University of Wales

University of Wales Welsh Prifysgol Cymru, founded 1893 through the organization of three university colleges already existing in Wales into a unified system for the purpose of degree examinations. The university presently comprises the institutions at Aberystwyth (est. 1872 as the University College of Wales), Bangor (est. 1884 as the University College of North Wales), Cardiff (est. 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire), Lampeter (est. 1822 as St. David's College, part of the university since 1971), and Swansea (added 1920, the former Swansea Technical College), as well as the Univ. of Wales College of Medicine (est. 1931 as the Welsh National School of Medicine) and the Univ. of Wales Institute (1996) at Cardiff and the Univ. of Wales College (1996) at Newport.

Wales A constituent part of the United Kingdom, which has been under English rule since the thirteenth century, and linked to England since the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. A cultural revival in the eighteenth century was reinforced by the spread of Nonconformity, which became an integral part of Welsh identity. Consequently, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the position of the (minority) Anglican Church as the established Church of Wales became an important political issue, until a disestablishment bill was passed in 1914. Its implementation was delayed by the outbreak of World War I, so that the Church of Wales was not disestablished until 31 March 1920. Many of the funds released by this went towards the establishment of the University of Wales and other institutions.

Overreliant on Wales's position as the world's leading exporter of coal, its economy experienced a sharp decline after World War I. This led to steady emigration to mining areas in England, and to further afield, predominantly to the USA and parts of the Commonwealth. This period also experienced a sharp decline in the Welsh language, which virtually ceased to be spoken as a first language in the industrial south. After World War II, the British government in Westminster made further concessions to Welsh distinctiveness. A National Council for Wales was established (1949), and a Minister for Welsh Affairs has been appointed since 1951 (as Secretary of State since 1964). Nevertheless, demands for greater political autonomy grew, expressing themselves in their most radical form in terrorist attacks against English-owned property. The growth of nationalist sentiment expressed itself in the revival of the Welsh language, and in increased support for Plaid Cymru, which won its first seat in Parliament in 1966. However, in a referendum on 1 March 1979, a Welsh Assembly and greater autonomy were rejected by 956,330, with 243,048 in favour. Concern with the Welsh cultural identity continued, and led to the creation of a Welsh-language television channel in 1982.

Support for autonomy only grew slowly, because the cultural and social differences between north and south Wales stood in the way of united demands for Home Rule. Owing to the influence of its Scottish membership, the British Labour Party became committed to devolution during the 1990s. Following its election victory in 1997, Labour offered Wales a limited form of autonomy, with a Welsh Assembly without taxraising powers. A referendum in 1997 approved this with a narrow majority of 50.3 per cent. In 1999, the first Welsh Assembly was elected, with the Labour Party becoming the strongest party, and Plaid Cymru coming second. Labour formed a minority administration under its First Minister, Alun Michel. Michel never enjoyed the full support of his party, however, and he was replaced in 2000 with Rhodri Morgan, who entered a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The new administration continued to be challenged by the country's north-south divide. It was ruled from the populous south, even though support from autonomy was strongest in the north. At the same time, the north was badly affected by a succession of agricultural crises such as foot-and-mouth disease, which severely tested the Assembly's administrative capabilities right from the beginning.

Gerald of Wales ( Gerald de Barry, Giraldus Cambrensis) (1146–1223), historian of the Anglo‐Norman invasion. Born at Manorbier, Pembroke‐shire, Gerald was a younger son of William de Barry by Angharad, granddaughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, king of south Wales. He was educated as a cleric at St Peter's abbey, Gloucester, and Paris University. He was appointed archdeacon of Brecon c.1175, and this was the title which he used of himself. About 1182 he visited Ireland, where many of his Cambro‐Norman relatives had acquired lands; he returned in 1185 in the train of John, son of Henry II, and remained for a period after John's departure. In 1186 he preached at a provincial synod at Dublin, severely criticizing the Irish clergy. While in Ireland he claimed to have been offered the bishoprics of Wexford and Leighlin, and somewhat later Ossory and the archdiocese of Cashel, all of which he declined. To his two Irish journeys are owed his Topography of Ireland (1188), which was dedicated to Henry II, and his Expugnatio Hibernica, which appeared shortly thereafter. Both works were written with a strong polemical purpose to justify Anglo‐Norman intervention in Ireland; he was highly critical of the Irish, portraying them as barbarians, and barely Christian. He extolled the bravery of his relatives, the Geraldines, at the expense of other early adventurers, such as other early adventurers, such as Strongbow, and argued that they were harassed unjustly by royal officials. He outlined strategies for completing the conquest of Ireland, which he hoped to persuade King Henry, and later Richard I (1157–99), to implement in Ireland. His work, inaugurating the colonial historiographical tradition of a negative portayal of the Irish, was to be relied on heavily by subsequent Anglo‐Irish and English writers, and stimulated an apologetic response from native authors: Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, for example, devoted considerable attention to refuting Gerald's portrayal of the Irish.

Marie Therese Flanagan