Bleddyn of Powys, a good and merciful prince, became the
most important.
In January 1070, when the snow lay thick on the mountains, William,
the Norman Conqueror, appeared at Chester with an army. He had
defeated and killed Harold, the conqueror of Griffith ap Llywelyn, in
1066; he had crushed the power of the Mercian allies of Bleddyn; he
had struck terror into the wild north, and England lay at his feet.
He turned back from Chester, but he placed on the borders a number of
barons who were to conquer Wales, as he had conquered England. They
had a measure of his ability, of his energy, and of his ambition.
The two great Norman traits were wisdom and courage; but the one was
often mere cunning, and the other brutal ferocity. But no one like
the Norman had yet appeared in Wales--no one with a vision so clear,
or with so hard a grip. A hard, worldly, tenacious, calculating race
they were; and they turned their faces resolutely towards Wales.
From England, Wales can be entered and attacked along three valleys--
along the Dee, the Severn, and the Wye. At Chester, Hugh of
Avranches, called "The Wolf," placed himself. From its walls he
could look over and covet the Welsh hills, as he could have looked
over the Breton hills from Avranches.
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