ABSTRACT
The Venetian ambassador’s view of Wales was that it remained loyal to the king. In May 1642 he reported that the Welsh people had offered the king refuge. Certainly, Guistinian considered that Welsh loyalty could offset the lukewarm reception the king appeared to be receiving in Yorkshire. He also reported that Welsh representatives had been sent to Parliament to declare opposition to further payments of tax and to the Militia Ordinance. Levies would not be paid until the Trained Bands were in the hands of men appointed by the king. Within a month the ambassador had heard that the thirteen counties had between them offered the king 10,000 men immediately and a further 20,000 if the situation got worse. The Welsh, he believed, would devote their lives and fortunes to the king.1 Indeed for much of the war the secretary’s view would seem to be valid. Apart from Pembrokeshire, most of the country was in Royalist hands. Parliamentarian incursions eastwards along the south coast from Pembroke or the incursions into southern Wales in Spring 1643 tended at first to have temporary effects. From late 1644 onwards, however, concerted attacks into north and central Wales by troops based in the Marcher counties began to destroy the solidarity of the Royalist hold on Wales.
