Hywel ap Ieuaf († 1185)

Hywel ap Ieuaf († 1185 ) was a king of the Welsh small kingdom of Arwystli .

He was a son of Jeauf ap Owain and thus a great-grandson of Trahern ap Caradog . Presumably after the death of Llywarch ap Trahern , the son of Trahern, there had been murderous power struggles among members of the ruling family of Arwystli in 1129 and 1130, in which at least nine aspirants to the throne were murdered or eliminated by blindness and emasculation . Hywel's father was killed by the sons of Llywarch ap Trahern. Around 1131 Hywel was finally able to gain control of the little Cantref Arwystli and called himself king. Before 1157, however, he had to accept the supremacy of Madog ap Maredudd , the king of neighboring Powys , and from then on no longer referred to himself as king. In 1157 he belonged like Madog ap Maredudd to the Welsh princes who supported the English King Henry II in his campaign against Gwynedd . In the turmoil following the death of Madog ap Maredudd, Owain Gwynedd , King of Gwynedd, captured Tafolwern Castle in Cyfeiliog in 1160 , which was recaptured by Hywel in 1162. Owain Gwynedd then invaded Arwystli in the same year, defeated Hywel's troops at Llanidloes and rebuilt Tafolwern Castle. After 1170, Hywel submitted to Lord Rhys of Deheubarth , who had become the most powerful Welsh prince after the death of Owain Gwynedd.

Hywel donated the Llangurig Church to Strata Florida Abbey . He was buried in Strata Florida Abbey.

He had several children including:

• Owain o'r Brithdir
• Iorwerth
• Hywel Fychan
• Amice ∞ Alexander de Montgomery

His successor as ruler of Arwystli was his son Owain o'r Brithdir.

literature

• Anthony D. Carr: A Debatable Land. Arwystli in the Middle Ages. In: Montgomoryshire Collections 80 (1992), pp. 39-54