EWLINE
style="text-align:center; font-size:larger;" | Llywelyn the Last
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| Predecessor |
Dafydd ap LlywelynDafydd ap Llywelyn was Prince of Gwynedd from 1240 to 1246. He was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales.- Descent :...
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| Successor |
Dafydd ap Gruffudd |
| Spouse |
Eleanor de Montfort Eleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon was a daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England. She was also the first woman who can be shown to have used the title Princess of Wales....
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| Issue |
Gwenllian of Wales Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn was the only child of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Tywysog Cymru . She is sometimes confused with Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd, who lived two centuries earlier.- Lineage :...
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| Royal House |
Aberffraw Aberffraw is a small village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey , in Wales, by the west bank of the River Ffraw, at . The UK postcode begins LL63. Access by road is by way of the A4080 and the nearest rail station is Bodorgan. In the early Middle Ages Aberffraw was the...
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| Father |
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was the first born son of Llywelyn the Great . His mother Tangwystl probably died in childbirth.-Hostage:...
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| Mother |
Senena ferch Rhodri |
| Born |
c. 1223 |
| Died |
11 December 1282 |
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Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or
Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf ('Llywelyn, Our Last Leader') (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes rendered as
Llywelyn II, was the last prince of an independent
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
before its conquest by
Edward I of EnglandEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
.
Genealogy and early life
Llywelyn was the second of the four sons of
GruffyddGruffydd ap Llywelyn was the first born son of Llywelyn the Great . His mother Tangwystl probably died in childbirth.-Hostage:...
, the eldest son of
Llywelyn the GreatLlywelyn the Great , full name Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, was a Prince of Gwynedd in north Wales and eventually de facto ruler over most of Wales...
, and Senena ferch Rhodri. The eldest was
Owain Goch ap GruffyddOwain ap Gruffudd, , , was brother to Llywelyn the Last and Dafydd ap Gruffudd and, for a brief period in the late 1240s and early 1250s, ruler of part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd .- Lineage :Owain was the eldest son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn and the grandson of Llywelyn the Great...
and Llywelyn had two younger brothers,
Dafydd ap GruffyddDafydd ap Gruffydd was Prince of Wales from 11 December 1282 until his execution on 3 October 1283 by King Edward I of England...
and
Rhodri ap GruffyddRhodri ap Gruffudd was the third or fourth son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr. He was the younger brother of both Llywelyn the Last of Gwynedd, Prince of Wales) and of Owain Goch ap Gruffydd...
. Llywelyn is thought to have been born around 1222 or 1223. He is first heard of holding lands in the
Vale of ClwydThe Vale of Clwyd is a tract of low-lying ground in the county of Denbighshire in northeast Wales. The Vale extends south-southwestwards from the coast of the Irish Sea for some 20 miles forming a triangle of low ground bounded on its eastern side by the well-defined scarp of the Clwydian Range...
around 1244. Following his grandfather's death in 1240, Llywelyn's uncle,
Dafydd ap LlywelynDafydd ap Llywelyn was Prince of Gwynedd from 1240 to 1246. He was for a time recognised as Prince of Wales.- Descent :...
, succeeded him as ruler of
GwyneddGwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...
. Llywelyn's father, Gruffydd, and his brother, Owain, were initially kept prisoner by Dafydd, then transferred into the custody of King
Henry III of EnglandHenry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
. Gruffydd died in 1244, from a fall while trying to escape from his cell at the top of the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. The window from which he attempted to escape the Tower was bricked up and can still be seen to this day.
This freed Dafydd ap Llywelyn's hand as King Henry could no longer use Gruffydd against him, and war broke out between him and King Henry in 1245. Llywelyn supported his uncle in the savage fighting that followed. Owain, meanwhile, was freed by Henry after his father's death in the hope that he would start a civil war in Gwynedd, but stayed in
ChesterChester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
, so when Dafydd died in February 1246 without leaving an heir, Llywelyn had the advantage of being on the spot.
Early reign
Llywelyn and Owain came to terms with King Henry and in 1247, signed the Treaty of Woodstock at
Woodstock PalaceWoodstock Palace was a royal residence in the English town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire.Henry I of England built a hunting lodge here and in 1129 he built seven miles of walls to create the first enclosed park, where lions and leopards were kept. The lodge became a palace under Henry's grandson, Henry...
. The terms they were forced to accept restricted them to Gwynedd Uwch Conwy, the part of Gwynedd west of the
River ConwyThe River Conwy is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is a little over long. "Conwy" is sometimes Anglicized as "Conway."...
, which was divided between them. Gwynedd Is Conwy, east of the river, was taken over by King Henry.
When Dafydd ap Gruffudd 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 DerwinThe Battle of Bryn Derwin was fought in Eifionydd in Gwynedd in June 1255, between Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and his brothers, Dafydd ap Gruffudd and Owain Goch ap Gruffydd....
in June 1255. Llywelyn defeated Owain and Dafydd and captured them, thereby becoming 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" had been given by King Henry to his son
EdwardEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
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 castles at
DyserthDyserth is a village in Denbighshire, Wales. Population : 2,566 . Its main features are the extensive quarrying remains, its waterfalls, railway line , and mountain ....
and
DeganwyDeganwy is a village in Conwy County Borough in Wales with a population of 3,700. It is in a more English-speaking region of North Wales, with only 1 in 4 residents speaking Welsh as a first language...
.
Llywelyn now turned south, where he had the support of Maredudd ap Rhys Grug of
Deheubarth. They took control of
CeredigionThe Kingdom of Ceredigion was one of several Welsh kingdoms that emerged in 5th-century post-Roman Britain. Its area corresponded roughly to that of the modern county of Ceredigion. The kingdom's hilly geography made it difficult for foreign invaders to conquer. Cardigan Bay bordered to the west...
then moved on to
Ystrad TywiYstrad Tywi is an area of south-west Wales situated on the banks of the Tywi river as it approaches the sea to join the Bristol Channel at Carmarthen...
which was given to Maredudd as a reward for his support and dispossessing his brother, 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 CadfanThe Battle of Cadfan was fought in 1257 between English and Welsh forces. The Battle consisted of two military engagements; one at Coed Llathen and the other at Cymerau...
in June 1257, with Rhys having previously slipped away to make his peace with Llywelyn.
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 Maredydd and offered him Rhys's lands if he would change sides. Maredudd paid homage to Henry in late 1257. By early 1258, Llywelyn was using the title
Prince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, first used in an agreement between Llywelyn and his supporters and the
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
nobility associated with the
ComynComyn can refer to:* Clan Comyn, another name for Clan Cumming.People* Dan Comyn, an Irish cricketer.* Stephen George Comyn, Naval chaplain to Lord Nelson* Valens Comyn, English MP* William Leslie Comyn, Californian shipbuilder...
family. In 1263, Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd, went over to King Henry.
In England,
Simon de MontfortSimon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
(the Younger) defeated the king's supporters at the
Battle of LewesThe Battle of Lewes was one of two main battles of the conflict known as the Second Barons' War. It took place at Lewes in Sussex, on 14 May 1264...
in 1264, capturing the king and Prince Edward. Llywelyn began negotiations with de Montfort, and in 1265, offered him 30,000 marks in exchange for a permanent peace, in which Llywelyn's right to rule Wales would be acknowledged. The
Treaty of PiptonThe Treaty of Pipton was signed on 22 June 1265 during the Second Barons' War and concluded an alliance between Simon de Montfort and the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Last....
, 22 June 1265, established an alliance between Llywelyn and de Montfort, but the very favourable terms given to Llywelyn in this treaty were an indication of de Montfort's weakening position. De Montfort was to die at the
Battle of EveshamThe Battle of Evesham was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by Prince Edward – later King Edward I – who led the forces of his father, King Henry III...
in 1265, a battle in which Llywelyn took no part.
Supremacy in Wales
After Simon de Montfort's death, Llywelyn launched a campaign in order to rapidly gain a bargaining position before King Henry had fully recovered. In 1265, Llywelyn captured
Hawarden CastleHawarden Old Castle is a medieval castle near Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales.Its oldest origins are indeterminate and the oldest fortifications on this site may date back to the Iron Age, later being used as a Norman Motte-and-bailey castle which was reportedly destroyed and replaced in a short...
and routed the combined armies of Hamo Lestrange and Maurice fitz Gerald in north Wales. Llywelyn then moved on to
BrycheiniogBrycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it...
, and in 1266, he routed
Roger MortimerRoger Mortimer was the name of several Marcher lords:* Roger Mortimer of Wigmore , married Isabel de Ferriers and became Lord of Maelienydd...
's army. With these victories and the backing of the papal legate,
OttobuonoPope Adrian V , born Ottobuono de' Fieschi, was pope in 1276.-Biography:Ottobuono belonged to a feudal family of Liguria, the Fieschi, Counts of Lavagna....
, Llywelyn opened negotiations with the king, and was eventually recognised as Prince of Wales by King Henry in the
Treaty of MontgomeryBy means of the Treaty of Montgomery , Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was acknowledged as Prince of Wales by the English king Henry III, the only time in history that an English ruler would recognise the right of a ruler of Gwynedd over Wales...
in 1267. In return for the title, the retention of the lands he had conquered and the homage of almost all the native rulers of Wales, he was to pay a tribute of 25,000 marks in yearly instalments of 3,000 marks, and could if he wished, purchase the homage of the one outstanding native prince - Maredudd ap Rhys of Deheubarth - for another 5,000 marks. However, Llywelyn's territorial ambitions gradually made him unpopular with some minor Welsh leaders, particularly the princes of south Wales.
The Treaty of Montgomery marked the high point of Llywelyn's power. Problems began arising soon afterwards, initially a dispute with Gilbert de Clare concerning the allegiance of a Welsh nobleman holding lands in
GlamorganGlamorgan or Glamorganshire is one of the thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It was originally an early medieval kingdom of varying boundaries known as Glywysing until taken over by the Normans as a lordship. Glamorgan is latterly represented by the three...
. Gilbert built
Caerphilly CastleCaerphilly Castle is a medieval castle that dominates the centre of the town of Caerphilly in south Wales. It is the largest castle in Wales and the second largest in Britain after Windsor Castle...
in response to this. King Henry sent a bishop to take possession of the castle while the dispute was resolved but when Gilbert regained the castle by trickery, the king was unable to do anything about it.
Following the death of King Henry in late 1272, with the new King
Edward I of EnglandEdward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
away from the kingdom, the rule fell to three men. One of whom,
Roger MortimerRoger Mortimer was the name of several Marcher lords:* Roger Mortimer of Wigmore , married Isabel de Ferriers and became Lord of Maelienydd...
was one of Llywelyn's rivals in the marches. When
Humphrey de BohunHumphrey de Bohun , 3rd Earl of Hereford and 2nd Earl of Essex, was an English nobleman known primarily for his opposition to King Edward I over the Confirmatio Cartarum. He was also an active participant in the Welsh Wars and maintained for several years a private feud with the earl of Gloucester...
tried to take back Brycheiniog, which was granted to Llywelyn by the Treaty of Montgomery, Mortimer supported de Bohun. Llywelyn was also finding it difficult to raise the annual sums required under the terms of this treaty, and ceased making payments.
In early 1274, there was a plot by Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd, and
Gruffydd ap GwenwynwynGruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn was a Welsh prince who was lord of the part of Powys known as Powys Wenwynwyn.Gruffydd was the son of Gwenwynwyn ab Owain and Margaret Corbet. He was still a child when his father, who had been driven out of his princedom by Llywelyn the Great, died in exile in 1216...
of
Powys WenwynwynPowys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160...
and his son, Owain, to kill Llywelyn. 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
Eleanor de MontfortEleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon was a daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England. She was also the first woman who can be shown to have used the title Princess of Wales....
, born in 1252, Simon de Montfort's daughter. They were married by proxy in 1275, but King Edward took exception to the marriage, in part because Eleanor was his first cousin: her mother was Eleanor of England, daughter of
King JohnJohn , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
and princess of the
House of PlantagenetThe House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
. When Eleanor sailed from
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to meet Llywelyn, Edward hired
piratesPiracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
to seize her ship and she was imprisoned at
Windsor CastleWindsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...
until Llywelyn made certain concessions.
In 1276, Edward declared Llywelyn a rebel and in 1277, gathered an enormous army to march against him. 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 now hastened to make peace with Edward. By the summer of 1277, Edward's forces had reached the
River ConwyThe River Conwy is a river in north Wales. From its source to its discharge in Conwy Bay it is a little over long. "Conwy" is sometimes Anglicized as "Conway."...
and encamped at
DeganwyDeganwy is a village in Conwy County Borough in Wales with a population of 3,700. It is in a more English-speaking region of North Wales, with only 1 in 4 residents speaking Welsh as a first language...
, while another force had captured
AngleseyAnglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...
and took possession of the harvest there. This deprived Llywelyn and his men of food, forcing them to seek terms.
Treaty of Aberconwy
What resulted was the
Treaty of AberconwyThe Treaty of Aberconwy was signed in 1277 by King Edward I of England and Llewelyn the Last of modern-day Wales, who had fought each other on and off for years over control of the Welsh countryside...
, which guaranteed peace in Gwynedd in return for several difficult concessions from Llywelyn, including confining his authority to Gwynedd Uwch Conwy once again. Part of Gwynedd Is Conwy was given to Dafydd ap Gruffydd, with a promise that if Llywelyn died without an heir, he would be given a share of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy instead.
Llywelyn was forced to acknowledge the English king as his sovereign; initially he had refused, but after the events of 1276, Llywelyn was stripped of all but a small portion of his lands. He went to meet Edward, and found Eleanor lodged with the royal family at
WorcesterThe City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
; after Llywelyn agreed to Edward's demands, Edward gave them permission to be married at
Worcester CathedralWorcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, England; situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is The Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester...
. 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.)
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. On
Palm SundayPalm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
that year, Dafydd ap Gruffydd attacked the English at
HawardenHawarden is a village in Flintshire, North Wales. Hawarden forms part of the Deeside conurbation on the Welsh/English border. At the 2001 Census, the population of Hawarden Ward was 1,858...
castle and then laid siege to
RhuddlanRhuddlan is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire , in north Wales. It is situated to the south of the coastal town of Rhyl and overlooks the River Clwyd. The town gave its name to the Welsh district of Rhuddlan from 1974 to 1996...
. The revolt quickly spread to other parts of Wales, with
AberystwythAberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
castle captured and burnt and rebellion in Ystrad Tywi in south Wales, 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 CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
John PeckhamJohn Peckham was Archbishop of Canterbury in the years 1279–1292. He was a native of Sussex who was educated at Lewes Priory and became a Franciscan friar about 1250. He studied at Paris under Bonaventure, where he later taught theology. From his teaching, he came into conflict with Thomas...
, 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. Personal tragedy also struck him at this time when, on or about 19 June 1282, his wife
Eleanor de MontfortEleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon was a daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England. She was also the first woman who can be shown to have used the title Princess of Wales....
, died shortly after giving birth to their daughter
GwenllianGwenllian ferch Llywelyn was the only child of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Tywysog Cymru . She is sometimes confused with Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd, who lived two centuries earlier.- Lineage :...
.
Events followed a similar pattern to 1277, with Edward's forces capturing Gwynedd Is Conwy, Anglesey and taking the harvest. The force occupying Anglesey were defeated, however, when trying to cross to the mainland in the
Battle of Moel-y-don. The Archbishop of Canterbury tried mediating between Llywelyn and Edward, and Llywelyn was offered a large estate in England if he would surrender Wales to Edward, while Dafydd was to go on crusade and not return without the king's permission. In an emotional reply, which has been compared to the
Declaration of ArbroathThe Declaration of Arbroath is a declaration of Scottish independence, made in 1320. It is in the form of a letter submitted to Pope John XXII, dated 6 April 1320, intended to confirm Scotland's status as an independent, sovereign state and defending Scotland's right to use military action when...
, Llywelyn said he would not abandon the people whom his ancestors had protected since "the days of
KamberCamber, also Kamber, was the legendary first king of Cambria, according to the Geoffrey of Monmouth in the first part of his influential 12th-century pseudohistory Historia Regum Britanniae. According to Geoffrey, Cambria, the classical name for Wales, was named for him.Camber was the son of...
son of
BrutusBrutus or Brute of Troy is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Æneas, known in mediæval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain...
". The offer was refused.
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. During the
Battle of Orewin BridgeThe Battle of Orewin Bridge was fought between English and Welsh armies on December 11, 1282 near Builth Wells in mid-Wales...
at
Builth WellsBuilth Wells is a town in the county of Powys, within the historic boundaries of Brecknockshire, mid Wales, lying at the confluence of the River Wye and the River Irfon, in the Welsh of the Wye Valley. It has a population of 2,352....
, he was killed while separated from his army. The exact circumstances are unclear and there are two conflicting accounts of his death. Both accounts agree that Llywelyn was tricked into leaving the bulk of his army and was then attacked and killed. The first account says that Llywelyn and his chief minister approached the forces of
Edmund Mortimer-Members of the Marcher family of Mortimer:*Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Wigmore*Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, and his second son*Edmund Mortimer, son of the 3rd Earl*Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March...
and Hugh Le Strange after crossing a bridge. They then heard the sound of battle as the main body of his army was met in battle by the forces of Roger Dispenser and Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn. Llywelyn turned to rejoin his forces and was pursued by a lone lancer who struck him down. It was not until some time later that an English knight recognised the body as that of the prince. This version of events was written in the north of England some fifty years later and has suspicious similarities with details about the
Battle of Stirling BridgeThe Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham near Stirling, on the River Forth.-The main...
in Scotland. An alternative version of events written in the east of England by monks in contact with Llywelyn's exiled daughter, Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, and niece,
Gwladys ferch DafyddGwladys ferch Dafydd was the daughter of Dafydd ap Gruffudd, the last free Prince of Wales, and Elizabeth Ferrers. She probably spent most her life in the company of her father in England and Gwynedd....
, states that Llywelyn, at the front of his army, approached the combined forces of Edmund and Roger Mortimer, Hugo Le Strange and Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn on the promise that he would receive their homage. This was a deception. His army was immediately engaged in fierce battle during which a significant section of it was routed, causing Llywelyn and his eighteen retainers to become separated. At around dusk, Llywelyn and a small group of his retainers (which included clergy), were ambushed and chased into a wood at
AberedwAberedw is a village in the Welsh county of Powys.The ruins of the medieval Aberedw Castle are nearby.It is also the site of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death, although it is commonly thought that this occurred in Cilmeri, where his men were finally defeated....
. Llywelyn was surrounded and struck down. As he lay dying, he asked for a priest and gave away his identity. He was then killed and his head hewn from his body. His person was searched and various items recovered, including a list of "conspirators", (which may well have been faked), and his privy seal.
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, dated 17 December 1282 (Lambeth PalaceLambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...
Archives)http://www.cilmeri.org/eng/?page_id=5
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
pilloryThe pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
for a day, and crowned with
ivyIvy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...
{i.e. to show he was a "king" of Outlaws} and in mockery of the ancient Welsh prophecy, which said that a Welshman would be crowned in London as king of the whole of Britain. Then it was carried by a horseman on the point of his lance to the
Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
and set up over the gate. It was still on the Tower of London 15 years later
http://www.cilmeri.org/eng/?page_id=5.
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 Cistercian
AbbeyAn abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
at
AbbeycwmhirAbbeycwmhir or Abbey Cwmhir is a village in the valley of the Clywedog brook in Powys, Wales.- The Abbey :The village is named after Cwmhir Abbey, the Cistercian abbey built there in 1143. It was the largest Abbey in Wales but was never completed. Its fourteen bay nave was longer than Canterbury...
. On 28 December 1282 Archbishop Peckham wrote a letter to the Archdeacon of Brecon at Brecon Priory, in order to;
...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.http://www.cilmeri.org/eng/?page_id=5
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.http://www.cilmeri.org/eng/?page_id=5
Another theory is that his body was transferred to
Llanrumney HallLlanrumney is a district and suburb in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.-History:The land where modern Llanrumney stands was left to Keynsham Abbey by the Lord of Glamorgan after the Norman Conquest...
in
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
.
The poet Gruffydd ab yr Ynad Coch wrote in an
elegyIn literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
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 TywysogionBrut y Tywysogion is one of the most important primary sources for Welsh history. It is an annalistic chronicle that serves as a continuation of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae. Brut y Tywysogion has survived as several Welsh translations of an original Latin version, which has...
, "…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
AbergwyngregynAbergwyngregyn is a village of historical note in Gwynedd, a county and principal area in Wales. Under its historic name of Aber Garth Celyn it was the seat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd....
at Bera Mountain, together with his family, brought before Edward, then taken to
ShrewsburyShrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
where a special session of
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
condemned him to death. He was dragged through the streets,
hanged, drawn and quarteredTo be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
.
After the final defeat of 1283 Gwynedd was stripped of all royal insignia, relics and regalia. Edward took particular delight in appropriating the royal home of the Gwynedd dynasty. In August 1284 he set up his court at
AbergwyngregynAbergwyngregyn is a village of historical note in Gwynedd, a county and principal area in Wales. Under its historic name of Aber Garth Celyn it was the seat of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd....
, Gwynedd. With equal deliberateness he removed all the insignia of majesty from Gwynedd; a coronet was solemnly presented to the shrine of St. Edward at Westminster; the matrices of the seals of Llywelyn, of his wife, and his brother Dafydd were melted down to make a chalice which was given by the king to
Vale Royal AbbeyVale Royal Abbey is a medieval abbey, and later country house, located in Whitegate, between Northwich and Winsford in Cheshire, England.The abbey was founded in 1270 by Edward I for monks of the austere Cistercian order...
where it remained until the dissolution of that institution in 1538 (after which it came into the possession of the family of the final abbot.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39978) The most precious religious relic in Gwynedd, the fragment of the True Cross known as
Cross of NeithThe Cross of Neith was a sacred relic believed to be a fragment of the True Cross which had been kept at Aberconwy by the kings and princes of Gwynedd, members of the Aberffraw dynasty who established the Principality of Wales. They believed it afforded them and their people divine protection...
, was paraded through London in May of 1285 in a solemn procession on foot led by the king, the queen, the archbishop of Canterbury and fourteen bishops, and the magnates of the realm. Edward was thereby appropriating the historical and religious regalia of the house of Gwynedd and placarding to the world the extinction of its dynasty and the annexation of the principality to his Crown. Commenting on this a contemporary chronicler is said to have declared "and then all Wales was cast to the ground."
Most of Llywelyn's relatives ended their lives in captivity — with the notable exceptions of his younger brother
RhodriRhodri ap Gruffudd was the third or fourth son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr. He was the younger brother of both Llywelyn the Last of Gwynedd, Prince of Wales) and of Owain Goch ap Gruffydd...
who had long since sold his claim to the crown and endeavoured to keep a very low profile, and a distant cousin,
Madog ap LlywelynMadog ap Llywelyn, or Prince Madoc, was from a junior branch of the House of Aberffraw and a distant relation of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last recognised native Prince of Wales.-Lineage:...
, who led a future revolt and claimed the title
Prince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
in 1294. Llywelyn and Eleanor's baby daughter
Gwenllian of WalesGwenllian ferch Llywelyn was the only child of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Tywysog Cymru . She is sometimes confused with Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd, who lived two centuries earlier.- Lineage :...
was captured by Edward's troops in 1283. She was interned at Sempringham Priory in England for the rest of her life, becoming a
NunA nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
in 1317 and dying without issue in 1337 probably knowing little of her heritage and speaking none of her language.
Dafydd's two surviving
sonsLlywelyn ap Dafydd , de jure Prince of Gwynedd , was the eldest son of Dafydd ap Gruffydd the last free ruler of Gwynedd and his wife Elizabeth Ferrers. Nothing is known of his early life, though it is thought he was probably born some time around 1267...
were captured and incarcerated at
BristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
Gaol where they eventually died many years later. Llywelyn's elder brother Owain Goch disappears from the record in 1282 and the presumption is that he was murdered. Llywelyn's surviving brother
RhodriRhodri ap Gruffudd was the third or fourth son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr. He was the younger brother of both Llywelyn the Last of Gwynedd, Prince of Wales) and of Owain Goch ap Gruffydd...
(who had been exiled from Wales since 1272) survived and held manors in Gloucestershire, Cheshire, Surrey and Powys and died around 1315. His grandson,
Owain LawgochOwain Lawgoch, , full name Owain ap Thomas ap Rhodri , was a Welsh soldier who served in Spain, France, Alsace and Switzerland. He led a Free Company fighting for the French against the English in the Hundred Years' War...
, later claimed the title
Prince of WalesPrince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
. The male blood line of Cunedda was widely considered to have become extinct after his assassination in 1378 but may have survived to the present day in Welsh society through the families of Sir John Wynn, 1st Baronet of
GwydirGwydir may refer to:Australia*Gwydir Highway, New South Wales*Gwydir River, New South Wales*Division of Gwydir, electoral divisionUnited Kingdom*Gwydir Castle, Conwy, Wales*Gwydir Forest, Conwy, Wales...
and the
Anwyl of Tywyn FamilyAnwyl of Tywyn are a Welsh family who trace their descent to Owain Gwynedd. They claim direct patrilinear descent from Owain, who was King of Gwynedd from 1137 - 1170 and a scion of the royal House of Aberffraw...
(descendants of
Owain GwyneddOwain Gwynedd ap Gruffydd , in English also known as Owen the Great, was King of Gwynedd from 1137 until his death in 1170. He is occasionally referred to as "Owain I of Gwynedd"; and as "Owain I of Wales" on account of his claim to be King of Wales. He is considered to be the most successful of...
).
Family tree
Historical fiction
The life of Llywelyn the Last is the subject of
Edith PargeterEdith Mary Pargeter, OBE, BEM , also known by her nom de plume Ellis Peters, was a British author of works in many categories, especially history and historical fiction, and was also honoured for her translations of Czech classics; she is probably best known for her murder mysteries, both...
'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 stories of Llywelyn Fawr, Llywelyn ap Gryffydd and Davydd ap Gryffydd are depicted in Sharon Penman's Welsh Trilogy: 'Here be Dragons' (1985); 'Falls the Shadow' (1988); and 'The Reckoning' (1991).
External links
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