Llywarch ap trahern

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Llywarch ap Trahern (* before 1081, † around 1129) was a king of the Welsh kingdom of Arwystli .

He was a son of Trahern ap Caradog , who was king of Arwystli and Cedewain and in 1075 also became king of Gwynedd . Llywarch was still a minor when his father died in 1081 at the Battle of Mynydd Carn . After Trahern ap Caradog's death, Arwystli was first sacked by Gruffydd ap Cynan , one of the winners of Mynydd Carn. After Gruffydd ap Cynan was captured by the Normans , Arwystli was presumably conquered from Shrewsbury by the Normans under Roger de Montgomerie . Llywarch and his siblings grew up with Idnerth ap Cadwgan , a cousin of their father in Maelienydd. He married a daughter of Idnerth and received an estate in Cedewain from her .

After the unsuccessful rebellion of Robert of Bellême , a son of Roger de Montgomerie, against the English king in 1102, the latter lost control of Shrewsbury. It was probably around this time that Llywarch and his brother Owain succeeded in gaining control of Arwystli. His two brothers Meurig and Griffri were killed in 1106 by Owain ap Cadwgan , the son of the neighboring Prince of Powys , when he was trying to gain control of Arwystli. From 1109 Llywarch was embroiled in the brutal power struggles that shook the Powys ruling family. He allied himself with Madog ap Rhiryd and Ithel ap Rhyrid , who rebelled against their cousin Owain ap Cadwgan. In 1111 he supported Madog in the murder of his two uncles Iorwerth ap Bleddyn and Cadwgan ap Bleddyn . In revenge, her brother Maredudd ap Bleddyn plundered Arwystli in 1113 and captured Madog ap Rhyrid there. In 1116 Llywarch supported the English King Henry I in suppressing the revolt of Gruffydd ap Rhys in Ystrad Tywi . In 1124 he was allied with Gwynedd and supported the conquest of Meirionydd by Cadwallon and Owain , two sons of Gruffydd ap Cynan. In retaliation, Arwystli was again plundered by Maredudd ap Bleddyn, the Prince of Powys.

Power struggle within the family after his death

Llywarch ap Trahern left at least four sons and one daughter. His daughter Gwladus was married to Owain Gwynedd, one of the sons of Gruffydd ap Cynan, after his alliance with Gwynedd. Presumably after Llywarch's death, his son Maredudd had his cousin, a son of Meurig murdered in 1106, killed and two other cousins, two sons of Griffri, who was also murdered in 1106, in 1129. This began a brutal power struggle between the sons of Llywarch and the sons of Meurig and Owain, which killed at least nine male members of the family. Eventually Hywel ap Ieuaf , a grandson of Llywarch's brother Owain, prevailed and became king of Arwystli.

literature

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ancient Wales studies: Darell Wolcott - Trahaern ap Caradog of Arwystli. Retrieved September 8, 2014 .
  2. ^ Oxford DNB: Bleddyn ap Cynfyn. Retrieved September 8, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Llywarch ap trahern
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Llywarch ap Trahaearn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Arwystli (Wales)
DATE OF BIRTH before 1081
DATE OF DEATH around 1129