The rule of Henry III (1216 - 1272) and its impact on Wales. 

On 19th October 1216 on the death of King John of England, his son Henry III acceded to the throne. As he was only nine years old, he was placed under the guardianship of William Marshal, who also served as regent of the kingdom until the end of Henry's minority in 1226. The politics of Wales at this time had been influenced by Henry's relations with Llywelyn Fawr. 

Initially, after Llywelyn had taken control of Gwynedd in 1194, his relations with John were cordial and in 1201, Llywelyn signed the first agreement to be signed by both a Welsh leader and an English king. Llywelyn strengthened his position when he married John's daughter Joan. 

However in 1210, when Llywelyn attacked lands belonging to the powerful Earl of Chester an ally of King John. John marched into the heart of Gwynedd and conflict was only avoided when Joan interceded with her father. But when King John faced a revolt by his Barons in 1214, Llywelyn allied with them and in 1215 conquered the castles of Carmarthen and Cardigan and marched an army over the border to capture the English stronghold at Shrewsbury. John and the rebel barons negotiated a potential peace treaty, the Magna Carta, but in practice, neither side complied with its conditions and the war soon settled into a stalemate. The King became ill and died on the night of 18 October, leaving the nine-year-old Henry III as his heir. 

1216 - Llywelyn allied himself with the powerful Marcher Baron Reginald de Breos, and his power extended now into south and central Wales. At a meeting at Aberdovey, he created a system of government which ended the warring among the Welsh Princes and they recognised him as their overlord. This was a very considerable achievement and offered the prospect of unity and peace for the Welsh under their own ruler. 

1218 - The revolt of the barons in England, had come to an end and Llywelyn paid homage to the English king on behalf of the other Welsh leaders. 

1228 - Llywelyn Fawr captured the Marcher Lord Will de Braose, and subsequently aquired lands in Brecknock, Radnor, Abergavenny and Buellt. 

1240 - Llywelyn Fawr died and his son Dafydd became Prince Of Gwynedd, but the political scene was changing, Llywelyn Fawr had always accepted oaths of homage from the other Welsh princes, however, King Henry III of England would only allow them to swear the lesser oath of fealty to Dafydd. Dafydd also imprisoned his brother Gruffydd who he regarded as a threat. 

1241 - King Henry III, with the support of Gruffydd's wife, Senena invaded Gwynedd. forcing Dafydd to submit and sign the terms of surrender of the "Treaty of Gwerneigron", which icluded the handing over of Mold Castle, Lower Powys, Meirionydd, Buellt Castle & Ellesmere. He also had to release Gruffydd into Henry's custody, who imprisioned him in The Tower Of London, using the threat of his release as a means of forcing Dafydd to keep the terms of the treaty. 

1244 - Gruffydd died from a fall while trying to escape from the Tower of London. This freed Dafydd's hands, and he entered into an alliance with other Welsh princes including Gruffydd's son Llywelyn, to attack English possessions in Wales and regain lost lands. Dafydd also began diplomacy with Pope Innocent IV, the result of which was a recognition by the Vatican of his right to rule over North Wales and he was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales. 

1245 - The Pope however soon needed England's support in his dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick, and withdrew his protection from Wales. Henry reacted by sending an army to invade Gwynedd, but he couldn't cross the river Conwy and in October, with their supply lines being ambushed by the Welsh, the English withdrew. 

1246 - Dafydd died suddenly in the royal home at Abergwyngregyn, he was succeeded by his nephew, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. 

1247 - TREATY OF WOODSTOCK -  Llywelyn and his brother Owain came to terms with King Henry. Gwynedd was divided with Llywelyn and Owain gaining control of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy, the part of Gwynedd west of the River Conwy and Henry himself taking control of Gwynedd Is Conwy, east of the river. 

1255 - BATTLE OF BRYN DERWIN - Llywelyn's brothers, Owain and Dafydd formed an alliance against him, but Llywelyn defeated and captured both of them, thereby becoming sole ruler of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy. 

1256 - Llywelyn crossed the River Conwy, accompanied by his brother, Dafydd and took control of most of Gwynedd. 

1258 - The barons of England rebelled against Henry III and Llywelyn maintained close relations with their leader, Simon de Montfort. He began using the title Prince of Wales, which the English Crown refused to recognise. 

1263 - Dafydd switched his allegiance to King Henry. 

1264 - Simon de Montfort became the "uncrowned King of England" after defeating King Henry and his son Edward (the future Edward I) at the Battle of Lewes. 

1265 - TREATY OF PIPTON - established an alliance between Llywelyn and de Montfort in which, in exchange for 30,000 marks, there would be a permanent peace and Llywelyn's right to rule Wales would be acknowledged. However, de Montfort although boosted by Welsh infantry was defeated and killed at the Battle of Evesham and power restored to King Henry. Llywelyn responded by capturing Hawarden Castle and routing Roger Mortimer's army in Brycheiniog in order to gain a bargaining position with King Henry. 

1267 - TREATY OF MONTGOMERY - marked an important milestone in the history of medieval Wales, as it was the first time that a King of England(Henry III) had recognised a Welsh ruler (Llywelyn ap Gruffydd) as Prince of Wales, with the right to receive homage from the other Welsh princes and lords. 

1272 - Henry III died and Edward I becomes King of England. Relations between England and Wales were to deteriorate, culminating in the death of Llywelyn in 1282 and the annexation of Wales by Edward I.  

The reign of Henry VIII began this day 1509, on the death of his father Henry VII.

Henry VII, was born at Pembroke Castle and as a young boy he stayed in protective custody at Raglan Castle during the War of the Roses. Henry VII was fully aware of his Welsh heritage as he displayed the red dragon of Cadwaladr King of Gwynedd (655–682) on his Standard as he marched through Wales enlisting the support of Welsh soldiers for the Battle of Bosworth, where he overthrew Richard III to become King of England. After he became king, Henry rewarded many Welsh men with lands and government posts, but as became apparent, he did not pass along the same love of Wales to his son Henry VIII.

Henry was born in 1491, the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, his older brother Arthur died in 1502, making Henry heir to the throne and in 1503 Henry was made Prince of Wales. On 19th October 1509, Henry VII died and Henry succeeded his father to the throne as Henry VIII.

At this time, Wales was divided into;

* The Principality - The territory of the native Welsh rulers, which was broken up into the counties of Anglesey, Caernarfon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Merioneth and Flint, these counties were subject to English criminal law, but in civil cases Welsh law continued to be applied.

* The Marcher Lordships - The Marches were a frontier society, a buffer zone between Wales and England, where land and Lordships were awarded by the crown, in an attempt to control the area. These Marcher lordships were distinct from the usual English lordships, as they had special privileges and Royal writ did not apply.

* The Royal Lordships of Glamorgan and Pembroke, which had their own courts, laws and customs.

By far the biggest impact that Henry VIII's rule had on Wales were The Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, which were parliamentary measures drawn up by Henry VIII's secretary, Thomas Cromwell, by which Wales was annexed to England to create a single state and a single legal jurisdiction. The act divided Wales into 13 counties, which were the existing counties of the principality and included Marcher Lordships being converted into the new counties of Denbighshire, Brecknockshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. The lordships of, Caus, Clun, Ludlow, part of Montgomery and most of Ewyas were incorporated into Wigmore, Shropshire, Huntington, Clifford and Herefordshire. The act created many anomalies, including Ewias Lacy, that remained a Welsh speaking region for another 300 years, although it was now officially in England.

The consequences of the act were;

* All administration in Wales was to be carried on in the English language and that no one using the Welsh language 'shall have or enjoy any manner of office,'

* The modern borders of Wales were established.

* Wales elected members to the parliament in England, the first taking their seats in the Tudor Parliament of 1542.

* The Court of Great Sessions were established, a system peculiar to Wales. They met twice a year in each county, administering English law in the English language. However, there were only 30 Welsh judges out of 217 judges, in its 288 years of existence.

* A Sheriff and 9 offices of Justice of the Peace were appointed in every county.

* The Welsh law of cyfran, by which all sons inherited equally was abolished and the English law of primogeniture, introduced i.e inheritance by the eldest son.

It has been argued that the act's main intention was to gain control over the Marches and not political union and indeed they were popular with the Welsh gentry in particular, who recognised that they would give them equality with English citizens. However, their cultural impact on Wales was seismic and remain to this day.

Hugh Williams (1796 - 19th October 1874)  was born at Gelligoch, Machynlleth. He married and moved to St Clears and became a solicitor at Carmarthen.  He was thought by many to be the instigator and undiscovered leader of the Rebecca Riots in South-West Wales.   He also gratuitously acted as a solicitor in defence of the Llanidloes, Pontardulais and Talog rioters. 

The Rebecca Riots, which took place between 1839 and 1843 in Mid and South  Wales, were a series of protests by local farmers and agricultural workers to what they saw as unfair taxation. The rioters, mostly men, dressed as women and took direct actions against toll-gates, as they were tangible symbols of high taxes and tolls.

Hugh Williams was also active in the Chartism movement, he addressed several mass meetings and drafted their petitions to the queen.  He was also friendly with Henry Hetherington and James Watson, two of the twelve authors of the People's Charter.

Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in Britain between 1838 and 1848 which took its name from the People's Charter of 1838.   The six main aims of the Peoples Charter were;

1.  A vote for every man twenty-one years of age, of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment for crime.

2.  The secret ballot - To protect the elector in the exercise of his vote.

3.  No property qualification for members of Parliament - thus enabling the constituencies to return the man of their choice, regardless of his personal wealth.

4.  Payment of Members of Parliament

5.  Equal Constituencies, preventing smaller constituencies swamping the votes of larger ones.

6.  Annual parliaments, to act as a check against bribery and intimidation.  

On 19th October 1987, heavy flooding affecteds many parts of Wales. Four people were killed when the Glanrhyd Bridge near Llandeilo was washed away by the swollen River Tywi and a passenger train from Swansea to Shrewsbury, fell into the river.  

Born on this day 1963 in Seven Sisters

Phil Davies - former Wales rugby international and captain, who earned 46 caps between 1985 and 1995.  This was a lean period of little success for the Welsh team, but Davies was notable as one of the few class forwards of the time.  After retiring from playing, Davies became director of rugby at Leeds Tykes from 1996 to 2006, overseeing the clubs' rise from National League Three to Heineken Cup rugby and winning the Powergen Cup.  He then became Director of Rugby for the Llanelli Scarlets (2006 – 2008) before a spells as Wales Under-20 coach and as Director of Rugby for the Cardiff Blues (2012 - 2014)