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Anglesey is in North-West Wales aka Gwynedd.
In 980 Hywel ap Ieuaf King Gwynedd defeated Custennin ab Iago Aberffraw, son of his former enemy Iago ap Idwal Aberffraw at the Battle of Anglesey, at Anglesey. Custennin ab Iago Aberffraw was killed; he was supported by the Viking Gofraid mac Arailt Ivar.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1000. This year the king (age 34) went into Cumberland, and nearly laid waste the whole of it with his army, whilst his navy sailed about Chester, Cheshire [Map] with the design of co-operating with his land-forces; but, finding it impracticable, they ravaged Anglesey. The hostile fleet was this summer turned towards the kingdom of Richard.
On 27th November 1437 John Stanley (age 51) died at Anglesey.
Cassio Dio Roman History Book 62. 7. Having finished an appeal to her people of this general tenor, Buduica led her army against the Romans; for these chanced to be without a leader, inasmuch as Paulinus, their commander, had gone on an expedition to Mona, an island near Britain. This enabled her to sack and plunder two Roman cities, and, as I have said, to wreak indescribable slaughter. Those who were taken captive by the Britons were subjected to every known form of outrage. The worst and most bestial atrocity committed by their captors was the following. They hung up naked the noblest and most distinguished women and then cut off their breasts and sewed them to their mouths, in order to make the victims appear to be eating them; afterwards they impaled the women on sharp skewers run lengthwise through the entire body. All this they did to the accompaniment of sacrifices, banquets, and wanton behaviour, not only in all their other sacred places, but particularly in the grove of Andate. This was their name for Victory, and they regarded her with most exceptional reverence.
Cassio Dio Roman History Book 62. 8. Now it chanced that Paulinus had already brought Mona to terms, and so on learning of the disaster in Britain he at once set sail thither from Mona. However, he was not willing to risk a conflict with the barbarians immediately, as he feared their numbers and their desperation, but was inclined to postpone battle to a more convenient season. But as he grew short of food and the barbarians pressed relentlessly upon him, he was compelled, contrary to his judgment, to engage them. Buduica, at the head of an army of about 230,000 men, rode in a chariot herself and assigned the others to their several stations. Paulinus could not extend his line the whole length of hers, for, even if the men had been drawn up only one deep, they would not have reached far enough, so inferior were they in numbers; nor, on the other hand, did he dare join battle in a single compact force, for fear of being surrounded and cut to pieces. He therefore separated his army into three divisions, in order to fight at several points at one and the same time, and he made each of the divisions so strong that it could not easily be broken through.
In 1504 Bishop William Glynne was born at Heneglwys, Anglesey. He was educated at Queen's College, Cambridge University [Map].
Maen Morddwyd Standing Stone is also in Prehistoric Wales Standing Stones.
The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 2 Chapter 7. As many things within this island are worthy of remark, I shall not think it superfluous to make mention of some of them. There is a stone [Maen Morddwyd Standing Stone [Map]] here resembling a human thigh,153 which possesses this innate virtue, that whatever distance it may be carried, it returns, of its own accord, the following night, as has often been experienced by the inhabitants. Hugh, earl of Chester,154 in the reign of king Henry I., having by force occupied this island and the adjacent country, heard of the miraculous power of this stone, and, for the purpose of trial, ordered it to be fastened, with strong iron chains, to one of a larger size, and to be thrown into the sea. On the following morning, however, according to custom, it was found in its original position, on which account the earl issued a public edict, that no one, from that time, should presume to move the stone from its place. A countryman, also, to try the powers of this stone, fastened it to his thigh, which immediately became putrid, and the stone returned to its original situation.
Note 153. I am indebted to Mr. Richard Llwyd for the following curious extract from a Manuscript of the late intelligent Mr. Rowlands, respecting this miraculous stone, called Maen Morddwyd [Map], or the stone of the thigh, which once existed in Llanidan parish. "Hic etiam lapis lumbi, vulgo Maen Morddwyd, in hujus caemiterii vallo locum sibi e longo a retro tempore obtinuit, exindeque his nuperis annis, quo nescio papicola vel qua inscia manu nulla ut olim retinente virtute, quae tunc penitus elanguit aut vetustate evaporavit, nullo sane loci dispendio, nec illi qui eripuit emolumento, ereptus et deportatus fuit."
Note 154. Hugh, earl of Chester. The first earl of Chester after the Norman conquest, was Gherbod, a Fleming, who, having obtained leave from king William to go into Flanders for the purpose of arranging some family concerns, was taken and detained a prisoner by his enemies; upon which the conqueror bestowed the earldom of Chester on Hugh de Abrincis or of Avranches, "to hold as freely by the sword, as the king himself did England by the crown."
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The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 2 Chapter 7. There is in the same island a stony hill, not very large or high, from one side of which, if you cry aloud, you will not be heard on the other; and it is called (by anti-phrasis) the rock of hearers. In the northern part of Great Britain (Northumberland) so named by the English, from its situation beyond the river Humber, there is a hill of a similar nature, where if a loud horn or trumpet is sounded on one side, it cannot be heard on the opposite one. There is also in this island the church of St. Tefredaucus [Map],155 into which Hugh, earl of Shrewsbury, (who, together with the earl of Chester, had forcibly entered Anglesey), on a certain night put some dogs, which on the following morning were found mad, and he himself died within a month; for some pirates, from the Orcades, having entered the port of the island in their long vessels, the earl, apprised of their approach, boldly met them, rushing into the sea upon a spirited horse. The commander of the expedition, Magnus, standing on the prow of the foremost ship, aimed an arrow at him; and, although the earl was completely equipped in a coat of mail, and guarded in every part of his body except his eyes, the unlucky weapon struck his right eye, and, entering his brain, he fell a lifeless corpse into the sea. The victor, seeing him in this state, proudly and exultingly exclaimed, in the Danish tongue, "Leit loup," let him leap; and from this time the power of the English ceased in Anglesey. In our times, also, when Henry II. was leading an army into North Wales, where he had experienced the ill fortune of war in a narrow, woody pass near Coleshulle, he sent a fleet into Anglesey, and began to plunder the aforesaid church, and other sacred places. But the divine vengeance pursued him, for the inhabitants rushed upon the invaders, few against many, unarmed against armed; and having slain great numbers, and taken many prisoners, gained a most complete and bloody victory. For, as our Topography of Ireland testifies, that the Welsh and Irish are more prone to anger and revenge than any other nations, the saints, likewise, of those countries appear to be of a more vindictive nature.
Note 155. This church is at Llandyfrydog [Map], a small village in Twrkelin hundred, not far distant from Llanelian, and about three miles from the Bay of Dulas. St. Tyvrydog, to whom it was dedicated, was one of the sons of Arwystyl Glof, a saint who lived in the latter part of the sixth century.
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Archaeological Journal Volume 28 1871 Pages 97-108. 16. Llanfaelog [Pentre Traeth Burial Chamber [Map]] par. (w).
"Three small altars near Cryghyll river," are enumerated in the list given by David Thomas; Cambr. Reg., vol. ii. p. 288. Of these one may be the cromlech described by the Rev. Hugh Prichard in his Memoir on Copper Cakes, &c., Castellor, as being west of a farmhouse called Pentre Traeth Arch. Cambr., fourth series, vol. ii. p. 51. Mr. Prichard observes that it is given in the Ordnance Survey as a cromlech, but it may be described as a scattered tumulus or carnedd, with its chamber, or chambers, laid open or destroyed. A woodcut of a large fragment there is figured, p. 66.
Archaeologia Cambrensis 1876 Pages 51-66. Fro the railway-station at Ty-Croes, in the county of Anglesey, a person much interested in the antiquities of the island may enjoy a walk in the direction opposite to that of Barclodiad-y-Gawres (vol. x, 3 series). At a short distance north-east of the church and village of Llanvaelog, on a farm called Ty-Newydd, he would find still conspicuous on its three supports the cromlech so well described in the January number of the Archaologia Cambrensis, 1864. From which point, taking a westerly course towards the river Crigyll, where it is crossed by the railway embankment, he might observe, west of a farmhouse, called Pentre-Traeth, on low marshy ground sometimes inundated by the sea, remains noticed on the Ordnance Map as a cromlech [Pentre Traeth Burial Chamber [Map]], but which may be described as a scattered tumulus, or carnedd, with its chamber, or most probably chambers, laid open and destroyed. On their south-western side, seemingly dismounted from its position as the cap-stone of a low cist or cell, a cumbrous block, 22½ feet in circumference, and 3¼ ft. thick (see cut, p. 66), is so curiously poised on a ridge of earth and smaller stones as to give the appearance, from several points of view, of a larger part being out-balanced by a smaller one. That grave-stones of this magnitude, with the additional coverings of tumuli or superimposed carneddau, should have been regarded in a rude age as lasting protections to the ashes placed beneath them is not surprising. What remains of the Pentre-Traeth tumulus has a circumference of 110 feet, and stands about 2 feet above the surrounding plain. Near to its base are from twelve to sixteen large stones, many of them apparently dislodged from their original positions, and afterwards regarded as too heavy for re- moval to the inevitable stone wall, which here crosses the meadow. A few traces of an entrance passage from the south-east are still visible. These remains and the Cruglas at Malldraeth described in a former number of the Archæologia Cambrensis, suggest an inquiry of some interest. It has been affirmed that considerable portions of the British coast have been elevated since the Roman period. During high tides the sea flows up to the Pentre-Traeth remains, and the sepulchral mound at Malldraeth, called the Cruglas, would be surrounded by its inundations if unprotected by modern embankments. I am unable to decide whether the Pentre-Traeth antiquity is the one alluded to by Mr. Pennant, where, advocating the sepulchral origin of these structures, he states that several cromlechs existed in his day "quite bedded in the carnedd or heap of stones, instances of which might be produced in Llanfaelog, in this island, etc." (Tour in Wales, vol. ii, p. 238.)
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Baron Hill Standing Stone is also in Prehistoric Wales Standing Stones.
Baron Hill Standing Stone [Map] is a 2m high standing stone with a further 0.5m below ground weighing 4.6 tons. In 2009 it had fallen over. In 2010 it was re-erected by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust under the guidance of Cadw. When removed from its socket, some 20 packing stones were found around its base, one of which had two 'pecked' engravings, a cupmark and a cup and ring mark.
Llanfechell Standing Stones is also in Prehistoric Wales Standing Stones.
All About History Books
The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.
Llanfechell Standing Stones [Map] are three standing stones is on a farm named Foel Fawr in the village of Llanfechell on Anglesey. They stand on the brow of a small hillock on the edge of a farmers field, and are in such a position that they may be seen from any field below. Two of the stones stand about 7 feet tall, whilst the remaining stone is about 6 feet tall. They are approximately 3 feet at their widest.
Wales Illustrated. Wales Illustrated in a Series of Views comprising the Pictureesque Scenery, Towns, Castles, Seats of the Nobilty and Gentry, Antiquities, &c. Engraved on Steel from the Original Drawings by Henry Gastineau (age 38). Accompanied by Historical and Topographical Descriptions. 1830.
Title Page: Menai Straits, Anglesey.
On 19th February 1650 Richard Bulkeley was killed in a duel with Thomas Cheadle, or was murdered by Thomas Cheadle, on Lavan Sands, Menai Straits [Map] on for which the latter executed at Conwy [Map].
On 30th January 1826 the Menai Suspension Bridge [Map], the world's first major suspension bridge, was opened. The bridge was designed by Thomas Telford. Construction had begun in 1819.
1840 lithograph of the bridge.
Around 1899 Henry Cyril "Toppy" Paget 5th Marquess Anglesey (age 23) converted the Chapel at Plas Newydd, Anglesey into the Gaiety Theatre. Here he took the lead role, opulently costumed, in productions ranging from pantomime and comedy to performances
1936. John "Rex" Whistler (age 30). "Capriccio". A large wall mural in the dining room of Plas Newydd House, Anglesey.
The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 2 Chapter 7. There is a small island [Priestholm aka Puffin Island, Anglesey [Map]], almost adjoining to Anglesey, which is inhabited by hermits, living by manual labour, and serving God. It is remarkable that when, by the influence of human passions, any discord arises among them, all their provisions are devoured and infected by a species of small mice, with which the island abounds; but when the discord ceases, they are no longer molested. Nor is it to be wondered at, if the servants of God sometimes disagree, since Jacob and Esau contended in the womb of Rebecca, and Paul and Barnabas differed; the disciples also of Jesus disputed which of them should be the greatest, for these are the temptations of human infirmity; yet virtue is often made perfect by infirmity, and faith is increased by tribulations. This island is called in Welsh, Ynys Lenach,156 or the ecclesiastical island, because many bodies of saints are deposited there, and no woman is suffered to enter it.
Note 156. Ynys Lenach, now known by the name of Priestholme Island, bore also the title of Ynys Seiriol, from a saint who resided upon it in the sixth century. It is also mentioned by Dugdale and Pennant under the appellation of Insula Glannauch.
On 15th December 1619 Thomas Butler Viscount Thurles (age 38) drowned accidentally at Skerries, Anglesey having been sent to England to answer charges of having garissoned Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny.
Tudur ap Goronwy Tudor lived at Trecastell, Anglesey.