Medieval Cardiff

The people of Wales were considered savages whoEnglishmen. Although Llewellyn Bren was captured and
dressed in skins and lived in tribes and kingdoms.pardoned he was captured again in 1320 and
When the Romans invaded Wales around 50 ADmurdered. The Welsh united and invaded Glamorgan.
they established a fort on the banks of the RiverThey destroyed Norman property and destroyed the
Taff. However, they dumped the fort years laterCardiff castle till the Earl of Warwick; Richard
after the decline of the Roman Empire around 350Beauchamp rebuilt it in 1423.
AD ending Roman rule in Britain. But the history ofDuring the 15th century Cardiff became leaderless till
Cardiff as a settlement starts with the Vikings firstOwain Glen Dwr known as the independent "Prince of
and the later invasion by the Norman, William theWales" led the revolt for the Celtic Welsh against the
Conqueror. After its invasion, the fort served as aEnglish around 1400. Glen Dwr entered Glamorgan and
protection of the inhabitants from the Welsh. It wasdestroyed it, particularly church property including
the barons and lords of Glamorgan that gave aCardiff Priory and Bishop's place at Llandaff.
location for its centre. It was the landowner, Lord ofAlthough the English galvanised their forces under
Gloucester and the conqueror of Glamorgan, RobertHenry IV and lead a successful campaign against the
FitzHamon who built a castle on the exact position ofrebels, Glyn Dwr was never captured and remained a
the Roman fort during his expedition in around 1090hunted rebel. The English had once again taken
against the Welsh. A small settlement grew aroundcontrol of Cardiff. Several succession of Cardiff took
the castle's south gate and became a market centre.place and life was hard for the people of Cardiff as
Glamorgan became highly fortified as several additionsthere constant struggle for control.
were made to the castle. The lordship of GlamorganThe story of Cardiff and the Welsh people has been
became independent and subsequently the Welsha story of struggle to survive all odds, to survive the
grew restless and gave rise to leader called Llewellynadvent of the Romans, Vikings, Normans, the
Bren who had a grievance against the King. A revoltoppression of the Lords and the onslaught of the
started when the army of Llewellyn Bren captured inEnglish people and the English language.
1314 the sheriff of Glamorgan and killed several