Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY The uxorial lifecycle and female agency in Wales in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Messer, Danna Award date: 2014 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 03. Oct. 2021 THE UXORIAL LIFECYCLE AND FEMALE AGENCY IN WALES IN THE TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES DANNA R. MESSER Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy School of History, Welsh History and Archaeology Bangor University 31 July 2014 ABSTRACT The political, social and cultural histories of Wales before 1282, which focus on themes associated with the evolution of nationhood — namely conquest, co- existence and change — are incomplete because treatments of a collective Welsh identity fail to address women’s experiences. This thesis examines the sources largely associated with Wales during the Age of Princes, analysing how married women are identified and what types of agency are associated with them. An investigation into the uxorial lifecycle helps to highlight the gendered cultural and social expectations that women faced more generally. Comparing and contrasting conventional gender constructs found in medieval Welsh sources with evidence of women’s employment of agency highlights the status of women in society and provides a more balanced assessment of Wales before 1282. Chapter 1 discusses Welsh native sources and traditions. It examines the complexities of analysis concerning the dissemination of gender ideals found in sources composed largely during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, many of which were influenced by oral tradition. Chapter 2 looks at the development of uxorial identity. It investigates the lifecycle of the wife defined in native law, including discussions on the commodification of gender and the practice of concubinage. An examination of how the uxorial lifecycle is constructed in the Welsh chronicles and the identification of the most idealized uxorial traits found across the sources is also discussed. Chapter 3 considers the concept of native Welsh queenship and the status of wives as queens. Three key issues are explored: to what extent there was an ideal of queenship in native Wales; the core ideologies and expectations of the office of the queen; and how the use of titles and other designations denotes status. Chapter 4 reviews evidence of Welsh queenship in practice by looking at the political agency rulers’ wives exercised. Chapter 5 examines charter evidence concerning female land ownership and women’s involvement within their family lordships, localities and against a wider political backdrop. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations i Acknowledgements iv INTRODUCTION 1 Methodology 15 CHAPTER 1 Native Sources and Traditions Introduction 26 Oral Traditions and Written Texts 27 The Mabinogion 30 Trioedd Ynys Prydein 33 Poetry of the Gogynfeirdd 35 Cyfraith Hywel 42 Authorship 45 The Lives of Saints 48 Gerald of Wales 50 Chronicles 54 Vita Griffini Filii Conani 58 Gendered Perceptions 59 Genealogy 63 Conclusion 71 CHAPTER 2 The Development of Uxorial Identity Introduction 74 Married Women and the Laws 79 Lifecycles 91 Norms and Perceptions 112 Conclusion 124 CHAPTER 3 Welsh Queenship and Status Introduction 128 General Ideals of Welsh Queenship 132 The Royal Llys 140 Roles of the Welsh Queen 152 Titles and Other Designations 162 Motherhood and Succession 177 Conclusion 182 CHAPTER 4 Welsh Queenship and Political Agency Introduction 188 Counsellors and Advisors 193 Joan of England 197 Senana ferch Caradog 219 Eleanor de Montfort 227 Welsh Queenship in Practice 238 Conclusion 242 CHAPTER 5 Land, Lordship and Agency Introduction 248 European Comparisons 252 South Wales 257 Mid Wales 267 North Wales 275 Warranties 282 Analysis 284 CONCLUSION 301 BIBLIOGRAPHY 307 Messer i ABBREVIATIONS ABT Achau Brenhinoedd a Thywysogion Cymru, in P.C. Bartrum, Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts (Cardiff, 1966), pp. 95-110. AC Annales Cambriae, ed. J. William ab Ithel (Rolls Series, London, 1960). AnnCestr Annales Cestrienses, ed. R.C. Christie (Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 14; London, 1887). Arch. Camb. Archaeologia Cambrensis AnnDunst ‘Annales Prioratus de Dunstaplia’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864-9), iii, pp. 3-420. AM Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864–9). AnnMarg ‘Annales de Margan’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864–9), i, pp. 3-40. AnnOsney ‘Annales Monasterii de Oseneia’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864-9), iv, pp. 3-5. AnnTewk ‘Annales Monasterii de Theokesberia’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864-9), i, pp. 43-180. AnnWav ‘Annales Monasterii de Waverleia’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864-9), ii, pp. 129- 41. AnnWinch ‘Annales Monasterii de Wintonia’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864-9), ii, pp. 3-125. AnnWorc ‘Annales Prioratus de Wigornia’, Annales Monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 5 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864-9), iv, pp. 355-564. AWR The Acts of Welsh Rulers 1120–1283, ed. H. Pryce (Cardiff, 2005). BBCS Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies BL British Library BM British Museum Messer ii BS Brenhinedd y Saesson, or The Kings of the Saxons: BM Cotton Ms. Cleopatra Bv and The Black Book of Basingwerk NLW Ms. 7006, ed. T. Jones (Cardiff, 1971). BT, Pen20 Brut y Tywysogyon Peniarth MS. 20, ed. T. Jones (Cardiff, 1941). BT, Pen20Tr Brut y Tywysogion or The Chronicle of the Princes Peniarth 20 Ms. Version, trans. T. Jones (Cardiff, 1952). BT, RBH Brut y Tywysogion or The Chronicle of the Princes Red Book of Hergest Version, ed. and trans. T. Jones (Cardiff, 1955). CCR Calendar of the Close Rolls CPL Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers Relating to Great Britain and Ireland: Papal Letters, i. A.D. 1198–1304, ed. W.H. Bliss (London, 1893). CPR Calendar of the Patent Rolls CR Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III CRR Curia Regis Rolls CW ‘Cronica de Wallia and Other Documents from Exeter Cathedral Library MS. 3514’, ed. T. Jones, Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies, 12 (1946), pp. 27-44. CWR ‘Calendar of the Welsh Rolls’ EWGT Early Welsh Genealogical Tracts, ed. P.C. Bartrum (Cardiff, 1966). Gir. Camb., Op. Giraldi Cambrensis, Opera, (eds) J.S. Brewer, J.F. Dimock and G.F. Warner, 8 vols (Rolls Series, 1861–91). HGK Historia Gruffud vab Kenan, ed. D.S. Evans (Cardiff, 1978). HW J. E. Lloyd, A History of Wales: From the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, 2 vols (London, 2nd edn,1912). LTMW The Law of Hywel Dda: Law Texts from Medieval Wales, ed. and trans. D. Jenkins (Llandysul, 1986). LW Littere Wallie: Preserved in Liber A in the Public Record Office, ed. J.G. Edwards (Cardiff, 1940). NLW National Library of Wales Messer iii NWLJ National Library of Wales Journal Pat. Rolls Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office (London, 1891 ̶ ). Rot. Chart. Rotuli Chartarum in Turri Londinensi Asservati A.D. 1199– A.D. 1216, ed. T.D. Hardy (Record Commission, London, 1837). Rot. Claus. Rotuli Litteratum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi Asservati A.D. 1204–A.D. 1227, ed. T.D. Hardy, 2 vols. (Record Commission, London, 1832–44). Rot. Pat. Rotuli Litterarum Patentium in Turri Londinensi Asservati, I.i., A.D. 1201–A.D. 1216, ed. T.D. Hardy (Record Commission, London, 1835). THSC Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion TNA The National Archives TRHS Transactions of the Royal Historical Society TYP Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain, ed. and trans. R. Bromwich (Cardiff, 3rd ed., 2006). Vita Griffini Vita Griffini Filii Conani, The Medieval Latin Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan, ed. and trans. P. Russell (Cardiff, 2005). WAR The Welsh Assize Roll 1277–1284, ed. J.C. Davies (Cardiff, 1940). WGEMW M. Roberts and S. Clarke (eds), Women and Gender in Early Modern Wales (Cardiff, 2000). WHR Welsh History Review WKHC T. Charles-Edwards, M. E. Owen and P. Russell (eds), The Welsh King and His Court (Cardiff, 2000). WLW D. Jenkins and M.E. Owen (eds), The Welsh Law of Women: Studies presented to Professor Daniel A. Binchy on his Eightieth Birthday (Cardiff, 1980). iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I would like to thank Huw Pryce for his steadfast support and enthusiasm for this subject. He’s been most generous with his time and his ideas, providing me encouragement and offering lively debate. Working with him has been a real joy. My family has been instrumental in the completion of ‘my paper’ and though I have not been able to see them as much as I have either wanted or needed to over the years, they have always been here with me in thought and spirit. They’ve always allowed me the freedom to just be me and I only hope they know much that means. It always has and always will – even if it’s been hard for them at times! I want to thank Bronach Kane, Spencer Smith and Angharad Wynne.