[2] Chief administrator to the English crown Thomas Cromwell, brought forward Acts to unify Wales with England.

The preamble of the Acts suggests that legal differences in Wales led to discontent, which the English establishment wished to end.

The aim of the acts were to incorporate Wales into what Henry VIII of England saw as part of his Tudor Empire, with himself as sovereign ruler.

[6][7][8] The Laws in Wales Act 1535 was passed in 1536 in the 8th session of Henry VIII's 5th parliament, which began on 4 February 1535/36,[6] and repealed with effect from 21 December 1993.

The marcher lordships were abolished as political units, and five new counties were established on Welsh lands (Monmouthshire, Brecknockshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire and Denbighshire), thus creating a Wales of 13 counties;[10] Other areas of the lordships were annexed to Shropshire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Glamorgan, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Cardiganshire and Merionethshire;[11] The borders of Wales for administrative/government purposes were established and have remained the same since; this was unintentional as Wales was to be incorporated fully into England, but the status of Monmouthshire was still ambiguous in the view of some people until confirmed by the Local Government Act 1972.

[2] Although the poor people of Wales may not have been aware of the laws, the measures were popular with the Welsh gentry who saw the acts as bringing legal equality with English citizens.

[3] English was made the legal language in Wales, which was symbolically unjust for the majority Welsh monoglot population.