ter 1066 is representing him as the
worst of traitors. Bad as the Welsh chieftains were, even they would
have hesitated to introduce into their country what were really Norman
garrisons;" and he rejects the idea of a Welsh prince founding Strata
Florida. Now these remarks are only applicable to those religious
houses which were dependencies on some English or foreign abbey; they
do not apply to the Cistercian monasteries, all of which were
practically equal and self-governing; each elected its own head and
was not under foreign dictation. While the whole Cistercian Order
formed an united body for purposes of monastic life and discipline,
each abbey identified itself in a very remarkable way with the local
or national aspirations of the people round, from whom its monks were
drawn. Some of the Cistercian monasteries in Ireland refused to admit
any Englishman. Some of the Cistercian abbeys in Wales were the
warmest supporters of Welsh independence.

The Welsh princes felt the need of providing for the safety of their
souls just as the Norman barons did, and the souls of both parties
needed a great deal of saving. Further, the Welsh were not cut off
from the great movements of the world; they felt like every other
country in Europe the waves of religious enthusiasm, which resulted in
the twelfth century in the spread of the Cistercians, in the
thirteenth century in the spread of the friars. In the twelfth century
the acts most pleasing to God were generally thought to be taking the
Cross and endowing a Cistercian monastery. Again, though many of the
Welsh chiefs were mere creatures of impulse, there were others who
looked to the future. The Lord Rhys was an acute man of the world, who
was not averse to improving his property. He possessed great tracts of
mountain land, which was practically worthless; he saw Cistercian
monks elsewhere, not exactly making such tracts blossom like the rose,
but, at any rate, utilising them for pasture land, keeping flocks of
sheep, becoming the great wool-growers for all Europe; why should he
not hand over his worthless property to Cistercians, and by so doing
lay up for himself treasure in heaven and on earth? Mr. Willis Bund
says, "How unnatural for any Welsh prince to found a Cistercian
abbey!" Surely it was the most natural thing in the world.

The Cistercians had far greater influence in Wales than any other
monastic order. The Cistercian abbeys were Aberconway, Basingwerk,
Valle Cruc