User talk:Drachenfyre

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Contents

[edit] Sandbox

[edit] 21st century

In a speach at the 2000 National Eisteddfod at Llanelli, Cynog Dafis, Plaid Cymru AM, called for a new Welsh language movement with greater powers to lobby for the Welsh language at the Assembly, UK, and EU levels.[1] Dafis felt the needs of the language were ignored during the first year of the Assembly, and that in order to ensure a dynamic growth of the Welsh language a properly resourced strategy was needed[1] In his speach Dafis encouraged other Welsh language advocacy groups to work closer together creating a more favorable climate in which in which using Welsh was "attractive, exciting, a source of pride and a sign of strength".[1] Additionally, Dafis pointed towards efforts in areas such as Catalonia and the Basque country as successful examples to emulate.[1]

Lord Elis-Thomas, former Plaid Cymru president, dissagreed with Dafis assessment, however. At the Urdd Eisteddfod Lord Elis-Thomas said that there was no need for another Welsh language act, citing that there was "enough goodwill to safeguard the language's future".[2] His controversal comments prompted Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg to joined a chorus calling for his resignation as the Assembly's presiding officer.[2]

[edit] 2001 census and Second Home Controversy

In 1991 the Welsh language stabilized at the 1981 level of 18.5%.

According to the 2001 census the number of Welsh speakers in Wales increased for the first time in over 100 years, with 20.5% in a population of over 2.9 million claiming fluency in Welsh, or one in five.[3] Additionally, 28% of the population of Wales claimed to understand Welsh.[4] The census revealed that the increase was most significant in urban areas; such as Cardiff with an increase from 6.6% in 1991 to 10.9% in 2001, and Rhondda Cynon Taf with an increase from 9% in 1991 to 12.3% in 2001.[5] However, the number of Welsh speakers declined in Gwynedd from 72.1% in 1991 to 68.7%, and in Ceredigion from 59.1% in 1991 to 51.8%.[6] Ceredigion in particular experienced the greatest fluctuation with a 19.5% influx of new residents since 1991.[7]

The decline in Welsh speakers in Gwynedd and Ynys Môn may be attributable to non-Welsh-speaking residents moving to North Wales, driving up property rates above what local Welsh speakers may afford, according to former Gwynedd county councilor Seimon Glyn of Plaid Cymru.

Glyn was commenting on a report underscoring the delemma of rocketing house prices outstripping what locals could pay, with the report warning that '...traditional Welsh communities could die out..." as a consequence.[8]

Much of the rural Welsh realistate market was driven by buyers looking for second homes for use as holiday homes, or for retirement. Many buyers were drawn to Wales from England because of relatively inexpensive house prices in Wales as compared to house prices in England.[9][10] The rise in home prices outpaced the average earnings income in Wales, and ment that many local people could not afford to purchase their first home or compete with second-home buyers.[10]

In 2001 nearly a third of all properties in Gwynedd were bought by buyers from out of the county, and with some communities reporting as many as a third of local homes used as holiday homes.[11][12] Holiday home owners spend less then six months of the year in the local community.

The issue of locals being priced out of the local housing market is common to many rural communities throughout Britain, but in Wales the added dimension of language further complicated the issue, as many new residents did not learn the Welsh language.[11][13] [14][15]

Concern for the Welsh language under these pressures prompted Glyn to say "Once you have more than 50% of anybody living in a community that speaks a foreign language, then you lose your indigenous tongue almost immediately".[16]

Plaid Cymru had long advocated controls on second homes, and a 2001 taskforce headed by Dafydd Wigley recommended land should be allocated for affordable local housing, and called for grants for locals to buy houses, and recommended council tax on holiday homes should double, following similar measures in the Scottish Highlands.[12][13][16]

However the Welsh Labour-Liberal Democrat Assembly coalition rebuffed these proposals, with Assembly housing spokesman Peter Black stating that "we [can not] frame our planning laws around the Welsh language", adding "Nor can we take punitive measures against second home owners in the way that they propose as these will have an impact on the value of the homes of local people".[16]

In contrast, by fall 2001 the Exmoor National Park authority in England began consideration to limit second home ownership there which was also driving up local housing prices by as much as 31%. [14] Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary Group Leader, said that the issues in Exmoor National Park were the same as in Wales, however in Wales there is the added dimension of language and culture.[14]

Reflecting on the controversy Glyn's comments caused earlier in the year, Llwyd observed "What is interesting is of course it is fine for Exmoor to defend their community but in Wales when you try to say these things it is called racist..."[14]

Llwyd called on other parties to join in a debate to bring the Exmoor experience to Wales when he said "... I really do ask them and I plead with them to come around the table and talk about the Exmoor suggestion and see if we can now bring it into Wales".[14]

By spring 2002 both the Snowdonia National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park (Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) authorities began limiting second home ownership within the parks, following the example set by Exmoor.[17] According to planners in Snowdonia and Pembroke applicants for new homes must demonstrate a proven local need or the applicant had strong links with the area.

[edit] 21st Century discrimination

Dispite provisions in the Welsh Language Act 1993 providing an equal footing for the Welsh language in the public sector, Welsh speakers faced continued discrimination in the workplace and education. The Welsh Language Act of 1993 does not cover the rights of individual Welsh speakers in the workplace.[18]

In 2001 hotel chef Gwilym Williams was awarded £10,738 for his 1996 wrongful termination suite against the owners of the Stables Hotel in Llanwnda, Gwynedd.[19] According to testemony William's was dismissed because he refused to speak English to fellow Welsh-speaking colleagues.[20]

In 2003 fast-food giant McDonald's failed to provide bilingual literature during a student union gathering at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, or in its resturant located there.[21]

In 2005 Nottingham University in England initially rejected the application of Cemlyn Davies from attending there, citing that Davies' study of Welsh was unacceptable for qualification as it was Davies' native language.[22]

In 2007 travel agency Thomas Cook was taken to court over its language policy, which baned all languages other then English in its workplace and when discussing work-related matters.[18] The company cited the need for clear communication among employees and management, and noted that English was the common language of the UK.[18] The position


It seems that the rise of Welsh nationalism rallied supporters of the language, and the establishment of Welsh television and radio found a mass audience which was encouraged in the retention of its Welsh. Perhaps most important of all, at the end of the twentieth century it became compulsory for all school children to learn Welsh up to age 16, and this both reinforced the language in Welsh-speaking areas and reintroduced at least an elementary knowledge of it in areas which had become more or less wholly Anglophone. The decline in the percentage of people in Wales who can speak Welsh has now been halted, and there are even signs of a modest recovery. However, although Welsh is the daily language in many parts of Wales, English is almost universally understood.

[edit] Medieval heiresses

Hello Drachenfyre! You contacted me regarding the inheritance of medieval heiress. The only case I've studied in any detail is that of the Empress Maud, the daughter of King Henry I of England. In that case, many factors were at work. Maude was Henry's only surviving legitimate child; moreover, she was porphyrogenita, born in the purple, born of a reigning king. Henry himself had been porphyrogenitus, a fact that in the eyes of many made him a fitter king than his elder brothers.

At the time of the death of William Adelin, Henry's heir apparent, there was still a surviving, legitimate male-line descendant of William the Conqueror: William Clito, Henry's nephew. But Henry was reluctant to nominate William Clito as his heir for various reasons. First of all, he had taken the throne of England from William Clito's father, Robert. Henry making William Clito his heir would've been admitting that his entire reign was illegal, not something Henry was eager to admit to. Also, Henry was not terribly old at that time, and seemed confident that he could father more children. His second marriage was childless, but Henry could not have known that at the time. Had he sired a legitimate, porphyrogenitus son by Adeliza of Louvain, neither William Clito nor Maude would've been neccesary as heirs.

Henry was a smart man, however, and one to hedge his bets. After a few fruitless years with Adeliza, he married Maude to Geoffrey of Anjou. This had two-fold intentions: (1) to produce grandchildren as heirs for England, (2) to secure a long-term alliance with Anjou. Henry had long sought an alliance with the Angevins; William Adelin's wife had been Geoffrey's sister. The next year William Clito died, childless, so even that remote possibility was gone. It wasn't until 1133 that Maude actually produced a child, the future Henry II of England, no doubt much to her father's relief.

But why didn't Henry nominate another male relative instead of Maude? Well, his infant grandson was too young. William Clito was dead. His sons were all illegitimate, including the eldest and most capable, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, who was not only a bastard but also not porphyrogenitus. His favorite nephew, Stephen, was there at court, but Stephen was not his son and Henry doesn't seem to have believed that Stephen would make a successful king (he was right, as later events would show).

Maude, on the other hand, was his legitimate, porphyrogenita daughter. In her veins flowed the blood of the old Anglo-Saxon kings. She was married to the Count of Anjou (a powerful warrior) and had a legitimate son. Henry probably hoped that by making his barons swear loyalty to her, that the transition from his reign to hers would flow smoothly. It didn't, but once again, he couldn't have known that at the time. Missi


[edit] The Empress Maude and her dynasty

Hello Drachenfyre,

Firstly, a note on names. William Adelin's name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word "Æthling", meaning prince. Similarly, his cousin William Clito's name derives from the Latin "clito", also meaning prince. These names were used not only to differentiate from one another (there being a surplus of Williams around this time) but also to reflect their royal descent, they being the only princes in the legitimate male-line descent from the Conqueror.

As for Geoffrey of Anjou, an alliance with the Angevins had long been sought by King Henry. Fulk V of Anjou had long been a thorn in Henry's side, but not one he could ignore. The marriage of William Adelin to Fulk's daughter was supposed to forge a permanent alliance, but of course this was dashed by the White Ship disaster. So Maude and Geoffrey was another grafting of the same families. Robert of Torigny, when talking about the marriage, rather apologetically says that while the Count of Anjou was nowhere near the Emperor of the Germans in dignity and prestige, but still Geoffrey was of a noble line and a descendant of Charlemagne.

Orderic Vitalis says that Henry intended Geoffrey to be a "commander on his wife's behalf", a powerful warrior who would safeguard the succession of Maude and her son. Henry doesn't ever seem to have intended Geoffrey to wield any real political power in England -- he gave Geoffrey no lands, no titles, no official positions at all. He was to be content with Anjou, now that his father left to be king of Jerusalem. So it's no surprise Henry II emphasized his status as "FitzEmpress" -- his claim to the throne, and his claim to power, came through his mother, not his father. Missi

[edit] Agnes of Courtenay

Sure, that's fine...I'll keep editing them as I see them, Agnes could still use some work when I get more time. Adam Bishop 7 July 2005 18:03 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Requests for unbiased mediation

Just a thought... If you have a concern about a particular edit, or editor, why not raise it with the editor himself? Posting multiple, somewhat unsavourary messages to everybody and their uncle bar that user simply serves (in my humble opinion) to elevate levels of stress and conflict.

So, that said... is there a problem? There's nothing noted on the Kingdom of Gwynedd talk page (other than your firey message). --Jza84 |  Talk  11:03, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, I'm afraid the feeling isn't mutual. I'm quite happy and comfortable in discussing any matter, whether that be feedback, a breach of policy or some such. I'm happy to offer an Olive branch even. Of course, I don't like that particular edit - I wouldn't seek a change if I did! That said though, that doesn't mean I hate you and seek to wipe out your edits, I just think that it isn't a good look for the article.
For the record I seek change because:
  1. The image has huge preformatted sizing, warping text in my browser.
  2. The image is in the lead, sandwiching the text between the infobox (which is prohibited by WP:MOS, and is in turn a barrier to achieving GA and FA).
  3. The image is anachronistic; it's a picture of modern Wales, not something about the ancient Medieval Kingdom.
  4. The image adds no value to the lead or article; it's a misty field, not an image of an artefact or baronial landmark that would be of scholarly interest.
I'm happy to ignore the remarks that I'm "not to be trusted" and have "bad motives" etc, as (though they are uncalled for), I sense you feel aggreieved. I ask however that you don't repeat such actions again without having first approached me with a sensible, polite, query/objection. Remember, there is a real person at the end of the signature.
I'm just here Drachenfyre to help write a good encyclopedia. There's no conspiracy or hateful edits hailing from my side of the keyboard. I enjoy Wikipedia and have had a healthy, productive usership over the last couple of years. The change I want for the Kingdom of Gwynedd isn't life and death to me; I'm just trying to help. I hope that clears that up. But please, please, no more of this drama; it does nothing but polarise us and damage your own reputation. I hope you understand, --Jza84 |  Talk  11:52, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Come back

Don't quit Wikipedia! I (and the community) really valued your tireless effort and mediation skills at Talk:Scotland. Perhaps you could do with a WikiBreak but please don't leave WP for good! Regards, --Cameron (t|p|c) 18:56, 16 May 2008 (UTC)