Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd

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Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd († February 29, 1172 ) was a Welsh prince of Gwynedd and ruler of Ceredigion .

Life

Youth and rule in Ceredigion

He was the third son of Gruffydd ap Cynan and his wife Angharad. It is first mentioned in 1136 when, after the death of Richard FitzGilbert , Lord of Ceredigion during the Welsh uprising after the death of Henry I , he and his older brother Owain Gwynedd raided north Ceredigion and conquered five castles including Aberystwyth . At the end of the year they returned with a large force and raided the south of Ceredigion. Together with Gruffydd ap Rhys , Prince of Deheubarth, they defeated the Anglo-Normans in a battle of Crug Mawr not far fromCardigan . The town of Cardigan was sacked, but Cardigan Castle could be supplied by ships across the sea and so withstood the siege. In 1137 the two brothers completed the conquest with the capture of the castles in the east and south of the region. In a bold attack they also captured Carmarthen Castle . With this they had reached the height of their successes. Carmarthen could not hold them and in the next year they could not conquer the castle of Cardigan again with the help of Anarawd ap Gruffydd and his brother Cadell , the sons of Gruffydd ap Rhys and lords of Deheubarth and an Irish Viking fleet. Cadwaladr was content with northern Ceredigion as his part in the conquests. After the death of his father in 1137, his brother had given him control of the island of Anglesey and the Cantref Meirionydd . Nevertheless, the relationship with his brother remained tense, on the one hand because Cadwaladr had ambitions to drive his brother out as king, and on the other hand because Owain's sons Hywel and Cynan tried to occupy their uncle's territories.

Alliance with the Earl of Chester and break with Owain Gwynedd

Cadwaldr and his warriors belong to Madog ap Maredudd of Powys and Morgan from Owain of Caerleon to the "terrible Welsh mob" who supported Ranulph, Earl of Chester at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141 . The city is looted and King Stephen is captured. By marrying Alice de Clare, daughter of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, a niece of Ranulph of Chester, Cadwaladr strengthened his position in Ceredigion. A serious crime led to his breakup with his brother Owain Gwynedd in 1143. He allowed his followers to insidiously kill Anarawd ap Gruffydd, the Prince of Deheubarth. Anarawd had been engaged to Owain's daughter, and Owain ordered his son Hywel to evict Cadwaladr from Ceredigion. Cadwaladr fled to Ireland, where he secured military support from the Danes from Dublin. The Danes brought him with a fleet to Anglesey in 1144 so that he could regain his rule there, but he broke with the Danes and fled to his brother, with whom he was reconciled. Yet his position in Gwynedd remained uncertain. In 1147 his nephews Hywel and Cynan drove him out of Meirionydd by invading Cantref together, one from the north, one from the south, and besieging and conquering the castle of Cynfail. In 1149 Cadwaladr handed over his rule in Ceredigion to his son Cadfan. However, this was besieged by Hywel in the new Llanrhystud castle and finally captured after its conquest. In 1152 his brother drove him from the island of Anglesey, his last domain.

For the next five years Cadwaladr lived in exile in England with his relatives by marriage, where he appeared as King of North Wales. Earl Ranulf continued to support him because his holdings in northeast Wales were threatened by the conquests of Owain Gwynedd. King Henry II rewarded Cadwaladr's support during the Civil War by giving him the rule of Ness in Shropshire . In 1157 Cadwaladr took part in the king's campaign against North Wales , and Henry II demanded, as a condition for peace with Owain Gwynedd, that the latter take his brother back and give him his lands back.

Follower of Owain Gwynedd

From then on, Cadwaladr loyally supported his brother. Together with his nephews Hywel and Cynan and five English earls, he undertook a futile campaign against Rhys ap Gruffydd von Deheubarth in 1159 . At the large gathering of Welsh princes and chiefs in Corwen in 1165 , he stood at the side of his brother and then fought against Henry II when he was leading another campaign against Wales. In 1167 he supported his brother in conquering the castles of Rhuddlan and Prestatyn . He outlived his brother by 15 months and was buried next to him in Bangor Cathedral.

Gerald of Wales praised his extraordinary generosity. Cadwaladr sponsored the Augustinian monastery at Haughmond in Shropshire and founded a daughter church in Nefyn on the Lleyn Peninsula .

progeny

He had at least two sons, Cadfan and Rhicert. Rhicert was later one of the followers of Llywelyn from Iorwerth.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Crouch: The March and the Welsh Kings. In: Edmund King: The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 978-0-19-820364-3 , p. 277
  2. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 239
personal data
SURNAME Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Prince of Gwynedd in North Wales
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH February 29, 1172