The history of Wales is the story of a small people that has kept its own language and identity for more than fifteen hundred years alongside a much larger neighbour. Conquered by England in the Middle Ages and united with it in the 16th century, Wales lived through the epic of coal and today has its own parliament, the Senedd. For the wider picture see the history of the United Kingdom.
The Britons and the Welsh kingdoms
The Welsh descend from the Celtic Britons who inhabited the whole island before the Romans. After Rome withdrew, Anglo-Saxon invaders pushed the Britons westward: the newcomers called them wealas, "foreigners", from which the word Welsh derives, while they called themselves Cymry, "fellow countrymen". In the 8th century King Offa of Mercia built a long earthwork, Offa's Dyke, which still roughly marks the border. Medieval Wales was divided into kingdoms such as Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth; in the 10th century King Hywel Dda, "the Good", had the Welsh laws compiled, notable for protecting women's rights. This period saw the birth of the tales of the Mabinogion and the first legends of Arthur (see in the footsteps of Arthur).
The English conquest
After 1066 Norman lords occupied the border lands, the Marches, but the north held out for a long time. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was recognised by the English as Prince of Wales in 1267, but his rebellion against Edward I ended with his death in 1282. Edward consolidated the conquest with a ring of formidable castles, Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in 1301 gave the title of Prince of Wales to his own son: since then it has been held by the heir to the English throne, today Prince William. In the early 15th century Owain Glyndŵr led the last great revolt, held a parliament at Machynlleth and for several years controlled much of the country before vanishing without trace: he remains the Welsh national hero.
The Tudors and union
In 1485 a Welshman, Henry Tudor, won at Bosworth and became King of England as Henry VII. It was his son Henry VIII, however, who formally incorporated Wales into the kingdom of England with the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542, which introduced English law and made English the only language of administration. Paradoxically, it was the Reformation that saved Welsh: in 1588 Bishop William Morgan published the complete translation of the Bible, which established a common literary language. In the 18th century the Methodist revival and Griffith Jones's circulating schools taught hundreds of thousands of people to read in Welsh, and the Nonconformist chapels became the heart of social life (see the languages of the United Kingdom).
Coal, iron and social struggle
With the Industrial Revolution South Wales was transformed: Merthyr Tydfil became the largest iron-making centre in the world, and mining valleys such as the Rhondda drew immigrants from all over Britain and from Italy. On the eve of the First World War the port of Cardiff was among the world's leading coal exporters. These were also years of hard struggle: the Merthyr Rising of 1831, the Chartist rising at Newport in 1839, the Rebecca Riots of farmers against tolls. In 1847 a government report, remembered as the "Treachery of the Blue Books", blamed the Welsh language for moral backwardness, and in schools children caught speaking it were punished with the Welsh Not. Many emigrated: in 1865 a group of settlers founded a Welsh community in Patagonia, where the language is still spoken.
Coal also brought tragedy: in 1913 the explosion at Senghenydd killed 439 miners, the worst mining disaster in Britain, and in 1966 at Aberfan a colliery spoil tip slid onto a school, killing 144 people, 116 of them children. After the crises of the 20th century and the great strike of 1984-1985, the pits closed one after another; the last large deep mine, Tower Colliery, ceased production in 2008.
From language revival to the Senedd
In 1925 the nationalist party Plaid Cymru was founded. The flooding of the Tryweryn valley in 1965, to supply water to Liverpool against the will of the Welsh, became a symbol of the country's powerlessness. Campaigns for the language led to a Welsh-language television channel, S4C, in 1982, and to the language laws of 1993 and 2011. After a first rejection in 1979, the 1997 referendum approved devolution by the narrowest of margins, 50.3%, and in 1999 the National Assembly met. With the 2011 referendum it gained full law-making powers, in 2020 it took the name Senedd and since 2026 it has 96 members elected by proportional representation. After more than a century of Labour dominance, the May 2026 election brought Plaid Cymru to government, with Rhun ap Iorwerth as First Minister.
See also Wales, Welsh traditions and Cardiff.