The Principality of Wales in the Later Middle Ages , livre ebook

THE PRINCIPALITY OF WALES IN THE
LATER MIDDLE AGES

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The Principality of Wales
in the Later Middle Ages
The Structure and Personnel
of Government

SOUTH WALES, 1277–1536

RALPH A. GRIFFITHS
with the assistance of Roger S. Thomas

UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS

First published by the University of Wales Press in1972, for the
University of Wales Board of Celtic Studies (History and Law series, vol.26).

© Ralph A. Griffiths,2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material form
(including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and
whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication)
without the written permission of the copyright owner. Applications for the copyright
owner’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be
addressed to The University of Wales Press,10Columbus Walk, Brigantine Place,
Cardiff CF10 4UP.

www.uwp.co.uk

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN978-1-78683-264-1
eISBN978-1-78683-265-8

Rights of authorship for this work have been asserted in accordance with
sections77and79of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act1988.

Printed by CPI Antony Rowe, Melksham

IN MEMORY OF

MY PARENTS

MARION LOVIN GRIFFITHS AND

THOMAS ROWLAND GRIFFITHS

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PREFACE

HIS book is a contribution to the study of the principality of Wales in the later
T
middle ages. It deals with the two royal shires in south Wales, Carmarthenshire
and Cardiganshire, which together came to be known conveniently (though not
with constitutional propriety) as ‘the principality of south Wales’, and with those
people, both great and small, who administered these shires during the two and a
half centuries following the Edwardian Conquest of Wales.

A large part of the volume is a calendar of the royal officers of south Wales:
more than a mere list, it is a chronological arrangement of biographical notes
illustrating the personnel of each office, both central and local. Where an officer
performed his duties by deputy, the deputy’s note is indented beneath that of his
superior. These biographical notes do not claim to be exhaustive; the intention
is simply to indicate wherever possible the kind of person (in terms of family
background, geographical origins, public career, wealth and experience) to be
employed in principality administration between the Edwardian Conquest and
the reorganisation of Welsh government by Henry VIII. For this purpose, the
more important and accessible sources have been consulted as well as, in the
case of unpublished material, some that are less easily available. The financial
records of government (especially the numerous ‘Ministers’ Accounts’) identify
many of the officials, and hence their term of office in theCalendarcoincides
with the mediaeval financial year, from M[ichaelmas] to M[ichaelmas]. Official
appointments enrolled by the royal Chancery survive in profusion, and yet
others have been culled from less predictable sources in truly magpie fashion.
Inevitably the choice of source material for the biographical notes has been
selective, dependent on the author’s knowledge, the resources of the libraries he
has been able to use, and the limitations of road, rail and time. Where adequate
biographical notes are already easily available in print, these have been indicated,
while the additional information which has sometimes been added to them refers
primarily to Wales. Biographical notes hidden away in unpublished theses have
been summarised. In a work of such detail there will be omissions to be remedied
and errors to be corrected; the author will be grateful for notice of both.

In compiling the biographical notes, it was felt that connected, grammatical
prose was preferable to a series of disjointed phrases and, secondly, that it would
facilitate the verification of statements if references were placed in the appropriate
place in the body of each note rather than in an amalgamated footnote at its
end. This has undoubtedly lengthened the notes and perhaps made them
less easy to read, but the virtues of this method of presentation seemed to
outweigh its disadvantages. Cross references posed a problem. It was thought
best that the first mention of an officer in theCalendarshould carry his full
biographical note and that subsequent appearances of the same officer should be
accompanied by a simple cross reference to the earlier, fuller note. Unpublished
material in the Public Record Office and British Museum, London, and in the
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, is not distinguished in the notes by
the name of the repository, but a complete tally of the collections consulted
in each of these institutions (with the respective abbreviation used in the

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the principality of wales

Calendar) has been provided. Local record offices, however, are specifically
noted in the text. The abbreviations used are intended to illuminate rather than
to mystify: many of them are self-explanatory and the others can be understood
by referring to the list of abbreviations. The only concession to economy which
the reader might find irritating is the absence of the abbreviatory stop and the
occasional oddity that results, e.g., Corn for Cornwall!

Modern Welsh orthography has been adopted in the spelling of Welsh personal
names, except where they are known to have an English form in general use
among historians (e.g., theVaughansof Brecknock). I have also had to standardise
where contemporaries showed considerable variation (e.g.,Gruffyddinstead of
Griffith, Griffin,etc.); where there was contemporary consistency in the use of
more than one form, the distinction has been retained (e.g., betweenWilliamand
Gwilym).Adjectival mutations present a problem to modern scholars, let alone to
medievalists, and so I have retained the contemporary form even though this has
produced some inconsistencies (e.g., bothDuandDduput in an appearance).
In spelling place names, I have employed the modern Welsh form as indicated
by Elwyn Davies (ed.),A Gazeteer of Welsh Place-Names(3rd. ed., Cardiff,1967),
or Melville Richards,Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units, Medieval and
Modern(Cardiff,1969). The exceptions include well known place names with
Anglicised forms in general use (e.g.,Kidwellyrather thanCydweli, Cardiffinstead
ofCaerdydd).Above all, common sense and consistency have been my guide.

My interest was first drawn to the late-medieval principality by my friend
Mr. T. B. Pugh, who has generously answered my queries ever since. I am
also deeply grateful to my supervisor and friend Dr. Margaret Sharp, who
carefully guided my first steps in investigating a problem which her father,
Professor Tout, never had an opportunity of tackling in his magisterial study
of English government. As an expansion of earlier work, this volume was
commissioned in1961 bythe History and Law Committee of the Board of
Celtic Studies of the University of Wales: it has been a long time a-writing. In
1968Committee assigned one of its research assistants, my former pupil the
Mr. (now Dr.) Roger S. Thomas, to the project and his help has made the
publication of the volume possible now. My greatest immediate debt is to Dr.
Thomas, who extended my own work on theCalendarfor the period1422–
1536and bore with remarkable equanimity the difficult task of understanding
and augmenting someone else’s notes. I have also been very fortunate in the
encouragement and help given me unstintingly by other friends and colleagues.
Professor Sir Goronwy Edwards and Sir David Evans gave me general guidance
at the outset, and Sir Goronwy has been a wise and sympathetic counsellor
ever since. Professor Glanmor Williams’s friendship and encouragement
have been of greater value to me than he probably realises, and as chairman
of the History and Law Committee he ensured a smooth passage towards
publication for this volume. Dr. R. R. Davies, Dr. R. W. Dunning, Mrs. Anne
Marshall, Dr. C. F. Richmond, Mr. J. B. Smith and Mr. Graham Thomas
have all generously made information available to me; Dr. Nesta Lloyd, Mr.
D. J. Bowen and Mr. Gerallt Harries kindly offered me useful advice about

preface

ix

Welsh poetry; and Dr. Prys Morgan and Professor T. J. Morgan were
invaluable interpreters of Welsh personal names. I am especially grateful to
Dr. R. R. Davies and Mr. J. B. Smith, in whose company I have studied
latemedieval Wales; their example and criticism have supported my own efforts
and, on this occasion, greatly improved the first part of this book. To all these
scholars go my heartfelt thanks—and, of course, complete exoneration from
responsibility for the way in which I may have misused their information or
misunderstood their advice.

The visits which Dr. R. S. Thomas and I made to a number of record
repositories were a pleasant experience and we frequently received courtesies
beyond expectation; in particular, the kindness of Mr. E. K. Timings of
the Public Record Office greatly facilitated the formidable task of checking
references. Moreover, these visits would not have been possible but for the
generosity over several years of the Field Work and Research Committee
of the Council of the University College of Swansea: I am glad to have this
opportunity of thanking its members. Special acknowledgement is due to
H.R.H. Prince Charles for allowing us to consult the records of the Duchy
of Cornwall and to Mr. S. A. Opie for making them available; also to His
Grace The Marquis of Bath and his Comptroller for allowing us access to the
private archives at Longleat. We are grateful, too, to the staff of the Library
of the University College of Swansea for their patience and humanity which,
combined with the efficiency I have come to appreciate over a number of years,
provided an ideal atmosphere for bo