No satisfactory explanation has ever been advanced to show how the writer of the Fieschi letter came by some of his information unless from the mouth of Edward II himself. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieschi_Letter)
This is a very interesting theory and one I had never heard of before.
On a side note regarding Edward II--
The story that his father presented Edward II as a newborn to the Welsh as their future native prince is unfounded. The Welsh purportedly asked the King to give them a prince who spoke Welsh, and, the story goes, he answered he would give them a prince that spoke no English at all. This story first appeared in the work of 16th century Welsh "antiquary" David Powel.
Funny you'd bring this up. Am now reading World Without End by Ken Follet, and this is one of the plot lines in the book.
If the Papacy's dating of the Fieschi letter to early 1336 is correct, it would appear that he had settled at a hermitage in Lombardy by the end of 1331.
In July 1336, Edward III paid 8000 marks to Nicolinus Fieschi as a reward for delivering letters and other messages to the king.
It seems likely that the William the Welshman brought to Edward III at Cologne in 1338 was indeed Edward II; he was with the court at Antwerp just after the birth of Edward III's second son, Lionel. After this, he disappears from the records. The man who presented William the Welshman to Edward III was paid for some secret business three years later that involved several months abroad, possibly to bring Edward II's remains back from Italy. It is almost certain that Edward II's remains were placed in Gloucester Cathedral before his son made a pilgrimage there in 1343.
But then considering Edward II's documented preferences,
he may have been happier in a monastery. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/KellsFol188rQuoniam.jpg)
(http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1551563452.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg)
I think Edward II ended up being created Prince of Wales was just due to the fact that Eddy I had just finished kicking Llywlln ap Gryffudd (I'm pretty sure it was ol'Lieu's) arz and it was a subjugation move. btw...Where is our Welsh braveheart movie? The son's of DDraig were fighting the English years before that jonny come lately William Wallace ever stepped up to the plate: )
The other story about the prince only speaking welsh would not really pass the sniff test but in a backward sort of way the not speaking english part true since to my understanding a French dialect was still spoken in Court up to Eddy III (hence the knight of the garter motto being in that dialect).
Just my take with very little fact to back it up.
Quote from: Dirtfarmer on April 24, 2009, 04:02:33 PM
I think Edward II ended up being created Prince of Wales was just due to the fact that Eddy I had just finished kicking Llywlln ap Gryffudd (I'm pretty sure it was ol'Lieu's) arz and it was a subjugation move. btw...Where is our Welsh braveheart movie? The son's of DDraig were fighting the English years before that jonny come lately William Wallace ever stepped up to the plate: )
The other story about the prince only speaking welsh would not really pass the sniff test but in a backward sort of way the not speaking english part true since to my understanding a French dialect was still spoken in Court up to Eddy III (hence the knight of the garter motto being in that dialect).
Just my take with very little fact to back it up.
The familiar story that Edward promised the Welsh a prince "Who spoke not a word of English" and then appointed his infant son dates from the 16th Century and is probably apocryphal. It is true however that in 1301 Edward made his eldest son Prince of Wales. [The eldest son of the English monarch has been invested with this title ever since.] (http://history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/123%20142%20EdIWars.htm)
The Court of the time period spoke a version of Norman French.
The poet Gruffydd ab yr Ynad Coch wrote in an elegy on Llywelyn:
Do you not see the path of the wind and the rain?
Do you not see the oak trees in turmoil?
Cold my heart in a fearful breast
For the king, the oaken door of Aberffraw
I really wish the Welsh were given more credit. Any country that can produce Dylan Thomas, Bartholomew Roberts, Henry Morgan, Richard Burton, Alan Rickman.....
Even Ritchie Blackmore is Welsh!
But this is a whole other topic......
Many times I have thought about changing the spelling of my last name back to the correct Gruffydd but then I'd end up going my life being called Bill Gruf-fi-d-d... I doubt many know that two d's is pronounced "th".... although the Gruf-fi part works for my personality. : )
I'm so Welsh my father's first name is Merlin.
Honest.
And my maiden name is a very Welsh one.
But yes, the pronunciations are very confusing sometimes.
You wonder how things would have turned out if Wales were able to retain its independence.
We haven't given up the fight to get it back!
Dayna Thomas