Positive Changes Of The Union With England

The union with England, under the Laws of Wales Acts of 1536 and 1543, did bring about some positive changes in Wales but the benefit of these changes has so often been exaggerated by historians, who have failed to properly address the shortcomings of the changes and the effect of changes on society as a whole and not just on the rising gentry class. For example many historians, like Peter Roberts, have emphasised the positive political impacts that the union achieved for Wales, such as the gaining of English laws and rights and Welsh representation in parliament, but they fail to make a significant study of the negative political impacts, such as the degrading of the Welsh language, degrading of women's power in politics and, most notably, …show more content…
Other negative changes that the essay will discuss include: the attack of Welsh identity, specifically on the Welsh language, the attack on Welsh culture and heritage, focusing on the devastating impact of the destruction of monasteries, the imposition of the reformation and the widening of the gap between the gentry and the other social classes. Throughout this, the tensions that existed between England and Wales will be discussed and references to primary sources and to the arguments of historians, like Roberts and Brady, will be made to in order to deliver a well-structured argument that the union between England and Wales brought about more negative changes to Wales than …show more content…
However this is largely exaggerated and the argument that this enabled Wales to more smoothly unite with England is simplistic. In fact, as argued by Brady, the Tudors used these images as propaganda to gain loyalty from the Welsh, but the English never actually displayed any great deal of genuine affection toward Wales. However, fortunately for Wales, which can not be said of Cornwall, when the bible was translated from Latin during the reformation it was translated into Welsh, which has been crucial in helping preserve the Welsh language. The translation was the most celebrated in Wales. The Gaelic Irish had to wait much longer for their translation than the Welsh did. It is not until the twentieth-century that the proportion of people in the thirteen traditional counties who spoke fluent Welsh fell below sixty percent, a pattern of survival much greater than Irish or Scottish Gaelic. However the quick translation into Welsh was less to do with Wales holding a special place in the hearts of the Tudors, and more of a tactic to build up Welsh loyalties. The translation can not be seen as a ‘positive change’, as Wales were not really gaining anything from this, it was just fortunate. Roberts again tries to see the positive impact that this