The Conquest of Wales

Edward I's destruction of the autonomous Welsh principality Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had built up under Henry III. Llywelyn's refusal to do homage brought a short, methodical campaign in 1277 that forced the Treaty of Conway, stripping him of most of his gains. A harder second war followed in 1282 to 1283 after Llywelyn's brother David rose in revolt; Llywelyn was killed in battle in December 1282 and David was captured and executed as a traitor in 1283. Edward completed the settlement with the Statute of Wales (1284), organising North Wales into English-style counties, and with a ring of great castles, Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and, after a further revolt in 1294 to 1295, Beaumaris, designed chiefly by the Savoyard master mason James of St George. Wales remained under direct English rule for more than a century afterward.