Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (1173 – 11 April 1240), also known as or Llywelyn the Great, was Prince of Gwynedd from 1199 until his death in 1240. His reign saw Gwynedd transformed from a territory suffering from thirty years of civil war into a polity which could exercise suzerainty over most other native Welsh rulers. He received official recognition of his status from the English Crown, but experienced difficulty establishing lasting control over his ostensible vassals and struggled to ensure a smooth succession for his chosen heir, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, son of Llywelyn and Joan, a daughter of King John. He suffered a paralytic stroke in 1237, and died on 11 April 1240, leaving Dafydd to succeed him to the precarious principality.
During Llywelyn's childhood, Gwynedd was ruled by two of his uncles, who split the kingdom between them, following the death of Llywelyn's grandfather, Owain Gwynedd, in 1170. Llywelyn began a campaign to win power at an early age, battling his uncles Rhodri and Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd. Rhodri died in 1195, and Gruffudd and Maredudd ap Cynan took over his lands in Gwynedd Uwch Conwy. Dafydd ab Owain was captured by Llywelyn in 1197 and subsequently exiled to England. Llywelyn secured his grip on the throne of Gwynedd when he drove his cousins Gruffudd and Maredudd ap Cynan from Gwynedd Uwch Conwy in the wake of a battle in Arfon on Epiphany 1199. He then made a treaty with King John in 1200. Llywelyn's relations with John remained good for the next ten years. He married John's natural daughter Joan in 1205, and when John arrested Gwenwynwyn of Powys in 1208, Llywelyn took the opportunity to annex southern Powys. In 1210, relations deteriorated, and John invaded Gwynedd in 1211. Llywelyn was forced to seek terms and to give up all lands east of the River Conwy but was able to recover them the following year in alliance with the other Welsh princes. He allied himself with the barons who forced John to sign the Magna Carta in 1215. By 1216, he was the dominant power in Wales, holding a council at Aberdyfi that year to apportion lands to the other princes.
Following King John's death, Llywelyn concluded the Treaty of Worcester with his successor, Henry III, in 1218. During the next fifteen years, Llywelyn was frequently involved in fights with Marcher lords and sometimes with the king, but also made alliances with several major powers in the Marches. The Peace of Middle in 1234 marked the end of Llywelyn's military career, as the agreed truce of two years was extended year by year for the remainder of his reign. He maintained his position in Wales until his death in 1240 and was succeeded by his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn.
Early life
Llywelyn's birth year is given as 1173 in O Oes Gwrtheyrn, a chronicle likely compiled at Aberconwy Abbey, which states "From the death of Owain until the birth of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, two and a half years." He was probably born at Dolwyddelan the royal manor of Nantconwy, though not in the present Dolwyddelan Castle, which was built by Llywelyn himself. He may have been born in the old castle which occupied a rocky knoll on the valley floor.
Little is known about his father, Iorwerth Drwyndwn, who died when Llywelyn was an infant. There is no record of Iorwerth having taken part in the power struggle between some of Owain Gwynedd's other sons following Owain's death, although he was the eldest surviving son. There is a tradition that he was disabled or disfigured in some way that excluded him from power.
John Edward Lloyd states that Iorwerth was killed in battle at Pennant Melangell, in Powys, in 1174 during the wars deciding the succession following the death of his father.
By 1175, Gwynedd had been divided between two of Llywelyn's uncles. Dafydd ab Owain held the area east of the River Conwy and Rhodri ab Owain held the west. Dafydd and Rhodri were the sons of Owain by his second marriage to Cristin verch Goronwy. This marriage was not considered valid by the church as Cristin was Owain's first cousin, a degree of relationship which according to Canon law prohibited marriage. The chronicler Gerald of Wales refers to Iorwerth Drwyndwn as the only legitimate son of Owain Gwynedd. Following Iorwerth's death, Llywelyn was, at least in the eyes of the church, the legitimate claimant to the throne of Gwynedd.
Llywelyn's mother was Marared, occasionally anglicised to Margaret, daughter of Madog ap Maredudd, prince of Powys. There is evidence that after Iorwerth's death Marared married into the Corbet family of Caux in Shropshire, and Llywelyn may have spent part of his childhood there. There is in existence a grant of land from Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to the monastery of Wigmore, in which Llywelyn indicates his mother was a member of the house of Corbet.
Rise to power 1188–1199
In his account of his journey around Wales in 1188, Gerald mentions that the young Llywelyn was already in arms against his uncles Dafydd and Rhodri:
In 1194, with the aid of his cousins Gruffudd ap Cynan and Maredudd ap Cynan, he defeated Dafydd at the Battle of Aberconwy at the mouth of the River Conwy.
Rhodri died in 1195, and his lands west of the Conwy were taken over by Gruffudd and Maredudd, while Llywelyn ruled the territories taken from Dafydd east of the Conwy. In 1197, Llywelyn captured Dafydd and imprisoned him. A year later Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, persuaded Llywelyn to release him, and Dafydd retired to England, where he died in May 1203.
Wales was divided into Pura Wallia, the areas ruled by the Welsh princes, and Marchia Wallia, ruled by the Anglo-Norman barons. Since the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1170, Rhys ap Gruffydd had made the southern kingdom of Deheubarth the strongest of the Welsh kingdoms, and had established himself as the leader of Pura Wallia. After Rhys died in 1197, fighting between his sons led to the splitting of Deheubarth between warring factions. Gwenwynwyn, prince of Powys Wenwynwyn, tried to take over as leader of the Welsh princes, and in 1198, raised a great army to besiege Painscastle, which was held by the troops of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. Llywelyn sent troops to help Gwenwynwyn, but in August Gwenwynwyn's force was attacked by an army led by the justiciar, Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex, and heavily defeated. This evidently was not a great setback for Llywelyn, as on Epiphany 1199 he captured the important castle of Mold, Flintshire on the same day as a great battle in Arfon which saw his cousins Gruffudd and Maredudd ap Cynan driven out from Gwynedd Uwch Conwy and reduced to Meirionnydd, Eifionydd, and Llŷn. The following day, he issued a charter to Aberconwy Abbey using the title "prince of the whole of North Wales" ().
Reign as Prince of Gwynedd Consolidation 1200–1209
Gruffudd ap Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd died in 1200 as a monk in Aberconwy Abbey. In 1201, Llywelyn took Eifionydd and Llŷn from Maredudd ap Cynan on a charge of treachery. In July, the same year Llywelyn concluded a treaty with King John of England. This is the earliest surviving written agreement between an English king and a Welsh ruler, and under its terms, Llywelyn was to swear fealty and do homage to the king. In return, it confirmed Llywelyn's possession of his conquests and allowed cases relating to lands claimed by Llywelyn to be heard under Welsh law.
Llywelyn made his first move beyond the borders of Gwynedd in August 1202 when he raised a force to attack Gwenwynwyn ab Owain Cyfeiliog of Powys, who was now his main rival in Wales. The clergy intervened to make peace between Llywelyn and Gwenwynwyn and the invasion was called off. Elise ap Madog, lord of Penllyn, had refused to respond to Llywelyn's summons to arms and was stripped of almost all his lands by Llywelyn as punishment.
Llywelyn consolidated his position in 1205 by marrying Joan, Lady of Wales, the natural daughter of King John. He had previously been negotiating with Pope Innocent III for leave to marry his uncle Rhodri's widow, daughter of Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles. However, this proposal was dropped.
In 1208, Gwenwynwyn of Powys fell out with King John who summoned him to Shrewsbury in October and then arrested him and stripped him of his lands. Llywelyn took the opportunity to annex southern Powys and northern Ceredigion and rebuild Aberystwyth Castle. In the summer of 1209 he accompanied John on a campaign against King William the Lion, Scotland.
Setback and recovery 1210–1217
In 1210, relations between Llywelyn and King John deteriorated. John Edward Lloyd suggests that the rupture may have been due to Llywelyn forming an alliance with William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, who had fallen out with the king and had been deprived of his lands. While John led a campaign against de Braose and his allies in Ireland, an army led by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, and Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, invaded Gwynedd. Llywelyn destroyed his own castle at Deganwy and retreated west of the River Conwy. The Earl of Chester rebuilt Deganwy, and Llywelyn retaliated by ravaging the Earl's lands. John sent troops to help restore Gwenwynwyn to the rule of southern Powys. In 1211, John invaded Gwynedd with the aid of almost all the other Welsh princes, planning according to Brut y Tywysogion "to dispossess Llywelyn and destroy him utterly". The first invasion was forced to retreat, but in August that year John invaded again with a larger army, crossed the River Conwy and penetrated Snowdonia. Bangor was burnt by a detachment of the royal army and the Bishop of Bangor captured. Llywelyn was forced to come to terms, and by the advice of his council sent his wife Joan to negotiate with the king, her father. Joan was able to persuade her father not to dispossess her husband completely, but Llywelyn lost all his lands east of the River Conwy. He also had to pay a large tribute in cattle and horses and to hand over hostages, including his illegitimate son Gruffudd and was forced to agree that if he died without a legitimate heir by Joan, all his lands would revert to the king.
This was the low point of Llywelyn's reign, but he quickly recovered his position. The other Welsh princes, who had supported King John against Llywelyn, soon became disillusioned with John's rule and changed sides. Llywelyn formed an alliance with Gwenwynwyn of Powys and the two main rulers of Deheubarth, Maelgwn ap Rhys and Rhys Gryg, and rose against John. They had the support of Pope Innocent III, who had been engaged in a dispute with John for several years and had placed his kingdom under an interdict. Innocent III released Llywelyn, Gwenwynwyn and Maelgwn from all oaths of loyalty to John and lifted the interdict in the territories which they controlled. Llywelyn was able to recover all Gwynedd apart from the castles of Deganwy and Rhuddlan within two months in 1212.