Welsh Heroes

The story of the First Price Of Wales and his Family

Llywelyn Ap Iorwerth
d. April 11, 1240, Aberconway, Gwynedd, Wales
byname LLYWELYN THE GREAT, Welsh prince, the most outstanding native ruler to appear in Wales before the region came under English rule in 1283.
Llywelyn was the grandson of Owain Gwynedd (d. 1170), a powerful ruler of Gwynedd in northern Wales. While still a child, Llywelyn was exiled by his uncle, David. He deposed David in 1194 and by 1202 had brought most of northern Wales under his control. In 1205 he married Joan, the illegitimate daughter of England's King John (reigned 1199-1216). Nevertheless, when Llywelyn's attempts to extend his authority into southern Wales threatened English possessions, John invaded Wales (1211) and overran most of Gwynedd. The prince soon won back his lands. He secured his position by allying with John's powerful baronial opponents, and his actions helped the barons influence the king's signing of Magna Carta (1215).
Two years after the accession of King Henry III (reigned 1216-72), the English acknowledged that Llywelyn controlled almost all of Wales, but by 1223 they had forced him to withdraw to the north behind a boundary between Cardigan, Dyfed, and Builth, Powys. Many Welsh princes in the south, however, still accepted his overlordship. In his last years the aged Llywelyn turned his government over to his son David (prince of Gwynedd). When Llywelyn died, a chronicler described him as prince of Wales, which he was in fact, if not in law.

David Ap Llywelyn
b. c. 1208d. Feb. 25, 1246, Aber, Gwynedd, Wales
Welsh prince, ruler of the state of Gwynedd in northern Wales from 1240 to 1246.
His father, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, had made Gwynedd the centre of Welsh power, and his mother, Joan, was the illegitimate daughter of King John of England (ruled 1199-1216). Although Llywelyn designated David as his successor, his half brother Gruffudd opposed him. While the aged Llywelyn lay ill, David seized Gruffudd and imprisoned him (1239). Llywelyn died in April 1240, and in August 1241 David was forced by England's King Henry III to cede part of his territory and surrender Gruffudd to the English. Henry planned to turn Gruffudd loose against David should the need arise, but in 1244 Gruffudd broke his neck and died while attempting to escape from the Tower of London. Freed of the threat from his rival, David went to war against Henry, declaring himself prince of Wales--the first Welsh ruler to adopt this title. David fell ill and died while the fighting was in progress. Because he left no heirs, the sons of Gruffudd ruled Gwynedd until Wales fell to the English in 1283.

Llywelyn Ap Gruffudd
d. Dec. 11, 1282, near Builth, Powys, Wales
prince of Gwynedd in northern Wales who struggled unsuccessfully to drive the English from Welsh territory. He was the only Welsh ruler to be officially recognized by the English as prince of Wales, but within a year after his death Wales fell completely under English rule.
Although Llywelyn ap Gruffudd's grandfather, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (d. 1240), had made Gwynedd the centre of Welsh power, the state nearly collapsed during the brief reign of his son David ap Llywelyn (1240-46). When David died in 1246, Llywelyn and his brother Owain divided the remaining territory. In 1255 Llywelyn seized Owain's lands and set out to assert once again Gwynedd's hegemony over Wales

A common mistake people make in Welsh history is to confuse the two great rulers of thirteenth century Gwynedd, both with the first name 'Llywelyn'. They're not the same person, but they are related.
The first Llywelyn is Llywelyn ap Iorweth, who is better known to us as 'Llywelyn Fawr' - 'Llywelyn the Great'. He ruled in Gwynedd from 1200 to his death in 1240 and towards the end of his life he also ruled most of Powys. To mark him out as an exceptional ruler he adopted the titles of 'Prince of Aberffraw' (Aberffraw in Anglesey was the ancient court of the rulers of Gwynedd) and 'Lord of Snowdonia'.
After his death, Llywelyn Fawr, or Llywelyn 1st, was succeeded by his son Dafydd, who did not enjoy the same success as his father. There were disagreements over his succession; Dafydd had an elder half-brother Gruffudd who was born out of wedlock, and many of the Welsh lords felt Gruffudd should take over after Llywelyn 1st. Dafydd had a difficult and short reign. The period up until his death in 1246 saw him losing much of the land acquired by his father, although he did begin calling himself Prince of Wales before the end. This was a title which was to be taken up by his successor, the second son of Dafydd's half-brother Gruffudd.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, or Llywelyn 2nd, became the only Welsh-born Prince of Wales, acknowledged as such by King Henry 3rd in the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267. However, within fifteen years of this treaty Llywelyn 2nd was killed in a skirmish with Anglo-Norman forces in Cilmeri, Builth Wells and Welsh political independence came to an end. The second Llywelyn became known in history as 'Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf' ('Llywelyn Our Last Prince'). His brother Dafydd took on the title �Prince of Wales� after Llywelyn 2nd's death in December 1282 and held it until his agonising death in Shrewsbury in October 1283. Dafydd was the first person in Britain to be 'Hung, Drawn and Quartered' for treason against the English Crown. However, it is Llywelyn 2nd that is remembered as the last true Prince of Wales, and his death was a turning point in the history of Wales.