The Importance of Sheep and Their Wool to the Economy of Wales from 1100 to 1603

This thesis investigates the economy of Wales through the activities of farmers and landlords, particularly through their attitudes to the keeping of sheep. It then places this activity in the context of the value that sheep and wool brought to the economy of England over this same period. It is concerned with the extent to which the Welsh agricultural economy followed the English pattern, and the effect that this had on the overall success of that economy. The thesis demonstrates that sheep can be used as a gauge to monitor the degree of penetration of new ideas and practices brought into the region through invasion and immigration, and consequently the degree to which Welsh society retained its cohesion socially. On a smaller scale, it is also concerned with the economics and practicalities of keeping, and selling, sheep, and the production of wool in the areas of Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd (Wales) from the 12th through to the beginning of the 17th centuries, together with the changing importance of the role that sheep played in the agricultural economies of both large and small landholders. Pembrokeshire and Gwynedd were chosen as initially they followed divergent paths; early Norman domination of Pembrokeshire is in contrast with the Welsh retention of Gwynedd until the end of the 13th century This creates contrasting views of two dichotomous political and social environments and their evolution, which can then be used as a proxy to illuminate conditions throughout the majority of Wales.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2022

Author dc:creator

• Johnson, Catherine

• DA Prydain Fawr
• HD Diwydiannau. Defnydd tir. Llafur
• SF Magu anifeiliaid

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:2054