Mortimer matters

On 16 May 1297 the Welshmen of Maelienydd were summoned to parliament by Edward I to lay their grievances against their lord, Edmund Mortimer, before the king and council. Edmund was also summoned to appear in person to explain his actions.
Specifically, the Welsh complained that Edmund unjustly imprisoned them and took away their goods and chattels at will, so they were now so impoverished they had little or nothing to live on. One example of this is the plea of Cadwgan Goch of Arllechwed in 1283, who complained to the king that he was held in iron chains at Edmund's castle of Wigmore, even though he had been admitted to the king's peace and had royal letters of restitution to his lands in Cedewain.

As a result of the enquiry, Edmund was forced to provide the Welshry with charters of liberties. These were sealed at Wigmore in July and confirmed that none of the Welshry were to be unjustly imprisoned or disinherited; further, all pleas of land etc would be decided in court, rather than Edmund's whim, and the Welshry would have certain hunting rights. If they hunted on Edmund's land, they would pay a fine. If their dogs strayed onto his land, the animals would be returned unharmed. Any deer they brought down would go to Edmund.

And so on. The Welshry didn't get these liberties gratis: they had to pay the king £500 for the privilege, quite a sum for the time. They had no trouble finding the money, so perhaps not as impoverished as all that.

The context of this affair was Edmund Mortimer's opposition to the king in the spring of 1297. At Easter, shortly before the summons to parliament, he had held an assembly of disgruntled Marcher lords inside Wyre Forest, adjacent to Cleobury Mortimer. Here they discussed their grievances, principally Edward's grinding war taxes and demands for military service.

Edward used various tactics to split up the rebels. Some were bought off, others persuaded to return to the fold. Edmund was singled out for special treatment. This was the man who had destroyed Prince Llywelyn, and he was now holding conspiratorial meetings with powerful men on his estates. All very suspicious, and not to be tolerated. By forcing him to grant rights to the Welshry of Maelienydd, the king drove a wedge between Edmund and his tenants. Rendered toothless, Edmund backed down and agreed to send men to fight in Flanders.