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Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages
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Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries (AD 1000–1300). The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages. Gwynedd is located in the north of Wales.
Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd during this period include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, for instance in the works of those of the poets known as the Beirdd y Tywysogion (Welsh for Poets of the Princes) associated with the court of Gwynedd, the reformation of bardic schools, and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel (The Law of Hywel, or Welsh law); all three of which further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales.
Gwynedd's traditional territory included Anglesey (Ynys Môn) and all of north Wales between the River Dyfi in the south and River Dee (Welsh Dyfrdwy) in the northeast.
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Encyclopedia
Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries (AD 1000–1300). The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages. Gwynedd is located in the north of Wales.
Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd during this period include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, for instance in the works of those of the poets known as the Beirdd y Tywysogion (Welsh for Poets of the Princes) associated with the court of Gwynedd, the reformation of bardic schools, and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel (The Law of Hywel, or Welsh law); all three of which further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales.
Gwynedd's traditional territory included Anglesey (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) lies to the north and west, and lands formerly part of the Powys border the south-east. Gwynedd's strength was due in part to the region's mountainous geography which made it difficult for foreign invaders to campaign in the country and impose their will effectively.
Gwynedd emerged from the Early Middle Ages having suffered from increasing Viking raids and various occupations by rival Welsh princes, causing political and social upheaval. With the historic Aberffraw family displaced, by the mid 11th century Gwynedd was united with the rest of Wales by the conquest of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, followed by the Norman invasions between 1067 and 1100.
After the restoration of the Aberffraw family in Gwynedd, a series of successful rulers such as Gruffydd ap Cynan and Owain Gwynedd in the late 11th and 12th century, and Llywelyn the Great and his grandson Llywelyn II in the 13th century, led to the emergence of the Principality of Wales, based on Gwynedd.
The emergence of the principality in the 13th century was proof that all the elements necessary for the growth of Welsh statehood were in place, and Wales was independent de facto, wrote historian Dr. John Davies. As part of the Principality of Wales, Gwynedd would retain Welsh laws and customs and home rule until the Edwardian Conquest of Wales of 1282.
History
11th Century
Norse raids; Aberffraw dispossessed
See also Early Mediaeval Wales; 700-1066
The latter part of the 10th century, and the whole of the 11th century, was an exceptionally tumultuous period for Gwynedd's Welsh population. Deheubarth's ruler Maredudd ab Owain deposed Gwynedd's ruler Cadwallon ab Ieuaf of the House of Aberffraw in 986, annexing Gwynedd into his enlarged domain, which came to include most of Wales.
The Hiberno-Norse from Dublin and the Isle of Man routinely raided the coasts of Wales, with the Welsh of Ynys Môn and the Llyn Peninsula suffering the most in Gwynedd. In 987 a Norse raiding party landed on Môn and captured as many as two thousand of the island's residents, selling them as slaves across northern Europe. Historian and author Dr. John Davies argues that it is during this period that the Norse name for Môn, Anglesey, came into existence and was later adopted into English. In 989 Meredudd ab Owain bribed the Norse not to raid that year. However the Norse resumed significant raids on Môn in 993, as well as other parts of Wales for the remainder of the century.
In 999 Meredudd ab Owain of Deheubarth died, and Cynan ap Hywel was able to wrestle back Gwynedd for the Aberffraw dynasty. However, Cynan himself was deposed by Aeddan ap Blegywryd in 1005. Aeddan was not himself connected to the Aberffraw family, and was perhaps a minor commote lord. Aeddan ruled Gwynedd until 1018, when he and his four sons were defeated in battle by Llywelyn ap Seisyll, lord of Rhuddlan in lower Gwynedd.
Llywelyn ap Seisyll married Anghared, daughter of Meredudd ab Owain of Deheubarth, and ruled Gwynedd until his death in 1023, when Iago ab Idwal recovered the rulership of Gwynedd for the senior line of the Aberffraw house. Iago reigned in Gwynedd until 1039 when he was murdered by his own men, perhaps under the direction of Gruffydd of Rhuddlan, Llywelyn ap Seisyll's eldest son.
At age four, the Aberffraw heir Cynan ab Iago escaped with his mother to exile in Dublin.
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn; 1039-1063
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn seized control of Gwynedd in 1039 with the death of Iago ab Idwal and, after taking possession of Powys, struck at Mercia slaying Edwin of Mercia, brother of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. Gruffydd's decisive defeat of the Mercians in battle at Rhyd y Groes on the Severn (near Welshpool), neutralized Mercian incursions on Gwynedd and Powys' eastern borders as many of Mercia's leading magnates were also slain alongside Edwin of Mercia.
Conquest of South Wales
Gruffydd then turned his attention to the conquest of Deheubarth, ruled by his maternal cousin Hywel ab Edwin of the House of Dinefwr. The latter was "by no means easy to dislodge", wrote Lloyd. Gruffydd raided Deheubarth's province of Ceredigion in 1036, ravaging the lands of the monastic community of Llanbadarn Fawr (Great Llanbadarn). Hywel of Deheubarth was able to defend Deheubarth against Gruffydd's raids until he was defeated in 1041 at the Battle of Pencader, after which Gruffydd captured Hywel's wife and became master of Ceredigion.
After the Battle of Pencader, Hywel retained Dyfed (Pembrokeshire) and Ystrad Tywi (Carmarthenshire), the heart of Deheubarth. However he was expelled by Gruffydd in 1043 after an unrecorded event, and sought refuge in Ireland. In 1044 Hywel returned to recover Deheubarth with an army of Hiberno-Norse, but was slain and defeated in the Battle of Aber Tywi by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn.
Between 1044 and 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn fought Gruffydd ap Rhydderch of Gwent for control of Deheubarth. Following the defeat of Hywel by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, Gruffydd ap Rhydderch of Gwent was able to "stir up" the minor commote lords of Deheubarth on his behalf, and was able to call up an army to resist Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, wrote Lloyd. By 1046 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn allied with Sweyn Godwinson, Earl of Hereford, and the two of them campaigned in South Wales against Gruffydd of Gwent. In 1047 the lords of Ystrad Tywi, the heart of Deheubarth and the seat of the Dinefwr family, led an army which totally defeated the 150-strong teulu, or household guard, of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who was narrowly able to escape. In retaliation against the resurgent nobles of Ystrad Tywi and Dyfed, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn devastated those provinces, but "in vain," wrote John Edward Lloyd, "as his authority in South Wales was ... shattered" by Gruffydd ap Rhydderch of Gwent who was now firmly in control of Ystrad Tywi and Dyfed.
In the summer of 1052 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn raided the Norman settlements in Herefordshire in retaliation for the displacement of his former ally Sweyn Godwinson. Sweyn Godwinson and his family were forced into exile and replaced by the Norman Ralph the Timid. Gruffydd defeated the mixed force of Norman and English sent against his raiding party near Leominster.
In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn defeated and killed his southern rival Gruffydd ap Rhydderch and took possession of Deheubarth, later driving out Meurig ap Hywel and Cadwagan ap Hywel of Gwent, and so becoming master over the whole of Wales.
Wars with England
Gruffydd allied with Ælfgar, Earl of East Anglia (and son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia), who had been dispossessed of his earldom on charges of treason, charges which may or may not have been substantiated.
On 24 October, 1055, Gruffydd, Ælfgar, and Ælfgar's Hiberno-Norse mercenaries, attacked the Norman settlement at Hereford, defeating Ralph, Earl of Hereford, and razing Hereford Castle. In the looting which followed, Gruffydd and Ælfgar raided Hereford Cathedral of its rich vessels and furnishing, killing seven of the canons who sought to bar the cathedral doors against the raiders.
Edward the Confessor, King of England, commissioned Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, to respond to Gruffydd's raid on Hereford. However Harold was unable to penetrate into Wales but for a few miles beyond the Dyffryn Dwr (Valley of Dore). Unable to campaign in Wales, a peace accord was reached between Gruffydd, Ælfgar, and Harold of Wessex, and Edward the Confessor at Billingsley, near Boulston in Archenfield, with Ælfgar regaining his earldom of East Anglia.
Despite the peace of Billingsley, cross border raids continued. In June 1056 Leofgar, Bishop of Hereford, led an army into Wales in revenge for the earlier raid committed by Gruffydd and Ælfgar. Gruffydd defeated Bishop Leofgar on June 16 in a battle in Dyffryn Machawy, with the bishop among those slain. The following year the men of Hereford raised another army against the Welsh, but their army was dogged by skirmishes and defeat, and they were obliged to negotiate for a peace.
King of Wales
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