Treaty of Aberconwy
The Treaty of Aberconwy , concluded on November 9, 1277 , ended the first campaign of the English King Edward I against Llywelyn ap Gruffydd , the Prince of Wales .
prehistory
Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the prince of the Welsh Principality of Gwynedd , had fought for primacy over the Welsh principalities from 1255 and was in 1267 in the Treaty of Montgomery by the English King Henry III. recognized as the Prince of Wales. Nevertheless, the conflict with the Anglo- Norman Marcher Lords and with Edward I , the son and successor of Henry III. so acute that he had declared Llywelyn ap Gruffydd a rebel in November 1276. Through a successful campaign against Wales, Edward I had forced his opponent to give up and submit within a year.
Content of the contract
On November 2, 1277, the king entrusted his advisors Otton de Grandson , Antony Bek and Robert de Tibetot with the negotiations with the Welsh. The negotiations with the Welsh took place at Aberconwy Abbey , the home monastery of the Princes of Gwynedd. On November 9, 1277, Llywelyn had to accept the peace terms set out in the Treaty of Aberconwy. He had the king in Rhuddlan his tribute show, and the end of the year he had to travel to London and the Royal Christmas there in 1277 homage again. The assignments of territory Llywelyn had to accept weighed heavily. The four Cantrefi of Perfeddwlad east of the Conwy fell to the king, in addition he lost the territories of Builth , Brecknockshire , Maelienydd and Cedewain in Mid Wales. Llywelyn lost control of most of the Welsh lords of Powys Fadog , Ceredigion and Deheubarth . He had to return the occupied Powys Wenwynwyn to Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn . Gwynedd's territory was again restricted to the state of the Woodstock Treaty of 1247 by these losses . Llywelyn had to release his captured brother Owain Goch and provide him with adequate care, as well as his brother Rhodri. As a punishment for his rebellion against the king he was to pay the enormous sum of £ 50,000 . To regain the island of Anglesey , which was occupied in August 1277, he had to pay 1,000 marks a year (over 666 pounds). As security for the fulfillment of the treaty, the Principality of Gwynedd had to host ten hostages, and delegations from each of the Cantrefi of Gwynedd had to swear allegiance to the royal commissioners annually.
In return, the English king also made concessions. Llywelyn was allowed to keep his title as Prince of Wales, but it was only granted to him for life and could not be transferred to his brothers. He remained the head of five lesser Welsh lords of princely blood. These were four Lords of Powys Fadog, who had smaller holdings in the upper valley of the Dee , and the expelled Rhys Wyndod of Deheubarth. The fact that only five insignificant Lords Llywelyn remained subordinate to Llywelyn can be seen as an additional humiliation, but other provisions of the treaty show that Edward I wanted to leave the defeated opponent his dignity. Another provision of the treaty demonstrates Edward I's decency: as provision for Llywelyn's brother Dafydd , who lived in exile in England after a failed rebellion against Llywelyn, the king left the two Cantrefi Rhufoniog and Dyffryn Clwyd in Perfeddwlad as well as the rule Hope and Llywelyn to him received the Gwynedd areas to which Dafydd was entitled. Ultimately, the king determined that disputes over areas in Gwynedd should be settled under Welsh law and not under English common law .
Implementation and consequences
In the implementation of the treaty, the king released the fine of 50,000 pounds and the annual payment for Anglesey on November 11, 1277, since Llywelyn, as the prince of the greatly reduced Gwynedd, would have been unable to raise this amount. Llywelyn left the Lleyn Peninsula to his brother Owain Goch , where he lived until his death before 1282. Llywelyn's brother Rhodri waived his territorial claims in return for an annual payment of 1,000 marks and lived as a country nobleman in England from 1278. Llywelyn adhered to the terms of the treaty, so that the king released the Welsh hostages as early as October 1278 and Llywelyn allowed his long-planned wedding to Eleanor de Montfort .
In north-east Wales, the Cantrefi Tegingl and Rhos and most of Powys Fadog fell to the royal owned Chester . In Mid Wales, King Ceri and Cedewain handed over to Roger Mortimer in 1279 , while Builth remained in the possession of the crown. To secure his conquests, the king had the mighty castles of Builth, Flint, Rhuddlan and Aberystwyth built . In South Wales, Rhys ap Maredudd , who was allied with the king, was able to expand his rule, while the other lords of Deheubarth and Ceredigion recognized English rule and had to accept losses of territory.
The strict, often tyrannical rule of royal officials and the Marcher Lords led to a nationwide Welsh rebellion led by Dafydd ap Gruffydd as early as 1282, which Llywelyn soon joined. Edward I then undertook another campaign against Wales , which ended in 1283 with the conquest of the entire country.
literature
- Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2
- David Walker: Medieval Wales. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990, ISBN 0-521-32317-7
Individual evidence
- ^ Robinson, David M .: The Cistercians in Wales: Architecture and Archeology 1130-1540 . Society of Antiquaries of London, London 2006. p. 224
- ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415 . Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford 1991. ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 323
- ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 978-0-521-31153-3 , p. 126
- ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California Press, Berkeley 1988. ISBN 978-0-520-06266-5 , p. 181
- ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. ISBN 978-0-521-31153-3 , p. 128