Gwynedd (pr.
[ˈɡwɪnɛð]) is one of several Welsh
successor states that emerged in 5th-century
post-Roman Britain. It was
based on the former
Brythonic
tribal lands of the
Ordovices,
Gangani, and the
Deceangli
which were collectively known as
Venedotia in late
Romano-British documents.
Between
the 5th and 13th centuries Gwynedd grew to include Ynys Môn
and all of
north
Wales
between the River Dyfi
in the south and River
Dee (Welsh Dyfrdwy) in
the northeast. The Irish sea
(Môr Iwerddon) washes the coast of Gwynedd
to the west and north and lands formerly part of the Kingdom of
Powys
border Gwynedd in the south-east.
Gwynedd's
strength lay in part due to the region's mountainous
geography which made it difficult for foreign
invaders to campaign in the country and impose their will
effectively.
Popular tradition attributed to
Nennius, a
10th-century Welsh
chronicler, traced
Gwynedd's foundation to
Cunedda. According
to Nennius, Cunedda migrated with his sons and followers from
Brythonic Lothian, in southern Scotland, in the 5th
century.
The main
court of the Kingdom of Gwynedd was originally at Deganwy Castle
, where Maelgwn
Gwynedd (died 547) had his stronghold. The senior line of descendants of Rhodri the
Great would make Aberffraw
on Ynys
Mon as their principle seat until 1170.
In the
thirteenth century, Llywelyn Fawr, his
son Dafydd ap Llywelyn and
grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
had Garth
Celyn
on the north coast as their home.
Etymology
The name
Gwynedd may derive from Brythonic
Ueneda, which may be akin to Goidelic (ancestor of Irish)
Fenia (which gives
fiana, "war-band" in Old Irish
- e.g. Finn and his warriors). Thus the possible meaning may be
"Land of the Hosts" or "Land of the Warrior Bands". The territory
was called
Venedotia in
Latin.
Additionally, it is also suggested that Gwynedd is a mutated form
of
Cunedda, or
Kenneth(a).
In Welsh, the hard
c mutates to
g, thus
Kenneth mutates to
Gwyneth, thus
Kenneth('s
Land).
Whatever
the exact etymology of the name, a
gravestone from the late 5th century now in Penmachno
church seems to be the earliest record of the
name. It is in memory of a man named Cantiorix and the
Latin inscription is: "
Cantiorix hic
iacit/Venedotis cives fuit/consobrinos Magli magistrati",
("Cantiorix lies here. He was a citizen of Gwynedd and a cousin of
Maglos the magistrate"). The references to "citizen" and
"magistrate" suggest that Roman institutions may have survived in
Gwynedd for a while after the legions departed.
History
Gwynedd in the Early Middle Ages
The Sons of Cunedda
At the end of the
Roman period the
western areas of Britannia which had been under military
administration seem to have reverted quickly to tribal law and
petty states.
Raiders from Ireland
such as the
Uí Liatháin and Laigin harried the coasts initially razing towns and
capturing slaves but later colonising
large areas of what was then called Venedotia and later
called Gwynedd, in particular Llŷn, the
coasts of Arllechwedd
, Arfon and the Isle of Mona
. Legend, supported by some later written
accounts, asserts that a prince called
Cunedda (modern "Kenneth") from distant
Manaw Gododdin—probably a refugee himself
from the northern wars with the
Picts—was
"sent" to free these lands from the Irish scourge in about 450AD.
He and his sons forced out the Irish and upon his death the realm
was divided between his sons following Brythonic tradition.
From
these beginnings many of the ancient divisions of Gwynedd occur;
his son Dynod was awarded Dunoding, another
son Ceredig achieved Ceredigion
and so forth. Cunedda's heir,
Einion Yrth threw the last Irish out of
Môn in
470. Einion Yrth's son
Cadwallon
Lawhir appears to have consolidated the realm during the time
of relative peace following the
Battle of Mons Badonicus where the
Anglo-Saxons were soundly defeated. During that peace he managed to
establish a mighty kingdom.
After Cadwallon, Gwynedd appears to have held a pre-eminent
position amongst the petty Cambrian states in the post-Roman
period. The great-grandson of Cunedda,
Maelgwn Hir (
Maelgwn the Tall),
became one of the most famous (or infamous) leaders in Welsh
history. There are several legends about his life concerning
miracles either performed by him or in his presence. He is
attributed in some old stories as hosting the first
Eisteddfod and he is one of five Celtic British
kings castigated for their sins by the contemporary Christian
writer
Gildas (who referred to him as
Maglocunus, meaning 'Prince-Hound' in Brittonic) in
De Excidio Britanniae. Maelgwn
was curiously described as "the dragon of the island" by Gildas
which was possibly a title (
Pendragon?),
but explicitly as the most powerful of the five named British
kings.
"...you the last I write of but the first and greatest
in evil, more than many in ability but also in malice, more
generous in giving but also more liberal in sin, strong in war but
stronger to destroy your soul...."
Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio Britanniæ
Maelgwn eventually died in 547 from the plague leaving a succession
crisis in his wake. His son in law, Elidyr Mwynfawr of the
Kingdom of Strathclyde, claimed the
throne and invaded Gwynedd to displace Maelgwn's son
Rhun Hir. Elidyr was killed in the attempt but his
death was then avenged by his relatives who ravaged the coast of
Arfon.
Rhun counter-attacked and exacted the same
penalty on the lands of his foes in what is now central Scotland
. The long distances these armies travelled
suggests they were moving across the Irish Sea
but because almost all of what is now northern
England
was at this point (c.550) under British (Brythonic) rule it is possible his army
marched to Strathclyde overland. Rhun returned to Gwynedd
and the rest of his reign was far less eventful. He was succeeded
by his son
Beli in c.586.
On the accession of Beli's son
Iago in
c.599 the situation in Britain had deteriorated significantly.
Most of
the area today called northern England and been overrun by the invading Angles of Deira and Bernicia who were in the process of forming a
united Northumbrian
kingdom. In a rare show of common interest it appears
Gwynedd and neighbouring Powys acted in
concert to rebuff the Anglican advance but were defeated at the
Battle of
Chester
in 613. Following this catastrophe the approximate
borders of northern Wales were set with the city of Caerlleon (now
called Chester
) and the surrounding Cheshire Plain
falling under the control of the
Anglo-Saxons. Most importantly the Britons of Wales were
now cut off from their kin in Cumbria
and Strathclyde.
Cadwallon ap Cadfan
The Battle of Chester would not end the ability of the Welsh to
seriously threaten England (although England as a united realm
would not exist for another 350 years). For among the most powerful
of the early kings of Gwynedd was
Cadwallon ap Cadfan (c.624 - 634) the
grandson of
Iago ap Beli.
He became engaged in
an initially disastrous campaign against Northumbria
where following a series of epic defeats he was
confined first to Môn and then just to Ynys
Glannauc
before being forced into exile across the Irish Sea to Dublin
- a place
which would come to host many royal refugees from Gwynedd.
All must
have seemed lost but Cadwallon raised an enormous army and after a
brief time in Guernsey
he invaded Dumnonia,
relieved the West Welsh who were
suffering a Mercian invasion and forced Penda
the pagan king of Mercia
into an
alliance against Northumbria. With new vigor he returned to
his Northumbrian foes, devastated their armies and slaughtered a
series of their kings.
In this furious campaign his armies
devastated Northumbria, captured and sacked York
in 633 and
briefly controlled the kingdom. From contemporary accounts
he is said to have massacred so many of the Anglo-Saxons they
believed it was his intention to exterminate them. They were
probably right.
"...he neither spared the female sex, nor the innocent
age of children, but with savage cruelty put them to tormenting
deaths, ravaging all their country for a long time, and resolving
to cut off all the race of the English within the borders of
Britain."
Bede (Historia ecclesiastica gentis
Anglorum)
However,
these tumultuous events would come to be short-lived, for he died
in battle in 634 close to Hadrians Wall
. On account of these deeds he and his son
Cadwaladr Fendigaid appear to
have been considered the last two
High Kings of Britain.
Cadwaladr presided over a period of consolidation and devoted much
time to the Church earning the title
Fendigaid meaning
"blessed".
Rhodri the Great and Aberffraw primacy
During the later 7th century and 8th century the coastal areas of
Gwynedd, particularly Môn, were coming under increasing attack by
Viking raiders. These raids no doubt had a seriously debilitating
affect on the country but fortunately for Gwynedd the victims of
the Vikings were not confined to Wales. The House of Cunedda - as
the direct descendants of Cunedda are known - eventually expired in
the male line in 825 upon the death of
Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog. His
successor was
Merfyn Frych who was the
son of his niece Esyllt.
Merfyn's father was said to have come from
"Manaw" which may refer to the now long lost royal homeland of
Manaw Gododdin but equally may refer
to the Isle of
Man
. He founded what was to become known as the
House of Aberffraw named for his court at Aberffraw on Môn.
Rhodri the Great (844 - 878), son of Merfyn
Frych, was able to add Powys and part of
southern Wales to his realm and became the first ruler to control
the greater part of Wales. Rhodri's eldest son Anarawd ap Rhodri would firmly establish
the princely house of Aberffraw, that would come to rule Gwynedd until the 13th
century. Hywel Dda of Deheubarth
was able to annex Gwynedd to his own kingdom between 942 and 950,
but the previous dynasty regained power on his death.
From the
successes of Rhodri the Aberffraw family claimed primacy over
all other Welsh lords, including of Powys and of
Deheubarth
. In
The History of Gruffydd ap
Cynan, written in the late 12th century, the family
asserted its rights as the senior line of descendants from
Rhodri the Great who had conquered most of
Wales during his lifetime.
Gruffydd ap
Cynan's biography was first written in
Latin and intended for a wider audience outside of
Wales.
The significance of this claim was that the Aberffraw family owed
nothing to the English king for its position in Wales, and that
they held authority in Wales "by absolute right through decent,"
wrote historian John Davies.
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn,
originally from Powys, displaced the Aberffraw line from Gwynedd
making himself ruler there, and by 1055 was able to make himself
king of most of Wales. Additionally, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn held
parts of England near the border after several victories over
English armies. However in 1063 he was defeated by
Harold Godwinson and killed by his own men.
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and his brother
Rhiwallon of the Mathrafal
house of Powys, Gruffudd's
maternal half-brothers, came to terms with Harold and took over the
rule of Gwynedd and Powys.
Shortly after the
Norman conquest of England
in 1066 the Normans began to exert pressure on the eastern border
of Gwynedd.
They were helped by internal strife, for
following the killing of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn in Deheubarth in 1075, his cousin Trahaearn ap Caradog seized the throne
but then was immediately challenged by Gruffydd ap Cynan who had been in exile in
Ireland.
Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages
See also Gwynedd in
the High Middle Ages, Wales
and the Normans: 1067–1283
The personal coat of arms of Gruffydd
ap Cynan were:
Gules, three lioncels passant, in pale Argent,
armed Azure
Gruffydd ap Cynan
Wales c.
The Aberffraw dynasty suffered various
depositions by rivals in Deheubarth,
Powys, and England in the 10th and 11th centuries.
Gruffydd I ap Cynan (b.c.1055–1137), who
grew up in exile in
Hiberno-Norse
Dublin, regained
his inheritance following his victory at the
Battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081 over his
Mathrafal rivals then
in control of Gwynedd. However, Gruffydd's victory was short-lived
as the
Normans launched an invasion of Wales
following the Saxon revolt in
northern
England, known as the
Harrowing of the North.
Shortly
after the Battle of Mynydd
Carn in 1081, Gruffydd was lured into a trap with the promise
of an alliance but seized by Hugh the Fat, 1st Earl of
Chester in an ambush near Corwen
Earl Hugh
claimed the Perfeddwlad up to the Clwyd river
(the commotes of Tegeingl and Rhufoniog
; the modern counties of Denbighshire Flintshire and Wrexham
) as part of Chester, and viewed the
restoration of the Aberffraw family in Gwynedd as a threat to his
own expansion into Wales. The lands west of the Clwyd were
intended for his cousin
Robert "of
Ruddlan", and their advance extended to the
Llŷn Peninsula by 1090. By 1094 almost
the whole of Wales was
occupied by Norman
forces. However, although they erected many castles, Norman control
in most regions of Wales was tenuous at best. Motivated by local
anger over the "gratuitously cruel" invaders, and led by the
historic ruling houses, Welsh control over the greater part of
Wales was restored by 1100.
In an effort to further consolidate his control over Gwynedd, Earl
Hugh of Chester had
Hervé the
Breton elected as
Bishop of
Bangor in 1092, and
consecrated by
Thomas of Bayeux,
Archbishop of York. It was hoped that by
placing a prelate loyal to the Normans over the traditionally
independent Welsh church in Gwynedd would help to pacify the local
inhabitants, and Hervé recognized the primacy of the Archbishop of
Canterbury over the
episcopal see of
Bangor, a recognition hitherto rejected by the Welsh church.
However, the Welsh
parishioners remained
hostile with Hervé's appointment, and the bishop was forced to
carry a sword with him and rely on a contingent of Norman knights
for his protection. Additionally, Hervé routinely
excommunicated parishioners of whom he
perceived as challenging his spiritual and temporal
authority.
Gruffydd ap Cynan escapes from
Chester,
Illustration by T.
Gruffydd escaped imprisonment in Chester, and slew Robert of
Rhuddlan in a beach side battle at Deganwy on 3 July 1093. Gruffydd
recovered Gwynedd by 1095, and by 1098 Gruffydd allied with
Cadwgan ap Bleddyn of the
Mathrafal house of Powys, their traditional dynastic rivalry
notwithstanding. Gruffydd and Cadwgan led the Welsh resistance to
the Norman occupation in north and mid Wales.
However, by 1098 Earl
Hugh of Chester and Hugh of Montgomery,
2nd Earl of Shrewsbury advanced their army to the Menai Strait
, with Gruffydd and Cadwgan regrouping on defensible
Ynys
Môn, where they planned to make retaliatory strikes from their island
fortress. Gruffydd hired a
Norse
fleet from a settlement in Ireland to patrol the Menai and prevent
the Norman army from crossing, however the Normans were able to
pay-off the fleet to instead ferry
them to Môn.Betrayed,
Gruffydd and Cadwgan were forced to flee to Ireland in a
skiff.
The Normans landed on Môn, and their furious 'victory celebrations'
which followed were exceptionally violent, with rape and carnage
committed by the Norman army left unchecked. The earl of Shrewsbury
had an elderly priest mutilated, and made the church of
Llandyfrydog a kennel for his dogs.
During
the 'celebrations' a Norse fleet led by Magnus Barefoot, king of Norway,
appeared off the coast at Ynys Seiriol
(Puffin island) , and in battle that
followed, known as the Battle
of Anglesey Sound, Magnus shot-dead the earl of Shrewsbury with
an arrow to the eye. The Norse left as suddenly and as
mysteriously as they had arrived, however leaving the Norman army
weakened and demoralized.
The Norman army retired to England, leaving a Welshman,
Edwin ap Goronwy, lord of Tegeingl, in
command of a token force to control Ynys Môn and upper Gwyneed, and
ultimately abandoning any
colonization
plans there. Edwin ap Goronwy transferred his alliegence to Chester
following
the defeat of his
ally Trahaearn ap Caradog in 1081, a move for which earned him the
epithet
Fradwr,
traitor, among the
Welsh.
In late 1098 Gruffydd and Cadwgan landed in Wales and recovered
Ynys Môn without much difficulty, with Hervé the Breton fleeing
Bangor for safety in England. Over the course of the next three
years, Gruffydd was able to recover upper Gwynedd to the Conwy,
defeating Hugh, Earl of Chester. In 1101, after Earl Hugh's death,
Gruffydd and Cadwgan came to terms with England's new king,
Henry I, who was consolidating
his own authority and also eager to come to terms.
In the negotiations
which followed Henry I recognized Gruffydd's ancestral claims of
Môn, Llŷn, Dunoding (Eifionydd
and Ardudwy
) and Arllechwedd
, being the lands of upper Gwynedd to the Conwy
which were already firmly in Gruffydd's control.
Cadwgan
regained Ceredigion, and his share of the family inheritance in Powys,
from the new earl of Shrewsbury, Robert of
Bellême.
With the settlement reached between Henry I and Gruffydd I, and
other Welsh lords, the dividing of Wales between
Pura Wallia, the lands under Welsh control;
and
Marchia Wallie, Welsh
lands under Norman control, came into existence. Author and
historian
John Davies notes
that the border shifted on occasion, "in one direction and in the
other", but remained more or less stable for almost the next two
hundred years.
After generations of incessant warfare, Gruffydd began the
reconstruction of Gwynedd, intent on bringing
stability to his country. According to Davies, Gruffydd sought to
give his people the peace to "plant their crops in the full
confidence that they would be able to harvest them". Gruffydd
consolidated princely authority in north Wales, and offered
sanctuary to displaced Welsh from the Perfeddwlad, particularly
from
Rhos, at the time harassed
by
Richard, 2nd
Earl of Chester.
Alarmed by Gruffydd's growing influence and authority in north
Wales, and on pretext that Gruffydd sheltered rebels from Rhos
against Chester, Henry I launched a campaign against Gwynedd and
Powys in 1116, which included a
vanguard
commanded by King
Alexander I of
Scotland.
While Owain ap
Cadwgan of Ceredigion sought refuge in Gwynedd's mountains, Maredudd ap Bleddyn of Powys made peace
with the English king as the Norman army advanced. There
were no battles or skirmishes fought in the face of the vast
host brought into Wales, rather Owain and
Gruffydd entered into truce negotiations. Owain ap Cadwgan regained
royal favor relatively easily. However Gruffydd I was forced to
render
homage and
fealty and pay a heavy fine, though he lost no land
or prestige.
The invasion left a lasting impact on Gruffydd, who by 1116 was in
his 60s and with failing eyesight. For the remainder of his life,
while Gruffydd I continued to rule in Gwynedd, his sons
Cadwallon,
Owain, and
Cadwaladr, would lead Gwynedd's army
after 1120. Gruffydd's policy, which his sons would execute and
later rulers of Gwynedd adopted, was to recover Gwynedd's primacy
without blatantly antagonizing the English crown.
The Expansion of Gwynedd
In 1120 a
minor border war between Llywarch ab
Owain, lord of a commote in the Dyffryn Clwyd cantref, and Hywel ab Ithel, lord of Rhufoniog and Rhos, (all
three part of either Conwy county or Denbighshire), brought Powys and Chester
into conflict in the Perfeddwlad. Powys brought a force of
400 warriors to the aid of its ally Rhufoniog, while Chester sent
Norman knights from Rhuddlan to the aid of Dyffryn Clwyd. The
bloody
Battle of Maes Maen
Cymro, fought a mile to the north-west of Ruthin, ended with
Lywarch ab Owain slain and the defeat of Dyffryn Clwyd. However, It
was a
pyrrhic victory as the battle
left Hywel ab Ithel mortally wounded. The last of his line, when
Hywel ab Ithel died six weeks later he left Rhufoniog and Rhos
berefit. Powys, however, was not strong enough to garrison
Rhufoniog and Rhos, nor was Chester able to exert influence inland
from its coastal holdings of Rhuddlan and Degannwy. With Rhufoniog
and Rhos abandoned, Gruffydd I annexed the
cantrefs.
On the
death of Einion ap Cadwgan, lord of Meirionydd
, a quarrel engulfed his kinsmen on who should
succeed him. Meirionydd was then a vassel cantref of Powys,
and the family there a cadet of the Mathrafal house of Powys.
Gruffydd gave license to his sons Cadwallon and Owain to press the
opportunity the dynastic strife in Meirionydd presented. The
brothers raided Mierionydd with the Lord of Powys as important
there as he was in the Perfeddwlad. However it would not be until
1136 that the cantref was firmly within Gwynedd's control. Perhaps
because of their support of Earl Hugh of Chester, Gwynedd's rival,
in 1124 Cadwallon slew the three rulers of Dyffryn Clwyd, his
maternal uncles, bringing the cantref firmly under Gwynedd's
vassalage that year. And in 1125 Cadwallon
slew the grandsons of Edwin ap Goronwy of Tegeingl, leaving
Tegeingl berift of lordship.
However, in 1132 while on campaign in the
commote of Nanheudwy, near Llangollen
, 'victorious' Cadwallon was defeated in battle and
slain by an army from Powys. The defeat checked Gwynedd's
expansion for a time, "much to the relief of the men of Powys",
wrote historian Sir
John Edward
Lloyd (J.E Lloyd).
In 1136 a campaign against the Normans was launched from Gwynedd in
revenge for the execution of
Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd ap
Cynan, the wife of the Prince of Deheubarth and the daughter of
Gruffydd.
When word reached Gwynedd of Gwenllain's
death and the revolt in Gwent, Gruffydd I's sons Owain and
Cadwaladr invaded Norman controlled Ceredigon, taking Llanfihangle, Aberystwyth
, and Llanbadarn.
Liberating Llanbadarn, one local chronicler hailed Owain and
Cadwaladr both as "bold lions, virtuous, fearless and wise, who
guard the churches and their indwellers, defenders of the poor
[who] overcome their enemies, affording a safest retreat to all
those who seek their protection". The brothers restored the Welsh
monks of Llanbadarn, who had been displaced by monks from
Gloucester brought there by the Normans who had controlled
Ceredigon.
By late September 1136 a vast Welsh host
gathered in Ceredigion, which included the combined forces of Gwynedd,
Deheubarth, and Powys; met the Norman army at the Battle of
Crug Mawr
at Cardigan Castle
. The battle turned into a rout, and then
into a resounding defeat of the Normans.
When
their father Gruffydd I died in 1137, the brothers Owain and
Cadwaladr were on a second campaign in Ceredigion, and took the castles of Ystrad Meurig
, Lampeter
(Stephen's Castle), and Castell Hywell
(Humphries Castle) Gruffydd I ap Cynan left a more stable
realm then had hitherto existed in Gwynedd for more than 100
years.Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion
to the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Gruffyd's legacy pg 79, 80 No foreign army
was able to cross the Conwy into upper Gwynedd. The stability of
Gruffydd's long reign allowed for Gwynedd's Welsh to plan for the
future without fear that home and harvest would "go to the flames"
from invaders.
Settlements became more permanent, with buildings of stone
replacing timber structures. Stone churches in particular were
built across Gwynedd, with so many
limewashed that "Gwynedd was bespangled
with them as is the
firmament with stars".
Gruffydd
had built stone churches at his princely manors, and Lloyd suggests
Gruffydd's example led to the rebuilding of churches with stone in
Penmon
, Aberdaron
, and Towyn
in the
Norman fashion.
Gruffydd
promoted the primacy of the Episcopal
See of Bangor in Gwynedd, and funded the building of Bangor
Cathedral
during the episcopate of David the Scot, Bishop of Bangor, between 1120-1139.
Gruffydd's remains were
interned in a
tomb in the
presbytery of
Bangor Cathedral.
The personal coat of arms of Owain
Gwynedd were:
Vert, three eagles displayed in fess
Or
Owain Gwynedd
Owain I ap Gruffydd succeeded his father to the greater portion of
Gwynedd in accordance to
Welsh law, the
Cyfraith Hywel, the Laws of Hywel; and became known as
Owain Gwynedd to differiate him from another Owain ap
Gruffydd, the Mathrafal ruler of Powys, known as
Owain Cyfeiliog.Lloyd, J.E. 0
A
History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian
Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. 2004,
Gruffydd Gwynedd, Gruffydd Cyfeiliog, pg 93 Cadwaladr,
Gruffydd's youngest son, inherited the commote of Aberffraw on Ynys
Môn, and the recently conquered Meirionydd and northern Ceredigion,
that is Ceredigion between the rivers Aeron and the Dyfi.Lloyd,
J.E. 0
A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the
Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. 2004,
Cadwaladr's inheritance, pgs 85, 93, 104
By 1141
Cadwaladr and Madog ap Maredudd of Powys led a Welsh vanguard as an
ally of the Earl of Chester in the Battle of
Lincoln
, and joined in the route which made Stephen of
England prisoner of Empress Matilda for a year. Owain,
however, did not participate in the battle, keeping the majority of
Gwynedd's army at home. Owain, of restrained and prudent
temperament, may have judge that the aiding in Stephen's capture
would lead to the restoration of Matilda and a strong royal
government in England; a government which would support Marcher
lords, support hitherto bereft since Stephen's usurpation.
Owain and Cadwaladr came to blows in 1143 when Cadwaladr was
implicated in the murder of Prince Anarawd ap Gruffydd of
Deheubarth, Owain's ally and future son-in-law, on the eve of
Anarawd's wedding to Owain's daughter.Lloyd, J.E.
A History of
Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest,
Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. 2004,
Cadwaladr's
betrayal, pg 95 Owain followed a diplomatic policy of binding
other Welsh rulers to Gwynedd through dynastic marriages, and
Cadwaladr's border dispute and murder of Anarawd threatened Owain's
efforts and credibility. As ruler of Gwynedd, Owain stripped
Cadwaladr of his lands, with Owain's son
Hywel dispatched to Ceredigion, where
he burned Cadwaladr's castle at Aberystwyth. Cadwaladr fled to
Ireland and hired a Norse fleet from Dublin, bringing the fleet to
Abermenai to compel Owain to reinstate him. Taking advantage of the
brotherly strife, and perhaps with the tacit understanding of
Cadwaladr, the marcher lords mounted incursions into Wales.
Realizing the wider ramifications of the war before him, Owain and
Cadwaladr came to terms and reconciled, with Cadwaladr restored to
his lands. Peace between the brothers held until 1147, when an
unrecorded event occurred which led Owain's sons Hywel and
Cynan to drive Cadwaladr out of
Meirionydd and Ceredigon, with Cadwaladr retreating to Môn. Again
an accord was reached, with Cadwaladr retaining Aberffraw until a
more serious breach occurred in 1153, when he was forced into exile
in England, where his wife was the sister of
Gilbert de Clare, 2nd
Earl of Hertford and the niece of
Ranulph de Gernon, 2nd
Earl of Chester.
In 1146 news reached Owain that his favoured eldest son and heir,
Rhun, died.
Owain was overcome
with grief, falling into a deep melancholy from which none could console him,
until news reached him that Mold castle
in Tengeingl (Flintshire) had fallen to Gwynedd,
"[reminding Owain] that he had still a country for which to live,"
wrote historian Sir John Edward Lloyd.Lloyd, J.E. A History of
Wales; From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest,
Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc. 2004, Rhun's death, pg
96
Between 1148 and 1151, Owain I of Gwynedd fought against Madog ap
Maredudd of Powys, Owain's son-in-law, and against the Earl of
Chester for control of Iâl, with Owain having secured Rhuddlan
Castle and all of Tegeingl from Chester. "By 1154 Owain had brought
his men within sight of the red towers of the great city on the
Dee", wrote Lloyd."
Having spent three years consolidating his authority in the vast
Angevin Empire,
Henry II of England resolved on a
strategy against Owain I of Gwynedd by 1157. By now, Owain's
enemies had joined Henry II's camp, enemies such as his wayward
brother Cadwaladr and in particular the support of Madog of Powys.
Henry II raised his feudal host and marched into Wales from
Chester.
Owain positioned himself and his army at
Dinas Basing (Basingwerk
), barring the road to Rhuddlan, setting up a trap
in which Henry II would send his army along the direct road along
the coast, while he crossed through the woods to out-flank
Owain. The Prince of Gwynedd anticipated this, and
dispatched his sons
Dafydd
and Cynan into the woods with an army, catching Henry II
unaware.
In the melee which followed Henry II was almost slain had not
Roger, Earl of
Hertford rescued the king. Henry II retreated and made his way
back to his main army, by now slowly advancing towards Rhuddlan.
Not wishing to engage the Norman army directly, Owain repositioned
himself first at St. Asph, then further west, clearing the road for
Henry II to enter into Rhuddlan "ingloriously". Once in Rhuddlan
Henry II received word that his naval expedition had failed, as
instead of meeting Henry II at Degannwy or Rhuddlan, it had gone to
plunder Môn.
In a later letter to the
Byzantine
Emperor, Henry probably recalled these experiences when he
wrote of the Welsh:
A people called Welsh, so bold and ferocious that, when
unarmed, they do not fear to encounter an armed force, being ready
to shed their blood in defence of their country, and to sacrifice
their lives for renown.[51771]
The naval expedition was led by Henry II's maternal uncle (Empress
Matilda's half-brother),
Henry
FitzRoy; and when they landed on Môn, Henry FitzRoy had the
churches of
Llanbedr Goch and
Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf torched.
During the night the men of Môn gathered together, and the next
morning fought and defeated the Norman army, with Henry FitzRoy
falling under a shower of lances. The defeat of his navy and his
own military difficulties had convinced Henry II that he had "gone
as far as was practical that year" in his effort to subject Owain,
and the king offered terms to the prince.
Owain I of Gwynedd, "ever prudent and sagacious", recognized that
he needed time to further consolidate power, and agreed to the
terms. Owain was to render homage and fealty to the King, and
resign Tegeingle and Rhuddlan to Chester, and restore Cadwaladr to
his possessions in Gwynedd.
The death of Madog ap Meredudd of Powys in 1160 opened an
opportunity for Owain I of Gwynedd to further press Gwynedd's
influence at the expense of Powys. However, Owain continued to
further Gwynedd's expansion without rousing the English crown,
maintaining his 'prudent policy' of
Quieta non movere (
don't move
settled things), as Lloyd wrote. It was a policy of outward
conciliation, while masking his own consolidation of authority. To
further demonstrate his good-will, in 1160 Owain handed over to the
English crown the fugative
Einion Clud.
By 1162 Owain was in possession of the Powys cantref of Cyfeiliog,
and its castle of Tafolwern; and ravaged another Powys cantref of
Arwystli, slaying its lord, Hywel ab Ieuaf.
Owain's strategy was in sharp contrast to Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince
of Deheubarth, who in 1162 rose in open revolt against the Normans
in south Wales, drawing Henry II back to England from the
continent.
In 1163 Henry II quarrelled with
Thomas
Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, causing growing divisions
between the king's supporters and the archbishop's supporters. With
discontent mounting in England, Owain I of Gwynedd joined with Rhys
ap Gruffydd of Deheubarth in a second grand Welsh revolt against
Henry II. England's king, who only the prior year had pardoned Rhys
ap Gruffydd for his 1162 revolt, assembled a vast host against the
allied Welsh, with troops drawn from all over the Angevin empire
assembling in Shrewsbury, and with the Norse of Dublin paid to
harass the Welsh coast. While his army gathered on the Welsh
frontier, Henry II left for the continent to negotiate a truce with
France and Flanders to not disturb his peace while campaigning in
Wales.
However, when Henry II returned to England he found that the war
had already began, with Owain's son Dafydd raiding Angevin
positions in Tegeingle, exposing the castles of Rhuddlan and
Basingwerk to "serious dangers", wrote Lloyd. Henry II rushed to
north Wales for a few days to shore up defences there, before
returning to his main army now gathering in Oswestery.
The vast host gathered before the allied Welsh principalities
represented the largest army yet assembled for their conquest, a
circumstance which further drew the Welsh allies into a closer
confederacy, wrote Lloyd. With Owain I of Gwynedd the over all
battle commander, and with his brother Cadwaladr as his second,
Owain assembled the Welsh host at Corwen in the vale of Edeyrion
where he could best resist Henry II's advance.
The Angevin army advanced from Oswestry into Wales crossing the
mountains towards
Mur Castell, and found
itself in the thick forest of the
Ceiriog
Valley where they were forced into a narrow thin line. Owain I
had positioned a band of skirmishers in the thick woods overlooking
the pass, which harassed the exposed army from a secured position.
Henry II ordered the clearing of the woods on either side to widen
the passage through the valley, and to lessen the exposure of his
army. The road his army travelled later became known as the
Ffordd y Saeson, the
English Road, and leads
through heath and bog towards the Dee. In a dry summer the moors
may have been passable, however "on this occasion the skies put on
their most wintry aspect; and the rain fell in torrents [...]
flooding the mountain meadows" until the great Angevin encampment
became a "
morass," wrote Lloyd. In the face
of "
hurricane" force wind and rain,
diminishing provisions and an exposed supply line stretching
through hostile country subject to enemy raids, and with a
demoralized army, Henry II was forced into a complete retreat
without even a semblance of a victory.
In frustration, Henry II had twenty-two Welsh hostages mutilated;
the sons of Owain' supporters and allies, including two of Owain's
own sons. In addition to his failed campaign in Wales, Henry's
mercenary Norse navy, which he had hired to harass the Welsh coast,
turned out to be too few for use, and were disbanded without
engagement.
Henry II's Welsh campaign was a complete failure, with the king
abandoning all plans for the conquest of Wales, returning to his
court in Anjou and not returning to England for another four years.
Lloyd wrote;
It is true that [Henry II] did not cross swords with
[Owain I], but the elements had done their work for [the Welsh];
the stars in their courses had fought against the pride of England
and humbled it to the very dust. To conquer a land which was
defended, not merely by the arms of its valiant and audacious sons,
but also by tangled woods and impassable bogs, by piercing winds
and pitiless storms of rain, seemed a hopeless task, and Henry
resolved to no longer attempt it.
Owain expanded his international diplomatic offensive against Henry
II by sending an embassy to Louis
VII of France in 1168, led by Arthur of Bardsey, Bishop of Bangor
(1166-1177), who was charged with negotiating a joint alliance
against Henry II. Distracted by his widening quarrel with Thomas
Becket, Owain's army recovered Tegeingle for Gwynedd by 1169.
Like his father before him, Owain I promoted stability in upper
Gwynedd as no foreign army was able to campaign past the Conwy,
marking nearly 70 years of peace in upper Gwynedd and on Ynys
Môn.
In his later reign Owain I was the styled princeps
Wallensium, Latin for the
Prince of the Welsh, a title of substance given his
leadership of the Welsh and victory against the English king, wrote
historian Dr. John Davies. Additionally, Owain I commissioned the
Life of Gruffydd ap Cynan, the biography of his father in
which Owain firmly asserted his primacy over other Welsh rulers by
"absolute right
through decent" from Rhodri the Great, according to Davies.
Owain I was the eldest male descendent of Rhodri the Great through
paternal decent.
The adoption of the title prince
(Latin princeps, Welsh twysog), rather than king
(Latin rex, Welsh brenin), did not mean a
diminution in status, according to Davies. The use of the title
prince was a recognition of the ruler of Gwynedd in
relation to the wider international feudal world. The princes of
Gwynedd exercised greater status and prestige then the earls, counts, and
dukes of the Angevin empire, suggesting a similar status as that of
the king of Scots, himself nominally a vassel of the king of England, argued
Davies. As Welsh society became further influenced by feudal
Europe, the princes of Gwynedd would in turn use feudalism to
strengthen their own authority over lesser Welsh lords, a "two-edged sword" for the King of England,
wrote Davies. Though Gwynedd's princes recognized the de jure suzerainty of
the King of England, they maintained a well established legal jurisprudence, separate from the English legal system, and were
independent de facto, wrote
Davies.
Civil war and usurpation 1170–1195
When Owain Gwynedd died in December 1169 the realm was plunged into
conflict between two rival factions within the ruling family.
Throughout his life it is clear he favoured his eldest sons; those
born of Pyfog the Irishwoman. Annals state that these two
sons; Rhun ab Owain Gwynedd
and Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd;
were illegitimate, but it is worth pausing to consider that victory
is often written by the victors. Owain and his father, Gruffydd ap Cynan, had both drawn
considerable strength from family connections they had maintained
across the Irish Sea in Dublin, and it was
these connections which had restored Gruffydd on several occasions
to his throne and had provided his father, Cynan, with a place of
refuge during the usurptions of the 11th Century. It is
therefore possible that Owain hoped to maintain this Irish
connection by ensuring the succession of one of his sons born of
this Irish woman, Pyfog. Furthermore, it seems illogical - given
the fact Owain was so set on their succession and the respect he no
doubt commanded in Ireland - that the mother of Rhun and Hywel was
a mere commoner and that both those children were born out of
wedlock. What the annals record, however, is that in 1146 the eldest son and designated heir, Rhun - a man
who was acclaimed as a great warrior - "died" mysteriously, and
that Hywel his natural brother was proclaimed the new Edling or heir.
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd duly
succeeded his father in 1170 and the realm was plunged immediately
into a civil war that appears to have been a conflict between two
rival factions; one which was pro-Irish and seeking to ensure the
succession of Hywel and protect the legacy of Owain Gwynedd and his
father, and a second which seems to be an anti-Irish coalition and
headed by Iorwerth Drwyndwn and
Owain's widow; Cristin ferch Goronwy ab Owain.
They made their move, and within a few months of his succession
Hywel was overthrown and killed at the Battle of Pentraeth in 1171. It seems
that Iorwerth was injured badly enough to be ruled out of the
succession (he was to die in 1174), leaving
Dafydd as the leading figure in this cabal, which included his
brother Rhodri as well as his half brother Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and the
nephews of another half brother Cynan ab
Owain, namely Gruffudd ap Cynan and Maredudd ap Cynan.
Although the exact division of the spoils is unclear, Maelgwn
appears to have gained Anglesey whilst the sons of Cynan held the
cantrefs of Meirionydd, Eifionydd and Ardudwy between them. However
Dafydd appears at to have been recognised as pre-eminent amongst
them and was regarded in some way as the overall leader. Naturally,
once he'd enjoyed some of the benefits of power, Dafydd felt
disinclined to share, as well as no doubt nervous that he might
also soon share the fate of his predecessor Hywel; in 1173 he acted
against his brother Maelgwn and drove him into exile in Ireland
thereby gaining possession of all Anglesey for himself.
The following year he expelled all his remaining family rivals and
made himself master of all Gwynedd and in 1175 "seized through
treachery" his brother Rhodri and imprisoned him for good measure.
Thus Dafydd re-united all Gwynedd under his one rule and in order
to strengthen his position he sought an agreement with Henry I. Due
to his problems with the Church and Normandy, Henry I of
England was anxious to secure peace and order in Wales. It was
agreed that Dafydd would marry Emma of
Anjou, who was Henry's illegitimate half sister, and receive
the manor of Ellesmere as dowry, but unlike his southern counterpart, Rhys ap Gruffudd, he received no 'official'
recognition of his position in the north.
All this was done, as the Brut y
Tywysogion explained regarding Dafydd "because he thought he
could hold his territory in peace thereby", but it proved
insufficient. Before the end of 1175 Rhodri had escaped
from captivity and gathered sufficient support to be able to drive
Dafydd from Anglesey and across the River Conwy
. Faced with this turn of events, Dafydd and
Rhodri agreed to divide Gwynedd between each other. Thereafter Dafydd's
realm was restricted to Gwynedd Is
Conwy, that is the Perfeddwlad
, the land between the rivers Conwy and the Dee,
whilst Rhodri retained Anglesey and Gwynedd Uwch Conwy. Secure in his
now truncated realm, Dafydd now appears to have pushed ambition to
one side and resolved to enjoy the quiet life. There is no record
of him engaging in any further strife for the twenty years or so
after the settlement of 1175. Dafydd may not have inherited the
leadership abilities of his father but he had sufficient qualities
of diplomacy and tact remaining to ensure he could live at peace
with his neighbours. This appears to be the one quality recognised
by his contemporaries as he was described by Giraldus Cambrensis as a man who showed
"good faith and credit by observing a strict neutrality between the
Welsh and English"
His brother Rhodri had a more eventful time and fell out with the
descendants of Cynan. They acted against Rhodri in 1190 and drove
him out of Gwynedd altogether. Rhodri fled to the safety of the Isle of Man only to be briefly reinstated in 1193 with the
assistance of the King of Man, to be
driven out once more at the beginning of 1194.
Dafydd's nemesis proved to be his nephew Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, born most likely
in the year 1173 and therefore only a child when all these events
were played out. Llywelyn's father Iorwerth Drwyndwn had been involved in the
early stages of the dynastic struggles and most likely died
sometime around 1174. As the century drew to a close Llywelyn
became a young man and conceived the ambition to stake his claim to
power in Gwynedd. He conspired with his cousins Gruffudd and
Maredudd and his uncle Rhodri and in the year 1194 they all united
against Dafydd, defeated him at the Battle of Aberconwy
and "drove him to flight and took from him all his
territory except three castles".
The personal coat of arms of Llywelyn
were:
Quarterly Or and Gules, four lions passant guardant
counter charged, armed and langued Azur, later the arms of the
Gwynedd realm.
Llywelyn the Great
See also Llywelyn ap
Iorwerth
Llywelyn, later known as Llywelyn the Great, was sole ruler of
Gwynedd by 1200, and made a treaty with King John of England the same year.
Llywelyn's relations with John remained good for the next ten
years. He married John's illegitimate daughter Joan, also known as
Joanna, in 1205, and when John arrested Gwenwynwyn ab Owain of Powys in 1208
Llywelyn took the opportunity to annex southern Powys. In 1210
relations deteriorated and John invaded Gwynedd in 1211. Llywelyn
was forced to seek terms and to give up all his lands east of the
River Conwy, but was able to recover these lands the following year
in alliance with the other Welsh princes. He allied himself with
the barons who forced John to sign Magna Carta in 1215. By 1216 he
was the dominant power in Wales, holding a council at Aberdyfi that
year to apportion lands to the other princes.
Following King John's death, Llywelyn concluded the Treaty of Worcester with his successor
Henry III in 1218. During the next fifteen years Llywelyn was
frequently involved in fighting with Marcher lords and sometimes
with the king, but also made alliances with several of the major
powers in the Marches. The Peace of Middle in 1234 marked the end
of Llywelyn's military career as the agreed truce of two years was
extended year by year for the remainder of his reign.
Llywelyn the Great was determined to enforce the right of
legitimate sons in Welsh succession law to bring Gwynedd in line
with other Christian countries in Europe. However, by promoting his
younger son Dafydd he was up against considerable support for his
elder son Gruffydd from traditionalists in Gwynedd. However, with
Gruffydd a prisoner the support for Gruffydd could not be
transformed into anything more dangerous. Although Dafydd lost one
of his most important supporters when his mother died in 1237, he
retained the support of Ednyfed Fychan, the Seneschal of Gwynedd
and the wielder of great political influence. Llywelyn suffered a
paralytic stroke in 1237, and Dafydd took an increasing role in
government. Dafydd ruled Gwynedd following his father's death in
1240.
The arms used by Dafydd ap
Llywelyn.
Dafydd ap Llywelyn
Although King Henry III of England had accepted Dafydd's claim to
rule Gwynedd, he was not disposed to allow him to retain his
father's conquests outside Gwynedd. In 1241 the King invaded
Gwynedd, and Dafydd was forced to submit in late August. Under the
terms of the Treaty of
Gwerneigron, he had to give up all his lands outside Gwynedd,
and also to hand over to the King his half brother Gruffydd whom he
had been keeping a prisoner. Henry thereby gained what could have
been a useful weapon against Dafydd, with the possibility of
setting Gruffydd up as a rival to Dafydd in Gwynedd, but Gruffydd
died trying to escape from the Tower of London by climbing down a
knotted sheet, and fell to his death in March 1244.
With his main rival dead Dafydd formed an alliance with other Welsh
rulers and began a campaign against the English occupation of parts
of Wales. After savage fighting the campaign was successful until
Dafydd's sudden natural death brought it to a halt. At the time of
his death he had no children and with Gruffydd dead the succession
would pass to the sons of Gruffydd. The only adult sons of Gruffydd
were Owain ap Gruffydd and
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who
divided the realm between them.
The arms used by Llywelyn ap
Gruffydd.
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
Llywelyn was in Gywnedd at the time of his elevation to the throne
and had fought alongside his uncle Dafydd during the last campaign
of his reign. This gave him an advantage over his elder brother
Owain who had been imprisoned in England with his uncle since 1242.
Owain returned to Gwynedd - he apparently "escaped" or was released
from Chester immediately after the news of Dafydd's death reached
England. Llywelyn and Owain were able to come to agreement and the
reduced territory of Gwynedd were divided between them.
In 1255 their younger sibling Dafydd ap Gruffydd reached maturity
and Henry III sensing an opportunity to create mischief demanded
that he be allowed his division of Gwynedd also. Llywelyn rejected
this on the grounds that this would further weaken the realm and
play into England's hands. Dafydd formed an alliance with Owain and
at the Battle of Bryn Derwin
met Llywelyn in battle. Llywelyn was victorious and imprisoned
Owain and confiscated his lands. He also imprisoned Dafydd for a
short period before coming to terms with him.
Between 1255 and 1258 Llywelyn orchestrated a campaign against
England across all of Wales gaining allies in Deheubarth and Powys.
By 1258 he was acknowledged by almost all the native rulers as
Prince of Wales. In 1263 his brother
Dafydd defected to England for reasons which are unclear. It has
been speculated that the death of their mother may have had an
effect.
The
following year, 1264, the Baron's Revolt in England had reached its
climax at the Battle of
Lewes
. Llywelyn signed the Treaty of Woodstock with Simon de Montfort thus forming an alliance
against Henry III. Although de
Montfort was soon defeated and killed by the English king the peace
between England and Wales held, being formalised at the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267 and the
title "Prince of Wales" was recognised by the King of England. All
the native Welsh princes were to be vassals of Llywelyn and it is
from this point that the independent history of the kingdom of
Gwynedd comes to an end.
The principality of Wales was to be a short-lived creation. As is
explained in greater detail elsewhere, the relationship between
England and Wales broke down following the death of Henry III in
1272. By
1276 Llywelyn had been declared a rebel by the new King Edward I who was determined to be the
master of the whole island of Great Britain
. Diplomatic pressure followed up by an
enormous invasion force broke the unity of Wales and allowed the
English army to quickly occupy large areas forcing Llywelyn back
into his Gwynedd heartland. With the capture of Môn and the
Perfeddwlad, LLywelyn sued for peace and was forced to sign the
Treaty of Aberconwy reducing his
realm to almost same extent that had existed at the beginning of
his reign in 1247; confined to the lands above the Conwy.
Dafydd was restored and granted some lands in the Perfeddwlad by
Edward, including the cantrefi of Rhôs and Rhufoniog.
A confined Llywelyn appears to have put all of his hopes into
stabilising the succession through children sired by his new wife
Eleanor de Montfort. Tragedy
struck when she died during childbirth in 1282, giving birth to a
daughter; Gwenllian ferch
Llywelyn. This seems to have driven Llywelyn into what some
historians have speculated to be a nervous breakdown and
incapacitated him.
Rebellion over the rule of the English Crown arose and Dafydd was
joined by Llywelyn. In November 1282 the Archbishop of Canterbury
John Peckham came to Garth Celyn to
mediate between Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Edward Longshanks.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was offered a bribe; One thousand pounds a
year and an estate in England, if he would surrender his control
(which extended at least to Gwynedd and Deheubarth) to Edward.
From
Garth
Celyn Llywelyn wrote rejecting the offer .
Within a
month, Llywelyn, on 11 December 1282, was killed at Cilmeri
in an ambush. The nature of his death is
reported in the Lambeth Palace Archives . His leaderless forces
were routed shortly afterwards and the English forces led by Edward
I moved to occupy Powys and eastern Gwynedd.
The arms used by Dafydd ap Gruffydd
were a variant of the Aberffraw Arms.
Dafydd ap Gruffydd
After these events Dafydd ap
Gruffydd was proclaimed Prince of Wales. Dafydd continued the
fight and kept the support of Goronowy ap Heilin, the Lord of
Rhôs, as well as Hywel ap Rhys Gryg and his brother Rhys Wyndod,
disinherited princes of Deheubarth.
However, as the English forces encircled Snowdonia and his people
starved he was soon moving desperately from one fort to another as
effective resistance was systematically crushed. Dolwyddelan
which was at risk of becoming encircled was first
abandoned on January 18 1283. After this Dolbadarn
Castle
served as his base but by March this noble site in
the heart of Snowdonia was also threatened forcing his
departure. Finally, Dafydd moved his head quarters
south to Castell y
Bere
near Llanfihangel-y-pennant
. As the situation deteriorated it seems
most likely that Dafydd and his family hoped to remain at Y Bere
just long enough to avoid the worst of the Welsh winter before they
were compelled to evacuate the site at the end of March in advance
of the English forces who were maneuvering to place it under siege.
From this point forwards the prince, his family and the remains of
his government were fugitives sleeping outdoors, forced to keep
moving from place to place to avoid capture. Castell Y Bere's
starving garrison would eventually surrender on April 25. After the
fall of Y Bere, Dafydd's movements are speculative but he is
recorded in May 1283 leading raids from the mountains supported to
the bitter end by Goronwy ap Heilin, Hywel ap Rhys and his brother
Rhys Wyndod.
The last months saw inward disintegration as well as
submission to superior force.
Nevertheless, Goronwy ap Heilin had committed himself
to the struggle and died in rebellion, alongside the disinherited
princes who stood with Dafydd ap Gruffudd in the last springtime of
the principality of Wales, diehards who knew that theirs was not
the heroism of a new beginning but the ultimate stand of the very
last cohort clutching the figment of the political order that they
had once been privileged to know.
On the 22nd June 1283, Dafydd ap Gruffudd was captured in the
uplands above Garth Celyn close to Bera
Mountain in a secret hiding place recorded as
Nanhysglain. The site was no more than a hovel in
a bog which may have been used previously by religious hermits. It
is recorded that Dafydd, who had been betrayed, was "severely
injured" during his capture. It is likely that his wife, daughters,
niece and one of his sons were captured alongside him. His eldest
son, Llywelyn ap
Dafydd (aged about 15) was not there at the time
because it is recorded that King Edward issued specific orders
ad querendum filium David primogenitum to have him
apprehended. Llywelyn ap Dafydd was detained later by "men of his
own tongue" and taken into royal custody on 29 June. Following this
any organised resistance ended until the uprising of Madog ap Llywelyn some eleven years
later.
Dafydd was taken to Edward on the night of his capture, then moved
under heavy guard by way of Chester to Shrewsbury where in October
he was hanged, drawn and quartered. His children and legal
successors were locked away and never released: his sons Llywelyn ap Dafydd and Owain ap Dafydd in Bristol Castle; his
daughter and niece in priories in Lincolnshire.
End of independence
Following the death of Llywelyn ap
Gruffydd in 1282, and the execution of his brother Dafydd ap Gruffydd the following year,
eight centuries of independent rule by the house of Gwynedd came to
an end, and the kingdom, which had long been one of the final
holdouts to total English domination of Wales, was annexed to
England. The remaining important members of the ruling house were
all arrested and imprisoned for the remainder of their lives
(Dafydd's sons Llywelyn ap Dafydd
and Owain ap Dafydd in Bristol
Castle, his daughters and niece in convents). Under the terms of
the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284
the Kingdom of Gwynedd was broken up and re-organised into the
English county model which created the traditional counties of
Anglesey, Carnarvonshire,
Merionethshire
, Denbighshire and
Flintshire.
The
Pura Walia (the new counties which had been Gwynedd plus
Carmarthenshire
and Cardiganshire)
continued to be within a nominal Principality of Wales ruled by the
Council of Wales at Ludlow
as a part
of the English crown. The title Prince of
Wales was retained by the sovereign to be eventually
awarded to his son, Prince Edward (later Edward II). The Welsh Marches would be merged with
the principality in 1534 under the Council of Wales and the
Marches until all separate governance for Wales as an
administrative entity was abolished in 1689. The resulting county
model would last until the re-organisation of 1974.
There were many Gwynedd based rebellions after 1284 with varying
degrees of success with most being led by peripheral members of the
old royal house. In particular the rebellions of Prince Madoc in 1294 and of Owain Lawgoch (the great-nephew of Llywelyn ap
Gruffydd) between 1372-1378 are most notable. Because of this the
old royal house was purged and any surviving members went in to
hiding. A
final rebellion in 1400 led by Owain
Glyndŵr, a member of the rival royal house of Powys, also drew
considerable support from within Gwynedd.
The royal house of Gwynedd may have endured in the guise of the
Wynn and the Anwyl families who both claimed Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd as their
ancestor. After the purges in Wales had finished in
the 16th century a certain Ioan
ap Morys of Gwydir
proved his
royal ancestry and he and his descendants were recognised across
north Wales as the de jure Princes of Gwynedd until the
male line of the Wynn family died out, probably in the late 18th
century. Another claim could come the surviving members of
the Anwyl of Tywyn Family or
from any surviving male descendants of Dafydd Goch the acknowledged bastard son of Dafydd
ap Gruffudd who avoided detection during the royal purges and
continued the line.
Welsh in warfare
According to Sir John Edward Lloyd, the challenges of campaigning
in Wales were exposed during the 20 year Norman invasion of Wales.
If a defender could bar any road, control any river-crossing or
mountain pass, and control the coastline around Wales, then the
risks of extended campaigning in Wales were too great.
The Welsh method of warfare during the reign of Henry II is
described by Gerald of Wales in his
work Descriptio Cambriae written c.1190;
"Their mode of fighting consists in chasing the enemy
or in retreating.
This light-armed people, relying more on their activity
than on their strength, cannot struggle for the field of battle,
enter into close engagement, or endure long and severe
actions...though defeated and put to flight on one day, they are
ready to resume the combat on the next, neither dejected by
their
loss, nor by their dishonour; and although, perhaps, they do not
display great fortitude in open engagements and regular conflicts,
yet they harass the enemy by ambuscades and nightly sallies. Hence,
neither oppressed by hunger or cold, not fatigued by martial
labours, nor despondent inadversity, but ready, after a defeat, to
return immediately to action, and again endure the dangers of
war."
The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis translated by Sir
Richard Colt-Hoare (1894), p.511
The Welsh were revered for the skills of their bowmen.
Additionally, the Welsh learned from their Norman rivals. During
the generations of warfare and close contact with the Normans,
Gruffydd I and other Welsh leaders learned the arts of knighthood
and adapted them for Wales. By Gruffydd's death in 1137 Gwynedd
could field hundreds of heavy well-armed cavalry as well as their
traditional bowmen and infantry.
"They make use of light arms, which do not impede their
agility, small coats of mail, bundles of arrows, and long lances,
helmets and shields, and more rarely greaves plated with
iron.
The higher class go to battle mounted on swift and
generous steeds, which their country produces; but the greater part
of the people fight on foot, on account of the marshy nature and
unevenness of the soil.
The horsemen, as their situation or occasion requires,
willingly serve as infantry, in attacking or retreating; and they
either walk bare-footed, or make use of high shoes, roughly
constructed with untanned leather.
In time of peace, the young men, by penetrating the
deep recesses of the woods, and climbing the tops of mountains,
learn by practice to endure fatigue through day and night."
The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis translated by Sir
Richard Colt-Hoare (1894), p.491
In the
end Wales was defeated militarily by the improved ability of the
English navy to blockade or seize areas essential for agricultural
production such as Anglesey. With control of the Menai Strait, an
invading army could regroup on Anglesey, without control of the
Menai an army could be stranded there, and any occupying force on
Anglesey could deny the vast harvest of the island from the
Welsh.
Lack of food would force the disbandment of any large Welsh force
besieged within the mountains. Following the occupation Welsh
soldiers were conscripted to serve in the English Army. During the
revolt of
Owain Glyndwr the Welsh
adapted the new skills they had learnt to
guerilla tactics and lightening raids.
Owain Glyndwr reputedly used the
mountains with such advantage that many of the exasperated English
soldiery suspected him of being a magician able to control the
natural elements.
Administration
Principal administrative divisions of
medieval Gwynedd (traditional territorial extent)
From 1200
until 1283 the home and headquarters of the Princes was Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, now known as Pen y Bryn
, Abergwyngregyn or
simply just "Aber" (its shortened form adopted by the Crown of
England after the conquest). Garth Celyn is situated on a ledge of land to the east of the
river, at the foot of Maes y Gaer, a pre-Roman hillfort. It
has widesweeping views over the Menai Strait to Anglesey, and the
medieval port of Llanfaes. Joan, Lady of Wales, died at
Garth Celyn in 1237; Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1246;
Eleanor de Montfort, Lady of Wales, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd,
Prince of Wales ("Tywysog Cymru" in modern Welsh), on 19 June 1282,
giving birth to a daughter, Gwenllian. The royal home was occupied
and expropriated by the English Crown in early 1283.
The
traditional sphere of Aberffraw influence in north Wales included
Ynys Môn as their early seat of authority,
and Gwynedd Uwch Conwy
(Gwynedd above the Conwy, or upper Gwynedd), and
the Perfeddwlad (the Middle Country) also known as
Gwynedd Is
Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower
Gwynedd). Additional lands were acquired through
vassalage or conquest, and by regaining lands lost to Marcher lords, particularly that of Ceredigion, Powys Fadog
, and Powys Wenwynwyn
. However these areas were always considered
an addition to Gwynedd never part of Gwynedd.
The extent of the kingdom varied with the strength of the current
ruler.
Gwynedd was traditionally divided into
"Gwynedd Uwch Conwy" and "Gwynedd Is Conwy" (with the River Conwy forming the dividing line between the two), which
included Môn (Anglesey). The kingdom was administered under
Welsh custom through thirteen
Cantrefi each containing, in theory, one
hundred settlements or
Trefi. Most cantrefs were also
divided into
cymydau (English
commotes).
Ynys Môn
Cantref of Ynys Môn
Gwynedd Uwch Conwy
Gwynedd above the Conwy, or
upper Gwynedd
Cantref
Arllechwedd
Cantref Arfon
Cantref Dunoding
Cantref
Llŷn
Cantref Meirionnydd
Perfeddwlad
Perfeddwlad, or "the Middle Country" or Gwynedd Is
Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower Gwynedd)
Rulers of Gwynedd
House of Cunedda
Line of Maelgwn Gwynedd
With Hywel's death all male descendants of Maelgwn Gwynedd have
expired, and Merfyn the Freckled succeeds because his mother Esyllt
was the eldest daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy ap Rhodri, and niece to
the last king Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog.
House of Manaw
- Merfyn Frych ap
Gwriad (Merfyn the Freckled) (825-844)
- Rhodri Mawr ap Merfyn
(844-878); inherits Gwynedd from his father and Powys from his
maternal uncle (who died without issue), then conquers most of rest
of Wales.
House of Aberffraw
10th- and 11th-century usurpations
Aberffraw restoration
- Gruffydd ap Cynan (1081-1137)
(Aberffraw dynasty returns)
- Owain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd
(1137-1170) (After Owain rulers of Gwynedd are styled Prince of
Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon)
- Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd r.
1170; killed by his younger brother Dafydd ab Owain in a conspricy
hatched by his stepmother Cristen, dowager princess of Gwynedd, and
her sons Dafydd and Rhodri ab Owain.
Interegnum
Dafydd ab Owain ursurped the throne of Gwynedd from his brother
Hywel ab Owain, and recognized as 'prince of Gwynedd' by the
English Crown. However, his ascendency was short lived as he was
displaced by other brothers, with the throne of Gwynedd returning
to the senior legitimate heir of Owain Gwynedd with Llywelyn the
Great.
Restoration of the senior line:
Post-Conquest descendants
Wynn Dynasty of Gwydir
After
Owain Lawgoch the line of
Aberffraw would continue post conquest, and later direct male
descendants would include the Wynn family, claiming direct male
decent from
Owain Gwynedd.
- Owain Gwynedd, Prince of
Gwynedd (died November 1170) = Cristina ferch Gronw ap
Owain ap Edwin
- Rhodri ab Owain
Gwynedd, Lord of Anglesey (d.1195) = Annest ferch Rhys
ap Gruffudd
- Thomas ap Rhodri ab Owain
Gwynedd = Annest ferch Einion ap Seisyllt
- Caradog ap Tomas = Efa ferch Gwyn ap Gruffudd
ap Beli
- Gruffudd ap Caradog = Lleuca ferch Llywarch
Fychan ap Llywarch
- Dafydd ap Gruffudd of Rhos = Efa ferch
Gruffudd Fychan
- Hywel ap Dafydd = Efa ferch Evan ap Hywel ap
Maredudd
- Maredudd ap Hywell (d. after 1353) = Morfydd
verch Ieuan ap Dafydd ap Trahaern Goch
- Robert ap
Maredudd = Angharad ferch Dafydd ap Llywelyn
- Ifan ap Robert
(b. 1438, died 1469) = Catherine ferch Rhys ap Hywel Fychan
- Maredudd ap Ifan
(Ieuan) ap Robert (b. c1459, died 18 March 1525) = Ales
ferch William Gruffudd ap Robin
- John "Wynn" ap Maredudd
(died 9 July 1559) = Ellen Lloyd ferch Morys ap John
- Morys Wynn ap
John (d.1580) = Jane Bulkeley (1) Ann Grevill (2)
Katherine of Berain (3)
- Sir John Wynn ap
Morys of Gwydir
Wynn Baronets of Gwydir (1611)
The
Wynn Baronets of Gwydir were
created in the
Baronetage of
England in 1611—one of the initial creations—for John Wynn, of
Gwydir.
The members of this line were heirs to the
Aberffraw claim to the Principality of Gwynedd and Wales as direct descendents of
Owain Gwynedd. The family
continued to be prominent in politics, all the baronets save Owen
sat as
members of parliament,
often for Carnarvon or Carnarvonshire. This creation became extinct
in 1719, on the death of the fifth baronet.
Wynnstay, near
Ruabon
, passed
to Jane Thelwall and her husband Sir Watkin Williams, who
took the name of Williams-Wynn in honor of his wife's princely
heritage.
Anwyl Dynasty of Parc (later of Tywyn)
Like the
Wynn Dynasty, the Anwyl Dynasty of Parc (and
later of Tywyn
) also
claim Rhodri ab Owain
Gwynedd as their ancestor. However, they part from the
Wynn Dynasty in the early 15th Century as they descend from Jeuan
ap Maredudd whereas the Wynn Dynasty descends from Robert ap
Maredudd (the elder brother). The brothers took opposing sides
during the revolt of
Owain Glyndwr.
When the Wynn Dynasty finally expired in the direct male line in
1719 the cadet "Anwyl" branch would have been considered the
surviving heirs to the royal title according to the traditional
agnatic principles of succession found in
Welsh royal houses. The Anwyl Dynasty has been maintained in the
male line and survives in Wales to this day; the current head of
the family is
Evan Vaughan Anwyl of
Tywyn (b.1943).
Images of Gwynedd
Eryri
(the Snowdon range) is the highest mountain range in
Wales. At 1085 metres (3,560 ft), Yr
Wyddfa (Snowdon) is the second highest peak in Great
Britain south of Scotland's Ben Nevis
. The Welsh sought refuge in the mountain
range in the face of invasions.
The name of the range in Welsh, Eryri is traditionally believed to
derive from the Welsh word for eagle,
eryr. However, Welsh
scholar Sir
Ifor Williams argued the
name's origin derived from a Welsh word meaning
"highlands".
In the
Middle Ages the title Prince of
Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon (Tywysog Aberffraw ac
Arglwydd Eryri) was used by the hereditary princes of Gwynedd;
for example Llywelyn
Fawr.
Image:Snowdon from Llyn Llydaw.jpg|Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) from Llyn
Llydaw
Image:Snowdon in the snow.jpg|The flanks of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in
winterImage:Snowdon massif.jpg|Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) massif from
Glyder FawrImage:HendreFawrNewborough.jpg |Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) from
Hendre Fawr farm Ynys Môn
(Anglesey)Image:ViewFromMountSnowdon640.jpg|View from the summit of
Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon), looking east over Llyn Llydaw
Sources
Notes
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
foundations of pgs 50-51, 54-55
- Lloyd, J.E., A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion
to the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Recovers Gwynedd, Norman invasion,
Battle of Anglesey Sound, pgs 21-22, 36, 39, 40, later
years 76-77
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
foundations of pg50-51
- Going further back etymologically the root * uen- is
akin to Latin vena- and suggests "to struggle; to desire,
to like" (the root of Latin venus, "love", and also
venari "to hunt"). See Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru
(University of Wales Dictionary), vol. I, page 1773
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
Aberffraw primacy pg 116, patron of bards 117, Aberfraw relations
with English crown pg 128, 135
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Aberffraw primacy pg 220
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
Gruffydd ap Cynan; Battle of Mynydd Carn, Norman
Invasion, pg 104-108, reconstructing Gwynedd pg
116,
- Warner, Philip, Famous Welsh Battles, Gruffydd's
seizure pg 61, Escape from Chester, Kills Robert
of Ruddlan, pg 63, 1997, Barnes & Noble, INC.
- Barlow, Frank,William Rufus, Yale University Press,
200, ISBN 0-30-008291-6 p. 320-324
- Bartlett, Robert C. (2000). England
Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225. Oxford:
Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822741-8.
- Owen "Hervery (d. 1131)" Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography Online edition accessed March 6 2008
- Wilcott, Darrell "The Ancestry of Edwin of
Tegeingl"
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
Pura Wallia, Purae Wallie (the Welshries), Marchia Wallie
pg 109, 127-130, 137, 141, 149, 166, 176
- J.E. Lloyd, A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004,Advances westard" pg 77, 78, 79
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Great Revolt, beginnings Gwenllian
pg 80, taking Ceredigion, restores Welsh monks, Battle of Crug
Mawr, 82-85
- Warner, Philip "Famous Welsh Battles", Barnes & Noble INC.
1977, Gwenllian pg 69, 79
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd's inheritance, pg 94, 95
- Warner, Philip "Famous Welsh Battles", Barnes & Noble INC.
1977, Cadwaladr and Anarawd pg 80
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Owain takes Iâl, Ruddlan, Tegeingl, pg 96, 97,
98
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Owain and Henry II, pg 99. 1070
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Owain 1160-1170, pg 107, 108, 109,
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
Henry and Becket, Owain's leadership in 1166,
Owain recaptures Tegeingl, pg125 Gwynedd's embassy to
France pg 125,126
- Lloyd, J.E. A History of Wales; From the Norman Invasion to
the Edwardian Conquest, Barnes & Noble Publishing, Inc.
2004, Henry's invasion plans pg 111, Welsh drawn
together, pg 112, Angevin advance into Wales 112, 113,
Henry II's campaign failure, pg 113, 114
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
English King's suzerainty of Wales and Scotland, pg 103,
Welsh princely titles pg128, 129
- Davies, John, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994,
emerging defacto
statehood pg 148
- Beverley Smith, J., Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales
p.577
- J. Beverley Smith, p.576
- Beverley Smith, J. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales,
p.577
- Dwnn, Lewys, Heraldic Visitations of the Three Counties of
North Wales above Conway (published 1613)
- Annals and antiquities of the counties and county families of
Wales, p. 699
- Nicholas, Thomas, Annals and antiquities of the counties
and county families of Wales (1872)
- The Royal Tribes of Wales, p15
- Burkes Peerage (online), Landed Gentry, Wales, 19th Edition.
(Ref. 100057)
- Ifor Williams, Enwau Lleoedd (Liverpool, 1945), p.18.
Compare the late professor's article in Bulletin of the Board
of Celtic Studies, vol. iv, pp. 137-41. The plural of Welsh
eryr (eagle) is eryrod or eryron, with
no example of a form eryri being attested. A second word
eryr, plural eryri, means "shingles" in modern
Welsh; in the old Welsh place name this suggests uneven or upraised
ground, a land of hills; "the uplands" or "highlands"
, Niwbro
, Conwy
county
dynasty, descended from the second son of Rhodri
Mawr who ruled in Deheubarth, usurp Gwynedd from the Aberffraw
line.)
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