Ireland, Scotland and Wales 
    in the Early and High Middle Ages

I. Wales
    A. 5th to 8th Centuries
        1. proximity to London
        2. development of small Welsh kingdoms
        3. 7th c. - Anglo-Saxon settlers reach eastern Wales (Powys) [MAP]
        4. conflict between Welsh and Anglo-Saxons
        5. king of Powys defeats and expels Anglo-Saxons in 760
    B. Offa's Dyke [MAP]
        1. king of Mercia (757-796) [MAP]
        2. meant to be a border, not really a defensive wall
    C. Partial Unification under Rhodri (844-878)
        1. he inherited all 3 of the largest kingdoms in Wales
        2. managed to fight off Mercians and Vikings
    D. English Overlordship
        1. Viking attacks become more numerous and fierce
        2. the Welsh kings agree to allow Alfred the Great to become
                overlord of Wales in return for his protection against
                the Vikings
    E. Complete Unification under Gruffudd ap Llywelyn (1039-1063)
        1. became king of Gwynedd and Powys in 1039 [MAP]
        2. controlled the rest of Wales by 1057
        3. also gained control of some land east of Offa's Dyke
        4. finally defeated by Harold Godwinson
        5. Harold and king Edward were content to allow Wales
                to devolve into small kingdoms that fought with each
                other for control of Wales
    F. Wales under the Normans (1066-1154)
        1. William I
            a. he had no interest in conquering Wales
            b. allowed his border lords to make raids into
                    Wales and conquer bits of territory [Chepstow Castle]
            c. this territory (called the Welsh March) created
                    a buffer zone between England and Wales
        2. William II, Henry I and Stephen
            a. Welsh try to reconquer some of the March
            b. William II and Henry counterattack
            c. Henry built more castles in the March to protect it
            d. Welsh make gains under Stephen
    G. Wales under the early Plantagenets (1154-1272)
        1. Henry II led an army into Wales in 1158 and reestablished
                English authority there
        2. Welsh gained ground in 1160s while Henry had other troubles
        3. because of his other troubles, Henry simply struck a deal
                with the Welsh that allowed Welsh kings (princes) to control 
                northern Wales and created a Justice of South Wales who
                reported directly to Henry
        4. Llywelyn the Great (1195-1240) came to dominate northern Wales
        5. he received the title Prince of Wales from king John
        6. Llywelyn's son Dafydd died childless in 1246 and was succeeded
                by his nephew Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
        7. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd controlled most of Wales by the 1260s

II. Ireland
    A. 5th to 8th Centuries
        1. powerful Irish chieftains formed small kingdoms
        2. in the 7th c., the O'Neills became the dominant clan in Ulster [MAP]
        3. in the 8th and 9th c., they came to dominate the rest of Ireland
    B. Vikings
        1. attacked Ireland during the 8th and 9th c.
        2. eventually settled down and created the kingdom of Dublin
        3. second wave of attacks occurred in the 10th c.
    C. Unification under Brian Boru
        1. king of Munster (976-1014)
        2. defeated the Vikings and then set out to defeat the other
                Irish kings
        3. conquered all of Ireland by 1011
        4. died in battle in 1014 while fighting a Viking force
        5. removed the Vikings as a significant threat to Ireland
        6. back to the status quo after Brian's death
    D. English Overlordship under the early Plantagenets (1166-1272)
        1. Henry II, Dermot MacMurrough and the earl of Pembroke
            a. Dermot MacMurrough was king of Leinster
            b. he was defeated by Rory O'Connor, king of Connacht, and 
                    forced to flee Ireland
            c. he landed in England and asked Henry II for help
            d. Henry decided he couldn't afford to help at that moment,
                    but he allowed any of his subjects to help
            e. Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, and others signed on to help
            f. in 1169, they reconquered Leinster for Dermot and even some
                    territory to the NW of Leinster
            g. Dermot died in 1171; thus, Pembroke now controlled an Irish kingdom
            h. things seemed to be getting out of control
            i. Henry II brought an army over in 1171
            j. Pembroke immediately submitted to Henry
            k. the other Irish kings also submitted to Henry as their lord
        2. John, King of England and Lord of Ireland
            a. Henry II made his son John Lord of Ireland in 1177
            b. when John became king, he attempted to anglicize Ireland
                1. appointed English bishops to run the Irish church
                2. set up a Great Council that eventually developed into
                        an Irish Parliament
                3. set up an Irish exchequer
                4. created shires and shire courts
                5. appointed sheriffs
                6. appointed itinerant justices
        3. The Colonization of Ireland
            a. not much economic expansion in Ireland during 11th and 12th c.
            b. in 1169, the English found an under-populated land ripe for
                    agricultural and commercial exploitation
            c. Pembroke controlled a good bit of land
            d. the king then granted pieces of land to lower aristocrats
                    who wanted to seek their fortunes
            e. all of these lords brought over English peasants to work the land
                    as free tenants, and subjugated the Irish peasants to serfdom
            f. merchants and artisans also came over and settled in new urban areas
            g. English and Anglo-Norman (French) began to be spoken in
                    eastern Ireland
            h. colonization expands westward in the 13th century
            i. several rebellions; but generally the Irish chieftains/kings did not
                    want to lose all of their lands, so most did not revolt
        4. Summary


III. Scotland      A. Picts, Scots and Britons         1. The Picts and Hadrian's Wall             a. Scotland was difficult for the Romans to control             b. the Picts continually launched raids             c. the emperor Hadrian decided to build a wall (122-8 CE) that                      would aid the Romans in defending the border region [MAP]             d. Images:  the wall, diagram of the wall, reconstructed gatehouse         2. The Scots (Gaels)             a. migrated from Ireland             b. settled in SW Scotland         3. The Britons             - some migrated to southern Scotland when the Anglo-Saxons arrived     B. 5th to 8th Centuries [MAP]         1. the Anglo-Saxons also pushed across Hadrian's Wall into southern                 Scotland, conquering the territory occupied by the Britons         2. the Picts, Scots and Anglo-Saxons engaged in warfare throughout this period         3. the Northumbrians dominated in the 7th and early 8th c.         4. the Picts dominated in the late 8th and early 9th c.         5. the Scots came to dominate in the mid 9th c.     C. Unification under Kenneth MacAlpine         1. Viking attacks weakened the Picts         2. this gave the king of the Scots (Kenneth MacAlpine) an opportunity                 to conquer the Picts         3. he ruled a unified Scotland (except for some territory in southern                 Scotland controlled by the Vikings)         4. his successors manage to keep the kingdom together and even regain                 much of southern Scotland from the Vikings     D. English Overlordship         1. Canute led an army into Scotland in 1031         2. he forced the Scottish king Malcolm II to submit to his overlordship         3. he had just wanted to stop Scottish attacks in northern England         4. thus, he didn't conquer Scotland and make it part of the English kingdom     E. Scotland under the Normans and early Plantagenets         1. over time, Scotland began making more raids into northern England         2. William the Conqueror led an army into Scotland in 1072         3. as with Canute, William simply forced the Scotish king to submit                 to his overlordship         4. he also built some large castles to guard the border from                  Scottish raids         5. because no king definitively defeated the Scots and subjected them                 to English rule, this cycle of attacks and submission continued                 until Edward I comes to the throne