It must be
stressed, on the other hand, that this source was written in Deheu-

56
J. H. Round, "Introduction to the Herefordshire Domesday," The Victoria
Histories of the Counties of England: Hereford, Vol. I, ed. W. Page, p. 281,
n. 109.
57
Brut y Tywysogion, s.a. 1091 [sic], p. 54.
58
Annates Cambriae, p. 29.

Nelson_1136.pdf 45 11/27/2013 8:15:39 AM

 38 The Normans in South Wales
barth itself and is more likely than any other to have reflected the
most stringent contemporary usage in this matter. It seems clear that
Rhys' friends and followers did not insist on calling him brenhin or
rex. It does not seem very likely that Domesday would have scrupu-
lously observed the courtesy.
Mr. Round would probably not have been so concerned about this
lack of title were it not for the fact that Domesday uses the title rex
in reference to another Welsh leader only a few folios after omitting
it in Riset's case. The problem then is why Domesday should use the
title in one instance and not in another. Round's conclusion is that
Riset had no claim to the title. A closer examination of the situation,
however, reveals another possible solution. The passage where rex
is used is one describing the Herefordshire estates held by a certain
"Grifin," obviously Gruffydd ap Maredudd ab Owain ab Edwin, son
of Fitz-Osbern's old enemy.59 Domesday here styles the father, "Ma-
riadoc," as rex no less than four times. Maredudd's claim to royal
status was valid. He had become king of Deheubarth in the general
reorganization of Wales which had followed the death of Gruffydd ap
Llewelyn in 1063.60 He ruled this land until his death at the hands of
Caradog and his Norman allies in 1072. The throne then passed to his
brother, Rhys ab Owain, who was killed by the same Caradog in
1078. The throne then fell vacant until taken up by Rhys ap Tewdwr,
a kinsman of Maredudd through their common grandfather, Eineon. 61
It can be seen that the Herefordshire landholder, Gruffydd, had a
much stronger hereditary claim to the throne of Deheubarth than did
the reigning king, Rhys. It belonged to Gruffydd by the simple appli-
cation of primogeniture. Hereditary claims, however, without the
fact of possession, had little validity in Wales. Only a few years after
Domesday, Gruffydd was killed while attempting to take possession
of the throne to which he was the heir.62 Here then is a possible ex-
planation of Domesday's willingness to grant the title rex to Mare-
dudd but not to Rhys. Gruffydd, a substantial tenant of Hereford-
shire, had every reason to insist on his father's regal status while
denying the same status to Rhys. It may well be that Gruffydd did

59
Domesday Book, fol. 187b. See note 44 above.
so Lloyd, A History of Wales, II, 372.
6i Ibid., II, 767.
62
Brut y Tywysogion, s.a. 1089, p. 54. Note that the Brut lags two years at
this point. The actual date is 1091.

Nelson_1136.pdf 46 11/27/2013 8:15:39 AM

 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 39
exactly this, and that Domesday simply records the personal preju-
dices and ambitions of Gruffydd ap Maredudd.
Thus the omission of the title rex with reference to Riset does not
prove that he was not Rhys ap Tewdwr. Indeed, it suggests quite the
opposite. The Domesday evidence, then, indicates that an arrange-
ment was made between William and Rhys in which Rhys received
Deheubarth as a feudal fief in exchange for an annual render of
forty pounds. Additional documentary evidence supporting this thesis
may be found in the Brut y Tywysogion. This Welsh chronicle refers
to William the Conqueror a number of times, and a curious pattern
of titles is used. The entry for 1066 styles him "William the Bastard,
prince [tywyssawc] of Normandy." 63 It then continues to describe
his conquest of England. In the entry for 1081 (listed 1079), he has
become "Gwilim Vastard Vrenhin y Saeson ar Freinc ar Brytanyeit/' 64
In the usage of the Brut, Saeson is generic for all English, while by
Freinc is meant the Normans and not the French proper. Thus his
title has become "William the Bastard, king of the English, Nor-
mans, and Britons [Welsh]." This is a title he did not lose. His
obituary reads "Gwilim Vastard, tywyssawc y Normanyeit a brenhin
y Saeson ar Brytanyeit ar Albanwyr." The important point to be
noted is the use of the title brenhin y Brytanyeit. The last person,
previous to William, to bear such a title in the Brut was Gruffydd ap
Llewelyn, a man who had united all of Wales under his sway.
It seems hardly likely that this title was simply rhetorical or hon-
orific. Both from geographical location and from interest, the Brut
was very close to the political realities of the times. The subject
matter of this chronicle consists primarily of accounts of the dynastic
struggles and conspiracies through which men pursue such titles.
One need only note that the last entry stresses that William is king of
the English, but only prince (tywyssawc) of the Normans. Again, he
appears as brenhin y[r] Albanwyr. William had a good claim to this
title King of the Scots, as the result of a feudal arrangement much the
same as that which probably took place between himself and Rhys.
Taken in themselves, the titles accorded to William by the Brut y
Tywysogion are perhaps inconclusive evidence of a rapprochement
between the Welsh and English kings. Yet they are most easily ex-

63
Ibid., pp. 44-46.
64
Ibid., p. 50.

Nelson_1136.pdf 47 11/27/2013 8:15:39 AM

 40 The Normans in South Wales
plained by assuming that William actually did receive homage from
Rhys during his journey into Wales. Certain other facts also support
this theory. The endemic warfare of the Welsh frontier and the Nor-
man raids which had slashed deep into the heart of Deheubarth sud-
denly came to an end. The remainder of Rhys' reign was marred only
by internecine struggles.65 On the English side of the frontier the
occupation of Gwent appears to have proceeded peacefully, and
Domesday reveals a countryside slowly recovering from the effects of
the Welsh attacks which had marked the 1060's. The situation along
the border remained peaceful until after the death of Rhys ap
Tewdwr, when the Normans burst in on South Wales like a long-pent
flood—as if only the existence of the Welsh king had stayed their
advance.
When all the evidence is considered, three possible political mo-
tives for William's pilgrimage to St. David's emerge. First, he may
have felt it wise to reinforce the ascendancy which Rhys had gained
at Mynedd Cam and thus maintain in authority a figure with whom
it would be possible to deal in stabilizing his Welsh frontier. Sec-
ondly, an expedition in force would be useful in impressing upon the
Welsh of Morgannwg their now precarious position between two
powerful and allied powers. This would do much to curb their ad-
venturous spirit and to heighten the prospects of peace along the
southern frontier. His third motive was probably to bring about the
personal confrontation which was necessary to perform the solemn
act of homage. This relationship would have been far more valuable
to William than a simple restoration of the arrangements which Ed-
ward the Confessor had made with the dangerous Welsh.
The treaty of 1081 had numerous advantages for William. A strong
and loyal Rhys ap Tewdwr made it unlikely that the Welsh would
ally with rebellious Norman border lords against the king. At the
same time, even a small Norman border force could threaten the
comparatively weak, but pivotal, buffer states of Brycheiniog,
Gwynllwg, and Morgannwg. Without control of these vital invasion

65
Ibid., pp. 52-55. In 1088, Rhys was driven from Deheubarth by the attack
of two sons of the king of Powys. He obtained Danish aid from Ireland, defeated
the invaders, and regained power. In 1091, he was attacked by Gruffydd ap
Maredudd ab Owain. This latter attack may have been aided and encouraged
by Gruffydd's Norman neighbors in Herefordshire, but there is no evidence that
they took a direct part in the attack.

Nelson_1136.pdf 48 11/27/2013 8:15:39 AM

 The Opening of the Norman Conquest 41
routes, Rhys did not present an active threat to the security of the
border shires. William's original plan had been to create the border
earldoms of Chester, Shrewsbury, and Hereford as semi-independent
military buffer states. This policy had proven dangerous. With
danger of Welsh attack lessened, the independence and power of the
Norman border lords could be safely limited, or at least a start could
be made in that direction. Meanwhile, the border shires could con-
tinue their slow process of recovery and growth.

Nelson_1136.pdf 49 11/27/2013 8:15:39 AM

Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
No hay como vivir para aprender a tener compasión de los que
viven.
La habilidad es la cualidad de los pequeños.
Las virtudes son menos estimadas por aquellos que viven en
constante contacto con los virtuosos.
Hay sucesos tales, que exigen tanta grandeza en los que han de
soportarlos como en los que los realizan.
¿Qué es la grandeza, sino el poder de embridar las pasiones, y el
deber de ser justo y de prever?
El lamento es de ruines cuando está en frente la obra.
Suelen mezquinas causas domar a hombres egregios.
En tiempos de peligro, el pesar mayor es estar lejos de él.
¡Cuán poco puede el genio generoso contra la obra de la discordia
de los hombres!
¡Qué dolor ver claramente en las entrañas de los siglos futuros y
vivir enclavado en su siglo!
Es la palabra águila que no consiente tener plegadas las alas largo
tiempo.
Hallan los hombres excusa a los actos censurables en la frecuencia
con que éstos acontecen y en la impunidad en que queda el delito.
Es más fácil apoderarse de los ánimos moviendo sus pasiones, que
enfrenándolas.
Traiciones tiene la Historia, y parricidios.
Prevenirse no está de más, si se quiere salvar el espíritu de América,
y se le tiene en algo, y se sabe lo que vale.
Es de hijos poner, y no quitar, a la virtud y hacienda que les vinieron
de sus padres.
Honrar en el nombre lo que en la esencia se abomina y combate, es
como apretar en amistad un hombre al pecho y clavarle un puñal en
el costado.
Tiene el chiste su decoro literario, y el buen ingenio desdeña esa
barata jocosidad que está en hacer alusiones a cosas deshonestas.
Ni religión católica hay derecho de enseñar en las escuelas, ni
religión anticatólica.
Sea libre el espíritu del hombre y ponga el oído directamente sobre
la tierra; que si no hubiera debido ser así, no habría sido puesto en
contacto de la tierra el hombre.
Poesía es un pedazo de nuestras entrañas, o el aroma del espíritu
recogido, como en cáliz de flor, por manos delicadas y piadosas.
Entristece ver a los hombres movidos por sus pasiones o azuzando
las ajenas.
Los siglos se petrifican y se hacen hombres; pero para eso es
necesario que pasen siglos. Después, a gran distancia, se observan
mejor su tamaño y su obra.
El que vió hervir en tacho burdo el hierro de que se hizo el primer
clavo, no imaginó la fogueante y hendente locomotora, que cabalga
en los montes y los lleva a rastras.
Savia quieren los pueblos y no llagas.
Es estéril el consorcio de dos razas opuestas.
Las grandes personalidades, luego que desaparecen de la vida, se
van acentuando y condensando; y cuando se convoca a los
escultores para alzarles estatuas, se ve que no es ya esto tan
preciso, porque como que se han petrificado en el aire por la virtud
de su mérito, y las ve todo el mundo.
Hay seres humanos en quienes el derecho encarna y llega a ser
sencillo e invencible, como una condición física.
La Humanidad no se redime sino por determinada cantidad de
sufrimiento, y cuando unos la esquivan, es preciso que otros la
acumulen, para que así se salven todos.
Es dado a ciertos espíritus ver lo que no todos ven.
Para otros la Tierra es un plato de oro, en que se gustan manjares
sabrosos; y los hombres, acémilas, buenas para que los afortunados
las cabalguen.
La prosperidad que no está subordinada a la virtud, avillana y
degrada a los pueblos; los endurece, corrompe y descompone.
La perla está en su concha y la virtud en el espíritu humano.
La virtud crece.
El honor humano es imperecedero e irreducible, y nada lo desintegra
ni amengua, y cuando de un lado se logra oprimirlo y desvanecerlo,
salta inflamado y poderoso de otro.
Odian los hombres y ven como a enemigo al que con su virtud les
echa involuntariamente en rostro que carecen de ella; pero apenas
ven desaparecer a uno de esos seres acumulados y sumos, que son
como conciencias vivas de la Humanidad, y como su médula, se
aman y aprietan en sigilo y angustia en torno del que les dió honor y
ejemplo, como si temiesen que, a pesar de sus columnas de oro,
cuando un hombre honrado muere, la humanidad se venga abajo.
Se afirma un pueblo que honra a sus héroes.
La vida es relativa y no absoluta.
Los pueblos pueden necesitar de la protección, como un niño de
andadores.
Puede ser útil proteger una industria genuina, mientras las
restricciones necesarias para protegerla no impongan a la nación un
sacrificio superior al beneficio que a toda luz haya de sacar de ella.
Con el mucho auxilio sucede a las industrias lo que a la criatura a
quien nunca saquen del andador: que no aprenderá a andar.
Lo que se vió es lo que importa, y no quien lo vió.
El apuntador molesta en los libros como en el teatro.
Lo que se quiere es saber lo que enseña la vida, y enoja que no nos
dejen ver la vida como es, sino con estos o aquellos espejuelos.
Con tanto como se escribe está aún en sus primeros pañales la
literatura servicial y fuerte.
El hombre es uno, y el orden y la entidad son las leyes sanas e
irrefutables de la naturaleza.
Los pueblos no se rebelan contra las causas naturales de su
malestar, sino contra las que nacen de algún desequilibrio o
injusticia.
Todo acto equitativo en provecho de la masa laboriosa, contribuye a
afirmar la seguridad pública.
La América ha de promover todo lo que acerque a los pueblos, y de
abominar todo lo que los aparte.
Las puertas de cada nación deben estar abiertas a la actividad
fecundante y legítima de todos los pueblos.
Las manos de cada nación deben estar libres para desenvolver sin
trabas el país, con arreglo a su naturaleza distintiva y a sus
elementos propios.
Los pueblos todos deben reunirse en amistad y con la mayor
frecuencia dable, para ir reemplazando, con el sistema del
acercamiento universal, por sobre la lengua de los istmos y la
barrera de los mares, el sistema, muerto para siempre, de dinastías
y de grupos.
 IX
Del vol. "Norteamericanos".

IX

Se pelea mientras hay por qué, ya que puso la naturaleza la

necesidad de justicia en unas almas, y en otras la de desconocerla y
ofenderla.
Los bravos olvidan.
Se nota, después de las guerras, que los que olvidan menos son los
menos bravos, o los que pelearon sin justicia y viven en el miedo de
su victoria.
Pueblos hay y gentes, de oro por fuera, que son una cueva de
duendes insomnes por dentro.
Sólo los pueblos pequeños perpetúan sus guerras civiles.
Como bueno, caballo contra caballo, se dirimen las contiendas que
arrebata al dictamen de la razón la ferocidad del hombre.
Culminan las montañas en pico y los pueblos en hombres.
El silencio es el pudor de los grandes caracteres.
La queja es una prostitución del carácter.
Aquel que es capaz de algo y muere sin que le haya llegado su hora,
muere en calma, que en alguna parte le llegará. Y si no llega, bien
está; ya es bastante grande el que es capaz de serlo.
En una República, un hombre que no vota es como en un ejército un
soldado que deserta.
En el egoísta hay más personalidad, visible al menos, que en el
desinteresado; pero sólo en el desinteresado hay verdadera
grandeza.
Denuedo vence a denuedo.
A los hombres les importa más, a los hombres que llegan con el
deseo a donde no les llega el patriotismo, les importa más quedar
primero que salvar la patria.
No es lo mismo, por cierto, pelear donde el enemigo se ha
preparado para resistir que donde tiene que acudir imprevista y
precipitadamente.
Ni hombres ni hechos derivan grandeza permanente sino de su
asimilación con una época o con una nación.
No hay faena más complicada y sutil que la del gobierno, ni cosa
que requiera más práctica del mundo, sumisión y ciencia.
El genio es conocimiento acumulado.
Por toda suerte de condiciones habrá sido útil pasar, para ser
benigno y justo, según diferentes normas, con los hombres de todas
condiciones.
Han de tenerse en grado igual sumo la conciencia del derecho
propio y el respeto al derecho ajeno; y de éste se ha de tener un
sentimiento más delicado y vivo que de aquél, porque de su abuso
sólo puede venir debilidad, y del de aquél puede caerse en
despotismo.
Todo lo que vive se expresa.
Lo que se contiene se desborda.
Tiene artes increíbles la lisonja.
Los talentos, para ser eficaces, han de reunir en sí ambos sexos; el
hombre, que invade; la mujer, clemente.
Obscurecerse es bien, si así se evita ensangrentar la patria.
A ciertos actos no es dado el ser entendido por ciertas mentes.
La grandeza lastima a los que no son grandes.
Se han de poner las esperanzas en lo que no se pierdan; jamás en
hombres, escurridizos como las serpientes.
Los pueblos yerran en las horas de crisis que les turban el juicio;
pero, en reposo, es admirable su justicia; ven el hecho, el carácter,
el peligro, como entre nubes; pero lo ven; y si por el odio, el interés
o el amor, suelen extremar o desviar sus opiniones, es lo más común
que las tengan justas y seguras.
La Tierra tiene sus cráteres; la especie humana sus oradores. Nacen
de un gran dolor, de un gran peligro o de una gran infamia.
Los oradores, como los leones, duermen hasta que los despierta un
enemigo digno de ellos.
Sólo resisten el vaho venenoso del poder las cabezas fuertes.
El espíritu despótico del hombre se apega con amor mortal a la
fruición de ver de arriba y mandar como dueño, y una vez que ha
gustado de este gozo, le parece que le sacan de cuajo las raíces de
la vida cuando lo privan de él.
No mueren nunca sin dejar enseñanza los hombres en quienes
culminan los elementos y caracteres de los pueblos; por lo que, bien
entendida, viene a ser un curso histórico la biografía de un hombre
prominente.
En la elevación de cada hombre, por más que pueda parecer injusta
y casual, hay causas fijas y de gran cuantía, ya residan por fuerza
original en el encumbrado, ya dominen por fuerza nacional en el
pueblo que los encumbra.
Todo gobernante representa, aun en las formas más extraviadas y
degradantes del gobierno, una fuerza activa y considerable, visible u
oculta; y cae, cualesquiera que sean su poder y aparato legal,
cuando esta fuerza cesa, o él cesa de representarla.
No hay en los pueblos cosa más real que sus gobiernos.
Las repúblicas tienen, como excrecencias de su majestad y gusanos
de su tronco, sus callejuelas y sus pasadizos; y así como en las
horas de tormenta el instinto seguro del pueblo le lleva a elegir por
guía el águila que cruza con más serenidad el aire, sucede en las
horas de calma, cuando las águilas reposan, que las ambiciones,
hábiles de suyo y agresivas, se entran por donde duerme la
verdadera grandeza, que sólo da cuenta de sí cuando un peligro
digno de ella viene a despertarla.
En un país de pensamiento, sólo por las sorpresas de la guerra
puede subir un hombre inculto al poder.
No hay espectáculo, en verdad, más odioso que el de los talentos
serviles.
Quien lisonjea, manda.
Domina a los hombres el que aparenta servirlos, y tiene más seguro
el mando aquel que no deja ver que lo desea, ni lastima la ambición,
orgullo o decoro de sus émulos con el espectáculo de su presunción
o soberbia.
Dos que han pecado juntos, son eternos amigos.
Cuando todas las noblezas se han obscurecido en el hombre, aún es
capaz de la pasión de amigo, y se encarniza en ella, como para
probarse que no es enteramente vil.
Si hay algo sagrado en cuanto alumbra el Sol, son los intereses
patrios.
No hay viles mayores que los que miran exclusivamente los intereses
de la patria como medios de satisfacer su vanidad o levantar su
fortuna.
Jamás debe apartarse de los cuidados públicos, ni en los momentos
de mayor paz, la gente honrada.
No debe abandonarse por descuido lo que habrá de reconquistarse
luego a gran costa.
No hay furia mayor que la de los caudillos rivales de un mismo
partido.
Hay pocas cosas en el mundo que sean tan odiadas como los
hipócritas.
El decoro encalla donde la intriga sale ilesa.
Donde se plantan pudres no hay que esperar olores.
El que viola el derecho, la paz y la independencia de la casa ajena,
es como un bandido y rufián de las naciones, a la que lo de cesárea
y omnipotente no quitaría la mancha de criminal y de villana.
Quien ha sabido preservar su decoro sabe lo que vale el ajeno, y lo
respeta.
El talento la naturaleza lo da y vale lo mismo que un albaricoque o
una nuez; pero el carácter no; el carácter se lo hace el hombre; y
con su sangre lo anima y colora, y con sus manos lo salva de
tentaciones que, como sirenas, le cantan; y de riesgos que, como
culebras, lo vahean.
El carácter sí es motivo de orgullo, y quien lo ostenta, resplandece.
Como mármol ha de ser el carácter: blanco y duro.
¿Qué es, por desdicha, la política práctica, más que la lucha por el
goce del poder?
El lenguaje es humo cuando no sirve de vestido al sentimiento
generoso o la idea eterna.
Los partidos desdeñosos con quienes los solicitan, acaban por
solicitar a quienes los desdeñan.
El necio sólo confía en los meros poderes naturales.
Cada condición lleva consigo, como todo lo que existe en lo material
o espiritual, una cantidad igual de vida o muerte.
Al poder se sube casi siempre de rodillas. Los que suben de pie son
los que tienen derecho a él.
Todo lo que no sea virtud pura es a la larga apoyo deleznable en
política.
De cada nuevo hervor sale más bello el mundo.
El ejercicio de la libertad conduce a la religión nueva.
¿A qué sino a desconfiar de la eficacia de la existencia han de llevar
las religiones que castigan y los gobiernos tétricos?
Donde la razón campea florece la fe en la armonía del Universo.
El hombre crece tanto, que ya se sale de su mundo e influye en el
otro. Por la fuerza de su conocimiento abarca la composición de lo
invisible, y por la gloria de una vida de derecho llega a sus puertas
seguro y dichoso.
Cuando las condiciones de los hombres cambian, cambian la
literatura, la filosofía y la religión, que es una parte de ella.
Cada sacudida en la historia de un pueblo altera su olimpo.
La entrada del hombre en la ventura y ordenamiento de la libertad
produce, como una colosal florescencia de lirios, la fe casta y
profunda en la utilidad y justicia de la Naturaleza.
La salud de la libertad prepara a la dicha de la muerte.
Cuando se ha vivido para el hombre, ¿quién nos podrá hacer mal, ni
querer mal?
La vida se ha de llevar con bravura y a la muerte se la ha de esperar
con un beso.
En vano concede la Naturaleza a algunos de sus hijos cualidades
privilegiadas; porque serán polvo y azote si no se hacen carne de su
pueblo, mientras que si van con él, y le sirven de brazo y de voz, por
él se verán encumbrados, como las flores que lleva en su cima una
montaña.
Los hombres son productos, expresiones, reflejos. Viven, en lo que
coinciden con su época o en lo que se diferencian marcadamente de
ella; lo que flota, les empuja y pervade; no es aire sólo lo que les
pesa sobre los hombros, sino pensamiento; esas son las grandes
bodas del hombre: sus bodas con la patria.
Hay palabras de instinto, que vienen sobre el mundo en las horas de
renuevo, como los huracanes y las avalanchas; retumban y purifican,
como el viento; elaboran sin conciencia, como los insectos y las
arenas de la mar.
La religión venidera y perdurable está escrita en las armonías del
Universo.
Los hombres abandonan a los que se deciden a vivir sin adularlos.
El mejor modo de servir a Dios es ser hombre y cuidar de que no se
menoscabe la libertad.
El amor de una mujer joven trastorna a los ancianos, como si
volviera a llenarles la copa vacía de la vida.
La piedad es el sello de las almas escogidas.
Cuando la Naturaleza escribe "Grandeza", escribe "Ternura".
El que la nación educa, si no aprende para vil, debe dar la flor de su
trabajo, la flor de su vida, a la nación.
Los hombres pueden levantar puentes más fácilmente que levantar
almas.
Los hombres gustan de comer y de dormir, y se entretienen en
cortarse las alas y en ver caer al polvo sus mejores plumas, en vez
de ceñírselas a los hombros, como para tenderlas vía del Cielo.
Dos madres tienen los hombres: la Naturaleza y las circunstancias.
Dan de sí las épocas nuevos hombres que las simbolizan.
Ya no fabrican los hombres en el fondo del río, sino en el aire.
Cada siglo que pasa es un puñado más de verdades que el hombre
guarda en su arca.
Cuando el hombre ha vaciado su espíritu, puede ya dejar la Tierra.
Una mujer buena es un perpetuo arco iris.
El soldado es el único que puede cometer crímenes sin deshonrarse.
Dentro de la maldad se crean virtudes relativas.
Sólo saca de sí su fuerza entera el que vive en la arrogancia interior
de ser querido.
No hay fraternidad más temible en las repúblicas que la de los
militares, por cuanto, a más de fortalecerse por el interés común,
viene de hechos heroicos que apasionan con justicia a los pueblos y
hacen conmovedora y sincera la unión de los que los realizaron
juntamente.
La muerte engrandece cuanto se acerca a ella; y jamás vuelven a
ser enteramente pequeños los que la han desafiado.
El triunfar no está en ser, sino en lucir.
La guerra es poética y se nutre de leyendas y asombros.
La guerra no es serventesio repulido con ribete de consonante y
encaje de acentos.
La guerra es oda. Quiere caballos a escape, cabezas desmelenadas,
ataques imprevistos, mentiras gloriosas, muertes divinas. Quiere
héroes que sepan echar la vida al aire, como el matador echa al
brindar el toro la montera.
La muchedumbre humana es aún servil y ama al que vence.
El alma humana es como una caja de colores que, al sol de la gloria,
resplandece.
Los cráneos están llenos de colores.
El hombre ama lo centelleante y pintoresco.
La caballería es como el gerifalte de la guerra moderna, en caer
cuando no se la espera, en venirse con la presa en los dientes, en
recogerse cuando lo quiere el cazador.
El valor crece a caballo. En el caballo hay gloria.
El mejor modo de hacerse adorar por los soldados, es no
sacrificarlos sin necesidad y pelear a su cabeza.
Hay batallas sin sangre; batallas en que la sangre corre donde no se
ve.
Los que desdeñan el arte son hombres de estado a medias.
La paz es el deseo secreto de los corazones y el estado natural del
hombre.
Los defectos nacionales, como las virtudes, son elementos políticos.
Puesto que hay tanto hombre-boca, debe haber de vez en cuando
un hombre-ala.
El deber es feliz, aunque no lo parezca, y el cumplirlo puramente
eleva el alma a un estado perenne de dulzura.
El amor es el lazo de los hombres, el modo de enseñar y el centro
del mundo.
Se debe enseñar conversando, como Sócrates, de aldea en aldea, de
campo en campo, de casa en casa.
La inteligencia no es más que medio hombre, y no lo mejor de él.
No sabe de la delicia del mundo el que desconoce la realidad de la
idea y la fruición espiritual que viene del constante ejercicio del
amor.
El juicio madura la sensibilidad.
En lo corpóreo, como en lo del espíritu, la salud es indispensable a la
belleza, y ésta, en el hombre como en el mundo de que es suma,
depende del equilibrio.
La ciudad extravía el juicio, el campo lo ordena y acrisola.
Antes se aplaudía al gladiador que mataba, y ahora al que salva.
La vida es un himno.
La muerte es una forma oculta de la vida.
El sufrimiento es menor para las almas que el amor posee.
La vida no tiene dolores para el que entiende a tiempo su sentido.
Del mismo germen son la miel, la luz y el beso.
Cada estado social trae su expresión a la literatura, de tal modo, que
por las diversas fases de ella pudiera contarse la historia de los
pueblos con más verdad que por sus cronicones y sus décadas.
No puede haber contradicciones en la Naturaleza.
¿Quién es el ignorante que mantiene que la poesía no es
indispensable a los pueblos?
Hay gentes de tan corta vista mental, que creen que toda la fruta se
acaba en la cáscara.
La poesía que congrega o disgrega, que fortifica o angustia, que
apuntala o derriba las almas, que da o quita a los hombres la fe y el
aliento, es más necesaria a los pueblos que la industria misma, pues
ésta les proporciona el modo de subsistir, mientras que aquélla les
da el deseo y la fuerza de la vida.
El alma sólo se complace en lo bello y grandioso.
La libertad debe ser, fuera de otras razones, bendecida, porque su
goce inspira al hombre moderno—privado a su aparición de la calma,
estímulo y poesía de la existencia—, aquella paz suprema y
bienestar religioso que produce el orden del mundo en los que viven
en él con la arrogancia y serenidad de su albedrío.
La libertad es la religión definitiva. Y la poesía de la libertad el culto
nuevo. Ella aquieta y hermosea lo presente, deduce e ilumina lo
futuro, y explica el propósito inefable y seductora bondad del
Universo.
El que vive en un credo autocrático es lo mismo que una ostra en su
concha, que sólo ve la prisión que la encierra y cree, en la
obscuridad, que aquello es el mundo; la libertad pone alas a la ostra.
Y lo que, oído en lo interior de la concha, parecía portentosa
contienda, resulta a la luz del aire ser el natural movimiento de la
savia en el pulso enérgico del mundo.
El átomo que crea es de esencia divina.
El acto en que se crea es exquisito y sagrado.
El hombre debe abrir los brazos, y apretarlo todo contra su corazón,
la virtud lo mismo que el delito, la suciedad lo mismo que la
limpieza, la ignorancia lo mismo que la sabiduría; todo debe fundirlo
en su corazón, como en un horno.
Dese fuerzas a los hombres, en vez de quitarles con lamentos las
pocas que el dolor les deja.
 X
Del vol. "Amistad Funesta".

El alma humana tiene una gran necesidad de blancura. Desde que lo

blanco se oscurece, la desdicha empieza.
La práctica y conciencia de todas las virtudes, la posesión de las
mejores cualidades, la arrogancia de los más nobles sacrificios, no
bastan a consolar el alma de un solo extravío.
Ni a las mujeres está bien eso de cubrirse la frente, donde está la luz
del rostro.
Cuando se padece mucho no se desea un beso en los labios, sino en
la frente.
Hay algo de tenebroso e inquietante en esas frentes cubiertas.
Gustan siempre los jóvenes de lo desordenado e imprevisto.
Mejora y alivia el contacto constante de lo bello.
Conviene tener siempre delante de los ojos, alrededor, ornando las
paredes, animando los rincones donde se refugia la sombra, objetos
bellos, que la coloreen y la disipen.
Hay cierto espíritu de independencia en el pecado, que lo hace
simpático cuando no es excesivo.
Pocas son por el mundo las criaturas que, hallándose con las encías
provistas de dientes, se deciden a no morder, o reconocen que hay
un placer más profundo que el de hincar los dientes, y es no usarlos.
Todos aquellos placeres que no vienen directamente y en sazón de
los afectos legítimos, aunque sean champaña de la vanidad, son
acíbar de la memoria.
Tiene el sueño pesado, en cosas de grandeza, y sobre todo en estos
tiempos, el alma humana.
¿Qué es la música, sino la compañera y guía del espíritu en su viaje
por los espacios?
Sólo los que persiguen en vano la pureza, saben lo que regocija y
exalta el hallarla.
La conversación con las damas ha de ser de plata fina, y trabajada
en filigrana leve.
Los estudiantes son el baluarte de la Libertad, y su ejército más
firme.
Las universidades parecen inútiles, pero de allí salen los mártires y
los apóstoles.
Una mujer sin ternura ¿qué es sino un vaso de carne, repleto de
veneno?
 XI
Del vol. "Ismaelillo".—"Versos

Sencillos".—"Versos libres".

XI
El hijo de un pueblo esclavo
vive por él, calla y muere.

Todo es hermoso y constante,

todo es música y razón,
y todo, como el diamante,
antes que luz es carbón.

Cuando al peso de la cruz

el hombre morir resuelve,
sale a hacer bien, lo hace y vuelve
como de un baño de luz.

¡La eternidad de los hombres

es la gran pena del mundo!

El verso, dulce consuelo,

nace alado de dolor.

El suelo triste en que siembran lágrimas

dará árbol de lágrimas.

La culpa es madre del castigo.

Copa de mago que el capricho torna

en hiel para los míseros, y en férvido
tokay para el feliz. La vida es grave,
y hasta el pomo ruin la daga hundida;
al flojo gladiador clava en la arena.
 No es hermosa
la fruta en la mujer, sino la estrella.

La tierra ha de ser luz, y todo vivo

debe en torno de sí dar lumbre de astro.

¡Sólo las flores del paterno prado

tienen olor!

¡Sólo las ceibas patrias, del sol amparan!

Como en vaga nube por suelo extraño se anda.

De carne viva y profanadas frutas

viven los hombres, ¡ay! ¡mas el proscripto
de sus entrañas propias se alimenta!

Grato es morir; horrible vivir muerto.

 XII
Del vol. "Versos".—"Abdala".

—"Amor con amor se paga".

XII
Cuando el amor o el entusiasmo llora,
se siente a Dios, y se idolatra y ora.

...Cuando se muere
en brazos de la patria agradecida,
la muerte acaba, la prisión se rompe;
¡empieza, al fin, con el morir, la vida!

...Cuando la gloria
a esta estrecha mansión nos arrebata,
el espíritu crece,
el cielo se abre, el mundo se dilata
y en medio de los mundos se amanece.

¡Mata, déspota, mata!

¡Para el que muere a tu furor impío,
el cielo se abre, el mundo se dilata!

Nadie inculpe jamás a los sedientos

sin calmar con el agua sus afanes:
nadie inculpe jamás a los hambrientos
sino acabando de ofrecerles panes.

¿Quién sabe en los placeres lo que llora?

¿Quién conoce la sangre en la sonrisa,
y el odio en el amor, y la dolora
en el bullente fondo de la risa?

Mujer, y flor, y llanto se fecundan

en hijos, en aroma, en musgo, en flores,
y el universo terrenal inundan
con la savia vital de los amores.

¡Espíritu, a soñar! Soñando, crece

la eternidad en ti, ¡Dios en la altura!

El Cielo y el Infierno
hermanos son, hermanos en lo eterno.

...¿Cuándo el martirio
no fué en la frente la mejor corona?

Ceder es dominar: sé siempre tierna:

¡jamás serás vencida!

...¡Doma potros
y fieras, la caricia!

...el dolor, como la nieve,

mantiene en fuego el corazón que enfría.

¡Oh, qué dulce es morir cuando se muere

luchando audaz por defender la patria!

Hombre incompleto es el hombre

que en su estrecho ser se pliega
y sobre la tierra madre
su estéril vida pasea,
sin besos que lo calienten
ni brazos que lo protejan.
 XIII
Del vol. "Crítica y Libros".

XIII

Se hacen versos de la grandeza, pero sólo del sentimiento se hace

poesía.
Es ley que honren y acaten a los poetas que no pasan, reyes que
pasan.
Conocer diversas literaturas es el mejor medio de libertarse de la
tiranía de algunas de ellas.
Embellecer la vida es darle objeto.
Salir de sí es indomable anhelo humano, y hace bien a los hombres
quien procura hermosear su existencia, de modo que vengan a vivir
contentos con estar en sí.
No hay para odiar la tiranía como vivir bajo ella.
Los hombres aman en secreto las verdades peligrosas, y sólo iguala
su miedo a defenderlas, antes de verlas aceptadas, a la tenacidad y
brío con que las apoyan luego que ya no se corre riesgo en su
defensa.
La sátira es el homenaje que la medianía celosa paga siempre al
genio.
El amor al arte aquilata al alma y la enaltece.
Sobre el placer de poseer lo hermoso, que mejora y fortifica, está el
placer de poseer lo hermoso, que nos deja contentos de nosotros
mismos.
Alhajar la casa, colgar de cuadros las paredes, gustar de ellos,
estimar sus méritos, platicar de sus bellezas, son goces nobles que
dan valía a la vida, distracción a la mente y alto empleo al espíritu.
Se siente correr por las venas una savia nueva cuando se contempla
una nueva obra de arte.
La tristeza pone en el alma prematura vejez.
No hay nada más temible que los apetitos y las cóleras de los
ignorantes.
Un libro, aunque sea de mente ajena, parece cosa como nacida de
uno mismo, y se siente uno como mejorado y agrandado con cada
libro nuevo.
Manda sólo, y mandará siempre de veras, el que haya traído consigo
de la naturaleza el derecho de mandar.
Un cajista es un hermano; y como el brazo de los autores, que
deben cuidar y mimar bien sus brazos.
La herencia en la vida animal es la transmisión de los elementos de
una existencia determinada de un individuo a otro.
La vida es sutil, complicada y ordenada, aunque parezca brusca,
simple y desordenada al ignorante.
La vida es una agrupación lenta y un encadenamiento maravilloso.
El genio es simplemente una anticipación: prevé en sus detalles lo
que otros no ven aún en sus líneas mayores, y como los demás no
ven lo que ve él, lo miran con asombro, se fatigan de su resplandor
y persistencia, y lo dejan a que se alimente de sí propio, y sufra.
Las obras de los grandes creadores en arte están hechas de manera
que, salvo el obscuro color que les da el tiempo, parecen obras de
ahora: es que los grandes creadores ven lo eterno en lo accidental;
por lo que sus obras perduran.
Cuando un pueblo se divide, se mata.
El ambicioso ríe en la sombra.
Literatura no es otra cosa más que expresión y forma, y reflejo en
palabras de la Naturaleza que nutre y del espíritu que anima al
pueblo que la crea.
Leer una buena revista es como leer decenas de buenos libros.
Preocupar a los pueblos exclusivamente en su ventura y fines
terrestres, es corromperlos, con la mejor intención de sanarlos.
Los pueblos que no creen en la perpetuación y universal sentido, en
el sacerdocio y glorioso ascenso de la vida humana, se desmigajan
como un mendrugo roído de ratones.
Quien no comulga en el altar de los hombres, es justamente
desconocido por ellos.
Mal va un pueblo de gente oficinista.
Esclavo es todo aquel que trabaja para otro que tiene dominio sobre
él.
Emplearse en lo estéril cuando se puede hacer lo útil; ocuparse en lo
fácil cuando se tienen bríos para intentar lo difícil, es despojar de su
dignidad al talento.
Todo el que deja de hacer lo que es capaz de hacer, peca.
El avaro es el tipo esencial del egoísta; el héroe es el tipo esencial
del altruista.
La vida espiritual es una ciencia, como la vida física.
Las cualidades de los padres quedan en el espíritu de los hijos como
quedan los dedos del niño en las alas de la fugitiva mariposa.
La individualidad es el distintivo del hombre.
El que desentierra una ciudad merece más aplausos que el que la
devasta.
Sólo hay en nuestros países una división visible, que cada pueblo, y
aun cada hombre, lleva en sí, y es la división en pueblos egoístas de
una parte, y de otra generosos.
Títulos dan los reyes; pero de ennoblecimiento de alma, ninguno
mayor que el que se saca de los libros.
Las ideas purifican.
Venir a la vida usual después de haber estado del brazo con ellas por
bajo de los árboles o por espacios azules, es como dar de súbito en
el vacío.
¿Criticar qué es, sino ejercer el criterio?
La aristocracia intelectual viene de pensar y de padecer.
El arte no es venal adorno de reyes y pontífices, por donde apenas
asoma la cabeza eterna el genio, sino divina acumulación del alma
humana, donde los hombres de todas las edades se reconocen y
confortan.
El que ajuste su pensamiento a su forma, como una hoja de espada
a la vaina, ese tiene estilo.
El verso se improvisa, pero la prosa no; la prosa viene con los años.
Las épocas de construcción, en las que todos los hombres son
pocos; las épocas amasadas con sangre y que pudieran volver a
anegarse con ella, quieren algo más de la gente de honor que el
chiste de corrillo y la literatura de café, empleo indigno de los
talentos levantados.
La gracia es de buena literatura; pero donde se vive sin decoro,
hasta que se le conquiste, no tiene nadie el derecho de valerse de la
gracia sino como arma para conquistarla.
La literatura verdadera está en la observación de los tipos originales,
y en la expresión fiel e intensa de lo que el autor ve dentro y fuera
de sí.
Escribir no es cosa de azar, que sale hecha de la comezón de la
mano, sino arte que quiere a la vez martillo de herrero y buril de
joyería; arte de fragua y caverna, que se riega con sangre, y hace
una víctima de cada triunfador; arte de cíclope lapidario.
El sacrificio es un placer sublime y penetrante.
El desinterés es la ley del genio y de la vida.
Los pueblos son como los árboles, que no los conoce bien, ni sabe
de los injertos que les puedan convenir o dañar, sino quien los
conoce desde las raíces.
Quien en sí condensa un pueblo, es digno de figurar entre los que
van a su cabeza.
Ningún espíritu extraordinario ama por sí, sino por no causar dolor a
los que le han hecho la merced de quererlo.
La tierra está llena de espíritus. El aire está lleno de almas.
El que de su pueblo reniegue, de las propias alas de su cerebro y
entrañas de su entendimiento sea, como un ladrón, privado.
Los que se limitan a copiar el espíritu de los poetas de allende, ¿no
ven que con eso reconocen que no tienen patria, ni espíritu propio,
ni son más que sombras de sí mismos, que de limosna andan vivos
por la tierra?
Por cada siglo que los pueblos han llevado cadenas, tardan por lo
menos otro en quitárselas de encima.
En este mundo no hay nada de verdadero más que la nobleza y la
hermosura.
No es posible vivir en la tragedia perpetua, ni sin ella.
Contra la verdad, nada dura; ni contra la Naturaleza.
Un libro es estopa y espuma si no arranca naturalmente del carácter.

FIN
 ÍNDICE

Nota de los Editores 7

Proemio 11
I Del vol. Cuba.—Primera Parte 13
II " " Cuba.—Segunda Parte 23
III " " En los Estados Unidos.—Primera Parte 45
IV " " En los Estados Unidos.—Segunda Parte 53
V " " La Edad de Oro 63
VI " " Hombres 73
VII " " Nuestra América.—Primera Parte 85
VIII " " Nuestra América.—Segunda Parte 95
IX " " Norteamericanos 111
X " " Amistad Funesta 127
XI " " Ismaelillo.—Versos sencillos.—Versos libres 131
XII " " Versos.—Abdala. Amor con amor se paga 135
XIII " " Crítica y Libros 139
 Sociedad Editorial Cuba
Contemporánea

PUBLICACIONES
(Dirigidas por Carlos de Velasco.)

I. Revista mensual Cuba Contemporánea.

II. Biblioteca de "Cuba Contemporánea".
Vol. I: Pensando en Cuba. Por José Sixto de Sola.
III. Biblioteca "La Cultura Cubana".
Vol. I: Granos de Oro. Pensamientos seleccionados en las obras
de José Martí. Por Rafael G. Argilagos.
(A este volumen, y en la misma Biblioteca, seguirán libros de
José Antonio Saco, Rafael M. Merchán, Luz y Caballero, Enrique
Piñeyro, el Padre Varela, etc., etc.)

PROXIMAMENTE
Libros de: Enrique José Varona, Manuel Sanguily, Antonio S. de
Bustamante, Dulce María Borrero de Luján, José de Armas, A.
Hernández Catá, Luis Rodríguez-Embil, Bernardo G. Barros, José
Antonio Ramos, Max Henríqnez Ureña, Emilio Bacardí, Mariano
Aramburo, Mario Guiral Moreno, Raúl de Cárdenas, Julio Villoldo,
etc., etc.

OFICINAS: TALLERES:
O'REILLY, 11 Tte. Rey, 27 y Aguiar, 114
Teléfono M-2724 Teléfono A-7105
LA HABANA, CUBA.

Nota del Transcriptor:

Errores obvios de imprenta han sido corregidos.

Páginas en blanco han sido eliminadas.
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