Conquest of Wales

The conquest of Wales by Edward I took place between 1277 and 1283, also known as the Edwardian conquest of Wales to distinguish it from the earlier and only partial Norman conquest of Wales. In two campaigns, in 1277 and again in 1282 and 1283, Edward I of England first reduced the territory of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, known as Llywelyn the Last, and then overran the remaining Welsh principalities entirely. Wales at the time was divided between native Welsh principalities and the lands of the Anglo-Norman Marcher lords, and Edward's conquest ended Welsh political independence: the conquered territory was organized as the Principality of Wales under royal control, with the remaining areas becoming Marcher lordships, though formal legal incorporation into England came later through the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 to 1542.