Llywelyn ab y Moel (died 1440) was a

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). ...

poet and rebel, and father of the poet Owain ap Llywelyn ab y Moel.

Life

Llywelyn was raised in

Llanwnnog Llanwnnog (also spelt Llanwnog) is a village in Powys, Wales. It is located one-and-a half miles north of Caersws in the Community (Wales), community of the same name, on the B4568 road. The Ordnance Survey spell the name with a single 'n'. Bui ...

, a village in

Arwystli Arwystli was a cantref in mid Wales in the Middle Ages, located in the headland of the River Severn. It was chiefly associated with the Kingdom of Powys, but was heavily disputed between Powys, Gwynedd, and the Norman Marcher Lords for hundred ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

. He was also connected through his maternal relatives to the parish of

Meifod Meifod, formerly also written Meivod (), is a small village, Community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward north-west of Welshpool in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, on the A495 road and loca ...

. He fought in the revolt of

Owain Glyndŵr Owain ap Gruffydd (28 May 135420 September 1415), commonly known as Owain Glyndŵr (Glyn Dŵr, , anglicised as Owen Glendower) was a Welsh people, Welsh leader, soldier and military commander in the Wales in the late Middle Ages, late Middle ...

, and then lived as a rebel outlaw. His poetry contains attacks on the English, and descriptions of life as an outlaw. However, after the failure of Glyndŵr's rebellion, Llywelyn appears to have changed his allegiance; Sir

William ap Thomas Sir William ap Thomas (died 1445) was a Wales, Welsh nobleman, politician, knight, and courtier. He was a member of the Welsh peers and baronets, Welsh gentry family that came to be known as the Herbert (surname), Herbert family through his son ...

is later attested as his patron. Later in his life, Llywelyn became religious, and was ultimately buried at

Strata Marcella The Abbey of Strata Marcella () was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell (''Strata Marcella'' being the Latinised form of the Welsh name) on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, Wales. Founding The ab ...

Works

In his early career, Llywelyn studied under a poet named Rhys ap Dafydd ab Iorwerth. Llywelyn is noted for his bardic debate between himself and Rhys Goch Eryri on the nature and origin of the poetic muse, or

awen ''Awen'' is a Welsh language, Welsh, Cornish language, Cornish and Breton language, Breton word for "Artistic inspiration, inspiration" (and typically poetic inspiration). In Welsh mythology, is the inspiration of the poets, or bards; its pers ...

. He also wrote many poems addressed to

Guto'r Glyn Guto'r Glyn (c. 1412 – c. 1493) was a Welsh language poet and soldier of the era of the ''Beirdd yr Uchelwyr'' ("Poets of the Nobility") or ''Cywyddwyr'' ("cywydd-men"), the itinerant professional poets of the later Middle Ages. He is consid ...

, who in return wrote an elegy to his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llywelyn Ab Y Moel 1440 deaths 15th-century Welsh poets Year of birth unknown Welsh male poets