How the Acts of Union and the Reformation enabled Tudor monarchs to re-shape Wales

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How the Acts of Union and the Reformation enabled Tudor monarchs to re-shape Wales.

By Keith Roberts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith Roberts is a retired Detective Inspector who specialised in homicide and serious crime investigations. He completed his degree in History via the Department of Adult Continuing Education (DACE), graduating in 2017 with a First. He is currently undertaking a part-time MA in Modern History at Swansea University and working part-time in Residential Services as a Residence Life Assistant, helping to enhance the student experience in the University residences.

Keith welcomes you to follow him on T witter: @akroberts7

In offering a critical analysis of the consequences for Wales caused by 118 years of Tudor rule, this essay will attempt to chart a course that acknowledges both the liberal, progressive viewpoint and the nationalist perspective. The assessment will be made not only in the context of the Tudor dynasty, but will also seek to comment on outcomes emanating specifically from the Reformation and the Acts of Union (1536-43), and the extent to which Wales was changed by ?external?events. Whilst it might be said that the Tudors were responsible for freeing Wales from the shackles of papal domination and medieval servitude by setting it on the path of enlightenment and progress, another interpretation is that the Tudor dynasty snuffed out the last vestiges of independence, bringing an end to any form of cultural autonomy whilst cynically luring an increasingly ?Anglicised?Welsh ruling class into centuries of subservience. What is clear is that the Acts of Union and the Reformation both played significant roles in the societal evolution that undoubtedly took place. This essay will contend that perhaps a more realistic analysis is that both were crucial elements of a poorly conceived and inconsistent process of change that has ultimately succeeded in both empowering and emasculating Wales, the most recent example arguably being the creation of the ?Senedd? and the controversy around Devolution.

In seeking the support vital to his success at Bosworth, Henry VII wrote to his kinsman John ap Maredudd, promising to restore the ?principality of Wales and the people of the same to their dearest liberties, delivering them of such miserable servitude as they have previously stood in?. 1 Jenkins asserts that under the Tudors, the Arthurian legend was employed as a polemical weapon, with its goal being the unity of the whole realm rather than Welsh separatism and suggests that ?in this view, the Tudor coup of 1485 marked the Welsh absorption of England, rather than the reverse?. 2 The bardic exhortations that

invoked Arthurian legend and successfully stirred public opinion to accept Henry as the ?mab darogan? (?son of prophecy?) arguably set expectations impossibly high. Williams claims that Henry VII?s primary aim for the rest of his reign was to secure his throne and provide an unchallenged succession. 3 Whilst Henry VII arguably laid the stepping stones towards ?modern Britain?, this essay suggests that there often lay a conflict between Henry?s commitment to the wider realm and satisfying the expectations of his kinsmen.

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In terms of achieving political stability, Henry VII understood the advantages of a dynastic marriage, starting with his own. However, his efforts at securing the same for his sons arguably led to the crisis which triggered the Reformation. Needing to secure his authority, but without the security of a standing army, Henry set out to be ?Rex imperator?rather than ?primus inter pares? and to achieve this he needed the support of the territorial magnates. Williams observes that Henry promoted the gentry, granting them land, titles and political influence, but although there were some exceptions (such as Sir Rhys ap Thomas), most of the Welsh gentry acted as deputies to existing magnates. 4 Jones suggests that Henry?s innate conservatism was illustrated by him accepting the authority of the Marcher lords but imposing indentures aimed at stopping their abuses, whilst in the Principality he alleviated (rather than abolished) the hated penal laws of 1402 by issuing Charters of Emancipation. Both measures succeeded in forging an alliance between crown and gentry which helped forge modern Wales, but one might concede their unsuitability as firmer action was later necessary through the Acts of Union. 5

Davies suggests that progress towards equality is illustrated by the fact that by 1496 more public offices in Wales were held by Welshmen, and that by 1500 more Welshmen were holding office in England. 6 However, Williams asserts that whilst Henry?s application to the task of government throughout the realm was bound to benefit Wales to some extent, ?it was efficiency and profit, not patriotism and sentiment, which governed his choice of servants in Wales?. 7 Henry VII?s cynical exploitation of Arthurian legend arguably left a Welsh legacy of more ?spin? than substance, and the comparisons with his heir and another second son of a much later ?Boston-Irish?patriarch are readily apparent. This essay will suggest that after a promising beginning, the ?Camelot? of Henry VIII was to prove as disappointing as that of the 35th President of the United States.

Henry VII's Coat of Arms, 1504, The National Archives https:/ / www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ utk/ wales/ popup/ coat.htm

Davies contends that under Henry VIII, ?society was organised to promote the interests of the gentry, and those interests were consolidated further by means of measures passed by parliament in the 1530s. In this decade, the link with Rome was broken and Wales was incorporated into England.? 8 Davies claims that the two events were interdependent, and each emphasised the total sovereignty of the Tudor state. The power of the Marcher lords had been eroded but security concerns were prompted by an influx of 20,000 refugees from Ireland, and with them, an increasing awareness of the vulnerability of isolated coasts to invasion. G.A. Williams claims that ?Wales itself, as its Marcher lordships collapsed into gangster-fiefs, had become a by-word for disorder?. 9 The appointment of Bishop Rowland Lee in 1534 as President of the Council provides valuable insight into the ?colonial? attitude of Henry VIII and Cromwell towards Wales. In terms of the Council, Jenkins claims that the position of President approached that of Viceroy. G.A Williams describes Lee as having a ?jovially racist contempt?, demonstrating that disposition as ?a hanging judge, cluttering the landscape with gallows.? 10 Williams describes the extant penal laws as ?ferociously racist?, and that Lee?s imposition of modified Welsh surnames which required the deletion of their patronymic origins for Anglicised adulterations was similar to the way in which Jews acquired their names at

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Ellis Island. 11 As the penal laws remained until 1624, one might accept that a modicum of racist contempt did infect policy decisions, that a modicum of racist contempt did infect policy decisions, leading to the Acts of Union and which has arguably coloured the subsequent responses of the British state to social unrest in Wales, as evidenced by its confrontations with the Chartists in 1839 or striking workers in Tonypandy and Llanelli in the years 1910/ 1911.

In addition to the need for law and order, Gwynfor Jones claims that Cromwell intended to impose the English legal and administrative structure on Wales through the Acts of Union. 12 David Williams suggests they represented a complete unification and the prelude to unification with Scotland and Ireland. 13 However, Davies argues that this would be misleading as the 1536 process relating to Wales differed from that of 1707 and 1800 in that it was passed by an English parliament lacking any members from Wales. 14 One might accept that this lack of collaboration was manifested in the disparity in parliamentary representation subsequently granted to Wales in 1543, as well as the failure to acknowledge linguistic and cultural boundaries, comparable to the ?colonialism? prevalent in attitudes towards an independence settlement for India over four centuries later. Williams suggests that the policies promoted from 1536-43 were the culmination of a centuries-old drive to extend the authority of the King of England over Wales, and to that end, the whole structure of authority was to be ?uniform, coherent and royal?. 15 Davies claims that the 1536 Act was drafted hastily, indicating indecision in terms of the ultimate aims, requiring a further Act in 1543 which strengthened the distinctiveness of Wales by creating precise arrangements for local government and further strengthening the gentry as JP?s, MP?s, landowners, lawyers, and businessmen. 16 Gwynfor Jones asserts that Wales was given a distinct jurisdiction and identity (through the re-invigorated Council and judicial circuits) which arguably signals a failure to

achieve complete union. 17 In this context, one might consider the administrative function of the Council to be an embryonic Welsh Assembly and acknowledge a resonance with modern, but equally flawed, attempts at devolution with the Government of Wales Acts of 1998 and 2006.

Despite references to ?sinister practices and customs? and a stipulation that public life be conducted in English, Davies observes that ?it is unlikely that the authorities were intent upon the demise of Welsh [? ] Cromwell?s aim was uniform administration, which any formal recognition of the Welsh language would have hindered?. 18 This essay suggests that the quest for uniformity overrode any other consideration, and that indifference rather than hostility characterised Cromwell?s view of the language. Moreover, one might accept that with the formal abolition of the Marcher lordships, the creation of a Welsh ruling class fluent in English became a Tudor imperative. Davies asserts that although it would take two centuries, the ultimate consequence would divorce the Welsh ruling class from the language that had been its medium since the birth of the nation. 19 Graham Jones describes this as ?a widening cleavage?and one might detect the roots of Welsh social and political strife from the late eighteenth century at this time. 20 However, on a positive and lasting note, Gwynfor Jones suggests that the most important feature of ?union? was the alignment of the Tudor state under the authority of the King, Privy Council and Parliament, the essential link between them being the English common law, a link that exists to this day. 21

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Troops camped near Llanelli in response to the Railway Strike, 1911 (Image from Cardiff Central Library. Sourced from: www.bbc.co.uk)

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Davies asserts that Henry VIII was not seeking to embrace the Protestant faith - ?he wanted revolution in authority, not religion?. The Church owned ¼ of the land in Wales and the ?Valor Ecclesiasticus? (1535) indicates that the monasteries were dissolved for their wealth. Henry VIII was in full possession of their property by 1540 and hundreds of thousands of hectares were bought by the ascendant gentry. Whilst the supremacy of church and State necessitated greater ties of mutual benefit between the monarch and the gentry due to the over-riding need for political and social order, Davies contends that the gentry?s acquisition of the spiritual property compromised Welsh Anglicanism from the outset and might well have been a contributory factor in the rise of non-conformity in the eighteenth century. 22 However, Jenkins claims that the Reformation benefitted government in England and Wales with the introduction of the parish as a unit of secular administration ? initially key in terms of the administration of the Elizabethan Poor Laws, and its importance stretched into the 20th century. 23 Gwynfor Jones asserts that Elizabethan religious policy revolved around establishing royal supremacy on a Protestant basis and achieving reform whilst strengthening the nation?s defences. In this context, Jones suggests that ?Welsh religious affairs were brought within the orbit of English politics and the promotion of the New Faith assumed a political dimension.? 24 To that end, the 1559 Elizabethan Settlement through the Act of Supremacy and Act of Uniformity secured wider access to scriptures and royal control of the Church, subject to the authority of parliament. The acknowledgement of Wales? unique position in terms of the difficulties posed by the language are evident in the legislation requiring translation of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer in 1563, the appearance of Salesbury?s translations in 1567 and of Morgan?s historic Bible in 1588.

Graham Jones describes this as ?an event of crucial importance for the survival of the Welsh language as it made Welsh the language of public worship?. 25 David Williams observes that the

counter-reformation succeeded in Ireland but not in Wales due to the Welsh element to the services and asserts that by 1603 there were only 800 Catholics out of a population of 200,000 left in Wales. 26 Roberts distinguishes the Welsh experience from that of Ireland by suggesting that Catholicism in Ireland protected separatism at the expense of the survival of the Gaelic language, and that without the vernacular scriptures Wales would have gone the same way. Roberts claims that the Welsh Bible produced a ?classical standard? that prevented the language from disintegrating into a series of regional dialects. 27 Gwynfor Jones claims that the Reformation succeeded because of the lack of effective opposition and the influence of the gentry who were viewed as natural leaders in peasant communities. 28 Jenkins claims that the elevation of the gentry or ?uchelwyr? (high ones) following the Reformation and the consolidation of their pre-eminence in the Industrial Revolution led to them being portrayed as cultural aliens, and argues that this became a powerful weapon in the Liberal and non-conformist polemics of the 19th century. 29

I n conclusion, if one accepts Jenkins? assertion that in a country that lacked a flag, an army, an independent government or a capital, the most powerful sense of ?Welshness?was expressed through a linguistic and cultural patriotism. 30 Notwithstanding the acquisition of modern symbols of nationhood such as a University, a Senedd and S4C, one might argue that Wales? place in the British state is still characterised by the possession of a unique cultural identity. To that end, this essay suggests that the position arguably remains as the Roman Catholic Saunders Lewis made clear in his 1962 BBC Radio speech ?Tynged Yr Iaith? (?The Future of the Language?) when he proclaimed that ?the future of the language is more important than self-government?. 31 In that context, one might readily accept that the Reformation has proven to be of greater significance to the ongoing development and future survival of the Welsh nation than the Acts of Union.

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REFERENCES

1. Williams, G. (2002) Renewal and Reformation Wales c.1415-1642, p. 217.

2. Jenkins, P. A. (1997) History of Modern Wales 1536-1990 2nd Edition, p. 68.

3. Williams, G. (2002) Renewal and Reformation Wales c.1415-1642, p. 233.4. Ibid, pp. 241-2.

5. Jones, G.E. (1995) Modern Wales: A Concise History 2nd Edition, p. 61.

6. Davies, J. A History of Wales 2nd Edition (London: Penguin 2007) pp. 214-5.

7. Williams, G. (2002) Renewal and Reformation Wales c.1415-1642, pp. 234-42.

8. Davies, J. (2007) A History of Wales 2nd Edition, p. 219.

9. Williams, G.A. W hen Was Wales? 2nd Edition (L ondon: Penguin 1985) p.118.

10. Jenkins, P. A. (1997) History of Modern Wales 1536-1990 2nd Edition, p. 83.

11. Williams, G.A. (1985) W hen was Wales?, pp. 114-8.

12. Jones, J.G. Early Modern Wales c.1525-1640 (New York: St. Martin?s Press 1994) p.81.

13. Williams, D. A History of Modern Wales 2nd Edition (L ondon: John Murray 1977) p.33.

14. Davies, J. (2007) A History of Wales 2nd Edition, p. 226.

15. Williams, G.A. (1985) W hen was Wales?, p. 264.

17. Jones, J. G. (1994) Early Modern Wales c.1525-1640, p. 85.

18. Davies, J. (2007) A History of Wales 2nd Edition, p. 229.

19. I bid p.229.

20. Jones, J. G. (2014) The History of Wales 3rd Edition, p. 58.

21. Jones, J. G. (1994) Early Modern Wales c.1525-1640, p. 89.

22. Davies, J. (2007) A History of Wales 2nd Edition, pp. 220-3.

23. Jenkins, P. A. (1997) History of Modern Wales 1536-1990 2nd Edition, p. 82.

24. Jones, J. G. (1994) Early Modern Wales c.1525-1640, p. 148.

25. Jones, J. G. (2014) The History of Wales 3rd Edition, p. 63.

26. Williams, D. (1977) A history of Modern Wales, pp. 66-78.

27. Roberts, P. R. (1972) The Union with England and the Identity of 'Anglican' Wales, p. 66.

28. Jones, J. G. (1994) Early Modern Wales c.1525-1640, pp. 134-42.

29. Jenkins, P. A. (1997) History of Modern Wales 1536-1990 2nd Edition, p. 40.

30. Jenkins, P. A. (1997) History of Modern Wales 1536-1990 2nd Edition, p. 66.

31. Morgan, K. O. (1987) Rebirth of a Nation, Wales 1880-1980, p. 383.

16. Davies, J. (2007) A History of Wales 2nd Edition, p. 231.