English Rule in Wales in the 1320s

Timeline

1. 1321–1322Glamorgan · WalesIn 1321 Edward II's favorite Hugh Despenser the Younger obtained Welsh march estates including Glamorgan through royal grants, angering marcher lords such as the Earl of Hereford. The Despenser War of 1321–1322 broke out along the Welsh march and in western England, ending with the temporary disgrace of father and son Despenser; but after 1322 Despenser regained favor, and the Welsh marcher system tilted further toward royal power.
2. 1326Near Neath · GlamorganIn October–November 1326, after the invasion of Isabella and Mortimer, Edward II and Despenser fled into Wales, successively besieged in Caerphilly Castle and the Neath Valley. On 16 November they were captured near Llandeilo by Henry Bolingbroke (later Earl of Lancaster), and Despenser was promptly executed. Wales became the final stage of the English royal crisis, showing how deeply the region had been drawn into England's political network.
3. 1327–1330Caernarfon · GwyneddAfter Edward III acceded in 1327, the regency continued to govern Wales through marcher lords and royal demesne lands. The judicial framework established by the Statute of Rhuddlan of 1284 remained in force in the 1320s, though marcher privileges coexisted with the cultural distinctiveness of Welsh-speaking society. After Edward III assumed personal rule in 1330, his new policies toward Scotland also indirectly affected the allocation of Welsh border defense resources.