Kingdom of Gwynedd (Guynet)

Closure of the Welsh Kingdoms reigned by Kings, the end of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (401-1283), the final ruling Kingdom in Wales, and the ending of the Royal House of Aberffraw (Wikipedia articles linked). "It took until 1283, when Edward I conquered Gwynedd, for the last part of Roman Britain to fall. Indeed, a strong case can be made for Gwynedd as the very last part of the entire Roman Empire, east and west, to fall to the barbarians."  Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins . The Kingdom of Gwynedd started as a post-Roman defensive border to protect the British Celts from invading Irish and Picts in the 5th century. The Kings of Gwynedd would go on to thrive in society for nearly a millennium. They expanded their borders far from the original kingdom of the northwest of Wales to conquer all of Wales as a territory today, from their family seat of Aberffraw on Anglesey, an island to the northwest of mainland Wales. To date, the descendants of the Kings of Gwynedd are scattered aro

Owain Lawgoch, and Owain Glyndwr, the 14th to early 15th century self-proclaimed Princes of Wales (Wikipedia links used). In the Welsh language, Owain is the name of the son of destiny. A reputation attributed to both of the self-proclaimed Princes of Wales in and around the turn of the 14th century. They were Lawgoch and Glyndwr. It was during the 14th century that the Royal House of Aberffraw finally finished. That was the final time that the Kings and Princes emerged from the former Kingdom of Gwynedd. The aspiring Princes from the 13th century were the final legitimate direct descendants of Welsh Royalty using the Welsh medieval custom of gavelkind, i.e. Llywelyn I & II, Dafydd II & III. The succession of male line descent (son of son) meant the final lineal successor to the House of Aberffraw  and the Kingdom of Gwynedd was Owain Lawgoch, albeit his grandfather renounced his rights to the crown. But, the Gwynedd family succession ended with him, as he never had children. T

The Aberffraw family's Llywelyns (also Llewelyn) in the 13th century; Grandfather, grandson, cousin. The Welsh Princes of Wales, and subsequent  internal  factioning against fellow Welsh, and external rebellions against England. Then the eventual  demise of the Royal House of Aberffraw (Wikipedia links used). The royal family of Aberffraw through warfare had controlled all of Gwynedd and most of North Wales by the 12th century. After the emergence of the Normans in Wales in the 11th century, the neighbouring kingdoms throughout Wales could not protect their lands as effectively as the Kingdom of Gwynedd had done. Deheubarth , Morgannwg , and Powys , the other three of the big 4 kingdoms lost swathes of land to the invaders. But, Gwynedd grew in size, reaching south along the coast into Meirionydd and Ceredigion and west north Wales to Powys. However, the gains were not achieved through peace but through war.  As well as the Aberffraw Llywelyns, there were two more Welshmen by the

Wales' Norman-built stone castles and English  expansion.   Llywelyn the Great's expedition during 1215, and Welsh built castles. (Wikipedia articles linked). Castles in Wales had been originally built with wood, but they did not last long. Some of these fortifications were adapted from pre-existing  hillforts , and these forts were built using the natural earthworks from the local vicinity, but, in some cases, the fortifications constructed would have a  motte and bailey . For a generation after the  Norman invasion of Wales  in the 1080s, Norman castles were built in the Kingdom of Gwynedd, such as  Aberlleiniog Castle  on Anglesey which was similar to previous fortifications, however this time they were built with stone and capable of withstanding the harsh terrain of Northern Europe.  The Norman fortifications were a few centuries before the new era of castle building which became known as the  Ring of Iron  (1277-1320s) e.g. Caernarfon Castle , one of four major medieval b

The family tree of Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of Gwynedd, King of the Welsh, and his royal descendants claimed the original Celtic (native) title of Prince of Wales, era circa 1137 -1283. And also the effects of the Norman invasion on Wales' royalty (Wikipedia articles linked). The original Princes of Wales were not of English or French origins as presumed from the investiture of the first Prince of Wales, Edward I of England in 1301, that is the history taught as common knowledge today. There is a different history of the Princes, an obscure origins story starting in the 11th century. Those original Princes of Wales were Welsh monarchs from respective Kingdoms within the borders of Wales who claimed Celtic ancestry and then newly mixed with Viking blood ( Northern European ). The era of the native (Celtic) Princes of Wales officially began just before 1165, and then continued sporadically for 200 years until the death of the hereditary male line lineal successor of the Aberffraw d

The laws of Wales (Cyfraith Hywel). The internal factions battling for the Kingdom of Gwynedd, civil wars, and conquests to and from Wales, circa. 900-1300 (Wikipedia articles linked). The founding of the Royal House of Aberffraw in Gwynedd saw a new era of governance within the monarchy. Rhodri the Great (Mawr) divided Wales into factions as Kingdoms ruled by Royal Houses. Although Rhodri's descendants were cousins in separate royal households, they were also competitors, and stability was needed to control the country of Wales . This era saw the new laws written for Wales for the first time in over a millennium after the Iron Age. The original laws were the  Molmutine Laws  and had been written by Dyfnwal Moelmud, circa 400 BC. A descendant of Camber (c. 1,000 BC), the first King of Wales and King of Britain in his own right. The next time,  Hywel Dda (Howel the Good) in the 10th century, and he was a grandson of Rhodri Mawr, King of Gwynedd, and son of Cadell, the founder of