Always more than a cultural

Wales was always more than a cultural identity within the British Isles and for considerable periods in the mists of time it assumed, or had imposed upon it, many of the characteristics of a nation. For example, under Hywel the Good (920-50) there was some real codification of customary Welsh law and under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (in 1055) a semblance of national unity was briefly imposed upon the warring tribes of Wales. The Romans had never tried to conquer Wales and centuries later the Norman and Angevin Kings of England never succeeded in conquering all of it.