0:00:08 > 0:00:11It is August 7th, 1485.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15This is Mill Bay in the far west of Pembrokeshire.
0:00:15 > 0:00:20A young nobleman is sailing to the land of his fathers.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24He's been in exile in France.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27His mission is to capture the crown of England.
0:00:27 > 0:00:32He may be half English and a quarter French,
0:00:32 > 0:00:36but he makes no secret of the fact that this is the land of his birth.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47For the first time a self-proclaimed Welshman will be King of England.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Under the dynasty that he starts,
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Wales will be united with England
0:00:54 > 0:00:57and for every generation of Welsh people to come,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00the consequences will be immense.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06But what exactly that means in the coming two-and-a-half centuries,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08will depend on who you are.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13Whether you're a wealthy landowner or one of the ordinary people.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Henry Tudor is sailing to Wales to meet his destiny,
0:01:50 > 0:01:55a battle with the English King Richard at Bosworth.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57BELL TOLLS
0:01:59 > 0:02:03It's the culmination of a bloody struggle for the English crown
0:02:03 > 0:02:07between two power-hungry clans, York against Lancaster
0:02:07 > 0:02:09the Wars of the Roses.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16And Henry comes proclaiming his Welsh blood,
0:02:16 > 0:02:22and asking his fellow countrymen to take up arms with him.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27En route, his supporters sew a homemade flag for Henry's army
0:02:27 > 0:02:29the Tudor colours of green and white
0:02:29 > 0:02:33with the fire-breathing Red Dragon of Wales.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39But if Henry thinks the Welsh peasants and the Welsh gentry
0:02:39 > 0:02:44will flock instantly to his side, he'll have to think again.
0:02:44 > 0:02:51Wales is in a pitiful state and has been for 200 years.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54No proper institutions, no court, no capital,
0:02:54 > 0:02:57no real means of steering her own destiny.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00And that's before you factor in the Black Death,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03which has wiped out a quarter of her population,
0:03:03 > 0:03:08the endless failed harvests and terrible suffering.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10So is there any cause for hope?
0:03:10 > 0:03:15Not really. The son of destiny, Owain Glyndwr,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18has risen up and been defeated.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27As Henry sends his lieutenants out to rally the Welsh gentry
0:03:27 > 0:03:32they move into a land where life for the werin-bobol, the peasants,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35is as nasty and short as it is anywhere in Europe.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44But Wales is different in one crucial way, as a conquered country,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48even its wealthiest families are excluded from power
0:03:48 > 0:03:51and influence in the highest courts of the land.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59If there are some small signs of progress since the days of Glyndwr,
0:03:59 > 0:04:02in church life, architecture and poetry,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05they hardly amount to a great leap forward.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10In the towns and villages Henry's forces pass through,
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Haverfordwest, Fagwr Lwyd, Cardigan,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18people's lives are dominated by age-old rituals and beliefs.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22After the defeat of Glyndwr, some are bound to wonder
0:04:22 > 0:04:26if a new Son of Destiny is on the march.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29But perhaps it's the gentry above all who might be persuaded
0:04:29 > 0:04:33that Henry Tudor is the man to restore their fortunes.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36When he reaches Aberystwyth,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Henry's path turns eastwards towards the heart of England,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43and his knights are bringing back to him promises of support.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54All the same, the people's response is rather lukewarm.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57There's a story I'd like to share, it's a local tradition really,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00which hints at how tricky things really were for Henry,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03He's on his way from Machynlleth to Welshpool,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06and he stays the night here, at this house.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08It's called Mathafarn.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11It's owned by a man called, wait for it,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Dafydd Llwyd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffydd.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Let's call him Dafydd for short.
0:05:16 > 0:05:21Dafydd is a poet but he also has the gift of prophecy, or so it's said.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25So, it's a perfectly natural thing for Henry to ask him the question,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29"Will I gain the crown of England?"
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Dafydd simply can't answer, until his wife chips in and says,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35"You might as well say yes because,
0:05:35 > 0:05:39"let's face it, is he fails, he's not coming back here."
0:05:39 > 0:05:41So, in these parts at least,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44confidence in Henry is rather fragile.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51Still, the only way for Henry now is forward, to his destiny at Bosworth.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54But if Wales is slow to come to Henry's side,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57his English allies are even slower.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01Right up until the decisive moment of the battle,
0:06:01 > 0:06:06the fate of the whole enterprise, and Dafydd's prophesy, is in doubt.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13Henry's army is outnumbered by at least two to one,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17but Richard divides his forces into three groups.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20In contrast, Henry keeps his force together
0:06:20 > 0:06:22to withstand the initial attack.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Richard still has men in reserve
0:06:30 > 0:06:32so he orders his second group to attack.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36But the men don't move. Has the King been betrayed?
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Richard gambles his life by charging across the battlefield
0:06:39 > 0:06:41to try to kill Henry.
0:06:45 > 0:06:46The move backfires.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50Richard and his bodyguards get separated from the rest of his army.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54More of the uncommitted troops join Henry's side.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55And one of Henry's lieutenants
0:06:55 > 0:06:58drives a spear through the King's heart.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47So who kills Richard? Who delivers that fatal blow?
0:07:47 > 0:07:54We'll never know, but there's a potential clue carved into this bed.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It belongs to a Welsh nobleman called Rhys ap Thomas.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01One look at it, tells you that he's a man of means.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12I want to look at the intricate carving around the edge of the bed,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16it tells us the story of Rhys ap Thomas' rather exciting life.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25And focus on this section here, two knights charging at other.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27A horse here which has lost its shoe.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30That could easily be a reference to Richard,
0:08:30 > 0:08:34who was famously unhorsed in the Battle of Bosworth
0:08:34 > 0:08:38and in Shakespeare's version of events cries out,
0:08:38 > 0:08:41"A horse, my kingdom for a horse!"
0:08:42 > 0:08:47So is this the bed of a man who killed a king?
0:08:54 > 0:08:57All over Wales, there are now people who who're happy to see
0:08:57 > 0:09:03the Tudor triumph at Bosworth as a Welsh triumph.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06And Henry is genuinely indebted to Rhys ap Thomas
0:09:06 > 0:09:11and those Welsh landowners who've supported him.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Henry himself comes from Welsh gentry stock,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20the Tudors of North-West Wales, and they're one remarkable family.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Henry Tudor would have grown up with tales of this place.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36This is Penmynydd in Anglesey.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38It's one of the seats of his family,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41who'd served the Welsh princes three centuries before,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44and fought for their cousin, Owain Glyndwr,
0:09:44 > 0:09:46in his great uprising.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49And Henry no doubt would have been intrigued to learn
0:09:49 > 0:09:52how his grandfather had met his grandmother.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Owen Tudor, Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58had fought for the English King Henry V.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04After Henry's death, Owen somehow managed to catch the eye of Henry's widow,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06Catherine of Valois, Queen Catherine.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10The story is, they were at a dance together, he was a bit drunk,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13she took a fancy to him. That's Welsh charm for you.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20But let's pause a second because
0:10:20 > 0:10:24there's a danger that we're getting slightly carried away.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Henry VII, Henry Tudor, the great Welsh hero. Is he?
0:10:28 > 0:10:32It's not clear, he's a quarter Welsh,
0:10:32 > 0:10:36yes, he is born in Wales, he spends most of his life away from Wales,
0:10:36 > 0:10:40there's no evidence that he can speak or understand Welsh.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Yes he does have a red dragon on his banner, but he has lots of banners.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47And it is a detail on his royal crest.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49I think it's fair to say,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52he takes the English crown for himself and for his family,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57it's not some great act of liberation for the Welsh people.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00In effect, he becomes just another English king.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14And yet, that royal magic seems to do the trick
0:11:14 > 0:11:16because what happens is,
0:11:16 > 0:11:20the people of Wales believe, they desperately want to believe,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24that they have a special connection with Henry Tudor,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28and not just with him, but with his son and grandchildren,
0:11:28 > 0:11:35the future Tudor kings and queens, from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39And it's the vigour of that Tudor bloodline which transforms England
0:11:39 > 0:11:44from a bit of a backward kingdom to a major world power.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49So I'm going to dare to suggest that the British Empire starts here.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Henry's first son is born the year after Bosworth.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Henry calls him Arthur,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02a name linked by now with claims to the English throne
0:12:02 > 0:12:05but one steeped in ancient Welsh history too.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Henry sends Arthur here to Ludlow in the Welsh Marches
0:12:10 > 0:12:13and makes him Prince of Wales.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16He's going to be schooled for his future as a monarch
0:12:16 > 0:12:19by ruling a Principality. And it's a complex task.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Though Wales has been conquered and subdued,
0:12:26 > 0:12:29things are still different here.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32Even the Marches, the most accessible parts of the country
0:12:32 > 0:12:37aren't part of the English legal system.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39They're governed by the Council of the Marches
0:12:39 > 0:12:42which has its headquarters in Ludlow.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46The plan is to get the young Prince Arthur to run it.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54In 1501, Arthur marries Catherine of Aragon.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58But following year, he dies suddenly.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01When his younger brother, Henry, inherits the crown,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05and his brother's wife, the anomalies of governing Wales
0:13:05 > 0:13:09become to prove unacceptable to a King who keeps his realm safe
0:13:09 > 0:13:11by firm, central control.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20But Henry VIII has plenty of other things on his mind.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25Famously, religion and marriage, and it's 20 years into his reign
0:13:25 > 0:13:30before he's able to sort out the matter of Wales.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34This is where the story of Wales changes course.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38It's a seismic change, set out in this act of parliament
0:13:38 > 0:13:40demanded by Henry VIII.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45It joins the government and legal systems of England and Wales.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48In other words, it is an Act Of Union.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52And for the first time in history, this document is on Welsh soil,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56here at the Natural History Museum in Cardiff.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59And I have to say, as a Welshman,
0:13:59 > 0:14:03it is a very powerful experience to be able to touch this document.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07And to read some of its content, for example,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10"Henceforth, no Person or Persons
0:14:10 > 0:14:13"that use the Welsh Speech or Language
0:14:13 > 0:14:17"shall have or enjoy any Manner Office or Fees within this Realm,
0:14:17 > 0:14:23"unless he or they use and exercise the English Speech or Language."
0:14:24 > 0:14:30So simple and so unthreatening, laid out before me here.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33And yet, this is the most important document
0:14:33 > 0:14:36in the entire Story of Wales.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05While I'm at the Museum here in St Fagan's,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08I'm taking the chance to learn more about this essential chapter
0:15:08 > 0:15:12in our story from Professor Geraint Jenkins.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16Well, Geraint, here we have, I think,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20one of the prime symbols of the Act of Union. What is it?
0:15:20 > 0:15:24It is indeed. It's a Justice's chair from the 16th century.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28It's an emblem really of the new Wales that is dawning,
0:15:28 > 0:15:33a new Wales in which English becomes the language of law and administration,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36and English becomes the language of the courts.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40Let us imagine, Huw, that you broke the law,
0:15:40 > 0:15:44that you stole a handkerchief and were brought before your betters,
0:15:44 > 0:15:46an English Justice coming in from England,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50who'd sit in judgement on you. You, a monoglot Welsh speaker,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53would not understand a word of the proceedings,
0:15:53 > 0:15:56but you'd give your evidence in Welsh and it would be translated into English.
0:15:56 > 0:16:03When the verdict arrives, and the judge condemns you to death,
0:16:03 > 0:16:06you would then be hearing the verdict,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09and hearing the condemnatory address from the Chief Justice
0:16:09 > 0:16:12in a language you do not understand.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16Was there not some kind of boiling anger among people about what was going on?
0:16:16 > 0:16:18Not really because...
0:16:18 > 0:16:21There might have been of course, amongst the werin-bobol,
0:16:21 > 0:16:24but it's the gentry that are calling the shots,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26and they are the ones who benefit from the Acts of Union,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29they see that this is going to help them build estates,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32it's going to make them the local governors,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34they'll have a voice in Westminster,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37they'll become the top dogs in Welsh society.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40So they're saying, to all intents and purposes, "Bring it on."
0:16:40 > 0:16:44Are there any clear benefits to Wales from the Acts of Union?
0:16:44 > 0:16:48If you were a gentleman, certainly there were benefits for Wales,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52you look at what the spin doctors for the gentry are saying.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55They're saying that Wales and England live in harmony,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58that no country in England, that's striking, isn't it?
0:16:58 > 0:17:03No country in England has flourished as much as Wales after the Union settlement.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09So they knew that they were the major economic beneficiaries of the Union.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14Geraint, for the first time, The Act Of Union is on Welsh soil,
0:17:14 > 0:17:16what does that mean to you?
0:17:16 > 0:17:19I don't know about you, Huw, but I've been having goosebumps,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23because this document has had a HUGE psychological effect
0:17:23 > 0:17:25on the Welsh people.
0:17:25 > 0:17:30We habitually use the phrase, despite ourselves, "England and Wales."
0:17:30 > 0:17:34I bet you never say, "Wales and England" any more than I do.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37It's a dictum really that starts with the Acts Of Union.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40Then again, the fate of the language,
0:17:40 > 0:17:42something that's very important to us both
0:17:42 > 0:17:45because Welsh is our mother tongue, both of us,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47and we worry about the fate of the language.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51That again, stems very largely from the language clause in 1536.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55So I think this is an Act, which over the centuries,
0:17:55 > 0:18:01has embedded itself in our minds and in our hearts and in our souls.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04It's very, very important in the Story of Wales,
0:18:04 > 0:18:09and I think the Story of Wales would have been very different without it.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23It's worth pausing a moment and thinking about the lives of those,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26who are subject to Henry's laws.
0:18:27 > 0:18:31The population of Wales is just under a quarter of a million,
0:18:31 > 0:18:33that's about the size of modern Cardiff.
0:18:33 > 0:18:39Nine out of every ten of them don't speak or understand English.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43There are some towns with a few thousand residents,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Brecon and Wrexham.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51But the vast majority of people live off the land,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54away from the towns.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Most people never have the luxury of travelling far
0:18:57 > 0:18:59from their own parish.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Their lives are focused on a tight locality,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05y filltir sgwar, their own patch,
0:19:05 > 0:19:10something that's still so important for many of us in Wales.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Tudor society has a formal structure.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23Below the nobles and the gentry, are the yeoman farmers
0:19:23 > 0:19:29who own their land and work on it alongside paid labourers.
0:19:29 > 0:19:35But the backbone of society, is the class of tenant farmers.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38They rent land from the rich, and they can be thrown off it
0:19:38 > 0:19:40if they can't pay.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46Their families are large, but disease and food shortages mean
0:19:46 > 0:19:50that many of their children never survive to adult life.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Mum! Mum!
0:19:59 > 0:20:03And in the face of tragedy, they hold to traditional beliefs.
0:20:09 > 0:20:10Wales is a Catholic country.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13The Welsh are known across Europe
0:20:13 > 0:20:15for their devotion to the Virgin Mary.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Their Christian practice sits alongside the faith they have
0:20:18 > 0:20:21in more ancient rites and rituals,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24like the healing that can be had from holy wells and springs.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52But there's a big religious change coming, in the reign of Henry VIII,
0:20:52 > 0:20:56driven by his ambitions and by his sex life.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Henry's marriage to Arthur's widow, Catherine of Aragon,
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and then his desire to annul the marriage,
0:21:03 > 0:21:06sparks a break with the Pope in Rome.
0:21:06 > 0:21:11And Henry uses the split to get his hands not just on a new wife
0:21:11 > 0:21:14but also on money and property, and lots of it.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Henry is targeting the monasteries, places like this,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24the Abbey of Strata Florida near Tregaron.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31He's attacking places which, for centuries,
0:21:31 > 0:21:33have been pillars of Welsh life.
0:21:33 > 0:21:35Where monks here have chronicled our history
0:21:35 > 0:21:39and supported our princes and poets.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44What happens is perfectly lawful, Henry's made sure of that,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47but he's responsible for the destruction
0:21:47 > 0:21:51of some of the greatest buildings in Western Europe.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53And they now lie in ruins.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58It's an act of state-sponsored vandalism on an epic scale.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02And here in Wales, the damage is more extensive
0:22:02 > 0:22:05because that link between the monks, who lived in these places,
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and Welsh learning and culture, is now broken.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Every part of Wales is affected by Henry's break with the Pope.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25It suits those Protestants who want to smash Catholic practices here.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31They target six places of key religious significance.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39One of them is Penrhys, in the Rhondda.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43A miraculous wooden statue of the Virgin Mary
0:22:43 > 0:22:44is said to have appeared here.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50This modern statue commemorates the tradition.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Henry's enforcer, Thomas Cromwell,
0:22:54 > 0:22:58knows that they'll need to move very carefully.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02This is one of the holiest places in Wales.
0:23:02 > 0:23:08Pilgrims came here, across land and sea, according to the poets,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12they came to bathe in the water of the Holy well.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15They came here for healing, of body and of mind.
0:23:15 > 0:23:20But by the 15th century, there was also a statue of the Virgin Mary,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23which was said to have appeared, as if by a miracle.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26It was found in an oak tree.
0:23:26 > 0:23:29It was the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus in her arms,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32she's bending over to kiss him, she's the Queen of Heaven.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38But she's also an ordinary peasant woman with her baby in her arms.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42I think that was what spoke to the ordinary people of this area,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44she was one of theirs.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48The pilgrimage to Penrhys, its wooden statute
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and its holy well, is hugely popular.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55Miracles are said to happen here.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00It's easy to look back at that now and to write it off as superstition,
0:24:00 > 0:24:05but this was the belief which ran right through society,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08from kings and princes right down to the peasants.
0:24:08 > 0:24:09This belief that,
0:24:09 > 0:24:14if you travel to somewhere that holy things have happened,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17holy things can happen to you.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21But for the Protestant reformers empowered by Henry VIII,
0:24:21 > 0:24:25beliefs like these are not just superstitious,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29they endanger national security.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32For them, the destruction of shrines like this was a priority,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36no matter how beautiful they were, no matter how much people love them,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39in fact, precisely because they were beautiful and people loved them.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44So Thomas Cromwell wrote, in the summer of 1538,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48to a local landowner, William Herbert, of St Julian's in Newport,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52and told him to come to Penrhys and destroy the shrine.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55When he got here, he had an audience.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58What he says in his report to Thomas Cromwell is,
0:24:58 > 0:25:00"I explained to them what they were doing wrong,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03"I told them how they were dishonouring the King and God,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07"and I took the statue away. End of problem."
0:25:07 > 0:25:10The strange thing about his story is
0:25:10 > 0:25:13that it took three weeks to write up the report.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15And when he wrote it up,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17he said the statue was still in his house in Newport.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22Now that statue was hot. It could have sparked a rebellion.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25What's he doing with it still in his house?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29But if Herbert is having second thoughts
0:25:29 > 0:25:32about Penrhys's miraculous statute
0:25:32 > 0:25:35there's no evidence that anything comes of them.
0:25:35 > 0:25:41The wooden statue is taken to London, and it's burnt to cinders.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54The shrine is destroyed, the pilgrimage stopped.
0:25:54 > 0:26:00The well of course doesn't dry up and local people keep using it.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03They say it's very good for making their butter churn.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07And local traditions about the well survive.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11You can come here and find there's plenty of water.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15You can come here and find there's hardly any water at all.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19The locals say the water flows when it wants to.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23So there is still something about Penrhys,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27for all that Thomas Cromwell felt it was a dangerous place
0:26:27 > 0:26:29and needed to be destroyed.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35But Penrhys's national significance as a place of healing
0:26:35 > 0:26:41and inspiration has been brought to a sudden end.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47And the religious upheaval goes on throughout the whole Tudor period.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Let's take a look inside this church
0:26:51 > 0:26:55to explain the confusion for so many worshippers.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00Henry VIII, when he dies, still considers himself a Catholic,
0:27:00 > 0:27:04despite all his troublemaking. His son Edward is a Protestant.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08His successor, Mary, is a devout Catholic,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11and Elizabeth I, a hard-line Protestant.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14What does all that mean for these churches?
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Things which have been familiar for centuries,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20disappear by Royal Command.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24No more shrines, no relics of the saints, no more going on pilgrimage.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Even the language of worship changes,
0:27:27 > 0:27:31from Latin to a mix of English and Welsh.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36And the most visible signs of change are here. On the walls around us.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43Because the churches go from being richly ornate and decorated,
0:27:43 > 0:27:48and a splash of colour, to being plain and white and simple.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52And then just as people are getting used to that, back comes the colour,
0:27:52 > 0:27:59in all its glory. And then not long afterwards, it's gone. Disappeared.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02And the walls no longer have a story to tell.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16Of course, the church doesn't change everything overnight,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20and worshippers don't depend solely on wall paintings
0:28:20 > 0:28:24for their understanding of the gospel,
0:28:24 > 0:28:28they're already used to hearing sermons in their own language,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36but it's vital for them to keep up with these twists and turns
0:28:36 > 0:28:39in what they're meant to believe.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42The business of religion in Elizabethan Wales
0:28:42 > 0:28:46is a matter of life or death. It's as simple as that.
0:28:46 > 0:28:51We have acts of violence, foreign threats against the state,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55we have security breaches, we have displays of extremism.
0:28:55 > 0:29:00No surprise that a toxic mix like that produces its own victims.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, is on the throne.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25Some of her subjects refuse to give up the Catholic faith.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30Richard Gwyn, a school teacher from Montgomeryshire, is one of them.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32He causes a local outrage.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36Richard Gwyn, in May 1581,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40is brought to this Anglican church in Wrexham.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43Six men drag him into this building,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47they are determined to make him listen to an Anglican sermon.
0:29:47 > 0:29:48But he's having none of it.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53They bring him to this area, near the pulpit and put him in shackles.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57And in a show of defiance, he rattled the chains so loudly
0:29:57 > 0:30:00that the voice of the preacher can't be heard.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03And for that, Richard Gwyn is punished.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05He's taken outside to the public stocks.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09Even then he doesn't lose his strength of spirit.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13He's taunted by a local Anglican clergyman who says,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17"I have as much authority as the Pope in these parts."
0:30:17 > 0:30:20Richard Gwyn replies to him very clearly,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23"St Peter was given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27"you've clearly been given the keys to the beer cellar."
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Two years later, Gwyn is convicted of attempting to convert others
0:30:35 > 0:30:38to the Catholic faith and of treason.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41He's brought to the town's Beast Market
0:30:41 > 0:30:43to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52It's a cruelly painful and very bloody process,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55being butchered while still alive.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59When Richard Gwyn is hanged he appears to be dead,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03but when he's cut down, he revives
0:31:03 > 0:31:07and he remains conscious throughout his disembowelling.
0:31:07 > 0:31:12His final words, in a cry of anguish, are these,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16"Iesu, trugarha wrthyf", Jesus, have mercy on me.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24Four centuries later, in 1970,
0:31:24 > 0:31:28the Catholic Church declares that Richard Gwyn is a saint.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Others in Wales are more in step with the Tudors.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46They flourish under the Elizabethan settlement.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51The Wynn family establish their seat here in Gwydir Castle,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55near Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley. They have quite a history.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Just after the Battle of Bosworth,
0:32:00 > 0:32:02one of Henry Tudor's great supporters
0:32:02 > 0:32:04Meredith ap Ieuan ap Robert
0:32:04 > 0:32:07finds the money to rebuild this castle.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11Meredith is descended from the ancient Kings of Gwynedd,
0:32:11 > 0:32:14and now he founds this dynasty of his own, the Wynns.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21After Henry VIII smashes the monasteries,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24the Wynns pop down the road to Maenan Abbey
0:32:24 > 0:32:28and find just enough gothic rubble lying around
0:32:28 > 0:32:32to build a fine new porch and gardens in the latest style.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35One of the best known residents of Gwydir
0:32:35 > 0:32:39becomes a real mover and shaker in London.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43She's Catrin o Ferain, Katherine of Berain,
0:32:43 > 0:32:45and she's famous for marrying four times.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49Some say she did murder her first three husbands.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53She moves from Wales to London to Antwerp
0:32:53 > 0:32:55and back to the Court of Queen Elizabeth,
0:32:55 > 0:32:59where she's a trusted confidant.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03With six children and scores of well-connected relations,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06she becomes known as Mam Cymru, the mother of Wales.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12And it's not just Catrin who's making a mark in London.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18The Welsh are everywhere,
0:33:18 > 0:33:24networking, influencing, socialising.
0:33:24 > 0:33:26We can think of them perhaps
0:33:26 > 0:33:29as the biggest ethnic group in the city,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33thriving in this cultural melting pot, Shakespeare's London.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Queen Elizabeth is more concerned with the Welsh
0:33:39 > 0:33:41who stay at home in Wales.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44To get them to buy in to her Protestant revolution
0:33:44 > 0:33:46she gives them something very precious,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49a bible in their own language.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52For generations within Wales, the idea was
0:33:52 > 0:33:56that Elizabeth had done this out of the kindness of her heart,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58out of a particular care for the people of Wales.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01Because the Welsh identify very strongly with the Tudor dynasty,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04that had originated in Anglesey, that was seen still as a Welsh family.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07So they thought that this was an act of particular benevolence.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09In reality of course,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Elizabeth and her ministers had very good tactical reasons
0:34:12 > 0:34:15for wanting to produce the Bible in Welsh.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17Elizabeth was a Protestant queen,
0:34:17 > 0:34:21she was facing all kinds of potential threats from abroad,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24from Catholic nations, particularly Spain, from the Pope,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28so she was intent upon ensuring that the Welsh would become good Protestants.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31The Welsh bible is early,
0:34:31 > 0:34:35it's only the 13th language in the world to get its own translation.
0:34:35 > 0:34:40When we look at the 1588 Bible, you can see its size,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43it was a pulpit Bible, it's a large Bible,
0:34:43 > 0:34:45it was never intended to be read at home.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47It's not the sort of thing you can take with you to bed
0:34:47 > 0:34:50and read a chapter before going to sleep.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52It was intended for use in the churches,
0:34:52 > 0:34:56there were about 1,000 copies printed initially in 1588,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00just about enough to supply the parish churches throughout Wales.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03And they cost £1 each, which was a lot of money at that time,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06they were very often kept chained to the pulpit within churches,
0:35:06 > 0:35:07so that they weren't stolen.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Because there were some bible thieves around at that time.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14But this, in a way, is the start of a process of making sure
0:35:14 > 0:35:17the Welsh people were familiar with the contents of the Bible,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20they would hear this Bible from the pulpit every Sunday.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Most of the translation is done here.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant is far from any library or centre of learning.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35But the task has fallen to the vicar, William Morgan,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39who begins the enormous enterprise in the late 1570s.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42He was working by himself, night after night,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44while also taking charge of his parish.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46He was committed to the idea that
0:35:46 > 0:35:48it should be the best possible translation,
0:35:48 > 0:35:50and that meant going back to the originals.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52It meant using the Hebrew Old Testament
0:35:52 > 0:35:54and the Greek New Testament.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57So it's not surprising that it took him until 1587 to produce a draft
0:35:57 > 0:36:00that could go to the printers in London.
0:36:00 > 0:36:04Because, at that time, it had to be printed by the Queen's printers.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07The print-setters, of course, the typesetters,
0:36:07 > 0:36:10probably had no familiarity with the Welsh language whatsoever,
0:36:10 > 0:36:13so it was necessary for Morgan to be in there every day,
0:36:13 > 0:36:16checking the work and rechecking.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20But William Morgan's triumph is not just his attention to detail,
0:36:20 > 0:36:25it's also how natural he makes the whole Bible sound in Welsh.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28The Welsh that would have been used in the fayre, the marketplace,
0:36:28 > 0:36:31the tavern, probably not completely suitable for the Bible,
0:36:31 > 0:36:35so one needed to elevate the language a certain amount above that,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38and to produce something that was more elegant and more dignified,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41but you needed to strike a balance with an everyday language
0:36:41 > 0:36:44that people would appreciate and would immediately understand,
0:36:44 > 0:36:46so that when they were hearing this Bible in church
0:36:46 > 0:36:48it would immediately strike a chord with them,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50they would immediately get it in a way that they hadn't before,
0:36:50 > 0:36:54because it had been in English or prior to that, in Latin.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57"Y mae amser i bob peth
0:36:57 > 0:37:01"ac amser i bob ewyllys tan y nefoedd.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05"Amser sydd i eni ac amser i farw.
0:37:05 > 0:37:11"Ac amser i blannu ac amser i ddiwreiddio y peth a blannwyd."
0:37:12 > 0:37:15Nothing resonates more powerfully for me
0:37:15 > 0:37:20than the words of the Bible in my mother tongue.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22"Amser i wylo ac amser i chwerthin."
0:37:22 > 0:37:27And this goes to the heart of William Morgan's towering achievement.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Here we are in the church of Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34where he addresses his flock over many years.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38What he does, is he gives the Bible a new credibility,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41throughout Wales, as a vehicle of faith.
0:37:41 > 0:37:45"Amser I rhyfel ac amser I heddwch."
0:37:53 > 0:37:56By the end of Elizabeth's reign,
0:37:56 > 0:38:00the Welsh Bible brings the country into a much closer alignment
0:38:00 > 0:38:04with the Monarchy and its Protestant settlement.
0:38:04 > 0:38:09But not everyone is focused on spiritual matters.
0:38:09 > 0:38:14Ports like Tenby are about to enter The Commercial Age.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18Dealing in high end goods like gloves and taffeta,
0:38:18 > 0:38:21trading with Portugal and Morocco, the merchants of Tenby
0:38:21 > 0:38:27are every bit as wealthy as those of any similar port in England.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Tenby's merchants can offer lower tariffs
0:38:32 > 0:38:34and boast of more efficient service.
0:38:34 > 0:38:39They're making money and living lives of some style and ease.
0:38:39 > 0:38:41But away from pockets like this,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45commercial development in Wales is slow.
0:38:45 > 0:38:50And that holds back the growth of the latest strain of the Protestant faith
0:38:50 > 0:38:52which is sweeping through England's trading towns.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55It's called Puritanism.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03But some well-off families are drawn to this new form of dissent.
0:39:03 > 0:39:05Some leave the Church of England
0:39:05 > 0:39:09believing it's still too close to Catholicism.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20Take the Prichards of Llancaiach Fawr
0:39:20 > 0:39:23in the parish of Gelligaer, near Pontypridd.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26Colonel Edward Prichard is a devout Puritan.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29He joins a Baptist congregation in Eglwysilan.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35The Prichards have lived at Llancaiach Fawr for generations.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38Their colourful family history offers a real insight
0:39:38 > 0:39:42into life in Wales at this time.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46Edward has married Mary Mansell daughter of a wealthy family
0:39:46 > 0:39:49from Britton Ferry.
0:39:49 > 0:39:54Their household boasts 15 servants living in the manor house.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59Colonel Prichard's right-hand man is the steward.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01What did the bailiff have to say of this?
0:40:01 > 0:40:05It's been confirmed by the bailiffs.
0:40:05 > 0:40:11Unlike the other servants, he's an educated man who can speak English.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14He has a good grasp of husbandry and the law.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17Master James, you are to give the court the truth, the whole truth,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20and nothing but the truth, so help thee God,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22and by the content of this book.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25He helps Colonel Prichard in presiding over local court cases.
0:40:25 > 0:40:29In the Great Hall at Llancaiach Fawr,
0:40:29 > 0:40:32they settle rent disputes and minor misdemeanours.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35Aye, indeed it has.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38It also seemed to me, good sir, that you are in contempt in some measure...
0:40:38 > 0:40:44Dispensing the King's justice, it seems, is part of God's work.
0:40:46 > 0:40:51The family does make time for leisure and entertainment.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00But Colonel Prichard is about to be caught up in a brutal struggle,
0:41:00 > 0:41:07a clash of ideas between two bitterly opposed forces,
0:41:07 > 0:41:12a civil war which will shake the foundations of the state,
0:41:12 > 0:41:17it will pit Parliament against the Crown
0:41:17 > 0:41:22and it will put a king's life in jeopardy.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28The Prichards aren't the only well-to-do family,
0:41:28 > 0:41:32in this part of south Wales, to become enthusiastic Puritans.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Here in Whitchurch, a very busy suburb of Cardiff today,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39the Williams also embraced the cause.
0:41:39 > 0:41:44One of Williams' boys marries into the family of Thomas Cromwell,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47who used to be Henry VIII's Chief Minister,
0:41:47 > 0:41:52and that man's son Oliver decides not to be known as Williams,
0:41:52 > 0:41:57but to embrace the Cromwell surname. That's right, Oliver Cromwell.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00This is the man who leads the Puritan fight
0:42:00 > 0:42:02to overthrow the monarchy.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06And it's a bitter irony for him that most people in Wales,
0:42:06 > 0:42:10even those who abandoned the Anglican church, like the Prichards,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13are on the King's side.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19Before hostilities end,
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Edward Pritchard will join Parliament's side.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28But when Civil War breaks out, his instincts as an Officer of the Crown
0:42:28 > 0:42:30impel him to take up arms for the King.
0:42:33 > 0:42:38In the middle of the campaign, he'll have a very special dinner guest
0:42:38 > 0:42:41here at Llancaiach Fawr, King Charles himself.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45It's counter-intuitive for us today,
0:42:45 > 0:42:47who think of ourselves as a socialist, left-wing,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49republican-esque sort of place,
0:42:49 > 0:42:53in fact, we were thoroughbred royalists.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55The Welsh actually liked their king, King Charles.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Lots of places in England, of course,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59felt that he was doing something seriously wrong
0:42:59 > 0:43:01with the government of the whole country,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04with the government of the church. There are elements of that in Wales,
0:43:04 > 0:43:07yes, but in fact they see King Charles as their king.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11Kingship is something that the Welsh have taken on board as their own
0:43:11 > 0:43:13since the Tudor period.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16What they like even more, I think, is their church.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18The Church of England, ironically,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21is very much the Church of Wales in this period.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24The Church of Wales, which has been thoroughly Cymru-sised,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27it's in their own language, their sermons, their liturgy,
0:43:27 > 0:43:30their faith, is truly Welsh.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Now Charles, of course, represents the head of that Church.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Parliament looks like it's challenging that Church,
0:43:37 > 0:43:39it wants to bring in more of a Puritan type of worship.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48Charles's recruiting sergeants are helped further
0:43:48 > 0:43:52by the way Parliament talks about the Welsh, simple, ignorant, stupid,
0:43:52 > 0:43:57simply following the King because they know no better.
0:43:57 > 0:43:59Do you really want to fight and die
0:43:59 > 0:44:02for a bunch of people who're calling you an idiot?
0:44:04 > 0:44:10The Welsh aren't idiots. But they've backed the losing side.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12By 1646, the King is in prison
0:44:12 > 0:44:17and the outcome seems to be settled.
0:44:17 > 0:44:18Well, not quite!
0:44:22 > 0:44:27After the fighting stopped, we get a battle over what the war was about.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36What does victory mean for the Parliamentarians?
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Does it mean that you have the King as a mere figurehead,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42with a radically reformed Church?
0:44:42 > 0:44:46Wales in particular gets very worried and jittery about what they see
0:44:46 > 0:44:49emerging out of Parliament.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53Radical voices, calling for the complete transformation
0:44:53 > 0:44:55of their beloved Church
0:44:55 > 0:44:58into something they simply couldn't recognise any more.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09Cromwell's radicalism is alarming his own supporters.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11The Mayor of Pembroke is one of them.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13He's John Poyer, a merchant,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17just the kind of person who's sympathetic to Puritanism.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19Surrounded on all sides by Royalists,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23he's held the castle for Parliament.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26But now he's having second thoughts.
0:45:26 > 0:45:29Poyer is wondering, I think, what he's fought for.
0:45:29 > 0:45:32He also has an added grievance with Parliament,
0:45:32 > 0:45:36they aren't paying him what he feels he's owed,
0:45:36 > 0:45:41for standing on their side when he was an island of Parliamentarianism.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44Pembroke becomes a springboard for a renewal of the war.
0:45:44 > 0:45:49Supporters of the King rise up across the whole of Britain.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53This time Poyer is fighting against Parliament.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56He's been promised that Royalist reinforcements
0:45:56 > 0:45:59are marching across the country to be with him.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03What does come his way, however, unfortunately for him,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06is Oliver Cromwell and the New Model Army,
0:46:06 > 0:46:09who sweep through South Wales, defeating Royalist forces as they go,
0:46:09 > 0:46:12principally in the Battle of St Fagans,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15and end up outside these walls, where they raise a siege.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19They don't really have the fire power to demolish the place
0:46:19 > 0:46:22and for several weeks, Cromwell is camped outside here
0:46:22 > 0:46:24with perhaps 6,000 men.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27Poyer and his associates are inside with a few hundred.
0:46:29 > 0:46:35From May until July of 1648, the Castle holds firm under siege.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39In the end, Cromwell brings up the biggest guns he has
0:46:39 > 0:46:43to threaten the mediaeval ramparts.
0:46:46 > 0:46:49The game is up.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52With two other rebels who've been at his side,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54Rowland Laugharne and Rice Powell,
0:46:54 > 0:46:58Poyer surrenders himself to Puritan justice.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01They are taken before a Court Martial and tried.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03They are found guilty of treason, all three of them.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06They plead for their lives and the Council of State,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10which is the body effectively in charge of the country at this time,
0:47:10 > 0:47:14agree that justice will be served if only one of them dies.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16And so, they decide to draw lots.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19In fact, they have a child choose the lots for them.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23On two pieces of paper are written, "Life, given of God"
0:47:23 > 0:47:25and the other is blank.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29Poyer is the one that pulls the blank sheet of paper from the child's hand.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32And she asks him, "Did I do well?"
0:47:32 > 0:47:36He looks down at the child and says, "Yes, you have done very well."
0:47:36 > 0:47:40GUNSHOTS
0:47:40 > 0:47:45Poyer faces the firing squad in April 1649.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49And Wales's resistance to Parliament dies with him.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52But from Pembroke to here in Caerphilly,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55Oliver Cromwell doesn't feel secure
0:47:55 > 0:47:58in the land of his fathers quite yet.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00He's known as God's Englishman,
0:48:00 > 0:48:02some might even call him God's Welshman
0:48:02 > 0:48:05but Cromwell, after he winning the Civil War,
0:48:05 > 0:48:08in which Caerphilly Castle plays a very small part,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11orders his army to slight the castle.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14The damage they cause may well be responsible
0:48:14 > 0:48:17for the famous leaning of the south-east tower.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Forget Pisa with its 4% drift
0:48:20 > 0:48:23Caerphilly can boast fully 10%.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27It's worth having a look, if you have the inclination!
0:48:29 > 0:48:34Cromwell is determined to get the Welsh to take Puritanism seriously.
0:48:34 > 0:48:38His Parliament passes an Act for the Propagation of the Gospel
0:48:38 > 0:48:41in benighted Wales.
0:48:42 > 0:48:47Scores of mainstream Anglican clergy are thrown out of their churches,
0:48:47 > 0:48:51replaced by enthusiasts for the new cause.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54But in the end, the calls for a Puritan Wales
0:48:54 > 0:48:56will fall on deaf ears.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06The monarchy is restored, and the gentry are free to behave
0:49:06 > 0:49:10more and more like their English counterparts.
0:49:10 > 0:49:13As a new century dawns the distance between them
0:49:13 > 0:49:18and the Welsh-speaking werin-bobol seems greater than ever.
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Perhaps that's why the Welsh countryside
0:49:22 > 0:49:26is seen as a backwater, stagnating economically,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28lacking the vitality of urban life
0:49:28 > 0:49:31which develops in England in the 1700s.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34It's a picture that Nia Powell,
0:49:34 > 0:49:37an expert in the agriculture of the time, is keen to challenge.
0:49:37 > 0:49:44Quite often, Wales is described as an impoverished country of subsistence,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47farmers, well, that's not true at all.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50What you find in uplands in particular,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53are entrepreneurial farmers, if you like.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57And I think that's where the real wealth of Wales lay.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01That's an intriguing thought because I've grown up the notion,
0:50:01 > 0:50:05obviously the wrong one, that it's the farms down on the valley floor,
0:50:05 > 0:50:09which are sort of making the money and it's the poor people at the top.
0:50:09 > 0:50:10That's wrong, is it?
0:50:10 > 0:50:14Well, I think it's quite interesting, if you look at people's wills,
0:50:14 > 0:50:16their wealth at death,
0:50:16 > 0:50:20the average wealth of the yeoman in Caernarvonshire,
0:50:20 > 0:50:27before 1700, was £26. If you look at the average for a very upland parish,
0:50:27 > 0:50:32Beddgelert, where Snowdon lies, the average was £99.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34Now that's a colossal difference.
0:50:34 > 0:50:37Are you saying there's much more money to be made on the uplands,
0:50:37 > 0:50:39than down here on the valley floor?
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Well, that's the surprising thing, really.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45These upland cattle farmers, with their nose for business,
0:50:45 > 0:50:49sense a gap in the market for a new product.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52From around 1715 onwards,
0:50:52 > 0:50:57the numbers of sheep suddenly started to increase.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00It may be because of the development of the woollen industry,
0:51:00 > 0:51:04but in Snowdonia, the sheep that are noted by travellers,
0:51:04 > 0:51:09weren't wool producers. Many of them were black sheep,
0:51:09 > 0:51:13and black wool wasn't really favoured for weaving.
0:51:13 > 0:51:16But they were noted for the sweetness of their meat.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18The strength of the rural economy
0:51:18 > 0:51:23is beginning to support business growth in urban Wales.
0:51:23 > 0:51:27Places like Denbigh, that produced far, far more gloves
0:51:27 > 0:51:31than were ever needed in the whole of Denbighshire.
0:51:31 > 0:51:36Wrexham, for instance, which was THE biggest town in Wales.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41Wrexham hosts a weekly market
0:51:41 > 0:51:44where trade between England and Wales flourishes.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49Short-haul drovers, the people who brought animals to the market,
0:51:49 > 0:51:53meeting drovers from over the border,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56who took them to places like Northampton to fatten up,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00London butchers liked what were called Welsh Runts.
0:52:00 > 0:52:05Runts because they were small, but they fattened very quickly.
0:52:05 > 0:52:09Their meat was considered to be very tender and very good to eat.
0:52:11 > 0:52:15Changing tastes are one thing, but the real revolution
0:52:15 > 0:52:18for ordinary Welsh people is not to do with farming.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20And it comes down south.
0:52:23 > 0:52:27Something here is on the move, it's gathering pace
0:52:27 > 0:52:30and it's a remarkable phenomenon.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35And it's driven by two dynamic forces, religion and education,
0:52:35 > 0:52:39and led by two dynamic people, Griffith Jones and Bridget Bevan.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43And together they helped to make Wales
0:52:43 > 0:52:45one of the most literate countries in the World.
0:52:45 > 0:52:50Griffith Jones is the rector of Llanddowror near St Clears.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53His idea is to set up a school in one village,
0:52:53 > 0:52:56get the people to teach each other to read
0:52:56 > 0:53:00and then move on or circulate to a neighbouring hamlet.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04You teach your friend here to read, he teaches somebody else to read,
0:53:04 > 0:53:06and then somebody else, and on it goes, and on it goes.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11And the key thing is, they're doing all this in the only language
0:53:11 > 0:53:14that nine out of every ten people understand, Welsh.
0:53:14 > 0:53:20Before long, these circulating schools are active in huge numbers.
0:53:20 > 0:53:233,495 schools had been set up...
0:53:23 > 0:53:27How many? 3,495? That's an amazing number.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32When Griffith Jones dies, his wealthy benefactor, Bridget Bevan,
0:53:32 > 0:53:34carries on with the work.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38By then, their schools are famous.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41A report on them reaches Catherine the Great in Russia.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47When you consider the raw figures, they are astounding,
0:53:47 > 0:53:52half the population of Wales learns to read in these travelling schools.
0:53:52 > 0:53:54It is a towering achievement.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57And what is the first thing that most people want to read?
0:53:57 > 0:53:58It is the Bible.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02For the first time, they're able to study the gospel message
0:54:02 > 0:54:05for themselves. And the effect of that,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08in this sleepy Carmarthenshire countryside
0:54:08 > 0:54:11and much further afield, is electrifying.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20It's what we call the Methodist Revival.
0:54:20 > 0:54:24Dynamic preachers like Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland
0:54:24 > 0:54:28draw thousands to meetings in the open countryside.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32Methodism begins as a movement within the Anglican church.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35But before long its converts are breaking away
0:54:35 > 0:54:38to build their own places of worship.
0:54:39 > 0:54:411740, that's very significant
0:54:41 > 0:54:45because it makes this chapel, this cause,
0:54:45 > 0:54:49one of the earliest Methodist causes, in this part of Wales.
0:54:49 > 0:54:51So let's have a look inside.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55One of the features of nonconformist denominations like Methodism
0:54:55 > 0:54:58is fervent hymn singing.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02The Revival boasts probably the greatest hymn-writer of them all,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05William Williams, Pantycelyn.
0:55:07 > 0:55:12His words still ring out around our rugby stadiums today.
0:55:15 > 0:55:19This old chapel, in the heart of the countryside,
0:55:19 > 0:55:23is part of an immense force which transforms life in Wales.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27The Methodist preachers who addressed this congregation
0:55:27 > 0:55:30revitalised the Christian faith in this country.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33They make it a central feature of people's lives.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37And while that experience is alien to many people today,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41it is certainly part of my family story and many other families too.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45And it is, without question, one of the most important chapters
0:55:45 > 0:55:47in the story of Wales.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51O' chi'n son am Morgan Rhys...
0:55:51 > 0:55:53Llew Jones has led the singing in this chapel
0:55:53 > 0:55:55for more than half a century.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58With a little persuasion, he's agreed to sing for me
0:55:58 > 0:56:00the words of Morgan Rhys,
0:56:00 > 0:56:03another great local hymn-writer from those days of the Revival.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07# Dewch hen ac ieuanc dewch
0:56:07 > 0:56:12# At Iesu mae'n llawn bryd. #
0:56:12 > 0:56:14So we've reached a significant moment
0:56:14 > 0:56:17in our unfolding Story of Wales.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24For the first time we can hear an echo of our past,
0:56:24 > 0:56:28handed directly from generation to generation,
0:56:28 > 0:56:30through people's memory and experience.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41This chapter in our story began with the coming of new claimant
0:56:41 > 0:56:46to the English throne, descended from a Welsh family.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50The Acts of Union passed by his son give the Welsh gentry equality
0:56:50 > 0:56:54with their English counterparts, but condemn ordinary people
0:56:54 > 0:56:57to justice in a language they don't understand.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00It's the Welsh Bible
0:57:00 > 0:57:04which binds them closer to the crown and its church.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07So when Civil War breaks out,
0:57:07 > 0:57:10a Puritan parliament can't persuade them
0:57:10 > 0:57:13to join its religious revolution.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17It's the remarkable campaign to teach ordinary people to read,
0:57:17 > 0:57:22that prepares the ground for a fervent new form of Christianity.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26The Welsh embrace it as their own, just as a new rural economy
0:57:26 > 0:57:29promises a more prosperous future.
0:57:32 > 0:57:36250 years after Henry Tudor marches through Wales
0:57:36 > 0:57:39on his way to claim the crown of England,
0:57:39 > 0:57:41the drovers are also on the move,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45taking their livestock to market in London.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49That coupling of England and Wales is now a reality,
0:57:49 > 0:57:52but things are changing.
0:57:52 > 0:57:56Wales is going to be transformed and become a global leader
0:57:56 > 0:57:59in the shaping of a very modern world.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13The Open University has produced a free booklet
0:58:13 > 0:58:17for you to learn more about the history of the people of Wales.
0:58:17 > 0:58:18You can call:
0:58:21 > 0:58:25Or go to the website below
0:58:25 > 0:58:28and follow the links to the Open University.
0:58:32 > 0:58:35Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd