Power and control (2)

Prince Llywelyn the Great's cousins, Gruffudd and Maredudd ap Cynan, fought each other for control of Meirionydd in North Wales. After Gruffudd's death in 1200, his son Hywel continued the feud and drove Maredudd into exile. Hywel then submitted to Prince Llywelyn.

Hywel died in 1216, still a young man. He appears to have left no sons. Maredudd, who had died in 1212, left two sons. These were Llywelyn Fawr (the elder) and Llywelyn Fychan (the younger).

Prince Llywelyn decided the heirs of Maredudd should not be allowed to have their inheritance. Instead he installed his eldest son, Gruffudd, as ruler of Meirionydd and Ardudwy. As stated in my previous post, Gruffudd was the child of Llywelyn's first marriage to Rhunallt, daughter of the King of Man.

It has been said that Llywelyn wished to completely disinherit Gruffudd. This is an exaggeration. At first he tried to find a role for his eldest son, but it appears Gruffudd was not equal to the task. In 1221 Llywelyn was obliged to eject Gruffudd from Meirionydd as a result of the latter's harsh rule. His disgrace was only temporary: two years later he was leading his father's forces in Ystrad Tywi, and granted lands adjacent to Strata Marcella.

There remained the problem of Meirionydd. Llywelyn chose to take the lordship under his direct control, which may explain the construction of Castell y Bere between 1221-40.

Yet the two sons of Hywel remained on the loose, and in 1241 they allied with the King of England, Henry III. Thanks to an unusually dry summer, the king was able to quickly move his forces into Gwynedd and force Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn, Llywelyn the Great's successor, to restore Meirionydd to its heirs.

To ensure they would not be disinherited again, the two Llywelyns held their land of the crown instead of the lord of Gwynedd, and referred to themselves as the king's Welsh barons. For a time, then, Meirionydd was no longer under the control of the princes of Aberffraw. Llywelyn Fawr held the land until his death in 1251, after which it passed to his son, Maredudd, and then his son, Llywelyn.