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Seisyll ap Dyfnwal was a 12th-century Welsh Lord of Gwent Uwchcoed (Upper Gwent).
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2023) |
Seisyll ap Dyfnwal was a 12th-century Welsh Lord of Gwent Uwchcoed (Upper Gwent).
Seisyll was the son of Dyfnwal ap Caradog ap Ynyr Fychan and his wife, said to have been Joyce daughter of Hamelin de Balun. He was a brother-in-law of Rhys ap Gruffydd, the Lord Rhys, King of Deheubarth.
He held lands in present-day Monmouthshire, part of the old Welsh Kingdom of Gwent, and his main base was at Castell Arnallt, a motte and bailey style fortified site situated near the River Usk a few miles south of Abergavenny, near modern-day Llanover. [1] It is today just a mound in a riverside field.
Seisyll ap Dyfnwal is best known for being an unwitting victim of the Norman Baron, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, who had him killed [2] on or very near Christmas Day[ citation needed ] 1175 at Abergavenny Castle. [3]
Seisyll, his eldest son Geoffrey, along with other Welsh princes and leaders from the area, were invited to Abergavenny Castle [4] for a banquet [5] by de Braose under a pretext of communication. [3] During the banquet, de Braose announced that a new order had come from the king, which stated that no one was to travel armed anymore. He insisted on the Welsh taking an oath to abide by this. When the Welsh refused, de Braose used this as a pretext to have his men, who were lying in wait, kill everyone present. Since they were eating, none of the Welsh were armed. [4] [3] [1]
De Braose and his men then mounted horses and galloped the few miles to Seisill's home where they caught and murdered his younger son, Cadwalladr a boy of seven years of age and captured his wife, whose exact fate is uncertain. [6] [4]
De Braose's act was to avenge his own uncle's death. His uncle, Henry FitzMiles, was believed to have been killed by Seisyll or other Welsh around Easter of that year. [3] [4] [1] De Braose's strategy was to eliminate all those who could have done it and effectively remove the experienced leadership of the Welsh forces in the area, destabilising the region and seize the opportunity to gain the upper hand.
The effect was to drive a massive wedge into Anglo-Welsh relations for generations to come.
De Braose earned the nickname the 'Ogre of Abergavenny' for his conduct and his follow-up retribution on his enemy's families. [5] Seisyll's death was avenged in 1182 [7] or 1184 [8] [1] by Hywel ap Iorwerth, the Welsh lord of Caerleon, in a campaign in which the sheriff of Hereford, Randulph de Poer, was killed, Abergavenny castle stormed and another castle, Dingestow Castle, destroyed. [7] [9] De Braose later fell from royal favor, dying in exile. [7]
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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.
Henry FitzMiles, Baron Abergavenny was a Norman baron and a Marcher Lord in the Welsh Marches.
Isabella, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon was the eldest daughter of William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny, and his wife Eva Marshal. Isabella was wed to Dafydd II, Prince of Wales, though their marriage proved childless.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1101–1200 to Wales and its people.
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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.
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