Seisyll ap Dyfnwal

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Seisyll ap Dyfnwal († December 25, 1175 in Abergavenny Castle) was a Welsh prince and lord of Gwent Uwch-Coed ( Upper Gwent ).

Origin and family

Seisyll was the son of Prince Dyfnwall von Uwch-Coed and his wife, who is said to have been an illegitimate daughter of the Anglo-Norman conqueror of Abergavenny , Hamelin de Ballon . He was considered one of the most powerful Welsh princes of south-east Wales, which, however, was largely under Anglo-Norman rule in the 12th century. In his first marriage he was married to Angharad, a daughter of Owain Wan of Gwynllŵg , with which he was a brother-in-law of Morgan and Iorwerth from Owain , the Lords of Caerleon . In his second marriage he was married to the widowed Gwladus, who is said to have been a sister of Lord Rhys .

Lord of Gwent

Seisyll is said to have murdered Henry of Gloucester, a son of Miles de Gloucester , in 1165 . Along with Owain, the oldest son of his brother Iorwerth from Owain was he in 1172 on the way to peace negotiations with the English king Henry II. To Usk Castle when they men of the Earls of Gloucester were attacked. While Owain was murdered, Seisyll was captured and held at Abergavenny Castle . In June 1175 he was one of the southeast Welsh princes who, under the leadership of Lord Rhys, paid homage to Henry II in Gloucester. William de Braose , the Lord of Abergavenny, invited him to Abergavenny Castle at Christmas 1175. There he, his son Geoffrey and his entourage were treacherously murdered by de Braose's men, ostensibly in revenge for the murder of Henry de Gloucester, who had been an uncle of de Braose. After the massacre, de Braose's men broke into Seisyll's castle, Castell Arnallt , about 6 km south-east of Abergavenny, killed his seven-year-old son Cadwaladr and kidnapped his wife Gwladus.

The Abergavenny massacre, in which hospitality was so blatantly disregarded, put a lasting strain on the relationship between Welsh and Anglo-Normans. Seisyll's nephew Hywel from Iorwerth avenged the 1182 massacre in which he burned Abergavenny Castle.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David Crouch: The March and the Welsh Kings . In: Edmund King: The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1994, ISBN 0-19-820364-0 , p. 272
  2. ^ Paul Martin Remfry: Abergavenny Castle. Retrieved December 8, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Christopher Harper-Bill, Nicholas Vincent: Henry II. New interpretations. Boydell, Woodbridge 2007. ISBN 978-1-84383-340-6 , p. 145
  4. ^ John Gillingham: The English in the twelfth century. Imperalism, national identity and political values. Boydell, Woodbridge 2000. ISBN 0-85115-732-7 , p. 61
  5. ↑ Christopher Harper-Bill, Nicholas Vincent: Henry II. New interpretations. Boydell, Woodbridge 2007. ISBN 978-1-84383-340-6 , p. 150
personal data
SURNAME Seisyll ap Dyfnwal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh Prince of Gwent
DATE OF BIRTH 12th Century
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 1175
Place of death Abergavenny Castle