Everything about Kingdom Of Gwynedd totally explained
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 territory was called
Venedotia in
Latin.
Additionally, it's 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. 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. 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 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
Tegeingle 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. 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.
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. 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.
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. The usurption and conflict it caused eroded central authority in England. Gruffydd ap Rhys' wife
Gwenllian, Princess of Deheubarth, gathered a host for the defense of her country. 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. Cadwaladr, Gruffydd's youngest son, inherited the commote of Aberffraw on Ynys Môn, and the recently conquered Meirionydd and northern Ceredigion, that's Ceredigion between the rivers Aeron and the Dyfi.
The Great Revolt: 1137-1157
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, didn't participate in the battle, keeping the majority of Gwynedd's army at home. 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.
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." Henry II raised his feudal host and marched into Wales from Chester. 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. 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.
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. 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.
Hywel, Dafydd, and Llywelyn 1170-1195
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd duly succeeded his father in 1170, however Owain's widow Cristin ferch Goronwy ab Owain favoured her own sons
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd and
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd. Cristin appears to have been the prime instigator of a revolt organised between a cabal of discontented relatives.
They made their move, and within a few months of his succession Hywel was overthrown and killed at the
Battle of Pentraeth in 1171. Dafydd was the leading figure in this cabal, which naturally included his brother Rhodri as well as his half brother
Maelgwn ab Owain and the nephews of another half brother
Cynan ab Owain, namely Gruffudd ap Cynan and Maredudd ap Cynan.
Althought 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's 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'd 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 ab Owain Gwynedd took no part in the dynastic struggles and most likely died sometime in the mid 1170s. 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".
Principality of Wales, 1195-1282
See also Principality of Wales
Llywelyn, later known as Llywelyn the Great, went on to become ruler of most of Wales. On his death in 1240, the rule of Gwynedd passed to his son
Dafydd ap Llywelyn, but Dafydd died without an heir in 1246 and the kingdom was split between the sons of another son of Llywelyn the Great,
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn. One of these,
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, eventually defeated his brothers and became ruler of all Gwynedd, later extending his rule to other parts of Wales.
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 19th June 1282, giving birth to a daughter, Gwenllian. Rebellion over the rule of the English Crown arose and was joined by Llywelyn. This lead 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'd 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. The nature of his death is reported in the Lambeth Palace Archives . In June 1283 Dafydd ap Gruffudd was capured at Bera Mountain, in the uplands above Gath Celyn. Recorded as being "severely injured" in his capture, he was taken to Edward that day, then moved to Shrewsbury where in October he was hanged, drawn and quartered. The royal children were locked away and never released: the boys in Bristol Castle; the girls in priories in Lincolnshire.
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.
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 clear sight.jpg|Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and Crib Goch in Winter, from Dyffryn Mymbyr
Image:Snowdon in the snow.jpg|The flanks of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in winter
Image:Snowdon massif.jpg|Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) massif from Glyder Fawr
Image: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
BBC Wales/History, The emergence of the principality of Wales http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/nation/pages/principality02.shtml extracted 26 March, 2008
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