The Welsh Marches

At the Hay Festival, Misha Glenny and guests discuss the impact of the Norman invasion on the people and land of Wales and across the modern border with England in what became known as The Welsh Marches, march being a term for a militarized borderland. Hay was one of the first Marcher lordships. Even before 1066, William the Conqueror knew that he would have to subdue the Welsh if he were to control the English and he allowed more and more Norman warlords to establish virtually their own private kingdoms in these Marches. Later some of the Lords were to use these bases to invade Ireland rather than conquer the rest of Wales. Marcher Lords built numerous castles such as the one at Hay and many new towns would then grow up alongside these where there was one law for the English and another for the Welsh and, though the Acts of Union under the Tudors brought an end to much of the Marcher Lords' powers, the distinct identity of these Welsh Marches continued.

With

Rhun Emlyn
Lecturer in the Department of History and Welsh History at Aberystwyth University

Helen Fulton
Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Bristol

And

Huw Pryce
Emeritus Professor of Welsh History at Bangor University

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Reading list:

R. R. Davies, The Age of Conquest: Wales 1063-1415 (Oxford University Press, 2001)

R.R. Davies, Lordship and Society in the March of Wales 1282-1400 (Oxford University Press, 1978)

John Fleming, The Welsh Marcher Lordships II: South-West (Logaston Press, 2023)

Ben Giles, The Welsh Marches: 40 Town and Country Walks (Pocket Mountains, 2012)

Philip Hume, The Welsh Marcher Lordships I: Central & North (Logaston Press, 2021)

Max Lieberman, The March of Wales, 1067–1300: A Borderland of Medieval Britain (University of Wales Press, 2018)

Max Lieberman, The Medieval March of Wales: The Creation and Perception of a Frontier, 1066-1283 (Cambridge University Press, 2010)

D. Huw Owen, The Lordship of Denbigh 1282-1543 (University of Wales Press, 2024)

Mike Parker, All the Wide Border: Wales, England and the Places Between (HarperNorth, 2024)

Dewi Roberts, Both Sides of the Border: An Anthology of Writing on the Welsh Border Region (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch/Eagle Rock Press, 1998)

Christopher Somerville, The Welsh Borders (Philips, 1991)

David Stephenson, Patronage and Power in the Medieval Welsh March: One Family's Story (University of Wales Press, 2021)

David Walker, Medieval Wales (Cambridge University Press, 2008)

In Our Time is a BBC Studios Production

Spanning history, religion, culture, science and philosophy, In Our Time from BBC Radio 4 is essential listening for the intellectually curious. In each episode, host Misha Glenny and expert guests explore the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world.