The trouble began when Henry III presented his son Edward, then a boy of sixteen, with the palatine earldom of Chester, upon the extinction of the great Norman family by which it had hitherto been held. This grant carried with it, as we have seen, certain lands in Wales--the Four Cantrefs, and the lands between the Dovey and Carmarthen Bay. These lands were recent acquisitions of the English Crown; and it was with extreme reluctance that the chieftains of Gwynedd had acquiesced. Nevertheless, all might have been well but for the ruthless policy of anglicisation upon which Edward's officials immediately embarked. Professor Tout is undoubtedly right when he says that "the germ of all Edward's later Welsh policy lies in his early attempts to establish the shire system in his Welsh estates." He might have added with equal truth that therein lies too the germ of all Edward's subsequent troubles in Wales; for the introduction of the shire system meant the substitution of English law for the laws of Howel, a new and different division of the {88} country for administrative purposes, and eventually the imposition of English manners and the English language upon the Welsh people. The brutality of the soldiers left by Edward in the Four Cantrefs infuriated the inhabitants so that they rose in rebellion, and appealed to Llewelyn for help. Llewelyn knew that it would be impolitic for him to go to their assistance; but his chivalrous and patriotic soul was stirred to its depths by their tale of outrage and oppression, and reluctantly he agreed to go. Within the course of a few days the whole country from the Conway to the Dee was overrun. But Llewelyn knew that it would not be possible to confine the struggle within one locality. The whole might of England would be brought against him; and to resist such overwhelming power the united efforts of the whole of Wales would be required. It was thus that Llewelyn, from being the avenger of the wrongs of the people of a small province, came to be the champion of the whole of Wales. The country rose with rare unanimity; and Llewelyn moved on irresistibly towards Chester, where Edward was stationed, impotent in the face of the superior power of his foes. Edward appealed to his father for help; but at first the appeal {89} was met only with a rebuke. In 1257, however, Henry came to his assistance with a big army. He succeeded in reaching Deganwy; but further he was unable to penetrate, and his retreat was disastrous. Indeed the only effect of the whole campaign was to demonstrate to all waverers the feebleness of Henry and the strength of Llewelyn.