Genetic samples have shown that the English and Welsh are two completely different races. It also enforces the idea that the Welsh were the original inhabitants of Britain. When the Roman empire invaded, it conquered Britain, however it did not completely destroy the native populace. Maybe they would have, if it wasn't for the barbarians attacking; Which forced the Romans in Britain to retreat, giving freedom to the British for the next few hundred years.
That freedom ended when the Anglo-Saxons invaded from Europe, killing much of the native populace. But forests, rivers and and the fierce resistance of the Welsh kept the English from destroying them. Later English kings attempted to conquer Wales; with varying amounts of success. But it took them 200 years to actually bring wales under English control, and by then it's easy to question whether they conquered the Welsh at all. Additionally this takeover allowed the Welsh to keep most of there own laws, so no one really minded the take over.
I think we should draw a conclusions from this lesson. This being that not having as much technology doesn't make you smarter; after all the Welsh were "Barbarians" as far as the English were concerned, but the Welsh, with their forest craft and longbows, plus a good dose of tactics and bravery weren't conquered by the English for about 200 years. And even after that it wasn't a hostile takeover, because they got to keep a good majority of their own laws.
Jonathan Wallis
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Jonathan, thank you for sharing this. It was very interesting to me in particular since my family heritage is Welsh. Share more when you have the time.
Post a Comment