Welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie, and this is episode 469, Robert of Rithelin.

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at the British History Podcast.com for about the price of a latte per month. And thank you very much

to Sandra, Tony, and Jack for signing up already. In the space of less than a year, the Norman

Barons had surged deep into Wales and were further

entrenching themselves using castles and other fortifications. The scribes recording this event

paint a picture of conquest and occupation, and make no mistake about it. that was absolutely the goal of the Normans.

However, the Welsh recognized there was a wrinkle in their plan. The Normans were not at home here.

They didn't know the landscape, and they faced a foe who fought in a manner that they weren't accustomed to.

And at the end of the day, the Normans were also outnumbered.

So sure, the horse bros might be able to take that hill over there and plonk a castle on it.

And they might be able to march into a village and oppress the people living there.

But those pockets of occupation were just that.

Pockets.

And all over Wales, the Welsh were talking and were organizing in the many, many places where the Normans weren't. But that isn't to say that

Wales wasn't completely unoccupied. And up in Gwyneth, the Normans were really tightening their

grip. But at the same time, that task had been anything but easy.

You might recall that Earl Hugh of Chester had entrusted the conquest of North Wales to his nephew, Robert, who would become known as Robert of Rithlin, thanks to being dug into the Welsh region like a French-speaking tick.

But accomplishing that task had been anything but easy or simple.

Robert had tried a variety of tactics throughout his ears in North Wales to try and bring

the region to heal.

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