This is a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Gwynedd . Many of them were also acclaimed "King of the Britons" or "Prince of Wales".
With Hywel's death, all male descendants of Maelgwn Gwynedd have expired. Merfyn the Freckled succeeds through his mother Esyllt, eldest daughter of Cynan Dindaethwy and niece of Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog.
The warfare among the sons of Rhodri meant that the descendants of Anarawd became considered a separate house – called the House of Aberffraw from their principal seat – from the junior branches in Deheubarth and elsewhere.
| Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig r. 1023–1039 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cynan ab Iago d. 1060 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gruffydd ap Cynan 1055-1081-1137 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owain Gwynedd 1100-1137-1170 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd r. 1170 | Iorwerth Drwyndwn 1145–1174 | Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd Prince 1170–1195 | Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd Prince 1170–1173 | Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd Prince 1170–1195 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Llywelyn the Great 1173-1195-1240 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Llywelyn the Great 1173-1195-1240 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr 1200–1244 | Dafydd ap Llywelyn 1215-1240-1246 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owain Goch ap Gruffydd d. 1282 | Llywelyn ap Gruffudd 1223-1246-1282 | Dafydd ap Gruffydd 1238-1282-1283 | Rhodri ap Gruffudd 1230–1315 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gwenllian of Wales 1282–1337 | Llywelyn ap Dafydd 1267-1283-1287 | Owain ap Dafydd 1265-1287-1325 | Tomas ap Rhodri 1300-1325-1363 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Owain Lawgoch 1330–1378 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Llywelyn II, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was the 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 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr and grandson of Llywelyn the Great, 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 the Great. 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.
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was King of Gwynedd and Powys from 1039 and, after asserting his control over the entire country, claimed the title King of Wales from 1055 until his death in 1063. He was the son of Llywelyn ap Seisyll king of Gwynedd and Angharad daughter of Maredudd ab Owain, king of Deheubarth, and the great-great-grandson of Hywel Dda. Gruffydd was the first and only Welsh king to unite all of Wales albeit for a brief period. After his death, Wales was again divided into separate kingdoms.
Gruffudd ap Cynan, sometimes written as Gruffydd ap Cynan, was King of Gwynedd from 1081 until his death in 1137. In the course of a long and eventful life, he became a key figure in Welsh resistance to Norman rule.
Deheubarth was a regional name for the realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to Gwynedd. It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under the House of Dinefwr, but that Deheubarth itself was not considered a proper kingdom on the model of Gwynedd, Powys, or Dyfed is shown by its rendering in Latin as dextralis pars or as Britonnes dexterales and not as a named land. In the oldest British writers, Deheubarth was used for all of modern Wales to distinguish it from Hen Ogledd, the northern lands whence Cunedda originated.
The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom and a Roman Empire successor state that emerged in sub-Roman Britain in the 5th century during the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.
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 here, and this region is referred to in later Welsh literature as "the Paradise of Powys".
Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd was Prince of Gwynedd from 1170 to 1195. For a time he ruled jointly with his brothers Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd and Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd.
Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd, Prince of Gwynedd in 1170, was a Welsh poet and military leader. Hywel was the son of Owain Gwynedd, prince of Gwynedd, and an Irishwoman named Pyfog. In recognition of this, he was also known as Hywel ap Gwyddeles. Hywel is also known as the Poet Prince for his bardic skills.
Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd was prince of part of Gwynedd, one of the kingdoms of medieval Wales. He ruled from 1175 to 1195.
Tomas ap Rhodri or Thomas Rothery was the only known son of Rhodri ap Gruffudd, the youngest son of Prince Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr and younger brother to both Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Dafydd ap Gruffydd. After the deaths of Llywelyn, Dafydd, and their eldest brother Owain the Red between 1282 and 1283, Rhodri became the most senior member of the Aberffraw Dynasty to retain his liberty because he had sold his rights of succession to his brother Llywelyn around 1270 before he had had any children of his own. Tomas did not make any claim himself to the throne of Gwynedd.
Llywarch ap Llywelyn was an important medieval Welsh poet. He is also known by his bardic name, "Prydydd y Moch".
The Royal House of Dinefwr was a cadet branch of the Royal House of Gwynedd, founded by King Cadell ap Rhodri, son of Rhodri the Great. Their ancestor, Cunedda Wledig, born in late Roman Britain, was a Sub-Roman warlord who founded the Kingdom of Gwynedd during the 5th century, following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain. As Celtic Britons, the House of Dinefwr was ruling before the Norman conquest, having to fight with their neighbors such as the Celtics, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, before struggling with the Normans afterwards. Many members of this family were influential in Welsh history, such as Hywel Dda, who codified Welsh law under his rule, and achieved the important title of King of the Britons, or Lord Rhys, Prince of Wales, who rebelled against Richard the Lionheart, and became one of the most powerful Welsh leaders of the Middle Ages.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1101–1200 to Wales and its people.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 901–1000 to Wales and its people.
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.
The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose descendants founded the Welsh Royal Houses. The other medieval Welsh dynasties were the Royal Houses of Dinefwr, Mathrafal.