The New Murrey and Blue blog

There are some interesting occurrences in Welsh history, not all of them well known. When I came upon this article, I looked for Henry VII. Well, he was bound to feature. And he did! I quote:

“….Numerous [Welsh] rebellions still arose, most famously that led by Owain Glyndwr….The Glyndwr Rising would lead to the Penal Laws, which forbade Welshmen from bearing arms and holding senior public offices….They also prohibited public assembly and limited the education of Welsh children and generally made the Welsh second-class citizens in their own country….Rather than repealing these laws, in the latter years of his reign, nearly 20 years after his victory at Bosworth, HENRY VII ALLOWED CHARTERS TO BE PURCHASED, at the cost of £2,000 (a high price in those days) by lordships and principalities to bypass the laws for Welsh communities….”

Oh, well done, Henners…my only surprise is that it took you so long to dream this one up. I mean, when it came to robbery and money-making, you were peerless! Or why not simply ride roughshod over the laws? After all, that’s how you stole your throne in the first place. But no, you found a way of using them to your advantage. It would clearly have been too much to ask that you did the right thing and repealed them, because you sussed that by leaving them in place you could make more money. M.o.n.e.y. I’ll bet you slept soundly that night—one of the few when your endless paranoia didn’t keep you up and pacing with dread and indigestion.

I guess that once you got your crown, your “Welshness” was redundant. You certainly didn’t do much for Wales.