This post was last updated on August 24th, 2024 at 03:16 pm
The Tudors of Penmynydd (“Tuduriaid Penmynydd” in Welsh) were a prominent and esteemed noble family associated with Penmynydd, a village in Ynys Môn (Anglesey), North Wales. They significantly influenced Welsh governance and later extended their reach to English politics. From this family, Owen (“Owain” in Welsh) Tudor emerged, establishing the Welsh Tudor dynasty, which reigned over England from 1485 to 1603.
Were the Tudors Welsh? The Tudor dynasty, renowned for its influential reign over England, traces its roots back to Welsh ancestry. This powerful family started through a clandestine union between Owain ap Maredydd ap Tudur, a royal attendant, and Catherine of Valois, the widowed queen of King Henry V.
Their secret marriage marked the commencement of a royal lineage that would leave an indelible mark on history. When the first Tudor king took the throne in the late fifteenth century, the family embarked on a political journey that would alter the course of Wales’ future forever.
This post is about the Tudors and answers the question, “Were the Tudors Welsh?”
Were the Tudors Welsh?
The Tudors of Penmynydd: Were the Tudors Welsh?
Yes, the Tudor family’s lineage can be traced back to Goronwy, one of the sons of Ednyfed Fychan (Ednyfed died in 1246). Goronwy was a valiant Welsh warrior who became the seneschal of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in northern Wales. His father, Ednyfed Fychan, served under Llywelyn the Great and later his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn. Ednyfed claimed ancestry from Marchudd ap Cynan, the Lord of Rhos. Marchudd was also a prominent figure in protecting the interests of Rhodri the Great, the king of Gwynedd and one of the revered founders among the Fifteen Tribes of Wales.
Who Was the First Tudor Monarch?
King Henry VII was the first Tudor monarch. He traced his lineage maternally to a legitimized offshoot of the English royal House of Lancaster, a branch related to the Plantagenets. Following the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), during which the primary House of Lancaster (to which the Tudors were affiliated) became extinct in terms of male successors, the Tudor family ascended to power, marking the beginning of the Tudor era.
Henry Tudor’s path to the throne began when he became the Earl of Richmond. As his lineage also extended to Edward III, and he was the son of Edmund Tudor, a half-brother of Henry VI, his ancestry assisted him. He skillfully positioned himself as a candidate appealing to loyal supporters of the House of Lancaster and dissatisfied followers of their rival, the Yorkist branch of the Plantagenet family. After a period of exile in Brittany, Henry returned to Wales, rallying Welsh supporters to join him in a rebellion against Richard III. He planned to assert his right to the throne through conquest.
He did precisely that at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485. His forces killed King Richard III, and Henry solidified his position. In 1486, he fulfilled his promise made in 1483 by marrying Elizabeth of York, the daughter of King Edward IV and the rightful heir to the Yorkist claim to the throne. This symbolic union effectively brought together the previously feuding factions of Lancaster and York under the new Tudor dynasty, symbolized by the Tudor Rose.
The Welsh Tudors’ Influence
The influence of the Tudors extended beyond the borders of England. In 1542, through enacting the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, they achieved the complete unification of England and the Principality of Wales. Additionally, they established English authority over the Kingdom of Ireland, as proclaimed by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542. Although the English claim to the Kingdom of France remained nominal, the Tudors, notably Henry VIII, fought with France primarily for international alliances and to assert their claim to the title. However, Mary I, Henry VIII’s daughter, permanently lost control of all territories in France with the Siege of Calais in 1558.
Collectively, the Tudor monarchs reigned over their realms for 117 years. Among them, Henry VIII (1509–1547) was the sole son of Henry VII, who reached adulthood. Matters concerning royal succession, including issues related to marriage and the rights of women to succeed to the throne, emerged as significant political themes during the Tudor era. The religious transformation brought about by the English Reformation also profoundly defined the monarchy’s rule.
Who Came After the Tudors?
The Tudor dynasty ended in the early 17th century with the passing of Elizabeth I. The Stuarts succeeded them. As Elizabeth I left no heirs, her cousin, James from the Scottish House of Stuart, succeeded her in the Union of the Crowns on March 24, 1603. James VI of Scotland, who also became James I of England (1603–1625), was the first Stuart monarch to ascend the English throne. He was a direct descendant as the great-grandson of Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII, who had married James IV of Scotland in 1503 under the terms of the 1502 Treaty of Perpetual Peace.
Key Events During the Tudors’ History Timeline
- The War of the Roses, a series of civil conflicts spanning 1455 to 1487, pitted the House of York against the House of Lancaster in a struggle for control of the English throne.
- The Battle of Bosworth marked a decisive moment in history as Henry Tudor emerged victorious, defeating and killing King Richard III, thereby establishing himself as the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty in 1485.
- During the English Reformation (1534-1558), initiated by Henry VIII, England underwent a significant religious transformation as Henry broke away from the Catholic Church and established the Church of England.
- In 1513, the Battle of Flodden Field witnessed the English army’s triumph over the Scottish forces, including the death of King James IV of Scotland.
- The Battle of the Spurs, occurring in 1513, saw Henry VIII and his allies emerge triumphant over the French army on French soil.
- At the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547, the English army secured victory over the Scottish forces. The English also sought to arrange a marriage between Edward VI and Mary Queen of Scots.
- The Treaty of Medina del Campo, established in 1489, solidified an alliance between England and Spain, sealed by the marriage of Henry VII’s son Arthur and Catherine of Aragon.
- In 1492, the Treaty of Etaples brought about a resolution between England and France, with France agreeing to pay a significant sum of money to England and ceasing support for the pretender Perkin Warbeck.
Please see this excellent timeline for a chronological overview of the key events from the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to the accession of James I in 1603.
The Tudors’ Negative Impact on Wales
While the Tudors’ Welshness is undeniable, it’s equally observable that they negatively impacted Wales as a principality and suppressed its cultural identity. At the Battle of Bosworth on August 21, 1485, Henry’s forces flew a banner bearing a red dragon banner representing Wales, and they emerged victorious against Richard. However, the Welsh had no illusions of immediate peace with their English neighbors upon Henry VII’s ascension to the throne.
In fact, by the time Henry VII became the King of England in 1485, Wales had already experienced significant assimilation into English culture over several generations. During this period, the Welsh people dealt with severe oppression under the rule of English monarchs.
The Tudors carried the oppression forward by implementing such measures as statutes of merger and annexation, which even prohibited the use of the Welsh language in court proceedings and imposed other restrictions. These statutes remained in effect for centuries.
Then there was the matter of the Marcher lords. (Welsh nobles who guarded the border between England and Wales. The king of England appointed them.) The lords’ influence, power, and the lawlessness prevalent in the Welsh Marches concerned both Henry VII and his successor, Henry VIII. Thomas Cromwell, the chief administrator under Henry VIII, proposed the idea of establishing England as a modern sovereign state and asserting royal authority over Wales.
The Laws in Wales Act
In 1535, Henry VIII enacted the Laws in Wales Act, an annexation law aimed at consolidating Wales under a unified jurisdiction. Subsequently, in 1543, he passed additional legislation to refine these regulations further.
These measures, known as the Acts of Union in the early 20th century, aimed to unite England and Wales as a single state with a shared legal system.
The acts included provisions meant to restrict the use of Welsh. The 1535 Act stated the goal to “extirpe all and singular the sinister usages and customs differing from the laws of this Realm” and said that “the people of the same dominion have and do daily use a speche nothing like ne consonant to the naturall mother tonge used within this Realme.”
The 1535 Act’s Section 20 ruled that English would be the sole language permitted in legal proceedings and that Welsh speakers would not be permitted to hold public office in Wales. It was not until October 22, 1942, that Parliament amended the legislation to recognize Welsh as an acceptable language in courts of law in Wales.
Without their Welsh connections, the Tudors could never have made their meteoric ascent to the English throne. From the coronation of Henry VII in 1485 to the passing of Elizabeth I in 1603, the Tudor era witnessed the dismantling of the established religious order, the beginnings of colonies in the Americas, the birth of the formidable Royal Navy, and a bold challenge to the prevailing European powers.
This post was about the Tudors and answered the question, “Were the Tudors Welsh?”
You may also enjoy the Copper and Cobalt Trilogy, a story of friendship, time travel, and haunting adventure in ancient Wales. The link to Amazon is above, and here’s the Universal Book Link for the first book of the series, Lake Caerwych.
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