Society, the rural economy and the Church before 1282

Overview

Basis of the Welsh rural economy in the thirteenth century, hendref and the hafod and clas church.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Describe the basis of the Welsh rural economy in the thirteenth century.

   Model answer

   Pastoral farming predominated, with cattle the principal wealth, supplemented by arable in the lowlands and river valleys.

2. 2

   What was transhumance, and where was it practised?

   Model answer

   The seasonal movement of livestock to upland summer pasture, practised widely in Wales between the hendref and the hafod.

3. 3

   What were the hendref and the hafod?

   Model answer

   The hendref was the permanent winter settlement in the valley; the hafod the summer dwelling on the upland pasture.

4. 4

   What renders did a Welsh prince take from his people?

   Model answer

   Food renders and hospitality, along with labour services and military service, rather than money rents in the early part of the period.

5. 5

   How was the Welsh Church organised before the conquest?

   Model answer

   Four dioceses — Bangor, St Asaph, St Davids and Llandaff — within the province of Canterbury, with a strong tradition of clas churches.

6. 6

   What was a clas church?

   Model answer

   An old Welsh mother church served by a community of hereditary clergy, gradually replaced by the parish system.

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