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This boundary still marks the separation between Wales and England. iIn 1066, William the
Conqueror defeated the English and, with the French­ born Norman nobles and knights, took power in
England and determined to subdue the unruly Welsh. Over the next century, the Normans built a series of
wooden forts throughout Wales from which Norman lords held control over surrounding lands. In the late
1100s, they replaced the wooden strongholds with massive, turreted stone castles. From about 1140-
1240, Welsh princes such as Rhys ap Gruffydd and Llewellyn the Great rose up against the Normans,
capturing some castles and briefly regaining power in the land. After Llewellyn's death in 1240, Welsh
unity weakened. The English King Edward I conquered Wales in the late 1200s, building another series of
massive castles to reinforce his rule. The Welsh successfully resisted the invaders for hundreds of years,
until in 1282, they were brought under the political jurisdiction of England under

During the 1400s, the Welsh increasingly became involved in English affairs, taking part in the War
of the Roses. In 1485, a young Welsh nobleman named Henry Tudor won the Battle of Bosworth Field
against King Richard III, thus securing his claim to the English throne. The Welsh rejoiced at having a
Welshman as king of England. King Henry VII, as he was called, restored many of the rights that the Welsh
had lost under English occupation. Under his son, Henry VIII, Wales and England became unified under one
political system. Elizabeth I, daughter of Henry VIII, was the last Tudor monarch. When she died in 1603,
English language, law, and customs had become entrenched in Welsh life. Since that time, the history of
the Welsh people has been closely tied to that of their English neighbors. Wales has become a highly
industrialized mining region of Great Britain. About four of five Welsh people have adopted English as their
language. Yet the Welsh remain a people apart, proud, independent-minded, and always conscious of their
own national character.

Over the coming centuries, the Welsh, isolated from other Celts, developed their own distinctive
culture. However, their identity would always be shaped by the presence of their powerful English
neighbors. Wales became a western refuge from the invasion and conquest by hostile tribes from Europe,
as well as for puritanical dissenters against English culture. Not only did this refuge lie farther west than
most conquerors could effectively extend, its geography made it inaccessible. Later, Wales became a site
from which England extracted resources and prefigured the position that colonial America assumed..
Rhode lsland

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