Llywelyn ap Gruffudd
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Llywelyn ap Gruffudd | |
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Gruffudd ap Llywelyn | |
Mother | Senana ferch Caradog |
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), Llywelyn II, also known as Llywelyn the Last (
Genealogy and early life
Llywelyn was the second of the four sons of
The eldest was
Following his grandfather's death in 1240, Llywelyn's uncle, Dafydd ap Llywelyn (who was Llywelyn the Great's eldest legitimate son), succeeded him as ruler of Gwynedd. At this time, Llywelyn went on crusade with Richard of Cornwall, brother of Henry III of England.[4]
Llywelyn's father, Gruffydd (who was Llywelyn's eldest son but illegitimate), and his brother, Owain, were initially kept prisoner by Dafydd, then transferred into the custody of King
Early reign
Gwynedd
Llywelyn and Owain came to terms with King Henry and in 1247, signed the Treaty of Woodstock at Woodstock Palace.[10] The terms they were forced to accept restricted them to the west of Conwy (Gwynedd Uwch Conwy) around Snowdonia and Anglesey, which was divided between them. The other half of Gwynedd east of Conwy known as the Perfeddwlad was taken over by King Henry.[8]
When Dafydd ap Gruffydd came of age, King Henry accepted his homage and announced his intention to give him part of the already reduced Gwynedd. Llywelyn refused to accept this, and Owain and Dafydd formed an alliance against him. This led to the Battle of Bryn Derwin in June 1255. Llywelyn defeated Owain and Dafydd and captured them, thereby becoming the sole ruler of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy. Llywelyn now looked to expand his area of control. The population of Gwynedd Is Conwy resented English rule. This area, also known as "Perfeddwlad" (meaning 'middle land') had been given by King Henry to his son Edward and during the summer of 1256, he visited the area but failed to deal with grievances against the rule of his officers. An appeal was made to Llywelyn, who, that November, crossed the River Conwy with an army, accompanied by his brother, Dafydd, whom he had released from prison. By early December, Llywelyn controlled all of Gwynedd Is Conwy, apart from the royal castle at Dyserth, as a reward for his support and dispossessing his brother-in-law, Rhys Fychan, who supported the king. An English army led by Stephen Bauzan invaded to try to restore Rhys Fychan but was decisively defeated by Welsh forces at the Battle of Cadfan in June 1257, with Rhys having previously slipped away to make his peace with Llywelyn.[11][12]
All of Wales
During 1257, Llywelyn aggressively pursued his interests and gained control of lands in
The leader of Deheubarth, Rhys Fychan now accepted Llywelyn as overlord, but this caused problems for Llywelyn, as Rhys's lands had already been given to Maredudd. Llywelyn restored his lands to Rhys, but the king's envoys approached Maredudd and offered him Rhys's lands if he would change sides. Maredudd paid homage to Henry in late 1257. After the betrayal, in 1259, Llywelyn jailed Maredudd until Christmas in Criccieth Castle. Maredudd was released only for him to surrender a son as hostage, it was then Dinefwr became a vassal kingdom of Gwynedd.[14][15]
In early 1258, Llywelyn was using the title Prince of Wales,[1] first used in an agreement between Llywelyn and his supporters and the Scottish nobility associated with the Comyn family. The English Crown refused to recognise this title however,[16] and, in 1263, Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd was hostile against the Prince and submitted himself to King Henry.[17]
Then in January 1260, Llywelyn pursued his interests internally by dislodging Roger Mortimer of
On 12 December 1263, in the commote of Ystumanner, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn (Mathrafal, Powys Wenwynwyn) did homage and swore fealty to Llywelyn. In return he was made a vassal lord and the lands taken from him by Llywelyn about six years earlier were restored to him.[1][19]
Supremacy in Wales
Llywelyn's interests were now not solely excluded to Wales. In England,
The Treaty of Montgomery marked the high point of Llywelyn's power. Problems began arising soon afterward, initially a dispute with
Following the death of King Henry in late 1272, with the new King Edward I of England away from the kingdom on a crusade,[23] the rule fell to three men. One of them, Roger Mortimer was one of Llywelyn's rivals in the marches. When Humphrey de Bohun tried to take back Brycheiniog, which was granted to Llywelyn by the Treaty of Montgomery, Mortimer supported de Bohun.[citation needed] Llywelyn was also finding it difficult to raise the annual sums required under the terms of this treaty and ceased making payments.[20]
In early 1274, there was a plot by Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd,[25] and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys Wenwynwyn and his son, Owain, to kill Llywelyn.[17] Dafydd was with Llywelyn at the time, and it was arranged that Owain would come with armed men on 2 February to carry out the assassination; however, he was prevented by a snowstorm. Llywelyn did not discover the full details of the plot until Owain confessed to the Bishop of Bangor. He said that the intention had been to make Dafydd prince of Gwynedd and that Dafydd would reward Gruffydd with lands. Dafydd and Gruffydd fled to England where they were maintained by the king and carried out raids on Llywelyn's lands, increasing Llywelyn's resentment. When Edward called Llywelyn to Chester in 1275 to pay homage, Llywelyn refused to attend.
Llywelyn also made an enemy of King Edward by continuing to ally himself with the family of Simon de Montfort, even though their power was now greatly reduced. Llywelyn sought to marry
Treaty of Aberconwy
In 1276, Edward declared Llywelyn a rebel and in 1277, gathered an enormous army to march against him.[23] Edward's intention was to disinherit Llywelyn completely and take over Gwynedd Is Conwy himself. He was considering two options for Gwynedd Uwch Conwy: either to divide it between Llywelyn's brothers, Dafydd and Owain or to annex Anglesey and divide only the mainland between the two brothers. Edward was supported by Dafydd ap Gruffydd and Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn. Many of the lesser Welsh princes who had supported Llywelyn had hastened to make peace with Edward. By the summer of 1277, Edward's forces had left from Chester to reach the River Conwy and encamped at Deganwy,[citation needed] while another force had captured Anglesey and took possession of the harvest there. This deprived Llywelyn and his men of food, forcing them to seek terms. The attack came from all directions from east of the border, Henry da Lacy attacked from Shrewsbury and Montgomeryshire, Roger Mortimer to Builth and Gwenwynwyn returned to take back Cyfeiliog and other parts of Powys. The lack of provisions forced Llywelyn into hiding, but the Welsh did see minor successes against the English.[1][28]
Following the battles, the result was the
With the peace accord in place, Llywelyn went to London and Parliament for the Christmas of 1277 and paid homage to the King of England. Llywelyn met Edward, and his partner Eleanor with the royal family at Worcester, they would marry the next year.
Llywelyn exacted peace for several years, however, the English continued to pursue an Anglicisation policy in Wales. In the North East of Wales, the four cantrefs of the Court of Chester were brought under power violently. Whilst in the South West in Cardiganshire (Ceredigion) and Carmarthenshire the same policy was enacted by local sheriffs. The rough policy forced the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham to attempt to bring harmony between the Church of England and the Church in Wales. In 1280, Peckham met with Llywelyn to make an agreement on the changes. However, Llywelyn's intentions were distracted, and claimed the truce was broken by his fellow kin, Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn. The archbishop reminded Llywelyn that his grievance would not be heard, as Llywelyn's terms of Cyfraith Hywel (Welsh law code) were unreasonable in a contemporary setting. However, Llywelyn reconciled with his brother, Dafydd III, and they listened to the grievances of the cantrefs in Chester and once more secretly plotted a revolt together, this time, the forces of Wales were united against the English.[30]
Marriage and family
Llywelyn agreed with Edward I and was given permission to be married at the door of Worcester Cathedral on the 13th of October 1278. It was a minor ceremony attended by the Kings of Scotland and England, the Earl of Lancaster. Eleanor was to die in childbirth on the 19th of June, 1282 after she gave birth to a daughter named Gwenllian.[26][1][29] A stained glass window exists to this day depicting the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Eleanor. By all accounts, the marriage was a genuine love match; Llywelyn is not known to have fathered any illegitimate children, which is extremely unusual for the Welsh royalty. (In medieval Wales, illegitimate children were as entitled to their father's property as legitimate children.)
Descendants confusion
Since the lifetime of Llywelyn, sources have differed as to how many children he fathered, and whether he has any living descendants today. Llywelyn definitely had one daughter named
Last campaign and death
By early 1282, many of the lesser princes who had supported Edward against Llywelyn in 1277 were becoming disillusioned with the exactions of the royal officers.[citation needed] On Palm Sunday that year, Dafydd ap Gruffydd attacked the English at Hawarden Castle and then laid siege to Rhuddlan. Meanwhile, the revolt quickly spread to other parts of Wales, with Aberystwyth castle captured and burnt by Maredudd ap Rhys (heir of Prince of South Wales/Deheubarth) and rebellion in South Wales,[30] also inspired by Dafydd according to the annals, where Carreg Cennen Castle was captured. Llywelyn, according to a letter he sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury John Peckham, was not involved in the planning of the revolt. He felt obliged, however, to support his brother and a war began for which the Welsh were ill-prepared.
Events followed a similar pattern to 1277, with Edward's forces capturing Gwynedd Is Conwy, Anglesey and taking the harvest. The English force occupying Anglesey tried to cross to the mainland on a bridge of boats, but failed and was defeated in the
Llywelyn now left Dafydd to lead the defence of Gwynedd and took a force south, trying to rally support in mid and south Wales and open up an important second front. On 11 December at the
An alternative version of events written in the east of England by monks in contact with Llywelyn's exiled daughter,
If the king wishes to have the copy [of the list] found in the breeches of Llywelyn, he can have it from Edmund Mortimer, who has custody of it and also of Llywelyn’s privy seal and certain other things found in the same place.
— Archbishop Peckham, in his first letter to Robert Bishop of Bath and Wells, 17 December 1282 (Lambeth Palace Archives)[38]
The privy seal of Llywelyn the Last, his wife Eleanor and his brother Dafydd are thought to have been melted down by the English after finding them upon their bodies to make a chalice in 1284.[39]
There are legends surrounding the fate of Llywelyn's severed head. It is known that it was sent to Edward at Rhuddlan and after being shown to the English troops based in Anglesey, Edward sent the head on to London. In London, it was set up in the city
The last resting place of Llywelyn's body is not known for certain; however, it has always been tradition that it was interred at the
... inquire and clarify if the body of Llywelyn has been buried in the church of Cwmhir, and he was bound to clarify the latter before the feast of Epiphany, because he had another mandate on this matter, and ought to have certified the lord Archbishop before Christmas, and has not done so.[38]
There is further supporting evidence for this hypothesis in the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester:
As for the body of the Prince, his mangled trunk, it was interred in the Abbey of Cwm Hir, belonging to the Cistercian Order.[38]
Another theory is that his body was transferred to Llanrumney Hall in Cardiff.[40]
The poet Gruffudd ab yr Ynad Coch wrote in an elegy on Llywelyn:
Do you not see the path of the wind and the rain?
Do you not see the oak trees in turmoil?
Cold my heart in a fearful breast
For the king, the oaken door of Aberffraw
There is an enigmatic reference in the Welsh annals Brut y Tywysogion, "… and then Llywelyn was betrayed in the belfry at Bangor by his own men". No further explanation is given.
Annexation
With the loss of Llywelyn, Welsh morale and the will to resist diminished. Dafydd was Llywelyn's named successor. He carried on the struggle for several months, but in June 1283 was captured in the uplands above Abergwyngregyn at Bera Mountain together with his family. He was brought before Edward, then taken to Shrewsbury where a special session of Parliament condemned him to death. He was dragged through the streets, hanged, drawn and quartered.
After the final defeat of 1283, Gwynedd was stripped of all royal insignia, relics, and regalia.
Most of Llywelyn's relatives ended their lives in captivity with the notable exceptions of his younger brother
Dafydd's two surviving
Family tree
Llywelyn the Great 1173–1195–1240 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn 1198–1244 | Dafydd ap Llywelyn 1212–1240–1246 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rhodri ap Gruffydd 1230–1315 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gwenllian of Wales 1282–1337 | Llywelyn ap Dafydd 1267–1283–1287 | Owain ap Dafydd 1275–1287–c. 1325 | Tomas ap Rhodri 1300–1325–1363 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coat of Arms
The Arms of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (and of Owain Glyndwr and Owain Lawgoch ) are here shown graphically, being reproduced from the image on a roll of painted arms c.1270-80 as documented by Siddons. [43] Other rolls exist where variations of the coat of arms are found.
In popular culture
The life of Llywelyn the Last is the subject of Edith Pargeter's Brothers of Gwynedd Quartet: 'Sunrise in the West' (1974); 'The Dragon at Noonday' (1975); 'The Hounds of Sunset' (1976); and 'Afterglow and Nightfall' (1977).
The 1982
The lives of Llywelyn Fawr, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and Dafydd ap Gruffydd are the subject of
An alternate history/time travel science fiction series, After Cilmeri by Sarah Woodbury, explores what might have happened if Llywelyn had survived the ambush at Cilmeri, and had a son and assistance from people from the future.
Llywelyn the Last is the subject of the
Llywelyn is a minor character in
Bertrice Small includes Llywelyn's life in her book, A Memory of Love, which centres on the fictional life of one of his illegitimate children, Rhonwyn.
See also
- Castell Du
- List of rulers of Wales
Notes
- ^ According to several non-contemporary Welsh genealogical tracts, the mother of Llywelyn was Rhanullt, daughter of Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles. If correct, these sources could indicate that Llywelyn's father married a daughter of Rǫgnvaldr in about 1220. Contemporary sources, however, show that Llywelyn's mother was Senana.
- Gwynedd in 1247 following the succession of the brothers Owain (whose lands are shown in dark green) and Llywelyn (light green) ap Gruffydd. The Commote of Cymydmaen (gold) was granted to Dafydd ap Gruffyddby Owain when he reached majority in 1252 (Source: J. Beverley Smith)
- ^ The division of Gwynedd following the Treaty of Aberconwy in 1277. Llywelyn continued to rule west of the River Conwy (indicated in green). The Perfeddwlad, east of the Conwy, was divided between Dafydd ap Gruffydd (shown in gold) and areas ceded forever to the English Crown (shown in red).
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i (Pierce 1959)
- ^ a b (Tout 1893, p. 14)
- ISBN 978-0-7083-0435-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0708324271.
- ISBN 978-0-7181-2468-7.
- ^ "The Last Prince of Wales: The Death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd". historyhit.com. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
- ^ "Dafydd ap Llywelyn (died 1246), prince". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- ^ a b c (Turvey 2010, p. 99)
- ^ "Owain ap Gruffydd, or Owain Goch, (fl. 1260), a prince of Gwynedd". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- ^ Davies, John History of Wales p. 140
- ^ Lloyd, J.E. A history of Wales pp. 720–721
- ^ Turvey 2010, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Tout 1893, pp. 14–15.
- ^ Turvey 2010, p. 100.
- ^ Tout 1893, p. 15.
- ^ Moore, D. The Welsh Wars of Independence, Stroud 2005, p. 135
- ^ a b "Dafydd (David) ap Gruffydd (died 1283), prince of Gwynedd". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- ^ Tout 1893, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Smith, J Beverley (2014). Llywelyn ap Gruffydd: Prince of Wales. University of Wales Press.
- ^ a b c d (Tout 1893, p. 17)
- ^ Turvey 2010, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Tout 1893, p. 16.
- ^ a b c d e f (Tout 1893, p. 18)
- ^ "Caerphilly castle". cadw.gov.wales. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
- ^ a b Turvey 2010, p. 103.
- ^ a b "Eleanor De Montfort (c. 1258–1282), princess and diplomat". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 29. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 416.
- ^ Tout 1893, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b c (Tout 1893, p. 19)
- ^ a b (Tout 1893, p. 20)
- ^ "Lloyd, JE: 'Owain Glyndwr: His Family and Early History', The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion, p. 138, Session 1918-1919". journals.library.wales. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
- ^ Davies, John: 'A history of Wales'; p. 154, Penguin Books, 2007.
- ^ Maund, Kari: ‘The Welsh Kings, Warriors, Warlords and Princes’, The History Press, 2006
- ^ Guy, Ben: 'Medieval Welsh Genealogy'; pp. 45,300; The Boydell Press, 2020.
- ^ "Dwnn, L. 'The Heraldic Visitation of Wales', Vol II, 1846, p. 24".
- ^ The Golden Grove 1641 illuminated Roll of Arms by George Owen of Henllys, the York Herald, Carmarthenshire County Archives.
- ^ "The Royal Families of England, Scotland, and Wales, with Pedigrees of Royal Descents in Illustration". Sir Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms. 1876. p. 51.
- ^ a b c d "Death of Llywelyn". Cilmeri. 10 December 2006. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ISBN 978-1-78316-872-9.
- ^ Williams, Tryst (8 August 2005). "Last true Welsh prince buried under pub?". Western Mail. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ "Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Vale Royal". A History of the County of Chester. Vol. 3. London: Victoria County History. 1980. pp. 156–165.
- ^ Davies, Rees (1 May 2001). "Wales: A Culture Preserved". bbc.co.uk/history. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2008.
- ^ Siddons M P: 'The Development of Welsh Heraldry', Vol. 1, pl. XXII(a), NLW 1991.
- ^ Edwards (2016), The Eisteddfod, pp. 51–53.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-86243-608-7.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ISBN 978-1-334-06136-3.
- Maund, Kari L. (2006). The Welsh Kings: Warriors, Warlords, and Princes (3rd ed.). Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7524-2973-1.
- Pierce, T. Jones (1962). Cymdeithas Hanes Sir Caernarfon- Trafodion [Caernarfronshire History society talks]. Abergwyngregyn.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Smith, Beverley J. (2001). Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-0-7083-1474-6.
- Turvey, Roger (2010). Twenty-One Welsh Princes. Conwy: ISBN 978-1845272692.
- Stephenson, David (1984). The Governance of Gwynedd. OL 22379507M.
- ISSN 0969-8930.
Garth Celyn evidence (Tystiolaeth Garth Celyn)
External links
Media related to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd at Wikimedia Commons
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Llewelyn". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Tout, Thomas Frederick (1893). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 34. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 13–21.
- Pierce, Thomas Jones (1959). "LLYWELYN ap GRUFFYDD ('Llywelyn the Last,' or Llywelyn II), Prince of Wales (died 1282)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
- Death of Llywelyn. Cilmeri is another name for Cefn-y-Bedd ("Ridge of the Grave"), a burial mound where Llywelyn is said to have been slain.
- Places and artifacts associated with Llywelyn the Last