Describe and account for the attitude of the Welsh people to the religious changes set in motion by Henry VIII's quarrel with the Pope.

The bulk of the Welsh people and certainly the majority of the Welsh peasants were illiterate and monoglot, their attitude towards religious changes in Wales was one largely of amiable apathy.  The Welsh peasantry saw the Tudor dynasty as Welsh; they were the Dukes of Pembroke. The Welsh people saw themselves as already having a Welsh king and therefore there was little point in rebelling against him.  The king was considered to be Gods anointed and therefore whom were the Welsh peasants to argue?  Henry VIII was chosen by God, he was Welsh therefore the Welsh peasants had no need to rebel.  There were major communication and transport problems from England to Wales.  Therefore many Welsh people didn’t know they were supposed to be Roman Catholic in the first place, on being told they were Protestant they agreed as they were being told by a Welsh king who was Gods anointed or they agreed to prevent themselves from being hung. Protestantism was sold to the Welsh people as a renaissance of the old ideas of the Celtic church and a revival of Celtic saints such as St. Dyfrig and St. Asaph.

As well as a political backwater Wales was also largely a clerical backwater.  There was a massive lack of opposition to try and persuade Welsh people against Protestantism, which may have accounted somewhat for the apathetic attitude of the Welsh people against religious changes.  The clergy in Wales was very poor as many of the priests in Wales tended to be illiterate themselves and the Bishops tended to be in England.  The Gentry’s attitude towards religious changes in Wales was one of acceptance and relish, the gentry were happy with the dissolution of the monasteries as it meant they could buy or occupy monastic land they had previously been renting.

The Welsh people were largely apathetic to religious changes as the changes were not violent and the Welsh people were ultimately granted the same rights and laws as the English with the Act of Union in 1536.  Wales ultimately became an extension of England with the Act of Union. With this the sons of the welsh gentry slowly started to return to Wales as they saw jobs in Wales.  There were opportunities to buy monastic land and to be powerful and Welsh.  There were Welsh MP’s in Westminster and local government was run by local Welsh people.  It was the same clique from Cambridge that slowly became more powerful in Wales and less opposed to Welsh religious changes.