Gruffudd Ap Llywelyn Fawr
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Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (c. 1196 – 1 March 1244) was a
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...
prince, and the first-born son of
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (, – 11 April 1240), also known as Llywelyn the Great (, ; ), was a medieval Welsh ruler. He succeeded his uncle, Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd, as King of Gwynedd in 1195. By a combination of war and diplomacy, he dominate ...
(Llywelyn the Great). His mother Tangwystl (c. 1180/1185 – c. 1210) probably died in childbirth.


Hostage

As a boy, Gruffudd was one of the hostages taken by King
John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...
as a pledge for his father's continued good faith. A clause in
Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...
(1215) compelled his release. On his father's death in 1240, under Welsh law, he would have been entitled to consideration as his father's successor. Llywelyn, however, had excluded him from the succession and had declared
Dafydd Dafydd is a Welsh masculine given name, related to David, and more rarely a surname. People so named include: Given name Medieval era :''Ordered chronologically'' * Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (1203), Prince of Gwynedd * Dafydd ap Gruffydd (1238–1283 ...
, his son by his wife Joan, to be heir to the kingdom. Llywelyn went to great lengths to strengthen Dafydd's position, probably aware that there would be considerable Welsh support for Gruffudd against the half-English Dafydd.


Power

Gruffudd was given lands in
Ardudwy Ardudwy () is an area of Gwynedd in north-west Wales, lying between Tremadog Bay and the Rhinogydd. Administratively, under the old Kingdom of Gwynedd, it was first a division of the sub kingdom (cantref) of Dunoding and later a commote in i ...
and
Meirionnydd is a coastal and mountainous region of Wales. It has been a kingdom, a , a district and, as Merionethshire, a county. It is currently a committee area within the county Gwynedd. Kingdom (Meirion, with as a Welsh suffix of land, literally 'La ...
by his father, though in 1221 he was removed for maladministration of those lands. In 1223 he commanded a force of his father's army, against
William Marshal William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman during High Medieval England who served five English kings: Henry ...
. His father then imprisoned him between 1228 and 1234. On his release he was again given lands, this time controlling much of the
commote A commote (, sometimes spelt in older documents as , plural , less frequently )'' Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales. The word derives from the prefix ("together" ...
s of Llŷn,
Ceri Ceri () is a hamlet (''frazione'') of the ''comune'' of Cerveteri, in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio (central Italy). It occupies a fortified plateau of tuff at a short distance from the city of Cerveteri. History Inhabited before the 7 ...
,
Cyfeiliog Cyfeiliog () was a medieval commote in the cantref of Cynan of the Kingdom of Powys. Cynan also contained the commote of Mawddwy. Other sources refer to Cyfeiliog as a cantref in its own right, possibly as a result of Cynan being renamed for the ...
,
Mawddwy Mawddwy is a Community (Wales), community in the county of Gwynedd, Wales, and is 88.3 miles (142.2 km) from Cardiff and 172.8 miles (278.0 km) from London. In 2011 the population of Mawddwy was 622 with 59.5% of them able to speak We ...
,
Mochnant was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys. In the 12th century it was divided into the commotes of Mochnant Is Rhaeadr (in the north) and Mochnant Uwch Rhaeadr (in the south) (''Is'' signifying 'below' and ''Uwch'' 'above' the River Rhaeadr) ...
and
Caereinion Caereinion (fort of Einion) was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys, or possibly it was a commote (''cwmwd'') within a cantref called Llŷs Wynaf. It was divided into the manors of Uwch Coed and Is Coed. It lay towards the south of the ki ...
.


Imprisonment

Gruffudd was held prisoner by his brother Dafydd when the latter took over
Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...
. Following a successful invasion of the Welsh borders by King
Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of John, King of England, King John and Isabella of Ang ...
in 1241, Dafydd was obliged to hand over Gruffudd into the King's custody; he was then taken to
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and imprisoned in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
. Gruffudd's wife, Senana (possibly a daughter of
Caradog ap Thomas Caradog, Caradoc, Caradawg, or Cradawg, Latinised as Caratacus and anglicised as Craddock, is a given name for men in the Welsh language. It may refer to: People * Caradog ap Bran, son of Bran the Blessed in Welsh mythology * Caratacus, first-cent ...
of
Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...
), agreed to pay Henry 600
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for the release of her husband and their eldest son, Owain, and to hand over her two youngest sons, Dafydd and Rhodri, to the King as hostages to ensure that she kept her part of the bargain. Henry did not keep his part, however, and kept Gruffudd and his son imprisoned as "guests" because this continued to give him the possibility of using Gruffudd as a weapon against his brother.


Death

However, Gruffudd died while attempting to escape from the Tower in 1244. He is said to have used an improvised rope made from sheets and clothes to lower himself from his window, but as he was a heavy man, the rope broke and he fell to his death. In 1248, the abbots of
Strata Florida Strata Florida Abbey (; ) is a former Cistercian abbey situated just outside Pontrhydfendigaid, near Tregaron in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. The abbey was founded in 1164. After the region around St Davids was firmly occupied by the Norman ...
and Aberconwy arranged for the return of his body to Wales, where he was buried at Aberconwy with his father.


Succession

After his death Gruffudd's four sons—
Owain Owain () is a name of Welsh origin, variously written in Old Welsh as Ougein, Eugein, Euguen, Iguein, Ou(u)ein, Eug(u)ein, Yuein, and in Middle Welsh as Ewein, Owein, and Ywein. Other variants of the name Owain include Ewein, Iguein, Owein, Ouein, Y ...
, Llywelyn,
Dafydd Dafydd is a Welsh masculine given name, related to David, and more rarely a surname. People so named include: Given name Medieval era :''Ordered chronologically'' * Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd (1203), Prince of Gwynedd * Dafydd ap Gruffydd (1238–1283 ...
and Rhodri—would come into their own, and after much fraternal discord, Llywelyn ended up ruling most of Wales. He also had three daughters, Gwladus, Catrin and Margred. According to several non-contemporary Welsh genealogical tracts, the mother of Llywelyn was Rhanullt, an otherwise unknown daughter of
Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles Rǫgnvaldr is an Old Norse name. People * Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson (died 1229), King of the Isles Derived or cognate names Given names include: *'' Rægnald'' *'' Ragenald'', German *'' Ragenold'', German *''Raghnall'', Irish and Scottish Gael ...
. If correct, these sources could indicate that Gruffudd married a daughter of Rǫgnvaldr in about 1220. Contemporary sources, however, show that Llywelyn's mother was Senana, an undoubted wife of Gruffudd.


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruffudd Ap Llywelyn Ab Iorwerth 1190s births 1244 deaths Year of birth uncertain Welsh princes Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in England Burials at Aberconwy Abbey Prisoners in the Tower of London Welsh people imprisoned abroad