Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (abt. 1225 - 1282)

Ancestors

Died 11 Dec 1282 at about age 57 in Builth Wells, Wales

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Biography

1225 Birth and Parents

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (or Llewelin son of Griffith) ^[1] was born, say, 1225

Birth Year Estimation

Wikipedia suggests a birth year of 1222 or 1223. ^[2] An estimate of 1225 is derived from a "date estimation scheme" based on the agreement between King Henry III and Gruffudd's wife Senena on 12 August 1241. ^[3]

Siblings

Llywelyn was the second of the four sons of Gruffydd and his wife Senena ferch Rhodri. The eldest was Owain; Dafydd and Rhodri were younger than Llywelyn.

1. Owain Goch ap Gruffydd
2. Llywelyn ,
3. Dafydd ap Gruffydd
4. Rhodri ap Gruffydd.

1244 Lands in Vale of Clwyd

Llywelyn is first heard of holding lands in the Vale of Clwyd around 1244.^[2]

This would follow the death of his father Gruffydd who died in 1244, from a fall while trying to escape from his cell at the top of the Tower of London. The window from which he attempted to escape the Tower was bricked up and can still be seen to this day.^[2]

Following his grandfather's death in 1240, Llywelyn's uncle, Dafydd ap Llywelyn, succeeded him as ruler of Gwynedd. Llywelyn's father, Gruffydd, and his brother, Owain, were initially kept prisoner by Dafydd, then transferred into the custody of King Henry III of England. ^[2]

1246 Prince of Wales

Llywelyn succeeded his uncle in 1246 as Llywelyn II, Prince of Wales. The Annales Cambriæ record that "filii fratris sui Grifini, scilicet Owinus et Lewelinus" succeeded on the death of "David filius Lewelini" in 1246. He succeeded his uncle in 1246 as LLYWELYN II Prince of Wales. ^[4]

1258 Margaret of England

Llywelyn at one time sought to marry Margaret, sister of Henry III of England.

On 2 April 1258, Henry III of England, having understood by report that Llewelin son of Griffin proposed to marry Henry's sister Margaret -- which Henry believed could cause damage to the king, he commanded R. earl of Gloucester to be diligent in getting her into his power and when he had got her, to keep her safely.^[1]

Llywelyn did not succeed.

1278 Marriage to Eleanor de Montfort

Cawley reports that on 13 Oct 1278 Llywelyn married Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of SIMON de Montfort Earl of Leicester & his wife Eleanor of England. Eleanor de Montfort was born 1252 and died 19 Jun 1282; she was buried at Llanvaes, Anglesey). ^[4]

If Llywelyn was born in 1225 as currently estimated, he was 53 when he married Eleanor.

The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records that "dominus Aymericus de Monteforte…cum sorore sua Alienora, Lewelino principi Walliæ maritanda" were captured when sailing to Wales in 1276. ^[4]

The Annales Cambriæ record the marriage in 1277 of "Leuuelinus princeps Nortwalliæ" and "filiam comitis Symonis de Monte forti". ^[4]

The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the marriage "apud Wignornam die Translationi S Eadwardi" 13 Oct [1278] of "Lewelinus princeps Walliæ" and "Alienoram filiam Symonis de Monte-forti quondam comitis Leycestriæ". ^[4]

Simon de Montfort, Knt., Earl of Leicester, 3rd son, born about 1208. He married in the King's chapel at Westminster 7 Jan. 1237/8 Eleanor of England, widow of William Marshal, Knt. (died 6 April 1231), 5th Earl of Pembroke, etc., and daughter of John, King of England, by his 2nd wife, Isabel, daughter and heiress of Ademar (or Aimar) III Taillefer, Count of Angouleme [see ENGLAND 5 for her ancestry]. She was born at Gloucester in 1215. They had six sons, Henry, Knt., Simon, Knt., Amaury (clerk), Guy, Knt. [Count of Nola], Richard, and Thomas, and two daughters, including Eleanor (wife of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, lord of Snowdon). ^[5]

1281 Rebellion

The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the rebellion of "Lewelinus princeps Walliæ…cum David germano suo" in [1281]. The Annales Cambriæ record the death "in bello prope Lanueyr in Buelth III Id Dec" in 1282 of "Lewelinus princeps Northwalliæ". The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records that "Lewelinus princeps Walliæ" was killed in battle against the Welsh "IV Id Dec" in 1282. ^[4]

1282 Deaths of Eleanor and Llywelyn

Eleanor

The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "Eleanor died in childbirth and buried in the chapter house of the barefooted friars at Llanvaes in Mona". ^[4]

The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the death "die SS Gervasii et Protasii" 19 Jun [1282] of "Alienor filia domini Symonis de Monte-forti quondam comitis Leicestriæ, nupta Lewelino principi Walliæ" giving birth to her daughter, and her burial "apud Landmairs in domo fratrum minorum". ^[4]

Llywelyn

Cawley notes that Llywelyn was killed in battle, 10 December 1282. ^[4]

Lloyd states that he was slain at Aber Edw, near Buallt, on December 10, 1282.^[6]

Davies writes that on 11 December 1282 Llywelyn had led a proportion of his army to the lordship of Builth, a region that had always been central to his strategy -- with the intention of stiffening resistance there and possibly as the result of the deceitful suggestion of the sons of his cousin, Roger Mortimer, that that powerful family was prepared to assist him. "There, on the bank of the river Irfon on 11 December 1282, he ws killed by a Shropshire soldier who did not realize that he was in combat with the prince. When Llywewlyn was recognized, his head was sesnt to London as proof of the king's success....On the earnest entreaty of his cousin, Maud Giffard of Llandovery, and after assurances that he had asked for a priest in his dying moments, his trunk was buried in the holy ground of the abbey of Cwm--hir ands the White monks sang a mass for his soul." ^[7]

Maud writes, that Llywelyn "moved into Buellt, perhaps on his own initiative, poerhaps lured with promises of aid from one of Mortimer's kinsmen or followers. On 11 December 1282, he was in the vicinity of Llanganten. Brut y Tywysogyon reords, 'And then Roger Mortimer and Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn and with them the king's host came upon them without warning, and then Llywelyn and his foremost men were slain.' His head as taken to the king and subsequently displayed at the Tower of Londond. ^[8]

Issue

Llywelyn & his wife had one child, Gwenllian (1282-1337) ^[4]

The Continuator of Florence of Worcester records the birth "die SS Gervasii et Protasii" 19 Jun [1282] of "filiam…Wencianam" to "Alienor filia domini Symonis de Monte-forti quondam comitis Leicestriæ, nupta Lewelino principi Walliæ"[329]. Nun at Sempringham. ^[4]

The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "daughter to Llywelyn…Gwenllian…after the death of her father was taken as a prisoner to England and before she was of age, she was made a nun against her consent"[330]. ^[4]

Research Notes

Was Llywelyn's mother actually Rhanullt?

Gruffydd had a son named Llywelyn. 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. If correct, these sources could indicate that Gruffydd married a daughter of Rǫgnvaldr in about 1220. ^[9]

Contemporary sources, however, show that Llywelyn's mother was Senena, an undoubted wife of Gruffydd. ^[9]

Did Llywelyn Have Additional Wives?

Cawley identifies only one wife, Senana and states that with Gruffydd she had five children -- Owain, Llywelyn, Dafydd, Rhodri, and Gladys. Cawley does not include Catrin or Margred among Gruffydd's children. ^[4]

he Dictionary of Welsh Biography identifies no mother of the children, but names the same five children as Cawley, excluding Catrin and Margred. ^[10]

Carl Boyer and Stewart Baldwin both base their lists of children on Bartrum. Carl Boyer presents three wives in order -- first, Senena, second Rhannullt, and third Catrin. This cannot be correct because Senena was the wife with visiting privileges to Gruffudd at the Tower of London when he attempted to escape. Following Bartrum, Boyer and Baldwin state that Owain, Llywelyn and Dafydd were the children of Senena, as listed by Bartrum; another Dafydd --Dafydd Felyn -- and Rhodri, are listed by Bartrum as mother not known; and daughters Caitrin and Gwladus are by Rhannult. ^{[11] [12]}

Baldwin notes that in Bartrum's Welsh Genealogies [BWG], Senena is given as the mother of three of his children (Owain Goch, Llywelyn, and Dafydd), Rhanullt is given as the mother of two daughters (Catrin and Gwladus, of whom the latter's husband is given as Rhys Ieuanc ap Rhys Mechyll), and a third wife (Catrin daughter of Cynchwr of Ireland [whoever he was]) is not listed as the mother of any of his children. Two sons, Rhodri and an uncertain second Dafydd, are listed with unknown mothers. ^[12]

Wikipedia identifies the same four sons: Owain, Llywelyn, Dafydd and Rhodri as well as three daughters, Gwladus, Catherine and Margred, but not the second Dafydd shown by Bartrum, Boyer and Baldwin. ^[9]

Did Llywelyn have a daughter Catherine?

Burke's Extinct Peerage says: "Llewelyn ap Griffith, Prince of North Wales ... had issue two daus., and co-heirs, the younger of whom, the Princess Gwenllian, b. 19 June, 1281, a nun of Sempringham ... The elder dau., the Princess Catherine, heiress of the monarchs of North Wales, was mother, by her husband, Philip ap Ivor, Lord of Cardigan, of the Lady Eleanor Goch, who m. Thomas ... ap Llewelyn ap Owen ap Meredith."^[13]

However, most historians agree that Llywelyn ap Grufudd, Prince of Wales, and his wife Eleanor had only one daughter – Gwenllian – who became a nun. The Chronicle of the Princes of Wales records that "daughter to Llywelyn … Gwenllian … after the death of her father was taken as a prisoner to England and before she was of age, she was made a nun against her consent".^[4]

Dr Peter Bartrum's Welsh Genealogies indicates that Elinor, wife of Thomas ap Llywelyn ap Owain, was not the daughter of Catherine or granddaughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales. He described this version of her ancestry as "definitely fictitious".^[14]

The belief that there was a daughter Catherine has appeared in later histories such as the work of Robert Horace Yale in which Catherine appears as Llywelyn's daughter. ^[15]

Because there is no evidence that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd had a daughter Catherine, the two profiles have been disconnected.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office, Henry III 1247-1258, Eds J G Black and R F Isaacson, (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1908), 660, e-book Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/patentrollsreig00unkngoog/page/660/mode/1up : accessed 20 April 2022). [Fadera.] Fit sunt patentes.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Wikipedia: Llywelyn the Last
3. ↑ The solid date upon which estimates can be based is 12 August, 1241. On that date, Senena, wife of Gruffudd, signed an agreement with King Henry III arranging for the release and restoration of her husband Grufudd and son Owain, leaving her youngest sons Dafydd and Rhodri as hostages in Owain's place. Henry broke the agreement, keeping Gruffydd prisoner in the Tower of London, but with generous provisions which included permission for Senena to stay with him. Gruffudd ended his life in a failed escape attempt on 1 March, 1244. These facts permit the following conclusions and date estimates:
   1. Senena was Gruffudd's wife to the end. Any other wife would have to precede Senena.
   2. Senena was exemplary in defending her husband before the king, assuming roles few women were accustomed to assume.
   3. Owain was Senena's oldest son. For one of his age, hostage status meant being a prisoner with his father in the Tower of London, so estimate his age as 18 in 1241, thus born in 1223.;
   4. Since Owain was the oldest and first born son, assume the marriage was the year prior to his birth, 1222.
   5. Girls married very young; assume she was 16 at her marriage in 1222, thus born in 1206. Boyer shows Senena's father Caradog born, say, 1200. This estimation would require Caradog to marry in 1205 at the age of 20, and be born in, say, 1185, rather than 1200.
   6. Dafydd and Rhodri, the youngest sons offered as exchange hostages, would have been much younger, and destined to live in a noble household. Assume they were just old enough to comfortably leave home in 1241, aged 9 and 6, thus born in 1232 and 1235, respectively.
   7. Men tended to be older at marriage. Assume Gruffudd was aged 24 in 1222; this would place his birth at 1198.
   8. If Grufudd had an additional relationship, whether in a marriage or with a mistress, assume it occurred between Grufudd becoming 18 in 1216, and his marriage to Senena in 1222.
   9. Some sources refer to Gruffudd's additional marriage to Rhanultt ferch Rheinullt. Others refer to her as a mistress. Either way, the relationship and the children born of it would have occurred between 1216 and 1222.
   10. Based on the above, Gruffudd's two oldest children, daughters Catrin and Gwladus, would have been born, say, 1217 and 1219. The remaining children, born to Senena, would have been born as follows: Owain, 1223; Llywelyn, 1225; Dafydd Felyn, 1227 and died early, Margred, 1229, Dafydd 1232, and Rhodri 1235. This date estimation is of course speculative and serves to place persons in the most appropriate time perspective, but hopefully the logic expressed above achieves the best possible date estimates.
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13} Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands database. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Accessed February 15, 2016. jhd
5. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Volume III, pages 563-564
6. ↑ Jacob Youde William Lloyd, The History of the Princes, the Lords Marcher, and the Ancient Nobility of Powys Fadog: And the Ancient Lords of Arwystli, Cedewen, and Meirionydd, Volume 1 (p 188)
7. ↑ John Davies. A History of Wales. London: Penguins Books, 2007. First published in Welsh, 1990. Page 156.
8. ↑ Kari Maund. The Welsh Kings: Warriors, Warlords and Princes. Thie History Press, 2006. p. 227
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} Wikipedia: Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr Follows Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Gruffydd ab Llywelyn (d.1244)". Dictionary of National Biography. 23. London: Smith, Elder & Co. Accessed Feb 15, 2016 jhd
10. ↑ Dictionary of Welsh Biography
11. ↑ Boyer, 307
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Stewart Baldwin Gwladus verch Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr In response to query of Michelle Murphy. 24 March 1999. Accessed December 13, 2017.
13. ↑ Bernard Burke, A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, London, 1866, p. 377. Google Books.
14. ↑ Peter Bartrum, Bartrum Genealogical Project, Aberystwyth University. Charts Rhys ap Tewdwr 7; Gruffudd ap Cynan 5.
15. ↑ Robert Horace Yale. Yale genealogy and History of Wales Beatrice, Nevada, 1908.