In the past thirty years the number of scholars inside Wales and beyond its borders who have been engaged in research on Welsh history, and their published output in books and journals, have vastly increased. For the first time ever, it has become practicable to envisage the publication of a standard history of Wales from the earliest times to our own day. A series of six volumes is being prepared to be published jointly by the Oxford University Press and the University of Wales Press. Each volume, written by an acknowledged expert in his own field, will present an authoritative synthesis of a significant period of Welsh history, incorporating the results of the latest scholarship. The series will be invaluable for teachers and students in universities, colleges and sixth forms. Without any sacrifice of integrity the volumes are also intended to appeal to the general reader with an intelligent concern for the subject. This book presents for the first time a comprehensive account of the two decisive centuries which followed the defeat of Owain Glyndŵr in 1415. In the process, surprising features emerge. The fifteenth century, the 'Cinderella' of Welsh history, is seen to be one of resilience and recovery from the protracted and destructive Glyndŵr Rebellion, and of the emergence of ruling gentry families—natives and settlers. The Tudor Act of Union, 1536-43, swept away the outmoded lumber of medieval times and reorientated the country. It strikingly confirmed royal authority and gentry domination but along lines that had long been anticipated. The Renaissance and the Reformation posed not only perils but opportunities. Responding to the challenge with vigour and imagination, Welsh scholars and patriots met with marked, if not complete, success. The Welsh remained prouder and more conscious of their Welshness than has usually been thought. This was an age of outstanding personalities and achievements, as impressive as they were diverse: Owain Glyndŵr and Henry Tudor; Guto'r Glyn and John Dee; William Herbert and Robert Devereux; Siôn Cent and William Morgan; Matthew Gough and Robert Mansell. Particular attention is given to the literature of the age, Welsh and English, prose and verse, to illustrate all aspects of a robust, colourful and formative era.