Bryn Euryn & Llys Euryn
Bryn Euryn is a hillfort and associated manor house near Conwy, north Wales. The hillfort itself does not necessarily date to the Iron Age period, but is associated with Cynlas the Red, the King of...
View ArticleAbout The Last Pendragon
The ‘Dark Ages’—the era in which The Last Pendragon is set—were ‘dark’ only because we lack historical material about the period between 407 AD, when the Romans marched away from Britain, and 1066,...
View ArticleThe Druid’s Circle
The Druid’s circle is an ancient stone monument located on Penmaenmawr, the larger headland to the west of the town of Conwy in north Wales. Despite the name, this stone circle predates the druids and...
View ArticleDinas Emrys
Dinas Emrys is a medieval castle that overlooks Llyn Dinas in Snowdonia near Beddgelert. The current castle was built over the top of an ancient hillfort and sits on a strongly fortified rocky outcrop....
View ArticleDinas Dinlle
Dinas Dinlle is an Iron age hillfort, and possibly once the site of a Roman lighthouse, located southwest of Caernarfon on the Irish sea in North Wales. The hillfort is a roughly rectangular defended...
View ArticlePrince of Wales
Why is the Prince of Wales the son of the English king? And why are there so many people claiming to be the ‘true’ Prince of Wales running about? And why were the rulers called ‘prince’ instead of...
View ArticleThe Invention of the Chimney
The chimney was invented at some point in the Middle Ages, probably in the 11th century. It was a huge breakthrough in home/castle construction, and one of the most important inventions in a period...
View ArticleMob Ball, Football, and the Origin of Sports
Have you ever heard of ‘Mob Ball’? I hadn’t! People (and by that I generally mean ‘men’) played sports a thousand years ago or more, even if those sports wouldn’t have looked quite like what we...
View ArticleThe Summer Solstice
June 21, 2019 is the summer solstice this year, celebrated at Stonehenge and across the globe, for the longest day of the year. “Sol + stice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning “sun” +...
View ArticleRoman Roads (Bwlch y Ddeufaen)
Roman roads crisscross Britain and for centuries were the best way to travel through the country. In an earlier post, I discussed the routes across the Welsh and English countryside during the Middle...
View ArticleThe Great Prophecy of Britain
Armes Prydein Fawr, the Great Prophecy of Britain, is a poem attributed to Taliesin (although could not be his work as it was composed in the 10th century) in which he sings of the return of Cadwaladr...
View ArticleCadwaladr ap Cadwallon
Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon was a real person. His father, Cadwallon, was killed in the battle of Catscaul or “Cad-ys-gual”, the Battle of the Wall (Heavenfield, near Hexham) in 634 AD. An unknown...
View ArticleGeoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was born sometime around 1100, probably in Monmouth in southeast Wales. “His father was named Arthur. Geoffrey was appointed archdeacon of Llandsaff in 1140 and was consecrated...
View ArticleThe Beginning of the Dark Ages in Britain
The ‘Dark Ages’ were ‘dark’ only because we lack extensive (or in some instances, any) historical material about the period between 407 AD, when the Romans marched away from Britain, and 1066, when...
View ArticleIron Age Hill Forts in Wales
The Iron Age in Wales occurred during the 500 years leading up to the Roman conquest of Britain. “The earliest iron artefact in Wales is a sword dating to about 600 BCE, but by 400 BCE iron was being...
View ArticleDinas Bran (Castle)
Dinas Bran is a medieval castle begun in 1260 and destroyed in 1277 during the Welsh wars with King Edward I of England. The first settlement that we know of was an iron age hill fort, from which it...
View ArticleTintagel Castle
Was Arthur conceived at Tintagel Castle? That Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed he was is reason enough to doubt the veracity of the legend, but that’s not to say that the castle doesn’t have a fascinating...
View ArticleHeight in the Middle Ages
According to the report, “Mean Body Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index (BMI) 1960-2002: United States,” from the CDC (Center for Disease Control), the average height of a man aged 20-74 years...
View ArticleThe Welsh/British High Council
Within British (and by that I mean Welsh/Cymry/Celtic) legend, a High Council–a Parliament of a sort–existed in the Dark Ages to choose a “high king”. One of these high kings, according to legend, was...
View ArticleHalloween in Wales
As I sit here munching candy corn (which my 11 year old declares ‘the best candy’–even better than chocolate), I’m thinking about one of the chapters in Daughter of Time. Near the end of the book, Meg...
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