Expansion across Britain: Wales

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Map of the Cistercian abbeys in Wales

The second Cistercian abbey in Britain was founded in Wales, but expansion here did not really take off until the second half of the twelfth century. The turning point was in 1165 when Rhys ap Gruffudd, prince of Deheubarth, became patron of Strata Florida and a benefactor of Whitland. Before this the Cistercian abbeys were seen as foreign imports, founded, colonised and patronised by the Anglo-Normans; with the endorsement of the Welsh royalty, they were now accepted by the native Welsh, and drew local recruits and benefactors.

From this time the White Monks flourished in Wales; the wild, barren landscape in Wales was conducive to Cistercian settlement. As in England, the monks accumulated extensive lands and were criticised by their opponents; at the end of the thirteenth century Archbishop Pecham wrote to Edward I objecting to news of another Cistercian foundation in the diocese of St Asaph, Wales; he explained that this was of grave concern to the Welsh locals, as the White Monks were considered the worst of neighbours, and had a reputation for destruction:

For where they plant their foot they destroy villages, take away tithes and curtail by their privileges all the power of the prelacy.(2)

Strata Florida as it is today
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The Welsh abbeys were deeply affected by the wars between England and Wales in the 1270s and 1280s, and following Edward I’s success in 1284, they found themselves subdued by an alien king. Nevertheless, the Cistercians here maintained strong ties with the native royalty, many of whom were buried in their abbeys; indeed the chronicle of the Welsh princes, Brut Y Tywysogion was written at Strata Florida.(3)