Early Medieval Wales: From Roman Collapse to English Conquest (410 - 1282 CE)

Everyone knows 1066. The Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book. Medieval England. But while England was being conquered, Wales was fighting back. And winning. For two centuries after the Normans took England, Wales remained independent. Welsh kings united the country, created legal codes more progressive than England's, and forced English kings to recognize Welsh sovereignty. For 900 years, Wales survived every threat-Irish raiders, Anglo-Saxon expansion, Viking invasions, Norman conquest, English aggression. Then in 1282, it all ended.
The last Welsh prince died in a skirmish. His head was displayed on the Tower of London. Wales was conquered. Early Medieval Wales tells the story of those 900 years. It explains how a small nation survived impossible odds, why Welsh kingdoms kept tearing themselves apart, and how Welsh culture became so strong it outlasted even conquest. This is the medieval history happening next door to England that somehow never made it into the history books. No legends.
No mysticism. Just the real story of how Wales survived-and why it fell.