clauses, numbered 56, 57, and 58 of the Great Charter, describe, protect, and preserve the privileges of the Welsh King, and restored to him the hostages and charters which had been obtained by the English sovereign as security for peace.
The Legislation of EDWARD the First. The Statutum Walliæ.
In 1255, the sole ruler of Wales was Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, and from this year until 1282 a bitter and prolonged struggle took place between him and the English as to the retention of sovereignty in Wales. Edward (afterwards Edward the First) in 1254, had been granted by his father, Henry the Third, the Earldom of Chester, and came to Gwynedd to view his lands and castles. By the Treaty of Shrewsbury made on September 25, 1267, Llywelyn was recognized Prince of Wales, and overlord of all the Welsh magnates, excepting Meredith ap Rees, the representative of the old line of princes of South Wales. The Perfeddwlad or Middle Country, comprising the four cantrevs of Rhos, Dyffryn Clwyd, Tegeingl and Rhuvoniog, forming the district lying between Chester and the Conway, Edward's old patrimony, were ceded to Llywelyn, and although the latter promised to surrender many of his conquests, he was allowed to remain in possession of great tracts of land in Mid and South Wales. This treaty did not bring lasting peace to Wales and the Marches. In 1276, Eleanor de Montfort, betrothed to Llywelyn, while on her way from France to be married to him, was captured and detained as a prisoner by Edward the First. Llywelyn could only obtain her liberation by signing articles in which he agreed to do homage to Edward and to cede to him the Perfeddwlad. By these articles, the ancient rights of the Welsh people in this district were preserved, but when Edward took possession of it, he began by converting it into shire-ground and introducing Norman-English laws
