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The monasteries of Tintern, Margam, and Neath were built by Norman barons; and Strata Florida, Valle Crucis, and Basingwerk showed that the Welsh princes also welcomed the monks. Better, then, than the brilliant wars were the poets and the great Eisteddvod. Better still, perhaps, were the orchards and the flocks of the peaceful monks.
There are many signs of civilisation; one of them is the possession of a literary language for romance and poem, for court and Eisteddvod. Conquered Wales may be divided into two parts the Wales conquered by the Norman barons and the Wales conquered by the English king. The Wales conquered by the English king was the country ruled by Llywelyn and his allies.
The Literary Meetings feed the Eisteddvod. The Eisteddvod passed through the same phases as the nation. It was an aspect of the court of the prince during the Middle Ages. In Tudor times it was used partly to please the people, but chiefly to regulate the bards by forcing them to qualify for a degree a sure method of moderating their patriotism and of diminishing their number.
A generation of great Welsh poets found an equal welcome in the courts of Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth; and even the Norman barons of Morgannwg began to feel the charm of Welsh legend and song; Robert of Gloucester was a great patron of learning. One of the chief events of the period was Lord Rees' great Eisteddvod at Cardigan in 1176. It was an age of new ideals.
The Tudor policy had separated the people from the greater land-owners; the iron masters and coal-owners had not yet become part of the people; there was not a single institution except the Eisteddvod where all classes met. In no part of the country was local government so warmly welcomed, and no part of the country was more ready for it.
The modern unity of the Welsh people seen occasionally in a function of the University, or at a national Eisteddvod, or in a conference of the County Councils has become a fact in spite of many difficulties. One difficulty has been the absence of a capital.
In modern times the Eisteddvod is a great democratic meeting, and it is the most characteristic of all Welsh institutions. Its chairing of the bards is an ancient ceremony; its gorsedd of bards is probably modern. But the people themselves still remain the judges of poetry; they care very little whether a poet has won a chair or not, while a gorsedd degree probably does him more harm than good.
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