0:00:07 > 0:00:11The Story of Wales is an epic journey through centuries of Welsh history.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Using the most up-to-date historical information,
0:00:16 > 0:00:21the latest computer graphics and dramatic reconstructions,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25this landmark series brings our nation's story to life.
0:00:28 > 0:00:33Making the Story of Wales takes a closer look at just how we did that.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38And we'll also dig deeper into the history itself,
0:00:38 > 0:00:44what we know, how we know it and how it still might change as technologies improve
0:00:44 > 0:00:46and new evidence gets unearthed.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11For the BBC History series The Story Of Wales with Huw Edwards,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13scale was the name of the game.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19To produce six hours of programming, the production team travelled 6,000 miles,
0:01:19 > 0:01:24filming over 100 hours of footage, using hundreds of extras
0:01:24 > 0:01:27and consulting with dozens of expert academics.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33In this episode of Making The Story Of Wales,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36we'll look at how the team turned our history,
0:01:36 > 0:01:41from the Stone Age to the Tudor Age, into compelling TV.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52Our earliest fossil evidence of humans living in Wales
0:01:52 > 0:01:56comes from Goat Hole Cave in Paviland, on the Gower coast.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02This reconstruction of a Stone Age burial is based entirely on the archaeology
0:02:02 > 0:02:04found inside the cave.
0:02:06 > 0:02:12These bones are incredibly important to our understanding of people's lives at this time.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14It provides us with
0:02:14 > 0:02:19a snapshot into life 29,000 years ago
0:02:19 > 0:02:23that we would otherwise not be able to retrieve from stone tools
0:02:23 > 0:02:25and fro the animal bones alone.
0:02:27 > 0:02:33Stained red, the skeleton was originally thought to belong to a woman from Roman times
0:02:33 > 0:02:37and became known as the Red Lady Of Paviland.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41The name stuck but today our understanding of modern anatomy
0:02:41 > 0:02:46makes it clear that the Red Lady is actually a man.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52He was probably about 5 foot 7 in height
0:02:52 > 0:02:56and weighed around 11-and-a-half stone at the time he died
0:02:56 > 0:03:00and that's based on the characteristics of his legs
0:03:00 > 0:03:05and some of the muscle attached to what we can see on the leg bones.
0:03:06 > 0:03:12And one theory for the red staining is that ochre was sprinkled ceremonially over the burial.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Something we still can't work out is how, or why, he died.
0:03:19 > 0:03:24Of course we don't have the head so did something happened there,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27was he caught by one of these big carnivores,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31was he killed during a hunt? We simply don't know.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38But how did our production team set about staging their reconstruction?
0:03:38 > 0:03:41What I've tried to do is to recreate shapes
0:03:41 > 0:03:43from the actual skins.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46So, being practical really, what they might have done
0:03:46 > 0:03:49or how they would have draped things on them
0:03:49 > 0:03:53and how they would have made clothes practically to keep themselves warm.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55Dawn based her designs around the skins of animals
0:03:55 > 0:04:00that would have lived in Wales at the same time as the Red Lady.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03This, for instance, is a reindeer skin.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07As you can see, it's got a natural shape to it.
0:04:07 > 0:04:12I've tried to utilise that, as they might have done it.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18If that's a basic wrap, that's how I would have done it.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25Winters would have been harsh in this period of Stone Age Wales.
0:04:25 > 0:04:31By looking to modern arctic dwellers, Dawn found the inspiration for her costume designs.
0:04:31 > 0:04:38The stitching, going back to the Eskimos, they used the sinews from the animal.
0:04:38 > 0:04:45What I've done, I've cheated and I've used dental floss.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47I've dipped the dental floss in staining and the like
0:04:47 > 0:04:52and that is what the Eskimos use to this day to make their skins and their boots.
0:04:54 > 0:05:00The result is our best approximation of life and death in Stone Age Wales.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08Over the coming millennia, Wales will see an Ice Age come and go.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14It'll see wave after wave of evolving human societies,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17leaving their mark on the landscape.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23Neolithic tombs like Pentre Ifan, still impressive and haunting today.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29Bronze Age mines at Great Orme, hints of early industry and wealth.
0:05:32 > 0:05:39And impressive Iron Age artefacts that reveal a trading network between Wales and mainland Europe.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47But our next key moment in making The Story Of Wales
0:05:47 > 0:05:52comes at a time when Wales becomes part of a huge foreign empire.
0:05:53 > 0:05:57It is, of course, the Roman occupation of Britain in 43 AD.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Caerleon, near Newport in South Wales,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05is one of our best known and loved Roman sites.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11In its heyday, this open-air arena would have seated up to 6,000 people
0:06:11 > 0:06:16and been the scene of gladiatorial games against men and beasts.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I think we need to come up but...
0:06:21 > 0:06:28Specially commissioned CGI in the Story Of Wales helps to bring that scale and structure to life.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34But how did the creative team turn shots of stone ruins
0:06:34 > 0:06:38into a virtual amphitheatre from around 90 AD.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42The first thing we did, on location at Caerleon, was to place markers around the area
0:06:42 > 0:06:43of the amphitheatre
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and they really enable us to track the movement of the camera.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51A reference image from the National Museum Of Wales
0:06:51 > 0:06:54provides the basis of the model.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59As you can see, a lot of the details are very similar.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03The amphitheatre is basically a stone wall, wooden seating
0:07:03 > 0:07:08and then a lot of detail at the back which we don't actually see in the shot.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Here we've got the projection mapping stage which is basically
0:07:13 > 0:07:16projecting matte paintings onto our 3D geometry.
0:07:16 > 0:07:21Here is the finished shot of Huw walking into the amphitheatre
0:07:21 > 0:07:25as it is today and the CG model sweeps in and surrounds him.
0:07:29 > 0:07:36This shot, which lasts approximately 30 seconds, took us a month to complete, I'd say.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43Back in Caerleon, many people thought the layout
0:07:43 > 0:07:47and extent of the Roman ruins were well established.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50We knew the site as a legionary base and little was thought
0:07:50 > 0:07:53to lie beyond the amphitheatre and military barracks.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58But we didn't previously know that, at one point,
0:07:58 > 0:08:04Caerleon was shaping to become one of the major Roman centres of western Britain.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Every single hour of every single day that we are here
0:08:08 > 0:08:09new things are coming to light,
0:08:09 > 0:08:11new buildings being discovered,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15new finds being made. It's a very exciting time.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19This extraordinary new dimension was only recently uncovered
0:08:19 > 0:08:22when a team of undergraduate archaeologists
0:08:22 > 0:08:25were learning how to survey in this part of Caerleon.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29We knew that there had been some occupation here
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and some finds had been made here over the last century or so.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35But what they found was truly remarkable.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39They found the remains of an entire suburb of very large buildings.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48We're standing in the basement of a Roman room that's collapsed.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Already we know that areas of this room had patterns painted on it.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55We've got red lines, yellow and red lines.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Bright blue, that's an expensive pigment, made of crushed glass.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03The decoration in here, the under-floor heating
0:09:03 > 0:09:04it's all very expensive.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07You can't heat these rooms without slave labour.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Someone has to feed the fuel into the furnace at the back.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11It's unpleasant work.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16The discoveries are changing our view of how Caerleon connected Britain
0:09:16 > 0:09:18to the rest of the Roman Empire.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24At the moment, our theory is that Caerleon may well have been
0:09:24 > 0:09:28intended to become one of the main administrative centres in western Britain
0:09:28 > 0:09:31and that's what this complex of public buildings was for.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35This is where the tribes of Wales and south-western England
0:09:35 > 0:09:40would have been administered from but for some reason that didn't seem to continue.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44It never became that great western capital of Roman Britain.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47Why that might have been is something of a mystery
0:09:47 > 0:09:51but it's one of the questions that we're hoping to answer.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58And with this dig excavating just 1% of the archaeology that we know lies underground,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00there may be plenty more yet to discover.
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Unfortunately, that richness of archaeological evidence
0:10:14 > 0:10:18simply doesn't exist for the 500 years of Welsh history that follow.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Known as the Dark Ages, the period from the 5th to 10th century
0:10:26 > 0:10:30is characterised by scarcity of physical and written evidence.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42One site where we have found some significant archaeology
0:10:42 > 0:10:45is Llangorse Lake in the Brecon Beacons.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51In The Story Of Wales we learn that 1,100 years ago
0:10:51 > 0:10:55this man-made island was the headquarters of a local ruler.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02Known as a crannog, the island was home to a medieval settlement
0:11:02 > 0:11:06thought to be the 10th century Welsh kingdom of Brycheiniog.
0:11:09 > 0:11:15The excavations at Llangorse took place over 20 years ago,
0:11:15 > 0:11:20but one find still causes excitement and speculation amongst the experts.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25A small fragment of fragile linen, embroidered in silk
0:11:25 > 0:11:28was discovered in the silts surrounding the crannog.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Painstaking conservation and computer enhancement revealed a work
0:11:34 > 0:11:37of extraordinary skill and intricacy.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44A border of lions, vine scrolls and little bird images.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Imagery and workmanship that suggested Wales must have been
0:11:47 > 0:11:51part of an extensive, international trading network.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57The implications are hugely significant for The Story Of Wales.
0:11:58 > 0:12:04And for people like Fiona Grant, archaeologist and re-enactment enthusiast,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07the find also has significance outside of academia.
0:12:07 > 0:12:13It's amazing that they actually preserved this piece of textile.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17It's lasted for over 1,000 years and it provides a direct link
0:12:17 > 0:12:21to a real human being, to somebody over 1,000 years ago who wore this garment.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25I think that's what makes it fascinating for me.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30The textile has given Fiona an opportunity to experiment
0:12:30 > 0:12:33with what kind of clothing the material could have come from.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39My interest primarily came from the re-enactment side,
0:12:39 > 0:12:44the way that we try and recreate what people are doing, and that involves what they were wearing.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49So I was quite interested in looking how the fragments of material
0:12:49 > 0:12:52had been conserved, may have fitted together to form a garment.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00Unfortunately, too little remains to make accurate, detailed assumptions about its broader shape.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Various theories suggest that the textile was part of a tunic or dress,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09and Fiona has come up with her own ideas.
0:13:09 > 0:13:15We realised that if you put it over the shoulder, like so,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18the triangle formed a bodice.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23There's also two circles on the original which they think were a fitting for a clasp.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26It would make sense to clasp across the chest
0:13:26 > 0:13:31and then that puts the two borders of lions the right way up on either side of the sleeve.
0:13:31 > 0:13:32It's only my theory.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36From there, Fiona went on to make up a full-sized garment
0:13:36 > 0:13:40using her idea of positioning the panels.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44I just used some linen that I had, so it's purple, which isn't the correct colour.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49You can see how the triangular panel fits over the bodice.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53The panels of lions would fit across on either side of the sleeve.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01As a mother of two small children, the appeal of this style was immediately clear.
0:14:01 > 0:14:02Can we have some carrots?
0:14:02 > 0:14:07Whilst I'm doing re-enactment, we have closed kirtles.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09It's very difficult to breast-feed.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11If there was a front-fastening garment like this,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15it works perfectly for feeding your baby.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20By wearing it, that's the only way you're going to understand the practicalities of the garment
0:14:20 > 0:14:25and that's what we do within the re-enactment as the process of experimental archaeology.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Our next great change in The Story Of Wales
0:14:32 > 0:14:35comes with the Norman invasion of 1066.
0:14:38 > 0:14:43With their mighty military machine, the Normans crush any sign of resistance.
0:14:46 > 0:14:52A series of bloody rebellions follow as the Welsh fight to regain control of their lands.
0:14:56 > 0:15:02But it would take a new, young leader to really have an impact on Norman power in Wales.
0:15:02 > 0:15:07The fire power and political prowess of Rhys ap Gruffydd,
0:15:07 > 0:15:11or the Lord Rhys, makes him the acknowledged leader of the Welsh.
0:15:16 > 0:15:22By 1165, England and Wales had been at war for over a century.
0:15:22 > 0:15:25Both sides wanted peace
0:15:25 > 0:15:29and the Lord Rhys positioned himself at the heart of the negotiations.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33In the process, he bags himself the role of Justiciar of South Wales,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38an incredible position of power for a Welshman in a Norman empire.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47But Rhys wanted to be remembered for more than his political achievements.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Under his patronage, learning and writing flourished in our monasteries.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56MONASTIC SINGING
0:15:56 > 0:16:00He also established what many think of as Wales' first ever Eisteddfod
0:16:00 > 0:16:02at his castle in Cardigan.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06This is the crwth.
0:16:06 > 0:16:13It's a medieval instrument which was common throughout Europe.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16It hung on in Wales longer than anywhere else.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23Knowing what kind of music people would have played can be difficult.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28We can only try some of our older tunes on this.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33We discover that over time different notes have been added
0:16:33 > 0:16:37because it was possible with more modern instruments.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41When you try and play those tunes with these medieval instruments,
0:16:41 > 0:16:44the instrument weeds out the notes that had been added
0:16:44 > 0:16:47because you cannot get those notes.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48So, we're...
0:16:50 > 0:16:52coming to a conclusion that way.
0:16:52 > 0:16:58Today, Dan is one of only a dozen or so crwth players left in Wales
0:16:58 > 0:17:03and he's passionate about holding on to our medieval musical legacy.
0:17:03 > 0:17:09This is part of our heritage which has remained with us.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15I think we should be very, very proud and be promoting it.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21So medieval Wales is evolving.
0:17:21 > 0:17:28A country with its own language and legal code is now also growing in cultural confidence.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35But, what we still don't have, is a united country.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Split between warring kingdoms, it's not until the 13th century
0:17:42 > 0:17:46that a Wales under one leader becomes a reality.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55This is Pen-y-Bryn House in Abergwyngregyn, North Wales.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01In The Story of Wales, we learn that some experts believe it to be
0:18:01 > 0:18:04the site of the palace of the Princes of Gwynedd...
0:18:07 > 0:18:13..Llewellyn Fawr, and his grandson, Llewellyn The Last.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Today Pen-y-Bryn is a family home.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21But, that's not to say, the owners aren't keenly aware
0:18:21 > 0:18:24of the heritage that comes with their house.
0:18:24 > 0:18:30When we first came in '88, people in the village started to come up one-by-one.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34They bought eggs and strawberries and presents for us... Fish.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35And they said, "By the way,
0:18:35 > 0:18:38you do know you're living in Llewellyn's house, don't you?"
0:18:38 > 0:18:41And from that moment on, life changed.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46It wasn't a family house we'd just bought, it was a piece of history... Living history.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49That took our breath away.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55As a professional historical researcher, Kathryn was well aware of the value
0:18:55 > 0:18:59of this type of local, verbal history. She set out to find the evidence behind the stories
0:18:59 > 0:19:06that been handed down the generations in Abergwyngregyn for the past 700 years.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12I went to the archives in Bangor and then moved onto Aberystwyth
0:19:12 > 0:19:14and the London archives.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16The Bibilotech National in Paris.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20I went down the marches of Wales and knocked on doors of big houses
0:19:20 > 0:19:25where they might have an archive and just asked to be let in
0:19:25 > 0:19:28and sat down and chatted to them.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32They produced letters and documents that still haven't found their way into archives.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35I went all over. It became a passion.
0:19:36 > 0:19:41But there was one key to the puzzle that didn't quite fit.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Although the house is called Pen-y-Bryn,
0:19:44 > 0:19:48local tradition has always identified the site as Garth Celyn.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51To prove her theory, Kathryn needed to find
0:19:51 > 0:19:56a link between Llewellyn the Last and Garth Celyn.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01Finally, in 2006, she made a breakthrough.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05It came from the climatic correspondence between Edward I and Llewellyn himself
0:20:05 > 0:20:10at a time when the conflict between England and Wales was at its height.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17In November 1282, Archbishop John Peckham had come here,
0:20:17 > 0:20:21negotiating between Edward and Llewellyn
0:20:21 > 0:20:23and a series of letters passed back and to.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26So I went to Lambeth Palace archives and looked at the letters
0:20:26 > 0:20:30and there Llewellyn had written the name, Garth Celyn.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34It was one of those incredible, incredible wow moments.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36There was more than one, there were several letters
0:20:36 > 0:20:40and it was that whole series, October/November 1282
0:20:40 > 0:20:42and it was just incredible.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46Hard to explain after all the years of searching, there it was.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Llewellyn's own letters.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58And the content of the letters is no less powerful.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Edward was offering Llewellyn a bribe.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05£1,000 a year and a large estate in England
0:21:05 > 0:21:09if he would abandon Garth Celyn and leave Wales.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14But Llewellyn's reply was unequivocal.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17He said he would never abandon the people of Wales.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23It was a decision that would ultimately lead to his downfall.
0:21:23 > 0:21:29It is that same notion of ancestry and inheritance that Kathryn
0:21:29 > 0:21:31feels duty-bound to protect today.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36This is my inheritance to pass on, to my people
0:21:36 > 0:21:42and their future and so you feel a responsibility and it's that duty.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48It's hard to explain in words but Wales needs this.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Though the pieces are coming together,
0:21:52 > 0:21:56Llewellyn's old palace still has some secrets left to unearth.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03We know that there is a tunnel that goes from underneath the house to the sea.
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Several people have seen this tunnel.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09It's higher than a man's head. Wider than with his elbows stretched out.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15Unfortunately the tunnel was blocked in to stop the driveway collapsing.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17This place is full of mysteries.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22We don't have a fraction of the answers but the questions are really intriguing.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28Its medieval figures like Llewellyn, who refuses to give up his throne to England,
0:22:28 > 0:22:31that we often see as emblems of our nationhood.
0:22:31 > 0:22:37But eventually Wales and England will be ruled by a self-proclaimed Welshman.
0:22:39 > 0:22:44In 1485, Henry Tudor returns from exile in France,
0:22:44 > 0:22:48defeats King Richard III in the Battle Of Bosworth and takes the crown.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Initially the consequences for Wales are promising.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01But, under his son, King Henry VIII, Wales would come to pay
0:23:01 > 0:23:06a huge price for its new, closer relationship with England.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14In the Acts of Union, Henry unifies the government and legal systems of the two countries
0:23:14 > 0:23:17in a way that has a profound effect on the Welsh language.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24In The Story of Wales, we had a unique opportunity to film the original Acts
0:23:24 > 0:23:30when they were in Wales for the first time since they were written over 450 years ago.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34It's a tremendously exciting moment. I'm a little bit nervous as well
0:23:34 > 0:23:40because we are about to film the Act Of Union
0:23:40 > 0:23:44and Huw will be able to hold it, albeit with gloves on,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48but it's been kept here under the most careful conditions.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53The level of light and humidity has to been monitored and regulated
0:23:53 > 0:23:59very carefully to ensure the document remains in the best possible condition.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It's being checked now before it goes back to London
0:24:02 > 0:24:05to ensure that absolutely no damage has occurred.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08As you can imagine, just at the moment, because we're the only crew
0:24:08 > 0:24:14who's going to have access to do this, we are a little bit tense.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16Who's got the controls on the house lights?
0:24:16 > 0:24:21Navigating your way around old documents like this one can be difficult for the uninitiated.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26There's one sentence we want to highlight
0:24:26 > 0:24:28and I have to find where it is.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30There's a little clue because
0:24:30 > 0:24:32there is a little marker in bold.
0:24:32 > 0:24:33There are pieces of script,
0:24:33 > 0:24:34pieces of text here
0:24:34 > 0:24:37that are written bigger and bolder than anything else.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41I know that the line I'm looking for is just one line below that one.
0:24:42 > 0:24:48"Henceforth, no person or persons that use the Welsh speech or language
0:24:48 > 0:24:53"shall have or enjoy any manner or office or fees within this realm
0:24:53 > 0:24:58"unless he or they use and exercise the English speech or language."
0:24:58 > 0:25:03So simple and so unthreatening laid out before me there.
0:25:03 > 0:25:10And yet, this is the most important document in the entire Story Of Wales.
0:25:11 > 0:25:17Its effects on the Welsh language would be felt for centuries to come.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33And what about women in The Story Of Wales?
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Whatever their position, it's been hard to ignore the sense
0:25:37 > 0:25:41that women are largely missing from our recorded history.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48One of the first to have left a record of herself is Catrin Berain.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52There were dozens of Catrins,
0:25:52 > 0:25:53hundreds of Catrins,
0:25:53 > 0:25:55throughout Wales in this period.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58We know nothing about them because the records just aren't there.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02They couldn't write for themselves. They weren't important enough to be recorded.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09But for Catrin Berain, the most powerful and wealthy woman in Tudor Wales,
0:26:09 > 0:26:14we can piece together bits of her life from documents held in our National Library.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18What we have here is an example of a rental roll
0:26:18 > 0:26:22which gives us some indication of just how much Catrin was worth.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24We're talking here
0:26:24 > 0:26:26something in the region of 3,000 acres.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31That brought in a very substantial income yearly, over £100 a year.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33That was a lot of money in this period.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37And Catrin was careful.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40She nurtured her wealth and increased her influence
0:26:40 > 0:26:44through a series of four strategic marriages.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49She also had six children and numerous step-children.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52And this is, of course, why she is known as Mam Cymru
0:26:52 > 0:26:56because those children went on to marry into further gentry families.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58She had over 30 grandchildren.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02So she was seen as the Mother Of Wales in that sense.
0:27:02 > 0:27:07She was a matriarch for many of these great landowning families.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11But the record of pedigrees and rental deeds
0:27:11 > 0:27:14tells us little of Catrin, the woman.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18She's a fascinating woman who we'd really like to know much more about.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21Her personality, how she operated.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27We can see that in this letter that she wrote to Sir John Wyn, her step-son.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32She says here, "I am but a woman foolish and fond."
0:27:32 > 0:27:37She's playing this card, "I'm just a weak woman, I need your help."
0:27:37 > 0:27:40So she's trying to get her way by flattery to a certain extent.
0:27:40 > 0:27:46So there's a suggestion there that she is quite clever at manipulating the men around her.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50But her tactics backfired to a certain extent
0:27:50 > 0:27:54when rumours about a murderous nature emerged.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58There is a sort of mythology about her because she lost so many husbands.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02There is a suggestion she poured molten lead into their ears when she was bored with them.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06These traditions and legends would have defined people's image of Catrin.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10She was not just the Mother Of Wales, but this kind of black widow.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13It's perhaps not surprising that those images appeal.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16They are the kind of urban myths that we have today, still.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Catrin's legacy is unique for her time,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24but, increasingly, detailed records were being kept.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30And the coming centuries offer a rich store of archive for us to explore.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38In the next episode of Making The Story Of Wales,
0:28:38 > 0:28:44we'll look at how the pace of change propelled us from a basic agricultural society
0:28:44 > 0:28:47to one at the cutting edge of technology.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd