25 - The Celtic lands of the British Isles

Summary

THE justification for treating the political history of Wales, Ireland and Scotland in the thirteenth century in the same chapter lies neither in the geographical proximity of the three regions nor in any supposedly Celtic social structure to be found in all three, but in the fact that they all faced a common external pressure in the period and responded to it in significantly different ways. That pressure came of course, from the looming presence of a rich, powerful and united kingdom of England to the south and east. The thirteenth century was a crucial period in the history of the relations between each of these regions and their aggressive neighbour. Wales was conquered and incorporated, Scotland entered that bloody and heroic phase which was to culminate in the successful assertion of its independence as a kingdom, while in Ireland it became clear that the division between English and Gaelic Ireland was to characterise the indefinite future. Outcomes were thus radically different. Dilemmas were shared. Wales, Ireland and Scotland all exhibited a cultural, linguistic and social dualism between an anglicised and urbanised south and east and a Celtic-speaking, less populous north and west. All had simultaneously to negotiate a relationship with the English crown and to establish an internal balance or at least a modus vivendi between separate and conflicting powers and populations. In each case geography, social structure, past history, political will and chance shaped the result.