Medieval Games - Tallfwrdd - a Welsh board game

 Medieval Games

Tallfwrdd

a Welsh board game

This game is mentioned in three of the Welsh legends in the Mabinogion: The Dream of Magnus Maximus, Peredur son of Efrawg and the Dream of Rhonabwy.  

Tallfwrdd (literally peg-board) is described in the mid-tenth century Cyfrraith Hywel Dda (The Laws of Hywel Dda) which specifies the value of various boards provided to the members of the king’s court. 

A similar game is refered to in a 16th century manuscript that has the same main rule but players roll a die and need to get an even number before they can make their move otherwise their opponent gets a dice throw to see if they get to move. 

It is clearly related to the Viking game of "Hfentafl" as it has a King in the centre of the board, protected by 8 bodyguards and his oppents have 16 men to attack him.

Rules:

The sixteen attackers and the king's eight bodyguards are placed on the board as shown in the photograph above.

The king's side wins if he reaches the safety of a the corner square.  The king loses if the attackers prevent him doing this. The king can also be captured at the edge of the board by being surrounded by three opposing pieces or in the middle of the board if surrounded by four pieces.

Only the king is allowed to move on or through the centre square or the 4 corner squares. 

Each piece can only move one orthogonal (i.e. up/down or left/right and not diagonally) space at a time.

You take an opponent’s piece by getting it between two of your own. 

A piece can move in between two opposing pieces without being captured. 

Even if it is not occupied by the king, the centre square counts as an additional ‘man’ ie any piece (except the king) sandwiched between it and another piece is captured. 

No survivng rules tell us which side starts play first but in general you will get a better game  if the attackers begin the game.

Medieval Games - Gwyddbwyll, a Welsh board game

Medieval Games

Gwyddbwyll

a Welsh board game 

 

My Gwyddbwyll / ludus latrunculorum ("game of robbers") board. This game is known to have still been played in post-Roman Wales, I have yet to make some new coned-shaped playing pieces (see below) for medieval use.

Gwyddbwyll in Old Welsh is an ancient Celtic board game also called fidchell in Old Irish.  It was played with two sides of an equal number of pieces. 

What little evidence there is suggests that it may have its origins in the Roman game ludus latrunculorum ("game of robbers"). This game is known to have still been played in post-Roman Britain and so was well-known in early medieval Wales.  

From irish literary sources, we know that in fidchell/gwyddbwyll  opposing pieces were taken by bracketing two men around one enemy man on the same line. The same sources indicate that the pieces were usually cone shaped.

A gwyddbwyll board is mentioned in several medieval Welsh tales and in this 12th century version of the Arthurian story, Peredur son of Efrawg:

"Peredur came to the castle, and the castle gate was open. And when he reached the hall the door was open, and when he went inside he saw a gaming board in the hall, and either of the two sets of pieces was playing against the other, and the one to which he gave his help began to lose the game. And the other side gave a shout, just as if they had been men. Then he grew angry and took the set of pieces on his lap and threw the board in the lake."

Unfortunately we have no surviving gwyddbwyll boards from the medieval period or indeed any rules, so when I play I use the board and one of the various sets of rules of ludus latrunculorum to at least show that the Welsh and the Marchers would have played a board game other than chess. 

Rules:

There are many versions of the rules out there, these are the ones that we play:

The game is played on a board of 13 x 8 squares .Roman boards found are mainly 12 or 13 x 8 but boards of 10 x 8 and sometimes 8 x 8 are found.  The, possibly pre-Roman invasion, game board found in a “Celtic” grave near Colchester had a 12 x 8 board.

A player’s pieces are placed in the row nearest to them

The players decide who gets the first turn – we toss a coin or something.

Players move only one piece in their turn, and they move orthogonally, i.e. in a straight line horizontally or vertically and NOT diagonally. They can move as far along that line as there are empty spaces.

Pieces can’t land on, go through, or jump over, another piece whether it is their own side or their opponent’s piece..

You capture your opponent’s pieces by moving to get them between two of your pieces, in a straight line horizontally or vertically.  A piece in a corner is captured if the opponent places his men on the two squares adjacent to the corner.

The captured piece is then removed.

If a moving piece gets two opposing pieces between it and another of its side’s pieces, then both are all captured. Three or more opposing pieces can’t be taken this way.

In your turn, you may move a piece to a square between two opposing pieces without it being taken.

If a player only has one piece left, they have lost. You can also lose if you are unable to move any of your pieces.

The game often ends in an annoying stand-off with the players just chasing each other’s pieces around the board without success.  At this point, have another drink and throw the board in a nearby lake like Peredur, son of Efrawg.

 

The Dux variations:

If playing with a “Dux” (the taller piece to the front of the lines in the picture above) there are some extra rules.

The dux usually moves the same way as ordinary pieces but in one variation, the Dux can jump over one piece and continue its move. This makes it very powerful and completely changes the nature of the game so think before you decide to use this rule option.

The dux cannot be captured.

If the Dux is unable to move, even though their other pieces can move, that player loses immediately.

 

The Treaty of Pipton, signed 19th June 1265

 The Treaty of Pipton 

signed 19th June 1265.

The coat of arms of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and Earl Simon de Montfort.

The treaty of Pipton was drawn up by Earl Simon de Montfort and Llywelyn, Prince of Gwynedd, and was signed by the then captive King Henry on 22nd June 1265. It is named after Pipton-on-Wye in the middle Welsh Marches where it was signed.

What did the Treaty agree?
It officially recognised Llywelyn as 'Prince of Wales' and his lordship over the magnates within his lands. It gave Llywelyn rightful possession of all the land he and his allied forces had recently conquered in Wales and the Marches.

All the lands and castles that had been taken from him or from Dafydd ap Llywelyn were to be restored in full.

The treaty also promised to had over three castles and their lands on the English border to the Welsh. These were at Hawarden, Whittington and Painscastle, all of great strategic importance in the protecting of Llywelyn's western border.

In return for these sizable gains in territory and status, Llywelyn was to pay the King of England 30,000 marks (£20,000) over the next ten years. A huge sum of money!

There were rumours at the time that Earl Simon had also agreed to the marriage of his daughter, Eleanor, to Llywelyn. The marriage did actually take place in October 1278, but not until after it had triggered the Welsh War of 1276-7.

Llywelyn also mustered an army of 5,000 infantry at Pipton, which was sent into England to help de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham.

The political shrewdness of Llywelyn can be seen in the clause that he added regarding any defaulting on the obligations of the treaty by the English King. If this happened or the King died and his successor did not ratify the treaty, all of Llywelyn's obligations were to be cancelled. This proved a most wise addition to the treaty as within six weeks, Simon de Montfort was dead and King Henry had abandoned the treaty which he had signed under duress

What did the treaty achieve?

For Llywelyn, this treaty finally recognised his status as the primary ruler in Wales although he still had to pay homage to the King of England. Of course, there were many Lords in other Welsh territories which would still dispute his title of Prince of Wales, especially the Lords of Powys in mid-Wales and Deheubarth in south-west Wales.

For de Montfort, it gave him an ally in Wales whose military actions would tie down at least some of the forces of the Marcher-Lords who were now increasing supporting Lord Edward and the Royalists. In many ways this back-fired and drove more Marchers into the Royalist camp.

Even though King Henry negated the treaty after the Battle of Evesham, an only slightly watered down version was agreed as the "Treaty of Montgomery" signed on 25th September 1267 (more to come about this treaty in  future post).