Stephen Wild and I have a simple, but we think noble ambition: to find the Greatest of the Welsh Rulers, and to do so by democratic means. We whave selected 12 of the finest candidates, from Macsen Wledig (4th C) to Owain Glyndŵr (15th C). I don’t think it makes much sense to explain the rules of how we selected them and why not Henry Tudor, you’d only argue.
Greatest Ruler of Wales: Episode One 350AD to 1066
Welcome to our search for the Greatest Ruler of Wales. In these two Podcasts, Stephen aims to introduce some of the leaders who shaped Medieval Welsh History. Along the way, We’ll give a very succinct survey of the history of Roman and Medieval Wales. In this episode, we cover the period from 350 AD, to 1066, and rulers Macsen Wledig, Cunedda, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, Rhodri Mawr, Hywel Dda, ‘The Good’, and Gruffudd ap Llywelyn.
Download Podcast - The Greatest Welsh Ruler Part I (Right Click and select Save Link As)
The Greatest Ruler program
So, this is the program:
We (almost entirely Stephen as it happens) is going to take you through a brief history of Medieval Wales, including the lives of our 12 candidates, in two podcast episodes on 7th and 14th September
- 15th September: Voting Opens for Round one, the Group Round
- 21st September: Voting for the Semi Finals 1
- 22nd September: Semi Final 2
- 23rd September: The Final!
- 24th Sepember: The Big Announcement
The Draw
Stephen’s Pronunciation guide
Welsh is (very nearly) phonetic in its spelling, unlike English, but the conventions of spelling are rather different. Here’s a list of names, rendered (very approximately) into an English equivalent. Stress, in Welsh, is on the penultimate syllable.
- Macsen Wledig – Macsen ooLedig
- Cunedda – Kinethah (voiced ‘th’ as in ‘that’)
- Cadwallon – Kadwa*ll*on (the ‘ll’ in Welsh doesn’t occur in English. Put your tongue where it would be to say ‘l’, but blow instead!)
- Rhodri – like the English Rodry, but sound the ‘h’ at the same time as the ‘r’.
- Mawr – ma-oor (with a rolled ‘r’ )
- Hywell – Huh-well
- Dda – thah (but with a voiced consonant – as in ‘Cunedda’, above)
- Gruffudd (and Gruffydd – same pronunciation) – Griffith (voiced ’th’)
- Llywelyn – ‘Ll’ as in Cadwallon. Lluh-wel-in
- Owain – Oh-wine
- Rhys – Rees, but with a sounded ‘h’ with the ‘r’
- Gwenllian – Gwen-llee-ann (see above for ‘ll’)
- Iorwerth – Yor-werth (with rolled ‘r’s)
- Glyndŵr – Glin-door (‘oo’ as in spooky)
Stephen’s Book recommendations
All of these are general interest history – nothing too academic, I think – and are all in English(!) There’s plenty more to read out there, both in Welsh and in English, as well as recent books I haven’t bought (yet).
- John Davies’s excellent ‘A History of Wales’ is a wonderful overview.
- David Ross’s ‘Wales – History of a Nation’ is easy to read and gives a clear timeline.
Also recommended
- David Walker’s ‘Medieval Wales’
- Kari Maund’s ‘The Welsh Kings’
- Roger Turvey’s ‘The Welsh Princes 1063-1283’
If you want something a bit more argumentative, you might like to try:
- Gwyn A. Williams’s ‘When Was Wales’ and
- Martin Johnes ‘Wales: England’s First Colony’.
Some helpful maps
Well what a sweet consolation prize for missing the tour…this fantastic set of special podcasts and a vote! Thank you thank you! And a special thanks to Dave from New Zealand who may have inspired this? Even if not, thanks to Dave for his FB draws, so much fun.
Thanks Kathry, we will miss you on the tour. And yes I think Dave did inspire the format; Stephen inspired with lots of interesting comments and thoughts, so I was doubly lucky
Oh gosh and of course thank you Stephen!
David Lloyd George is the Greatest Welsh Ruler. The only Welsh ruler to defeat a German Emperor. The only Welsh ruler to rule a quarter of the world. The only Welsh ruler to have a life-long affair with his secretary. None of these medieval guys even had a female secretary.
Thank you…and noted!
The ll always sounds like a cl to me.
Where is Baffor? Can’t find it. Where Iago was killed.
Sorry – I don’t know!
That’s ok, no biggie, thanks
Good point, but my focus was on Welsh rulers of Wales, not of rulers of the U.K. or England.
Regarding Oswestry and Oswald’s cross: more detail here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswestry
Absolutely outrageous that Henry Tudor isn’t that list. After all, he’s the only Welshman who actually succeeded in defeating the King of England and taking his throne! I shall be recording my chin-wobbling disapproval via a sternly-worded letter.
Shwmae Sam. Henry was of (partly) Welsh descent, but the prize he sought was always the Kingdom of England. Wales was just a stepping stone to the bigger country next door.
To add: Henry had an opportunity – the best since Glyndŵr – to establish a Welsh state, or at least a union which established a future polity which retained its own identity. Although he did acknowledge his Welsh heritage, his focus was always elsewhere.
True, Henry not even a contender for my favorite Welsh person, and not in my family tree either so fluff him. By the way, what does Ddu mean, l’ve got someone named Gwladys the Dark Ddu. Does that mean she was bad?