Overview

The following themes will be discussed during lectures and seminars:

1. What happened between 1400-1421? – The course of the Revolt

2. Glyndŵr the man – the leader and the hero

3. Reasons for the revolt – i Colonial Wales after 1282 ii Wales and the disasters of the fourteenth century iii Difficulties within the Church iv Gentry and peasantry

4. Nationality and politics at the turn of the fifteenth century.

5. Propaganda and poets – the poet in Welsh society.

6. A Welsh State in the fifteenth century – an empty dream?

7. The movement’s plans for Wales and its people – Parliament, Education and Church.

8. Demise of the movement.

9. Post Glyndŵr Wales and the emergence of myth._

A study of a collection of documents associated with the movement, and provided in a special booklet, will be an essential part of the module; the context of these texts will also be analysed during seminars.

Lectures

1. Introduction

2. The History of the Revolt 1: Beginnings

3. The History of the Revolt 2: Apogee

4. The History of the Revolt 3: Collapse

5. Poets and Spies

6. A War in its European Context

7. A Welsh State?

8. Conflict and Politics in Fifteenth-century Britain

9. The Birth of Modern Wales?

(any of these topics may overrun slightly or be rearranged – the two last sessions allow for this)

Seminars

Details of seminar reading and extracts will be made available via blackboard

1. Introduction: a Tale of Two Travellers An introduction to Wales on the eve of the revolt

2. Glyndŵr and the Welsh Gentry Who were Glyndŵr’s supporters; the causes of revolt

3. Colony and ethnicity: Welsh and English in fourteenth-century Wales What do our sources tell us about the nature of ethnicity and the reasons for conflict?

4. Nationalism and historiography: the Problems of Gyndŵr How have historians discussed the revolt, and how does Glyndŵr’s central place in Welsh national politics complicate historical study?

5. Sources: negotiating Glyndŵr’s Wales A choice of sources to discuss, with a focus on the chronicler and ‘spy’ Adam Usk

6. A Peasant’s Revolt? Europe and Glyndŵr What can comparing the revolt to events in England, France, Sweden, and Bohemia tell us?

7. Propaganda and Poetry A study of poetic sources for the war, and a discussion of Welsh poets as propagandists and fighters in the conflict

8. Build–your–own Medieval State How should we understand the Pennal Letter and the ideas of Glyndŵr’s supporters for a Welsh state?

9. The Consequences of Revolt What happened during the last years of the revolt; why did it fail; what were the effects?

Assessment Strategy

Assessment criteria: Threshold Threshold students (low 40s) will show a basic knowledge of at least parts of the relevant field, and will make partly successful efforts at least to present an argument which will show awareness of different historical interpretations.
Good Good students (50s) will show relevant knowledge of most of the field, using this to support conclusions based on analysis, and showing awareness of different historical interpretations. Very good Very good students (60s) will show a strong level of attainment in all the criteria listed in the previous paragraphs.
Excellent Excellent students (70s and above) will show this strong attainment across the criteria as well as a particularly striking depth of knowledge ac/or ingenuity of analysis.

Learning Outcomes

• An ability to display thorough knowledge of, and a detailed understanding of, Owain Glyndŵr and the political movement which he led at the beginning of the fifteenth century, appreciating the different background elements which gave rise to the movement, its outcomes and far-reaching impact on Wales.

• An ability to evaluate and consider a wide range of different historical interpretations relating to the movement, the reasons behind it and its outcomes (including contemporary and historiographical viewpoints).

• The ability to present clear, well-organized and detailed arguments relating to aspects of Glyndŵr’s movement in two degree essays. The arguments in the essays should be based on specific evidence secondary sources and, if possible, from primary sources with full references and bibliography, following the detailed guidelines and conforming to the format outlined in the School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology’s guidelines for degree essays.

• The acquisition and development of a deeper understanding and thorough awareness of the complexity of the circumstances which gave rise to Glyndŵr’s movement and the outcomes of this multi-faceted movement, noticing especially the relationship between the Welsh themselves, and the relationship between Wales, England and Europe in general during the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries.