History of Wales

Humans first inhabited what is now Wales at the end of the last Ice Age. The first documented history was during the Roman occupation of Britain. At that time the area of modern Wales was divided into many tribes, of which the Silures in the south-east and the Ordovices in the central and north-west areas were the largest and most powerful. The Romans established a string of forts across what is now southern Wales, as far west as Carmarthen (Maridunum), and mined gold at Dolaucothi in Carmarthenshire. There is evidence that they progressed even further west. They also built the legionary fortress at Caerleon (Isca), whose magnificent amphitheatre is the best preserved in Britain. The Romans were also busy in northern Wales, and an old legend claims that Magnus Maximus, one of the last emperors, married Elen or Helen, the daughter of a Welsh chieftain from Segontium, near present-day Caernarfon.

After the collapse of the Roman Empire in Britain during 410, Wales became divided into several kingdoms. Attempts by the Anglo-Saxon tribes to invade these kingdoms failed due to the fierce resistance of its people and its mountainous terrain. An Anglo-Saxon king, Offa of Mercia, is credited with having constructed a great earth wall, or dyke, along the border with his kingdom, to mark off a large part of Powys which he had conquered. Parts of Offa's Dyke can still be seen today. Christianity was introduced to Wales in the 4th century.

Caernarfon Castle, built by Edward I of England after the English conquest of Wales in 1282.

Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the independence of Wales was gradually eroded. In 1282, Edward I of England defeated Llywelyn the Last, Wales's last independent Prince, in battle. Edward constructed a series of great stone castles in order to keep the Welsh under control. The best known are at Caerphilly, Caernarfon, Conwy, and Harlech. Wales was legally annexed by the Laws in Wales Act 1535, in the reign of Henry VIII of England. The Wales and Berwick Act 1746 provided that all laws that applied to England would automatically apply to Wales (and Berwick, a town located on the Anglo-Scottish border) unless the law explicitly stated otherwise.

In the twentieth century, Wales saw a revival in its national status. An independence movement was led by Plaid Cymru, seeking greater autonomy for the region from England. In 1955, the term England and Wales became common for describing the area to which English law applied, and Cardiff was proclaimed as capital. In 1962 the Welsh Language Society was formed in response to fears that the language may soon die out. Nationalism grew, particularly following the flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965, drowning the village of Capel Celyn to create a reservoir supplying water to Liverpool. In 1966 the Carmarthen Parliamentary seat was won by Plaid Cymru at a by-election, their first Parliamentary seat. A terror campaign was waged by Welsh nationalists for a short period by the Free Wales Army and Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC - Welsh Defence Movement). In the years leading up to the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969, these groups were responsible for a number of bomb blasts destroying water pipes and tax and other offices. In 1969, the Wales and Berwick Act 1746 was repealed for Wales, and a legal definition of Wales, and the boundary with England was stated.

A referendum on the creation of an assembly for Wales in 1979 led to a large majority for the "no". However, in 1997 a referendum on the issue was secured, although by a narrow majority partly due to the large number of English people now living in Wales. The National Assembly for Wales was set up in 1999 (as a consequence of the Government of Wales Act 1998) and possesses the power to determine how the government budget for Wales is spent and administered.