Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn | |
---|---|
King of Wales | |
King of Wales | |
Reign | 1055 – 1063 |
King of Gwynedd, and of Powys | |
Reign | 1039 - 1055 |
Predecessor | Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig |
Successor | Bleddyn ap Cynfyn |
Born | c. 1010 Rhuddlan, Wales |
Died | 5 August 1063 (aged 52–53) Snowdonia, Wales |
Spouse | Former wife of Hywel ab Edwin Ealdgyth |
Issue |
|
Father | Llywelyn ap Seisyll |
Mother | Angharad ferch Maredudd |
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1010 – 5 August 1063) was King of Gwynedd and Powys from 1039 and, after asserting his control over the entire country, claimed the title King of Wales from 1055 until his death in 1063. He was the son of Llywelyn ap Seisyll king of Gwynedd and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, king of Deheubarth,[1] and the great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda.[2][3] Gruffydd was the first and only Welsh king to unite all of Wales albeit for a brief period. After his death, Wales was again divided into separate kingdoms.
Genealogy and early life
Gruffydd was the son of Llywelyn ap Seisyll, who had been able to rule both Gwynedd and Powys, and Angharad ferch Maredudd. On Llywelyn's death in 1023, a member of the Aberffraw dynasty, Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig, became ruler of Gwynedd and began his rise to power in Powys.[3]
King of Gwynedd and Powys (1039–1055)
In 1039, Iago, king of
Gruffydd ap Rhydderch of Gwent was able to expel Gruffydd ap Llywelyn from Deheubarth in 1047 and became king of Deheubarth himself.[1] Afterwards the nobles of Ystrad Tywi had attacked and killed 140 of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's household guard, Gruffydd exacted his revenge in Towy and Dyfed.[3] Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was active on the Welsh border in 1052, when he attacked Herefordshire with an army consisting of a fleet of 18 ships from Ireland, they defeated a mixed force of Normans and English in the Battle of Leominster.[1][3]
Ruler of all Wales (1055–1063)
According to
In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed his rival Gruffydd ap Rhydderch in battle and recaptured Deheubarth. Gruffydd allied himself with Ælfgar, son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who had been deprived of his earldom of East Anglia by Harold Godwinson and his brothers. They marched on Hereford and were opposed by a force led by the Earl of Hereford, Ralph the Timid, then set Hereford on fire.[1] This force was mounted and armed in the Norman fashion, but on 24 October Gruffydd and Ælfgar defeated it. They then sacked the city and destroyed its motte-and-bailey castle.[3] Earl Harold was given the task of counter-attacking, but Gruffydd and Ælfgar had retreated to south Wales whilst Harold ventured no further than Hereford.[3] He seems here to have built a fortification at Longtown in Herefordshire before refortifying Hereford. Shortly afterwards, Ælfgar was restored to his earldom and a peace treaty concluded.[citation needed]
Around this time Gruffydd was also able to seize Morgannwg and Gwent, along with extensive territories along the border with England.
Historian John Davies stated that Gruffydd was
"the only Welsh king ever to rule over the entire territory of Wales... Thus, from about 1057 until his death in 1063, the whole of Wales recognised the kingship of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. For about seven brief years, Wales was one, under one ruler, a feat with neither precedent nor successor."[4] During this time, between 1053 and 1063, Wales lacked any internal strife and was at peace.[5] The later Brut y Tywysogion described him as being "the head and shield of the Britons".[5] John of Worcester referred to him, several decades later, as Rex Walensium, King of the Welsh.[5]
Death and aftermath
Gruffydd reached an agreement with
- "Speak not of killing; I but blunt the horns of the offspring of Wales lest they should injure their dam."
Following Gruffydd's death, Harold married his widow Ealdgyth, who was to be widowed again three years later. Gruffydd's realm was divided again into the traditional kingdoms. Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and his brother Rhiwallon came to an agreement with Harold and were given the rule of Gwynedd and Powys. Thus when Harold was defeated and killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Normans reaching the borders of Wales were confronted by the traditional kingdoms rather than a single king. Gruffydd left two sons who in 1069 challenged Bleddyn and Rhiwallon at the battle of Mechain in an attempt to win back part of their father's kingdom. However they were defeated, one being killed and the other dying of exposure after the battle.[citation needed]
Family
Gruffydd married
References
Sources
- Evans, Gwynfor (1974). Land of My Fathers: 2000 Years of Welsh History. Y Lolfa. p. 156. ISBN 9780862432652.
- "BBC Wales - History - Themes - Welsh unity".
- Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 23. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 305-307.
- ISBN 978-1-334-06136-3.
- Jones, Thomas (1959). "GRUFFUDD ap LLYWELYN (died 1063), king of Gwynedd and Powys, and after 1055 king of all Wales". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- Hudson, Benjamin (1959). "GRUFFUDD AP LLYWELYN (died 1064), king of Gwynedd 1039-1064 and overlord of all the Welsh 1055-1064". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- Maund, K. L. (1991). Ireland, Wales, and England in the Eleventh Century. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. ISBN 978-0-85115-533-3.
- ISBN 0-14-014581-8.
- "The National Archives - Exhibitions - Uniting the Kingdoms?".
Note
- ^ Compare Remfry, P.M., Annales Cambriae, 68 and notes
External links
- Gruffudd 1 at Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England
- "Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, King of Wales, -1063". id.loc.gov.
- "Gruffudd ap Llywelyn". owain-glyndwr.wales.