Gwynedd

Who rules

Name

Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (later called Llywelyn Fawr, the Great)

Title

Prince of North Wales; in his charter to Aberconwy of 7 January 1199 'prince of the whole of North Wales' (totius Norwallie princeps)

Since

Shared Gwynedd east of the Conwy from his victory over his uncle Dafydd ab Owain at Aberconwy in 1194; sole ruler there from 1197; master of Gwynedd west of the Conwy except Llyn, Eifionydd and Meirionnydd since the battle in Arfon at Epiphany 1199

Born

About 1173, probably at Dolwyddelan in Nant Conwy (most historians prefer 1173 to the 1176 implied by Gerald of Wales)

Family

Son of Iorwerth Drwyndwn (died before 1174), eldest son of Owain Gwynedd, and Marared daughter of Madog ap Maredudd of Powys. Unmarried. His partner Tangwystl daughter of Llywarch Goch bore him Gruffudd (born about 1196, so about three or four) and a daughter Gwenllian; whether Tangwystl is alive on 1 January 1200 is not pinned (some genealogies give about 1198 for her death). Cousins and rivals: Gruffudd and Maredudd, sons of Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd. Uncle Dafydd ab Owain, deposed and released in 1198, lives in exile in England (see Dafydd ab Owain). He had sought papal leave to marry the widow of his uncle Rhodri, a daughter of Rognvaldr (Reginald) king of Man and the Isles; that plan was dropped (date not pinned, before 1205).

Confidence

high

Wikipedia (Llywelyn the Great, citing Pryce, Acts of Welsh Rulers, and R. R. Davies); Dictionary of Welsh Biography.

Overlord

None in practice. The kings of England claim the homage of the Welsh princes; Llywelyn does homage to John only under the treaty of July 1201.

What the realm holds

• Anglesey (Mon): the cantrefs of Aberffraw, Cemais and Rhosyr, with the royal llys at Aberffraw and the grain of the island
• Arfon and Arllechwedd (with Nant Conwy), with the llysoedd at Aber (Garth Celyn) and the Snowdon passes, taken from his cousins at Epiphany 1199
• The Perfeddwlad east of the Conwy: Rhos, Rhufoniog, Dyffryn Clwyd and Tegeingl, held since 1194-97
• The castle of Mold (Yr Wyddgrug) in Ystrad Alun, taken at Epiphany 1199
• Patronage of the Cistercian abbey of Aberconwy, to which he gave his great charter on 7 January 1199

How it was acquired

By war against his uncles Dafydd and Rhodri (1188-1197) and his cousins the sons of Cynan (1195-1201), helped by Archbishop Hubert Walter's mediation in 1198 when Dafydd was released into England.

Allies and rivals

Rivals: his cousins Gruffudd and Maredudd ap Cynan; his exiled uncle Dafydd ab Owain and Dafydd's son Owain; Ranulf III earl of Chester, whose steward's castle of Mold he took in 1199; Gwenwynwyn of Powys, the other claimant to lead native Wales. Ties: Madog ap Gruffudd Maelor of northern Powys is his first cousin through his mother's kin; the Cistercians of Aberconwy.

The realm that morning

Llywelyn holds Anglesey, Arfon, Arllechwedd and the Perfeddwlad as far as Mold. Gruffudd ap Cynan and Maredudd ap Cynan hold Meirionnydd, Eifionydd and Llyn under no one but themselves. Elise ap Madog holds Penllyn. The English hold no castle in Tegeingl or west of it: Owain Gwynedd took Rhuddlan, Prestatyn and Basingwerk in 1167, and Degannwy is in Welsh hands. The earl of Chester holds the march at Hawarden and the Dee.

Wealth

Cattle, the grain of Anglesey, the dues and food-renders of the bond townships (tir cyfrif and maerdref), the prince's share of wrecks, fisheries and the Conwy and Menai ferries, horses, and the tolls of the coastal trade with Chester, Ireland and Man. No mint.

Military

The teulu (the prince's household war-band) and the levy of free men of the cantrefs, strong in mountain warfare and ambush, short of siege engines. Castles of earth and timber at Degannwy, Rhuddlan, Mold and the prince's mottes; Dolwyddelan was rebuilt in stone by Llywelyn himself, later. No figures survive for 1200.

Threats

• The earl of Chester's wish to recover Mold and Tegeingl
• His cousins in Meirionnydd and Llyn
• An English king freed from his French war
• Gwenwynwyn of Powys as rival leader of the Welsh

Officers

His distain (steward) and the officers of the llys are not pinned for 1199-1200. The bishop of Bangor is Robert of Shrewsbury (consecrated 1197); St Asaph's bishop is Reiner (from 1186). Both are suffragans of Canterbury (the campaign notes call the Welsh sees thin).

Court winter 1199 in 1200

Not pinned. He was at Aberconwy on 7 January 1199. The main llysoedd of the princes were Aberffraw, Aber (Garth Celyn), Trefriw and Rhuddlan's district; Dolwyddelan in Nant Conwy was his birthplace.

Treaties and truces

No written agreement with King John is in force on 1 January 1200: the first, the earliest surviving treaty between an English king and a Welsh ruler, is of 11 July 1201. Some accounts speak of a treaty in 1200: not pinned. Llywelyn sent men to help Gwenwynwyn of Powys at Painscastle in 1198.

Coinage

None of its own; English silver pennies circulate.

Rome and interdict

Not under interdict. The Welsh princes back Gerald of Wales's cause at Rome for St Davids as a metropolitan see free of Canterbury (see the campaign notes); how far Llywelyn is committed is not pinned.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200 (day not pinned; the chronicle gives the year)Gruffudd ap Cynan dies as a monk at Aberconwy; Llywelyn takes his share of the inheritance.Depends on: Natural death in the habit of a monk. Stopped by: Play changing Gruffudd's circumstances; his son Hywel ap Gruffudd later holds Meirionnydd under Llywelyn.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1201Llywelyn takes Llyn and Eifionydd from Maredudd ap Cynan, charged with treachery.Depends on: Maredudd's weakness and Llywelyn's free hand in the north. Stopped by: Maredudd finding a protector in John or Gwenwynwyn.
2. 11 July 1201Treaty with King John's justiciar and councillors: Llywelyn swears fealty and does homage, his conquests are confirmed and disputes over land are to be heard by Welsh law.Depends on: John's wish for quiet on the March while he fights in France. Stopped by: War between Llywelyn and the earl of Chester or the March.
3. 1202Llywelyn takes Penllyn from Elise ap Madog and Meirionnydd from Maredudd; his attack on Gwenwynwyn in August 1202 is called off by the clergy.Depends on: His growing strength after 1201. Stopped by: A league of Gwenwynwyn, Elise and the English.

Places of note

• Aberconwy abbey: Cistercian abbey and the prince's church; his charter of 7 January 1199
• Aberffraw: The ancient royal llys of Anglesey
• Mold castle: Taken from the earl of Chester's steward at Epiphany 1199

Where the sources disagree

• Mold: Llywelyn took Mold at Epiphany in the year the sources call 1199, the day before his Aberconwy charter of 'the day after Epiphany 1199' (Pryce, Acts of Welsh Rulers no. 218, dated 7 January 1199). If the year in that charter were reckoned from Lady Day, the date would be 6-7 January 1200, five days after the game opens. Modern authorities (Pryce, Davies, Lloyd, the Brut under 1199) take January 1199, and so does this record.
• Wikipedia gives both 1200 and July 1201 for Llywelyn's treaty with John; the written treaty is dated 11 July 1201.

Evidence: The Welsh chronicle (Brut y Tywysogion) gives years, rarely days; Llywelyn's own charters and the English records fix a few dates.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• The Patent Rolls and Close Rolls of King John (1201 to 1216 (patent), 1204 to 1227 (close), at the royal chancery). Not direct witnesses to 1200: the surviving patent rolls begin in May 1201 (3 John) and the close rolls in 1204. Read online
• The Journey through Wales; The Description of Wales, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis) (Itinerarium 1191, revised to about 1214; Descriptio 1194). The standing description of Wales a decade before 1200: the cantrefs and their lords, the castles of the March, the bishoprics, the Welsh way of fighting and living, and Gerald's advice on how the Welsh might be conquered and how they might resist. Read online