Treaty of Montgomery

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Wales under the Treaty of Montgomery 1267

The Treaty of Montgomery was an agreement concluded on September 29, 1267 between the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and the English king Henry III. which ended the Anglo-Welsh War , which had been openly waged since 1262 and in which Llywelyn was recognized as Prince of Wales .

prehistory

After his successful campaign against North Wales in 1245 and the death of Dafydd ap Llywelyn in February 1246, Dafydd's successors, his nephews Owain Goch and Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, had to surrender at the end of 1246. In the Woodstock Treaty of 1247, Henry III. Gwynedd's supremacy over the Welsh principalities broken. Gwynedd had to accept significant territorial losses, including ceding the north-east Wales called Perfeddwlad east of the River Conwy to the king. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd had won sole control of Gwynedd in 1255 by defeating his brothers. Through a successful war against the English from 1256 to 1258 he had achieved supremacy over the Welsh princes and led from 1258 the title of Prince of Wales. From 1260, however, there was new fighting in the Welsh Marches . During the Second War of the Barons under Simon de Montfort in England, Llywelyn had supported the rebels, but above all increased his own power and pushed back English rule in northeast and central Wales. In 1262 he conquered Brecknockshire , in the spring of 1263 he besieged Abergavenny Castle , which, under the leadership of Peter de Montfort, was able to repel his attack. In August 1263, however, the royal castle Dyserth Castle in north-east Wales surrendered , in September Deganwy Castle . After Montfort's victory in the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Llywelyn was able to achieve on June 19, 1265 negotiations with Montfort in Pipton-on-Wye that his title as Prince of Wales was recognized. According to the Pipton Agreement, the other Welsh princes were allowed to pay homage to him and recognize him as overlord. He and his brother Dafydd got conquered lands back and to secure his empire he got the three important castles Painscastle , Hawarden and Whittington . In return, Llywelyn supported Montfort and had to pay him £ 20,000 over ten years. Allegedly, Montfort and Llywelyn are also said to have negotiated Llywelyn's wedding to Montfort's daughter Eleanor . However, with the defeat and death of Montfort at the Battle of Evesham on August 4, 1265, the Pipton Agreement became invalid.

Llywelyn ap Gruffydd as Prince of Wales

Negotiations in Shrewsbury

However, after his victory over Montfort, the king did not have the means for a campaign against Wales, but hesitated to actually recognize Llywelyn's power and claim. Eventually the king consented to talks with Llywelyn, and on February 21, 1267, Robert Wallerand, Lord of Kilpeck was commissioned to conclude a two or three year truce with the Welsh prince. At the same time, the king commissioned his son Edmund Crouchback , Earl of Leicester and owner of several baronies in the Welsh Marches , to negotiate a lasting peace with Wallerand. However, after the negotiations stalled, the papal legate Ottobono Fieschi intervened directly. He accompanied the king to Shrewsbury , where on September 21 he received from the king a power of attorney to conduct direct negotiations with Llywelyn, which Wallerand and Geoffrey de Geneville were to testify. On the Welsh side, Einion ap Caradog and Dafydd ap Einion were the plenipotentiaries. On September 25, 1267, they agreed on the Treaty, and on the same day Llywelyn was the promise of safe passage to the King in Montgomery Castle , the homage to prove. On September 29, the king traveled with his sons and the delegation to Montgomery Castle, where they met Llywelyn and the Welsh delegation. Llywelyn paid homage to the king, while the Ottobono legate sealed the treaty. In the treaty, the king had to recognize Llywelyn's conquests of Perfeddwlad, Whittington, Ceri, Cedewain, Builth, Gwrtheyrnion and Brecknockshire. In return, Hawarden fell back to Robert de Mold, who was, however, ordered not to build a castle there for the next 30 years. Llywelyn was by the treaty with the exception of Maredudd ap Rhys of Drysylwn in Deheubarth to the overlord of all Welsh principalities and was allowed to carry the title of Prince of Wales, but had to pay homage to the king. To do this, Llywelyn had to take care of his brother Dafydd, who had been on the king's side since 1263, and pay the king the enormous sum of 30,000 marks (£ 20,000), of which 5000 marks until the end of the year, then another 3000 marks annually. By this treaty Llywelyn had achieved his highest status vis-à-vis the king.

consequences

The remains of Montgomery Castle, where the treaty was sealed in 1267

For the next nine years there was peace between Llywelyn and the English king. Nonetheless, tensions soon arose between the Welsh princes and the Marcher Lords, because issues that had not been resolved by the Treaty of Montgomery resulted in major conflicts between Llywelyn and the Marcher Lords in Glamorgan , Brecknockshire and Maelienydd. Llywelyn, however, fulfilled his obligations and paid a total of 12,750 marks by 1274, before he stopped making payments in protest of the breach of contract.

In addition, the contract meant that Llywelyn had no rights of his own to his title and his territories, but that the king had given him these. Llywelyn had to admit that in the event of a dispute with Dafydd over his lands royal representatives were allowed to review the dispute and its arbitration, with which the king received legal power in Gwynedd for the first time.

Ultimately, the Montgomery Treaty did not resolve the issue of power in Wales. Llywelyn refused the new King Edward I , the son and successor of Henry III, who died in 1272. the requested homage, as long as he did not respond to his legitimate demands. Eduard considered this a breach of loyalty and finally began the final conquest of Wales in 1276 .

literature

  • Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 .
  • David Walker: Medieval Wales. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 1990, ISBN 0-521-32317-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thomas F. Tout : Wales and the March during the Barons' Wars. In: Thomas F. Tout, James Tait (Eds.): Historical Essays by Members of the Owens College, Manchester. Published in Commemoration of its Jubilee (1851-1901). Longman, Green & Co, London et al. 1902, pp. 77-136, here p. 124 .
  2. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales. 1990, p. 120.
  3. ^ David Walker: Medieval Wales. 1990, p. 121.