Llywelyn ap Gruffudd

Llywelyn was the second of the four sons of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, the eldest son of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, and Senana ferch Caradog, The eldest was Owain Goch ap Gruffudd and there were two younger brothers, Dafydd ap Gruffydd and Rhodri ap Gruffudd. Llywelyn's father, Gruffudd (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 Henry III of England. Gruffudd died in 1244 from a fall while trying to escape from his cell at the top of the Tower of London. The window from which he attempted to escape the Tower was bricked up and can still be seen to this day.{{cite web |url=https://www.historyhit.com/the-last-prince-of-wales-the-death-of-llywelyn-ap-gruffudd/ == Early reign ==

Gwynedd division 1247. 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. All of Wales During 1257, Llywelyn aggressively pursued his interests and gained control of lands in Gwrtheyrnion, driving out his cousin, the Anglo-Norman, Roger Mortimer. Then to Powys, which affected his fellow Welshman, Gwenwynwyn, and Deheubarth in South Wales, helping his kin against Norman control going as far as the Bristol Channel, leaving a trail of destruction during the time of Lent. Despite liberating his fellow Welsh folk, some would return to siding with the English upon his departure. The English retaliated by mobilising a force from Scotland to Deganwy in Wales but did not cross into Conwy, which was officially Llywelyn's Welsh territory. Henry III waited for an Irish naval force to attack on land from the west to corner Llywelyn, however, his force never arrived. The acts of aggression were followed by a peace truce for 1258, of which the Marcher Lords, did not completely abide by. 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. In early 1258, Llywelyn was using the title Prince of Wales, and, in 1263, Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd was hostile against the Prince and submitted himself to King Henry. Then in January 1260, Llywelyn pursued his interests internally by dislodging Roger Mortimer of Buellt. This would be an act of war which would be followed by an English decree which was summoned in Oxford on 1 August. Armies assembled at Shrewsbury and Chester with the sole purpose of removing Llywelyn from power. However, the English could not come to an agreement in government over the matter, and a truce was enacted again for a further 2 years. After 2 years the English continued castle building which caused a revolt from the Welsh, who in turn requested and were assisted by Llywelyn in defending their lands in Maelienydd. After, Llywelyn continued his expansion into South Wales to the Lordship of Brecon, where he received fealty from the Welsh who too ousted their Anglo-Norman Marcher Lord Mortimer. This success brought him to the attention of the Montfort family, which would start a new era for Gwynedd and Llywelyn. The change in territory forced Edward I to return to Wales for the first time since 1254. 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. == Supremacy in Wales ==

of 1267: Llywelyn's interests were now not solely excluded to Wales. In England, Simon de Montfort (the Younger) defeated the king's supporters at the Battle of Lewes in 1264 (Second Barons' War), capturing the king and Lord Edward. Llywelyn began negotiations with de Montfort, and in 1265, offered him 25,000 marks in exchange for a permanent peace, 5,000 of which immediately and then 3,000 a year thereafter. The Treaty of Pipton, 22 June 1265, established an alliance between Llywelyn and de Montfort, although Pope Clement IV warned Llywelyn against allying himself with the excommunicated Montfort. As well as the rule of the whole Principality, Llywelyn was offered the castles of Maud, Hawarden, Ellesmere and Montgomery. 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 England away from the kingdom on a crusade, == Treaty of Aberconwy ==

In 1276 Edward declared Llywelyn a rebel, and in 1277 he 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 Gruffudd and Gruffudd 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, 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 de 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. Following the battles, the result was the Treaty of Aberconwy, signed by Llywelyn on 9 November 1277. The outcome and peace accord guaranteed the return of lands to Llywelyn, but at a price. He regained Anglesey and parts of Snowdonia as his Kingdom of Gwynedd ruled as the Prince of Wales with the homage of five lords. He would have to pay a fine of 50,000 marks for the incident and would forgo his share of the rent of Anglesey to the crown. Meanwhile, the Llŷn Peninsula was given to his brother Owain who was released from jail in 1254. Then the Perfeddwlad in Gwynedd was given to Dafydd ap Gruffudd, with a promise that if Llywelyn died without an heir he would be given a share of Gwynedd Uwch Conwy instead. , Edward I of England, Llywelyn II Prince of Wales. 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. == Marriage and family ==

Llywelyn agreed with Edward I and was given permission to be married at the door of Worcester Cathedral on 13 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 19 June 1282 after she gave birth to a daughter named Gwenllian. Some authors have subsequently adopted Lloyd's position and deny the existence of Catherine. However, genealogist Bernard Burke the Norroy and Ulster King of Arms in the 19th century did confirm the evidence of Catherine's supposed lineage which continues in modern times with noble families such the former Welsh Barons of Cymmer-yn-Edeirnion (Hughes of Gwerclas), and the Croft baronets. == Last campaign and death ==

near Builth Wells, erected in 1956 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 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 Gryg (heir of Prince of South Wales/Deheubarth) and rebellion in South Wales, 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 pillory for a day, and crowned with ivy (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 London and set up over the gate. It was still on the Tower of London 15 years later. 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. Edward Longshanks took particular delight in appropriating the royal home of the Gwynedd dynasty. In August 1284, he set up his court at Abergwyngregyn, 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 of his brother Dafydd were melted down to make a chalice which was given by the king to Vale Royal Abbey 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. The most precious religious relic in Gwynedd, the fragment of the True Cross known as Cross of Neith, was paraded through London in May 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 Rhodri ap Gruffudd, who had long since sold his claim to the crown and endeavoured to keep a very low profile, and a distant cousin, Madog ap Llywelyn, who in 1294 led a revolt and briefly claimed the title Prince of Wales. Llywelyn and Eleanor's baby daughter Gwenllian of Wales was captured by Edward's troops in 1283. She was interned at Sempringham Priory in England for the rest of her life, becoming a nun in 1317 and dying without issue in 1337, probably knowing little of her heritage and speaking none of her language. Dafydd's two surviving sons were captured and incarcerated at Bristol Gaol, where they eventually died many years later. Llywelyn's elder brother Owain Goch ap Gruffudd disappears from the record in 1282. Llywelyn's surviving brother Rhodri ap Gruffudd (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 Lawgoch, later claimed the title Prince of Wales. ==Ancestry==