To secure his legacy in Wales, Edward I had commissioned a string of massive stone castles, built at staggering cost across the beautiful, mountainous landscape of Powys and Gwynedd. These castles were state-of-the-art military installations and totems to the might of English monarchy. They cost vast sums and employed thousands of people during several decades. And they were hate objects for the subjugated Welsh, whose sense of self was deeply rooted in a liberty they saw as stretching back to Roman times and beyond.
