The Kingdom of Gwynedd was a Welsh kingdom which first appeared at the turn of the sixth century. Based in northwest Wales, the rulers of Gwynedd repeatedly rose to dominance and were acclaimed as "King of the Britons" before losing their power in civil wars or invasions. The kingdom of Gruffudd ap Llywelynthe King of Wales from 1055 to 1063was shattered by a Saxon invasion in 1063 just prior to the Norman invasion of Wales, but the House of Aberffraw restored by Gruffudd ap Cynan slowly recovered and Llywelyn the Great of Gwynedd was able to proclaim the Principality of Wales at the Aberdyfi gathering of Welsh princes in 1216.

Welsh tradition credited the founding of Gwynedd to figures from Manaw Gododdin, perhaps the region around the mouth of the Firth of Forth, invading the lands of the Brittonic polities of the Deceangli, Ordovices, and Gangani in the 5th century. The true borders of the realm varied over time, but Gwynedd proper was generally thought to comprise the cantrefs of Aberffraw, Cemais, and Cantref Rhosyr on Anglesey and Arllechwedd, Arfon, Dunoding, Dyffryn Clwyd, Llŷn, Rhos, Rhufoniog, and Tegeingl at the mountainous mainland region of Snowdonia opposite.

Etymology

The name is believed to be a borrowing from early Irish (reflective of Irish settlement in the area in antiquity), either cognate with the Old Irish ethnic name , 'Irish people', from Primitive Irish 'forest people' or 'wild people' (from Proto-Indo-European 'wood, wilderness'), or alternatively Old Irish 'war band', from Proto-Celtic (from Proto-Indo-European 'chase, pursue, suppress').

Ptolemy in the 1st century marked the Llŷn Peninsula as the "Promontory of the Gangani", which is also a name he recorded in Ireland. It is theorised in the 1st century BC some of the Gangani tribe may have landed in what is now the Llŷn Peninsula and had driven out the Deceangli or the Ordovices tribe from that area either peacefully or by force. In the late and post-Roman eras, Irish from Leinster

The 5th-century Cantiorix Inscription now in Penmachno church seems to be the earliest record of the name. Neolithic sites have been discovered with tools made from flint, such as near Llanfaethlu, a long house excavated from 6000 years ago. Further examples of human activity in Gwynedd and Anglesey are involved in places such as Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey, which was built in phases starting 5000 years ago. Archeological findings from the Bronze Age, millennia ago, include findings such as the Arthog cauldron, a bronze cauldron from 1100 BC found near the Merioneth border, also named 'The Nannau Bucket' (similar to the Dowris bucket). And the Moel Hebog shield which is also 3,000 years old (similar to the Rhyd-y-gors example), and more recently the Trawsfynydd tankard, which was used to drink mead and beer between 100 BC and 75 AD.

thumb|right|Bryn Eryr, recreation of pre Roman roundhouse, it's a 2,000-year-old Celtic Iron Age home.

Examples of early settlement in Gwynedd are Bryn Eryr near Llansadwrn, Anglesey, now found at the St Fagans National Museum of History, and Garn Boduan, a Celtic hillfort on the Llŷn Peninsula. Iron Age forts were being adapted until after the Roman conquest of Britain, 'Castle of Buan' (Garn Boduan) in Llŷn was recorded as being fortified until the 7th century. During the Roman period, new roads and forts were constructed throughout the Roman empire and for centuries in Wales and England, Welsh examples include Caer Gybi (fort) on Anglesey, and Segontium in Caernarfon, Gwynedd. The establishment of Christianity in Wales also gave rise to a new era; the Romans founded towns with churches and installed governors. During the centuries of sub-Roman Britain, new political structures were established. The Brythonic Kingdom of Gwynedd was established in the 5th century, and it proved to be the most durable of these Brythonic states, surviving until the late 13th century. Noteworthy descendants from the Kingdom of Gwynedd include royalty such as Owain Glyndŵr, and the titular Prince of Wales, also the Salusbury family via Katheryn of Berain. The people mentioned can be associated with the Anglesey-based Tudors of Penmynydd family. The Tudors were ancestors and namesakes of the former English Royal House of Tudor; they were descended from the Welshman Maredudd ap Tudur, The Tudor dynasty became ancestors to the House of Stuart, and the Stuarts formed the European Jacobite family, they include direct descendants in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and other countries on the continent of Europe, and all around the world.

Gwynedd in the Early Middle Ages

Cunedda and his sons

The region became known as Venedotia in Latin. The name was initially attributed to a specific Irish colony on Anglesey but broadened to refer to Irish settlers as a whole in North Wales by the 5th century. According to the 9th-century monk and chronicler Nennius, North Wales was left defenceless by the Roman withdrawal and subject to increasing raids by marauders from the Isle of Man and Ireland, a situation which led Cunedda, his sons and their entourage, to migrate in the mid-5th century from Manaw Gododdin (now Clackmannanshire) to settle and defend North Wales against the raiders and bring the region within Romano-British control. Whether they were invited to keep out the invaders or were raiders themselves, however, is unknown. According to Professor John Davies, "[T]here is a determinedly Brythonic, and indeed Roman, air to early Gwynedd." Nevertheless, there was generally quick abandonment of Roman political, social, and ecclesiastical practices and institutions within Gwynedd and elsewhere in Wales. Roman knowledge was lost as the Romano-Britons shifted towards a streamlined militaristic near-tribal society that no longer included the use of coinage and other complex industries dependent on a money economy, architectural techniques using brick and mortar, and even more basic knowledge such as the use of the wheel in pottery production. was regarded as an able military leader, impetuous and generous. He is attributed in some old stories as hosting the first Eisteddfod, and he is also one of five Celtic British kings castigated for their sins by the contemporary Christian writer Gildas (who referred to him as Maglocunus, meaning 'Prince-Hound' in Brittonic), written in the De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae. Maelgwn was curiously described as "the dragon of the island" by Gildas which was possibly a title, but explicitly as the most powerful of the five named British kings. "[Y]ou the last I write of but the first and greatest in evil, more than many in ability but also in malice, more generous in giving but also more liberal in sin, strong in war but stronger to destroy your soul."

Maelgwn eventually died from the plague in 547, but his death was then avenged by his relatives, who ravaged the coast of Arfon. Rhun counter-attacked and exacted the same penalty on the lands of his foes in what is now South and Central Scotland. The long distances these armies travelled suggests they were moving across the Irish Sea, but, because almost all of what is now northern England was at this point (c. 550) under Brittonic rule, it is possible that his army marched to Strathclyde overland. Rhun returned to Gwynedd, and the rest of his reign was for the majority uneventful until the relatives of Elidir renewed their aggressions against Rhun who was killed in the conflict. He was succeeded by his son or in some accounts nephew Beli ap Rhun in c. 586. Among the most powerful of the early kings was Cadwallon ap Cadfan (c. 624 – 634), grandson of Iago ap Beli. He became engaged in an initially disastrous campaign against Northumbria where following a series of epic defeats he was confined first to Anglesey, and then just to Puffin Island, before being forced into exile across the Irish Sea to Dublin, – a place which would come to host many royal refugees from Gwynedd. All must have seemed lost but Cadwallon () raised an enormous army and after a brief time in Guernsey he invaded Dumnonia, relieved the West Welsh who were suffering a Mercian invasion and forced the pagan Penda of Mercia into an alliance against Northumbria. With new vigour Cadwallon returned to his Northumbrian foes, defeated their armies and slew a series of their kings. In this furious campaign, his armies devastated Northumbria, captured and sacked York in 633 and briefly controlled the kingdom.

Despite the war and 14 battles undertaken by the allied forces of Gwynedd and Mercia against Northumbria, of which the chief one was the Battle of Cefn Digoll in 632, an alliance was concluded when Cadwallon married Alcfritha, daughter of Pybba of Mercia. However, the effect of these tumultuous events would come to be short-lived, for he died in battle in 634 close to Hadrian's Wall, at the Battle of Heavenfield. The Tudors of Penmynydd and Henry VII of England in particular claimed descent from Cadwaladr in the "twenty-second degree". These raids no doubt had a seriously debilitating effect on the country but fortunately for Gwynedd, the victims of the Vikings were not confined to Wales. The House of Cunedda – as the direct descendants of Cunedda are known – eventually expired in the male line in 825 upon the death of Hywel ap Rhodri Molwynog and, as John Edward Lloyd put it, "a stranger possessed the throne of Gwynedd."

thumb|Kingdom of Gwynedd 830

This "stranger" who became the next King of Gwynedd was Merfyn "Frych" (Merfyn "the Freckled").

Merfyn married Nest ferch Cadell, the sister or daughter of Cyngen ap Cadell, the King of Powys of the Gwertherion dynasty, and founded the House of Aberffraw, named after his principal court on Anglesey. No written records are preserved from the Britons of southern Scotland and northern England and it is very likely that Merfyn Frych brought many of these legends as well as his pedigree with him when he came to north Wales. It appears most probable that it was at Merfyn's court that all the lore of the north was collected and written down during his reign and that of his son.

Rhodri the Great (844–878), son of Merfyn Frych and Nest ferch Cadell, was able to add the Powys to his realm after its king (his maternal uncle) died on a pilgrimage to Rome in 855. Later, he married Angharad ferch Meurig, the sister of King Gwgon of Seisyllwg. When Gwgon drowned without an heir in 872, Rhodri became a steward over the kingdom and was able to install his son, Cadell ap Rhodri, as a subject king. Thus, he became the first ruler since the days of Cunedda to control the greater part of Wales.

From the successes of Rhodri and the seniority of Anarawd among his sons the Aberffraw family claimed primacy over all other Welsh lords including the powerful kings of Powys and Deheubarth. the family asserted its rights as the senior line of descendants from Rhodri the Great who had conquered most of Wales during his lifetime. Gruffudd ap Cynan's biography was first written in Latin and intended for a wider audience outside Wales. The significance of this claim was that the Aberffraw family owed nothing to the English king for its position in Wales and that they held authority in Wales "by absolute right through descent," wrote historian John Davies.

Shortly after the Norman conquest of England in 1066 the Normans began to exert pressure on the eastern border of Gwynedd. They were helped by internal strife following the killing of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn in 1075 by his second cousin Rhys ap Owain King of Deheubarth.

Shortly after the Battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081, Gruffudd was lured into a trap with the promise of an alliance but seized by Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester, in an ambush near Corwen. Additionally, Hervey routinely excommunicated parishioners who he perceived as challenging his spiritual and temporal authority. appeared off the coast at Puffin Island, and in the battle that followed, known as the Battle of Anglesey Sound, Magnus shot dead the earl of Shrewsbury with an arrow to the eye. The Norse left as suddenly and as mysteriously as they had arrived, leaving the Norman army weakened and demoralized. Owain ap Edwin transferred his allegiance to Chester following the defeat of his ally Trahaearn ap Caradog in 1081, a move which earned him the epithet Bradwr "the Traitor" (), among the Welsh.

In the melee which followed Henry II might have been slain had not Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford, rescued the king. Henry II retreated and made his way back to his main army, by now slowly advancing towards Rhuddlan. Not wishing to engage the Norman army directly, Owain repositioned himself first at St. Asaph, then further west, clearing the road for Henry II to enter into Rhuddlan "ingloriously".

In a later letter to the Byzantine emperor, Henry probably recalled these experiences when he wrote, "A people called Welsh, so bold and ferocious that, when unarmed, they do not fear to encounter an armed force, being ready to shed their blood in defence of their country, and to sacrifice their lives for renown."

The naval expedition was led by Henry II's maternal uncle (Empress Matilda's half-brother), Henry FitzRoy; and when they landed on Môn, Henry FitzRoy had the churches of Llanbedr Goch and Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf torched. During the night the men of Môn gathered together, and the next morning fought and defeated the Norman army, with Henry FitzRoy falling under a shower of lances. The defeat of his navy and his own military difficulties had convinced Henry II that he had "gone as far as was practical that year" in his effort to subject Owain, and the King offered terms. After 3 years of Maelgwn possessing Anglesey he jailed him too. Eventually, Dafydd I was himself imprisoned by the future Prince of Wales Llywelyn the Great, that was after losing the Battle of Aberconwy against an alliance of Rhodri ab Owain, and the sons of Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd. The Royal palace consisted of positions similar to Royal Households of the United Kingdom used today in England.

Llywelyn followed the laws of Hywel Dda and attempted a succession process using the Welsh gavelkind custom of choosing an heir. Llywelyn promoted his younger son Dafydd II, and according to Hubert Lewis he customised the process of designating an heir to his own fruition by giving his eldest son Gruffudd lands to rule. Dafydd II was named heir with the support of King Henry III of England, during 1238 a Welsh Royal council of Princes was held at Strata Florida Abbey in honour of the heir of Gwynedd. Llywelyn in 1239 suffered a stroke and retired from active work in the Welsh government, he died only a year later in 1240.

Succession would continue with a new King of England, Edward I would later acquire the title of the Prince of Wales. The Treaty of Aberconwy was signed in 1277 by Llywelyn II, it was a formal agreement to hand over the power Gwynedd he had accumulated throughout Wales, and the new House of Plantagenet was of French, Norman origins. However Llywelyn's brother Dafydd III still had different ideas, it was he who provoked the incident by attacking Hawarden castle on Palm Sunday in 1282. Later on in November 1282 the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham, visited North Wales to mediate any potential conflict between sovereigns. Prince Llywelyn II was offered a financial incentive, and an English estate for his family, only if he were to surrender Gwynedd's territory to Edward. Llywelyn II rejected the offer. The next month, on 11 December 1282, after not being recognised Llywelyn was killed in an ambush. His head sent to London, his body interred to Abbeycwmhir. King Edward I decreed, in , and was caught by "men of his own tongue". The last Royal family of Wales were imprisoned, and Dafydd III was executed by hanging in Shrewsbury for treason, his body was dismembered and he suffered same fate as his brother, Llywelyn II with his head put on a pole for display at the Tower of London, the bard Bleddyn Fardd made his elegy. After the capture of the last true Royal family of Gwynedd, the Princes, including Llywelyn ap Dafydd were imprisoned in Bristol Castle by the English Crown, and daughters became Nuns in Sempringham and other monasteries.

The Pura Walia was the new definition for the Welsh marshland. Pura Wallia was effectively the new counties which had been Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire and Marchia Wallie were defined through division of lands still held by the Welsh people and the Norman castles built in the Marchia Wallie. The Pura Walia continued to be within a nominal Principality of Wales ruled by the Council of Wales at Ludlow as a part of the English crown.

There were many Gwynedd-based rebellions after 1284 with varying degrees of success with most being led by peripheral members of the old royal house. In particular the rebellions of Prince Madoc in 1294, The Welsh Marches would be merged with the principality in 1534 under the Council of Wales and the Marches until all separate governance for Wales. The penal system was eventually abolished, and as an administrative entity, the administrative entity the Marches of Wales was abolished by the joint reigns of King William III of England and Mary II of England (monarchs of England and Scotland combined) in 1689.

Military

According to Sir John Edward Lloyd, the challenges of campaigning in Wales were exposed during the 20-year Norman invasion. If a defender could bar any road, control any river-crossing or mountain pass, and control the coastline around Wales, then the risks of extended campaigning in Wales were too great.

Administration

thumb|300px|right|Principal administrative divisions of medieval Gwynedd (traditional territorial extent)

thumb|The [[River Conwy|Afon Conwy is the traditional border between upper and lower Gwynedd]]

In early times Gwynedd (or Venedotia) may have been ruled from Chester, which is shown in the subsidiary title of the current Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester. This site was destroyed by lightning in 812, rebuilt and destroyed again by Saxons in 822. Afterwards Aberffraw on Anglesey became the principal power base, with exceptions such as Gruffydd ap Llywelyn's court at Rhuddlan. However, as the English fleet became more powerful and particularly after the Norman colonisation of Ireland began it became indefensible and from about 1200 until 1283, at Abergwyngregyn or simply called just "Aber" (its anglicised shortened form adopted by the Crown of England after the conquest) was the new family home of the 'Lord of Snowdown' on the banks of the menai Strait. Joan, Lady of Wales, died there in 1237; Dafydd ap Llywelyn in 1246; Eleanor de Montfort, Lady of Wales, wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales ("Tywysog Cymru" in modern Welsh), on 19 June 1282, giving birth to a daughter, Gwenllian. The royal home was occupied and expropriated by the English Crown in early 1283.

The traditional sphere of Aberffraw's influence in north Wales included the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn) as their early seat of authority, and Gwynedd Uwch Conwy (Gwynedd above the Conwy, or upper Gwynedd), and the Perfeddwlad (the Middle Country) also known as Gwynedd Is Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower Gwynedd). Additional lands were acquired through vassalage or conquest, and by regaining lands lost to Marcher lords, particularly that of Ceredigion, Powys Fadog, and Powys Wenwynwyn. However, these areas were always considered an addition to Gwynedd, never part of it.

Gwynedd was traditionally divided into using nature as borders, the rivers Conwy and Dee were used to define lands in relation to the counties.

Anglesey ()

Commote of Anglesey

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|-

!Commote!!Modern local!! Notes

|-

|Aberffraw||Aberffraw||Historic seat of rulers of Gwynedd

|-

|Cemais||Cemaes

|-

|Talebolyon

||||

|-

|Llan-faes||Llan-maes||

|-

|Penrhos

||Penrhos||

|-

|Rhosyr||Newborough, Niwbro||in 1294, refounded to house displaced villagers from Llanfaes

|}

Upper Gwynedd, Conwy

Gwynedd above the Conwy, or upper Gwynedd

Commote of Arllechwedd

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|-

!Commote!!Modern local!! Notes

|-

|Arllechwedd Uchaf||Abergwyngregyn, Conwy County Borough||

|-

|Arllechwedd Isaf||Trefriw, Conwy County Borough ||

|}

Arfon Commote

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|-

!Commote!!Modern local!! Notes

|-

|Arfon Uwch Gwyrfai||Gwynedd||Arfon above Gwyrfai

|-

| Arfon Is Gwyrfai|| Gwynedd ||Arfon beneath Gwyrfai

|}

Dunoding Commote

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|-

!Commote!!Modern local!! Notes

|-

|Ardudwy||Meirionnydd area within Gwynedd||

|-

|Eifionydd||Dwyfor area within Gwynedd|||Named after Eifion ap Dunod ap Cunedda

|}

Commote of Llyn

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|-

!Commote!!Modern local!! Notes

|-

|Dinllaen||Dwyfor council in Gwynedd county||

|-

|Cymydmaen|| Dwyfor council in Gwynedd county||

|-

|Cafflogion||||

|}

Meirionnydd Commote

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left"

|-

!Commote!!Modern local!! Notes

|-

|Ystumaner||Merionethshire council in Gwynedd county||

|-

|Tal-y-bont||||

|}

Lower Gwynedd, Conwy

Also known as Perfeddwlad, or "the Middle Country" or Gwynedd Is Conwy (Gwynedd below the Conwy, or lower Gwynedd)

  • Cantref Tegeingl:
  • Cwnsyllt
  • Prestatyn
  • Rhuddlan
  • Dyffryn Clwyd:
  • Colion
  • Llannerch
  • Dogfeiling
  • Rhufoniog
  • Ceinmeirch
  • Uwch Aled
  • Is Aled
  • Cantref Rhos
  • Uwch Dulas
  • Is Dulas
  • Y Creuddyn

Legacy

Following Edward's conquest, the lands of Gwynedd proper were divided among the English counties of Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Merionethshire, Denbighshire, and Flintshire. The modern principal area of Gwynedd established by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 no longer includes Anglesey.

See also

  • List of rulers of Gwynedd
  • List of rulers in Wales
  • House of Aberffraw
  • King of Wales
  • List of kings in Wales from the Matter of Britain
  • Family tree of Welsh monarchs
  • List of legendary kings of Britain
  • Gwynedd

References

Explanatory notes

General sources

Books

Primary sources

  • –

Secondary sources

Dictionary of Welsh biography sources

Wiki source – Dictionary of National Biography and Encyclopædia

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