History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 101

THE FLEMINGS IN SOUTH-WEST WALES
The deliberate introduction of Flemish settlers to south-west Wales by King Henry I
was to transform the landscape and culture of the region.
The Flemings were to become a thriving and distinctive community, retaining their own
language and racial identity for more than a century.
In the 1180s, the scholar-cleric Gerald of Wales (d.1223) described the settlers of his
native Pembrokeshire as `strong and hardy people...a people who spared no labour
and feared no danger by sea or by land in their search for profit; a people as well fitted
to follow the plough as to wield the sword'.
It was the Norman flair for economic reorganization which led them to introduce
Flemish settlers to occupy newly-conquered territories and areas of waste land. Such
a process of deliberate colonization and manorial settlement was to underpin every
stage of their military success.
The Normans were by no means unique in this respect; it was the approach also
adopted, for example, by the counts of Champagne and Flanders. Driven from their
homeland by incursions of the sea and by overpopulation, the Flemings migrated far in
search of new lands and economic fortune. They may well have played a significant
part in the Norman colonization of Ireland, and they settled extensively in northern
England and parts of Scotland. They also moved east from their homeland, traveling
beyond the river Elbe in Germany to settle the native forests of central Europe. "
THE FLEMISH COLONISTS IN WALES
Little England beyond Wales
The story behind this curious name for south Pembrokeshire involves ravished lands,
economic migrants and mercenaries. This part of South Wales has seen many
invaders come and go, Romans, Vikings and Normans, to name but a few. The
Flemish people who arrived in the 12th Century, after the Norman Conquest, made a
lasting and unique impression, still present today in the geographical divide across the
county between the English and Welsh language.
On the Flemings
‘The inhabitants of this province derived their origin from Flanders, and were sent by
King Henry I to inhabit these districts; a people brave and robust, ever most hostile to
the Welsh; a people, I say, well versed in commerce and woollen manufactories; a
people anxious to seek gain by sea or land, in defiance of fatigue and danger; a hardy
race, equally fitted for the plough or the sword; a people brave and happy’. Geraldus
Cambrensis, Itinerary Through Wales, 1188

101