Cumulatively, the laws prohibited the Welsh from obtaining senior public office, bear arms or purchase property in English boroughs.

The 1284 Statute of Rhuddlan, a royal ordinance, established the new arrangement, introducing English common law, but allowing retained Welsh legal practice and custom.

"[1] With the 1400 Welsh Revolt of Owain Glyndŵr, parliament enacted a set of penal statutes, beginning in 1401 and considerably extended in 1402.

[8] Despite being inconsistently implemented, and widely worked around, the penal laws remained a source of resentment and frustration into the Tudor period.

On taking the throne, Henry VII broke with convention and also declared himself Prince of Wales, rewarding Welsh supporters thereafter.

"[14] The principal effect of the penal laws, whether enforced or not, was to reduce the status of the Welsh to that of second-class citizens in their own land.

[14] Moreover these laws led to a rise in lawlessness,[16] exacerbated by semi-independent marcher lordships that "became a byword for murders, ambushes, bribery, corruption, piracy and cattle raids.".

[b] As well as causing significant ill-feeling among the Welsh people, the laws often restricted nobles in Wales from improving their standing, unable to hold office in their local municipality.