Gentility in Early Modern Wales: The Salesbury Family, 1450-1720

Winner of the 2024 Francis Jones Prize for Welsh History.

Early modern Wales was a place of opportunity for the gentry. The Acts of Union with England granted them powers to govern their local communities, the Reformation enabled them to add former monastic lands to their estates, and burgeoning global expansion encouraged them to seek fortunes abroad. Early modern Wales was also a place in transition. The gentry navigated a complex relationship with their English neighbours and found themse...