Anglo-Welsh War (1262-1267)

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The Anglo-Welsh War from 1262 to 1267 was a military conflict between the Welsh principalities, led by Lord Llywelyn ap Gruffydd of Gwynedd , and the Kingdom of England . During the war, the Welsh were able to push back English rule in Wales. The English King Henry III, weakened by a civil war . finally had to make peace with Prince Llywelyn in the Treaty of Montgomery and recognize him as Prince of Wales .

Starting position

In the war from 1256 to 1258 , the Welsh, led by Lord Llywelyn, liberated large parts of Wales from English rule. Llywelyn had brought North and South Powys , Perfeddwlad and most of Deheubarth under his control. The armistice signed in June 1258 was initially limited to one year, but was extended for another year in July 1259. Still, the armistice was fragile. After his conquests in Northeast and South Wales, Llywelyn turned to the area of ​​the central Welsh Marches . If he were to bring this area between Severn and Wye under his rule, he would form a buffer between the English area and the Welsh heartland. English attacks could be intercepted in this buffer, and at the same time it would serve as a base for further attempts to extend Welsh rule to Brecon , the upper Gwent and the Glamorgan highlands . Lord Llywelyn had already taken every opportunity to expand his influence in the region. During the last war in 1256 and 1257 he undertook raids at Gwrtheyrnion and Builth . Before the end of the armistice, he attacked Builth again on January 10, 1260, which was under the administration of Roger Mortimer , and finally captured Builth Castle on July 17 . In the same year he forced the Welsh lord who claimed rule over Elfael into submission. In 1261, after the death of Owain ap Maredudd, he occupied Cedewain , while he installed members of a local noble family as rulers in Ceri .

The Welsh Conquests of 1262 and 1263

In November 1262 the peace in Wales ended for good. Cefnllys Castle , a new castle by Roger Mortimer in Maelienydd , was conquered by local Welsh people. This attack was probably just a spontaneous local uprising against Mortimer, in which Llywelyn was not involved, but the opportunity was too good for Llywelyn to pass it by. He successfully fended off the counterattack by Roger Mortimer, who wanted to recapture the castle with the help of Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford . Within a few weeks Llywelyn conquered almost all of Maelienydd, in addition he conquered most of the border castles of Mortimer. Thereupon the Welsh in Breconshire and Blaenllyfni rose against Mortimer's rule and joined the rebellion. Llywelyn advanced in the spring of 1263 via Brecon through the valley of the River Usk to Abergavenny Castle , but could not conquer the castle. The constable of the castle, Peter de Montfort , wanted to give up the castle beforehand and had desperately turned to the king for help. The heir to the throne, Lord Eduard , who returned to England from France at the beginning of 1263 , then set out on a campaign in the Welsh Marches with a force consisting mainly of foreign mercenaries. On April 3, 1263 he allied himself in Hereford with Llywelyn's brother Dafydd . The Welsh, however, withdrew into the woods before Edward's force, so that nothing was achieved by the campaign except for a brief relief of the royal castles of Dyserth and Deganwy Castle, which were isolated in north-east Wales . In May the heir to the throne was ordered back to England and the campaign was canceled. Llywelyn then continued his attacks. In August 1263 Dyserth Castle surrendered and a few weeks later, at the end of September, Deganwy Castle too. Llywelyn had both castles completely destroyed. With the conquest of these castles, all conquests that Heinrich III. made in the 1240s has been lost again. In September 1263, Lord Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn of Powys Wenwynwyn , the most bitter Welsh opponent of Llywelyn to date, had to surrender. Gruffydd had to pay homage to Llywelyn and recognize for himself and his heirs the political, legal and military supremacy of Lord Llywelyn and his heirs.

Wales under the Treaty of Montgomery 1267. Green: the Principality of Gwynedd. Light blue: Welsh vassals of Gwynedd. Purple: Territories conquered by Lord Llywelyn. Yellow: possessions of the English king

Prince Llywelyn's participation in the War of the Barons

Llywelyn's remarkable successes in the years 1262 and 1263 against the Marcher Lords contributed not insignificantly to the aggravation of the political crisis in England, since from 1258 some of the barons rebelled against the rule of the king. In order to relieve the harassed Marcher Lords, Heinrich III called. for August 1, 1263 the feudal army for a campaign to Wales to Worcester . However, this campaign never took place, instead there were armed attacks on supporters of the king in the Welsh Marches and in the adjacent English counties. However, when Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester , the leader of the aristocratic opposition, allied with Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, numerous Marcher Lords switched to the king's side. In June 1263 Llywelyn sent Welsh troops to Montfort, which supported this in the siege of Bridgnorth . With the support of the king's opponents, the Welsh prince was obviously hoping for support for his own struggle against the English. The conflict between the aristocratic opposition and the king expanded in 1264 into the open Second War of the barons against the king. The alliance between Montfort and Llywelyn was initially useful for both parties. In February 1264, Simon de Montfort the Younger and Henry de Montfort , two sons of Montfort, supported Llywelyn against Roger Mortimer. Welsh troops aided the aristocratic opposition in the siege of Montgomery and Worcester. In May 1264 Montfort was able to defeat the king and the heir to the throne, Lord Eduard, at the Battle of Lewes and take them prisoner. The victorious Montfort forced Lord Eduard to renounce the rule over Chester , which he then took over himself. Eduard had thus been disempowered as one of Llywelyn's main opponents in the Welsh Marches.

Last but not least, Montfort's alliance with Prince Llywelyn meant that the majority of the Marcher Lords had now changed to the side of the king. In January 1265, Montfort Prince Llywelyn confirmed the possession and the castles, which he had conquered again up to this point in time. In May 1265, however, supporters of the king who had fled to France during the reign of Montfort landed with troops in southwest Wales. Montfort advanced towards them with an army. In doing so, however, he was outmaneuvered by the king's partisans. Desperate, Montfort sought support from Prince Llywelyn and concluded with him the Pipton-on-Wye Agreement in June 1265 , in which he granted Llywelyn the title of Prince of Wales . The death of Montfort and the victory of the king's supporters at the Battle of Evesham in August 1265 initially put Llywelyn's successes into question again. Lord Eduard, the heir to the throne, who increasingly held the political initiative, did not initially take up the fight against the Welsh again. In the autumn of 1265 he transferred his holdings in the Welsh Marches, which had not yet been retaken from the Welsh, to his younger brother Edmund . The attempt of the Marcher Lords to recapture the lost territories in Wales after their victory over the Simon de Montfort also failed completely. In return, Llywelyn invaded Cheshire. Thereupon Hamo Lestrange and the Anglo-Irish Baron Maurice FitzGerald were sent with an army to the Welsh Marches at the instigation of the Parliament that met in Westminster in September 1265 . However, their troops were clearly defeated by the Welsh.

Peace through the Treaty of Montgomery

Since the Second War of the Barons continued even after the decisive victory of Evesham, the Marcher Lords themselves divided and, above all, the most powerful Marcher Lords, Roger Mortimer and the young Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Gloucester, were bitter opponents not thinking of resolute action against the Welsh. After the long war of the barons finally ended in June 1267, the finances of the victorious king were completely exhausted. Under pressure and mediation from the papal legate Ottobono Fieschi , the reluctant king had to conclude the Treaty of Montgomery with Prince Llywelyn on September 29, 1267 , which confirmed the success of the Welshman and was supposed to end the war in the Welsh Marches.

consequences

The Treaty of Montgomery pacified the Welsh Marches only for a short time. The possession of Maelienydd remained controversial between Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and Roger Mortimer, in addition there was a dispute with Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Gloucester over the Welsh rule Senghenyddin Glamorgan . These border wars increased Prince Llywelyn's distrust of the new King Edward I. After Llywelyn had repeatedly failed to comply with the king's request to pay homage to him as Prince of Wales, Edward began a new campaign against Wales in 1276 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 978-0-521-31153-3 , p. 117.
  2. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 38.
  3. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 39.
  4. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 312.
  5. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 42.
  6. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 314.
  7. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 60.
  8. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 54.