Wales falls, Scotland takes warning
On 11 December 1282, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, was killed in a skirmish near Builth Wells. His death at the hands of English soldiers ended Welsh independence and completed Edward I's conquest of Wales. For Scotland, watching from across the border, the destruction of Welsh sovereignty was a chilling preview of what Edward intended for every nation in the British Isles.
Llywelyn had been recognised as Prince of Wales by the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267, ruling a principality that encompassed much of modern Wales. But Edward I, the most formidable English king since William the Conqueror, was determined to bring Wales under direct English control. Two devastating military campaigns in 1277 and 1282, supported by massive castle-building programmes, broke Welsh resistance. Llywelyn's death in December 1282 and the execution of his brother Dafydd in 1283 extinguished the Welsh royal line.
Edward's conquest of Wales was a masterclass in imperial subjugation. He built a ring of enormous castles — Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech, Beaumaris — designed to overawe the Welsh population and provide permanent military control. He imposed English law, English administration, and English settlers. Wales was incorporated into the English realm, and the title "Prince of Wales" was given to Edward's son — a calculated insult that endures to this day.
Scotland watched with growing alarm. When Edward turned his attention northward after the death of the Scottish king Alexander III in 1286, the Scots knew exactly what he was capable of. Edward's manipulation of the Scottish succession, his seizure of the Stone of Destiny, his sack of Berwick, and his attempted conquest of Scotland all followed the Welsh playbook. But Scotland had advantages Wales lacked: greater distance from London, more difficult terrain, and a tradition of centralised kingship that could organise national resistance. Wallace, Bruce, and the Wars of Independence were Scotland's answer to the fate that befell Wales.