Idwal Foele (Idwal the Bald) (died c. 942) or Idwal ab Anarawd (Idwal son of Anarawd) was a 10th-century

King of Gwynedd This is a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Many of them were also acclaimed "King of the Britons" or "Prince of Wales". List of kings or princes of Gwynedd House of Cunedda * Cunedda (Cunedda the Imperator) (c. 450 – c. 46 ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. A member of the

House of Aberffraw The House of Aberffraw was a medieval royal court based in the village it was named after, Aberffraw, Anglesey (Wales, UK) within the borders of the then Kingdom of Gwynedd. The dynasty was founded in the 9th century by a King in Wales whose de ...

, he inherited the throne from his father,

Anarawd ap Rhodri Anarawd ap Rhodri () was List of rulers of Gwynedd, King of Gwynedd from 878 to 916. He faced challenges from the Mercia, kingdom of Mercia and Vikings, Viking raiders during a period of uncertainty for his realm. Nonetheless, he managed to sec ...

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

credited him as "

King of the Britons The title King of the Britons (, ) was used (often retrospectively) to refer to a ruler, especially one who might be regarded as the most powerful, among the Celtic Britons, both before and after the period of Roman Britain up until the Norman ...

" in the manner of his father.William of Malmesbury, ''

Gesta Regum Anglorum The (Latin for "Deeds of the Kings of the English"), originally titled ("On the Deeds of the Kings of the English") and also anglicized as or , is an early-12th-century history of the kings of England This list of kings and reigning q ...

''.

Life

Idwal inherited the throne of Gwynedd on the death of his father

in 916. His paternal grandparents were

Rhodri Mawr Rhodri ap Merfyn, commonly known as , was a Welsh king whose legacy has impacted the history of Wales. Rhodri rose to power during a tumultuous era, where the fate of Welsh kingdoms was often determined by the power of their leaders. Early life ...

, King of Gwynedd and

Angharad ferch Meurig Angharad ferch Meurig (fl. c. 875 CE) was a 9th-century Welsh noblewoman. She was the wife of Rhodri the Great of Gwynedd, and was the mother of Anarawd (Rhodri's successor), Cadell ap Rhodri, and Merfyn. Life Angharad was the daughter of M ...

of Ceredigion. Idwal allied himself with King

Æthelstan of England Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was List of monarchs of Wessex, King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and List of English monarchs, King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the ...

upon the latter's accession in 924. As Æthelstan was eager to establish his authority across Britain, Idwal honoured him by visiting the

English court The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales. Except in constitutional matters, ...

in 927, 928 and 937. On the first of these visits, he signed charters agreeing to campaign with Æthelstan against the Scots, and marched with

Hywel Dda Hywel ap Cadell, commonly known as Hywel Dda, which translates to Howel the Good in English, was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth and eventually came to rule most of Wales. He became the sole king of Seisyllw ...

Deheubarth Deheubarth (; , thus 'the South') was a regional name for the Welsh kingdoms, realms of south Wales, particularly as opposed to kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd (Latin: ''Venedotia''). It is now used as a shorthand for the various realms united under ...

and

Morgan ab Owain Morgan ab Owain (died 1158) was a Welsh king and Lord of Caerleon. He was a son of Owain Wan and thus a grandson of Caradog ap Gruffydd, the last Welsh king of Gwent. After Caradog ap Gruffydd was killed in 1081 in the Battle of Mynydd Carn aga ...

Gwent Gwent may refer to: Places *Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later *Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...

against Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde that year. Owain was forced to submit to the English king and appear at court by Christmas. Æthelstan died in 939 and was succeeded by his half-brother

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

. In 942 Idwal, apparently fearing that the Saxons would support Hywel in usurping him, launched an attack on the Saxons in Wales along with his brother Elisedd. The ''

Annales Cambriæ 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 e ...

'' record his failure: "Idwal and his brother Elisedd are killed in battle against the Saxons". The throne of Gwynedd should have passed to Idwal's sons

Iago Iago () is a fictional character in Shakespeare's '' Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago ha ...

and

Ieuaf Ieuaf () usually known as Idwal ap Idwal (), (died 988), to distinguish him from his father Idwal Foel, was joint king of Gwynedd in northern Wales from 950 to 969 with his brother Iago ab Idwal. He possibly also ruled Powys for some time. Ieu ...

, but Hywel Dda invaded and drove them from the kingdom. He reigned for eight years before the brothers were able to return and reclaim their patrimony following his death in 950.

Children

* MeurigWilliams, Jane; ''A History of Wales: Derived from Authentic Sources''
p. 151
Longmans, Green, & Co., 1869. Accessed 19 February 2013. whose grandson was

Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig Iago ab Idwal ap Meurig (died 1039) was a King of Gwynedd and of Powys. He was also referred to as " King of the Britons" in the ''Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' () are annals of History of Ireland, medieval Ireland. The entri ...

; * Iefan; *

; *

Cynan Cynan (also spelled Conan or Kenan) is a Welsh masculine given name. It may refer to: * Cynan, the bardic name of Albert Evans-Jones (1895–1970), Welsh poet and dramatist * Cynan ab Iago (11th century), prince of Gwynedd and father of Gruffydd ...

; *

("the younger") or "Idwal Fychan" ("little Idwal"); * Rhodri.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Idwal Foel 940s deaths Year of death uncertain Year of birth unknown 10th-century Welsh monarchs House of Aberffraw Monarchs of Gwynedd Welsh princes