Anarawd ap Rhodri (died ) was a King of Gwynedd, referenced as " King of the Britons" in the ''

Annales Cambriae The ( Latin for ''Annals of Wales'') is the title given to a complex of Latin chronicles compiled or derived from diverse sources at St David's in Dyfed, Wales. The earliest is a 12th-century presumed copy of a mid-10th-century original; later ...

'' (''The Annals of Wales''). Anarawd's father

Rhodri the Great Rhodri ap Merfyn ( 820 – 873/877/878), popularly known as Rhodri the Great ( cy, Rhodri Mawr), succeeded his father, Merfyn Frych, as King of Gwynedd in 844. Rhodri annexed Powys c. 856 and Seisyllwg c. 871. He is called "King of the Britons ...

, by conquest and alleged inheritances, had become ruler of most of northern

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. However, under

Welsh law Welsh law ( cy, Cyfraith Cymru) is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd.Law Society of England and Wales (2019)England and Wales: A World Jurisdiction of Choice eport(Link accessed: 16 March 202 ...

he was bound to divide his lands among his able-bodied children upon his death during a Mercian invasion around 878. Anarawd, the eldest,The House of Dinefwr descended from Cadell would later claim that their ancestor had been elder. That this was a simple lie is shown, inter alia, in British Antiquities Revived-Oxford, 1662; reprinted Bala, 1834. retained the principal estate at Aberffraw and the throne of Gwynedd. His brothers

Cadell Cadell or Cadel is an old Welsh personal name derived from the Latin Catullus. As a surname, it derives from the Welsh patronymic "ap Cadell". Notable people with the name include: Given name Middle Ages * Cadell Ddyrnllwg, King of Powys c.447� ...

and Merfyn also received large estates, sometimes said to include the kingdoms of Ceredigion and Powys, respectively. (Rhodri's fourth son, Tudwal the Lame, was apparently too young or not deemed able-bodied enough for the initial division.) The brothers are recorded as cooperating closely against the rulers of the remaining lesser kingdoms of Wales.

Æthelred Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to: Anglo-Saxon England * Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary pri ...

of Mercia invaded Gwynedd around 881 and the Welsh annals hailed his defeat at Cymryd in the

Battle of the Conwy The Battle of the Conwy took place in 881 between King Anarawd and his brothers of the northern Welsh Kingdom of Gwynedd and a Mercian army almost certainly led by Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians. The Welsh were victorious, and the battle ended ...

as ''Dial Rhodri'': "God's vengeance for Rhodri". Tudwal was old enough to participate in this battle, but his disfigurement on the field saw him judged as unfit to rule. While Cadell then turned on his brother Merfyn, creating the realm that would later empower Hywel the Good, Anarawd made an alliance with the Danish king in York in an attempt to guard himself against further Mercian attacks. After that alliance proved unsatisfactory, he came to an agreement with Alfred the Great of Wessex, visiting Alfred at his court. He received honours and gifts from the Saxons, and King Alfred stood witness at his confirmation. According to Alfred's biographer Asser, Anarawd used his new Saxon allies to help in repelling a raid by his former Danish allies around 894 and to ravage Cadell's lands in Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi the following year. Around 902, an attack on

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

by the Danes of Dublin under Ingimundr was repulsed. Anarawd died , succeeded by his eldest son Idwal the Bald.

See also

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