Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog (died c. 1216) was the last major ruler of mid Wales before the completion of the Norman English invasion. He was one of few native rulers to represent a real threat to the rule of Llywelyn the Great.
Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog (died c. 1216) was the last major ruler of mid Wales before the completion of the Norman English invasion. He was one of few native rulers to represent a real threat to the rule of Llywelyn the Great.
Gwenwynwyn ruled southern Powys (Powys Wenwynwyn) from 1195, and was given charge of the kingdom following the retirement of his father Owain Cyfeiliog. Prior to this, in 1187, he had made an attack on Carreghofa Castle with his brother Cadwallon, in the course of which they killed their father's cousin and former ally, Owain Fychan. [2] He had assisted Maelgwn ap Rhys in taking Aberystwyth Castle and capturing Maelgwn's brother Gruffydd ap Rhys II, whom he handed over to the English. His military ambitions were temporarily thwarted by his failure at the siege of Painscastle, when Gruffydd returned to battle. [3]
Owain Cyfeiliog had been a notable poet as well as a leader of the resistance against English invasion, and chose to enter the abbey of Strata Marcella in later life; he died in 1197, two years after becoming a monk. Gwenwynwyn continued his father's strategy and is thought to have been one of the Welsh rulers who made an agreement with King Richard I of England not to attack his kingdom while he was away on crusade. In 1199, he made peace with Richard's successor, John. [2] He was rewarded with marriage to an English noblewoman, Margaret Corbet, the daughter of the Lord of the border territory of Caus, around 1200, as well as the grant of the manor of Ashford. [2]
Gwenwynwyn's possession of Powys Wenwynwyn brought him into conflict with Llywelyn the Great, ruler of Gwynedd, who was keen to extend his own jurisdiction over the whole of Wales. In 1202 there was an uneasy peace between the two Welsh princes as Gwenwynwyn began attacking Marcher lords, thus losing John's favour; this eventually resulted in his being imprisoned at Shrewsbury. [2]
King John favoured Gwenwynwyn until a marriage alliance was made between Llywelyn and John's illegitimate daughter. The two native princes kept their distance until 1207. As a result of Gwenwynwyn's aggression, John took him prisoner in 1208 and confiscated his lands, while Llywelyn seized Ceredigion, Aberystwyth, and Powys. [4]
Gwenwynwyn's lands were restored to him as a result of John's intervention after two years. [2] Freed by the King, he recovered most of his possessions, and accompanied John on an expedition into Wales. However, his continued resentment towards the English led him into an alliance with Llywelyn, which lasted from 1212 until 1216, when John again restored some of Gwenwynwyn's property and the two Welsh princes fell out again. [5] Gwenwynwyn was pursued by Llywelyn, who took his lands, and he took refuge in Chester. [6]
Llywelyn invaded Powys, backed by other leaders of the Welsh alliance against the English. [7] Gwenwynwyn, having been driven out of his lands, is believed to have died or been killed later that same year. He was succeeded by Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, his son by Margaret Corbet, who was eventually restored to his lands after Llywelyn's death, and continued to feud with the princes of Gwynedd. [2]
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn II, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was Prince of Gwynedd, and later was recognised as the Prince of Wales from 1258 until his death at Cilmeri in 1282. Llywelyn was the son of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Iorwerth and grandson of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, and he was one of the last native and independent princes of Wales before its conquest by Edward I of England and English rule in Wales that followed, until Owain Glyndŵr held the title during the Welsh Revolt of 1400–1415.
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn the Great, was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominated Wales for 45 years.
Owain ap Gruffudd was King of Gwynedd, North Wales, from 1137 until his death in 1170, succeeding his father Gruffudd ap Cynan. He was called Owain the Great and the first to be styled "Prince of Wales" and the "Prince of the Welsh". He is considered to be the most successful of all the North Welsh princes prior to his grandson, Llywelyn ab Iorwerth. He became known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from the contemporary king of Powys Wenwynwyn, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Maredudd, who became known as Owain Cyfeiliog.
The Kingdom of Powys was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. It very roughly covered the northern two-thirds of the modern county of Powys and part of today's English West Midlands. More precisely, and based on the Romano-British tribal lands of the Ordovices in the west and the Cornovii in the east, its boundaries originally extended from the Cambrian Mountains in the west to include the modern West Midlands region of England in the east. The fertile river valleys of the Severn and Tern are found there, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".
Maelgwn ap Rhys was prince of part of the kingdom of Deheubarth in south west Wales.
Madog ap Maredudd was the last prince of the entire Kingdom of Powys, Wales. He held for a time, the FitzAlan Lordship of Oswestry, family of the Earls of Arundel, of Arundel Castle. His daughter married Lord Rhys, prince of Wales.
Owain ap Gruffydd was a prince of the southern part of Powys and a poet. He is usually known as Owain Cyfeiliog to distinguish him from other rulers named Owain, particularly his contemporary, Owain ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd, who is known as Owain Gwynedd.
Powys Fadog was the northern portion of the former princely realm of Powys. The princes of Powys Fadog would build their royal seat at Castell Dinas Brân, and their religious center at Valle Crucis Abbey. Some of its lordships included those of Maelor, Mochnant, Glyndyfrdwy, Yale, and Bromfield and Yale. Following the division of Powys, their cousin branch, the princes of Powys Wenwynwyn, would build Powis Castle.
Powys Wenwynwyn or Powys Cyfeiliog was a Welsh kingdom which existed during the high Middle Ages. The realm was the southern portion of the former princely state of Powys which split following the death of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys in 1160: the northern portion (Maelor) went to Gruffydd Maelor and eventually became known as Powys Fadog; while the southern portion (Cyfeiliog) going to Owain Cyfeiliog and becoming known, eventually, as Powys Wenwynwyn after Prince Gwenwynwyn ab Owain, its second ruler.
Rhys Gryg, real name Rhys ap Rhys, also known as Rhys Fychan, was a Welsh prince who ruled part of the Kingdom of Deheubarth.
Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, was the court poet of Madog ap Maredudd, Owain Gwynedd, and Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, and one of the most prominent Welsh poets of the 12th century.
Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn was a Welsh king who was lord of the part of Powys known as Powys Wenwynwyn and sided with Edward I in his conquest of Wales of 1277 to 1283.
Owen de la Pole, also known as Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, was the heir presumptive to the Welsh principality of Powys Wenwynwyn until 1283 when it was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury. He became the 1st Lord of Powis after the death of his father Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn c. 1287. He is not related to the English de la Pole family descended from William de la Pole, Chief Baron of the Exchequer in the following century, later Earls and Dukes of Suffolk.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1101–1200 to Wales and its people.
Wales in the High Middle Ages covers the 11th to 13th centuries in Welsh history. Beginning shortly before the Norman invasion of the 1060s and ending with the Conquest of Wales by Edward I between 1278 and 1283, it was a period of significant political, cultural and social change for the country.
The history of Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th through the 13th centuries. Gwynedd, located in the north of Wales, eventually became the most dominant of Welsh polities during this period. Contact with continental courts allowed for Gwynedd to transition from a petty kingdom into an increasingly sophisticated principality of seasoned courtiers capable of high level deplomacy and representation; not only with the Angevine kings, but also the king of France and the Papal See. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, particularly poets known as the Beirdd y Tywysogion associated with the court of Gwynedd; the reformation of bardic schools; and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel. All three of these further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales.
Y Gorddwr was a medieval commote in the cantref of Ystlyg in the Kingdom of Powys. It was on the eastern side of the River Severn bordering England, on the west it was bordered by two of the other commotes of Ystlyg - Deuddwr in the north and Ystrad Marchell in the south. Its Welsh name could mean "the upper water"; gor- "upper-", dŵr "water".
Hawise Lestrange was the daughter of the Marcher lord John Lestrange (d.1269) of Great Ness, Cheswardine and Knockin (Shropshire). Married at a young age to the ruler of southern Powys, Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn, she became a key figure in border affairs and in the management of her family and estates until her death at a great age. She was deeply implicated in a plot to overthrow the prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, in 1274, and with her husband sided with Edward I in the English king's conquest of Wales.
Rhayader Castle is the remains of a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Rhayader, Powys, Wales. The available documentary sources are not clear enough to distinguish between this site and the castle mound across the river and one or the other was probably built by Rhys ap Gruffydd, Prince of Deheubarth, in 1177. At that time the river formed the border between Gwrtheyrnion and the independent state of Buellt; the town of Rhayader is on the Gwrtheyrnion side of the river.