Brythonic Kings, Welsh Princes, and UK politicians.

Modern British leaders: Post-Roman Brythonic Kings from their respective Kingdoms in Britain, Celtic de facto and current Princes of Wales & Caernarfonshire, UK politicians. All from the past 1,600+ years (Wikipedia links used).

The Kings of the Welsh Kingdoms represented their country as King of Britain during the sub-Roman (400s AD) conquests a few centuries before the King of Wales title emerged. The Kingdoms emerged in the 5th century as successor states to the Roman Provinces which stood in place for nearly 400 years. From the Iron Age in Britain, the ruling class of leaders of Wales (Cambria) were Kings of Britain, as well as the Chief Governors of Cambria and Dukes of Cornwall, and also the Governors of North Camrbia as Earls of Ewias and Urtchingfilde from roughly 1,000 BC to 400 AD. The Earldom's title holder's descendants inter-married with the Chief Governors of Cambria (Duke of Cornwall, King of Britain) as ancestors to the then-future King of Wales. 

The first King of Britain of Celtic origins was Vortigern (founder of the Kingdom of Powys), son-in-law to the Roman Emperor and King of Britain, Magnus Maximus (Welsh: Macsen Wledig, father of Sevira) who through his wife's family was a descendant of the Governors of North Cambria (Wales). However, this list presented was mostly non-linearly inherited. The position of King of (the) Britain/Britons was often achieved through warfare. It was when one dominating royal house took over the other's Kingdom as spoils of war, they then won the royal title, like modern-day politicians vying for candidacy and potential power in office. However, in the medieval ages, it was through warfare not like politics today which is peaceful. 

The immediate post-Roman Kings were rulers of Britain as Celtic Kings whose combined Kingdoms today included 3/4 of Great Britain. That spanned from Wales in the midwest, Cornwall (Celtic nation) in the southwest, England in the west, mid to north, and south of Scotland, and also Gaul as part of Brittany, France as a rare inclusion on the list. For these lists, I have included the original wording used from medieval manuscripts.

Post-Roman, Brythnoic Celtic Kings of Britain list, 407 - 1093 AD.

Image courtesy of Wiki Commons, attributed to Il Dottore, King of Britain c. 5th century, 'the heroes tapestry', woven c. 1410.

This complete list is in chronological order and shows details of the rulers of Britain as Kings or even chief rulers. Brenin y Brythoniaid in Welsh, or Rex Britannorum in Latin. The Kings except for the Emperors were Celtic leaders from after the Roman occupation when the legions (army) left Britain. Starting around the years of the early 400s, then through Anglo-Saxon and Dane petty Kingdoms (500s-700s) into the Viking (800s-1000s) age, and then finally until the Norman invasion from northern Europe, c. 1100 AD. 

The full listing of British monarchs begins with a list of legendary Kings of Britain starting circa 1,000 BC at the end of the European Bronze Age. Brutus of Troy settled Albion (Britain) and his descendants held the title of King of Britain intermittently for the most part of 2,000 years until the death of Owain Gwynedd in 1171. That was throughout the British Iron Age until the high middle ages of medieval Wales. The list continues until after Roman occupation and ends during the Anglo-Saxon invasion as the 'Kings of Britain'. However, other sources state the similar but different title 'King of the Britons' as a continuation of the late British Iron Age tribal leaders. The people of Britain and the Britons are the same. Here is a list of the Kings from their respective sub-Roman realms after the creation of individual Kingdoms in Britain c. 400 AD.

The lists are in ascending order:
For the most part, the Kings of Britain were of separate royal houses except for Uther and his son Arthur. Then, by the 6th century, the list of the Kings of Gwynedd was the ruling monarchy of Britain. Then their descendant, King Howel the Good (Hywel Dda in Welsh), his great-great-grandchild as the Prince of Powys and a 3 x great-grandson as the Prince of Deheubarth. This is a continuation of the House of Cunedda from the Kingdom of Gwynedd as the ancestor to the Princes of Wales who still thrive today.

Kings of Britain, Kings of Wales, 710 - 1171 AD.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Jason.NLW, Owain Gwynedd with his coat of arms on the shield.

As well as the King of Britain title, the position of ruler of Wales emerged, the King of Wales, Brenin Cymru in Welsh, Rex Walensium in Latin. This royal title first emerged in the late Bronze Age c. 1,000 BC for King Camber of Cambria (Wales), the title of ruler continued as the Governor of North Cambria and Earls of Ewyas and Urtchingfild for over a millennium. This was until successive wars where the Brythonic Celts defended their country against Romans, then against the Anglo-Saxons, and Danes. Then the title of King of Wales emerged again after 1,700 years prior as King of Cambria. This is after the royal title of Cambria had merged with the King of Britain for over a millennium.

Invading Germanic tribes successfully divided the Cornish, Welsh, and northern English/southern Scottish Celts. Therefore, for the first time, we saw Britain and their respective Kingdoms as precursors to the countries that now appear on a map today, but they were first noted nearly 1,500 years ago. Those people were separated and there began their own cultures and unique languages from the 6th century onward. The title was not a lineally inherited role, however, most Kings of Wales gained the title from the same family from the Kingdom of Gwynedd. The title was similar to a political achievement, however, in the past, it was inherited and won through warfare or marriage alliances.
A renowned King of Wales was Gruffudd ap Llewelyn ('ap' in medieval Welsh, son of) from the Welsh princely court (Llys) of Rhuddlan, later a castle. Gruffudd's family's position was that of a son of Llywelyn ap Siesyll, a King of both Gwynedd and Powys then also a King of the Britons. Gruffudd united Celtic Wales between 1055 and 1063 by conquering its geographical landscape as a modern nation today. He was the only King to do so and did it by force by battling against his own kin as fellow monarchs of their respective kingdoms in Wales, Gruffudd was also King of the Britons. He was referred to as Rex Walensium in Latin (John of Worcester). Unfortunately, he was assassinated by a future King of England, Harold Godwinson.
  • Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd & Powys 1039-1055. King of Wales, 1055-1063. King of the Britons 1058, 1063.
Image courtesy of Wiki Commons, attributed to AlexD, map of Wales' conquest by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn between 1039-1058.

For centuries, more Brythonic Celtic Welsh people would emulate the feats of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn by attempting to conquer the whole of Wales as part of the Welsh rebellions against English rule. Those occasions were; the Kingdom of Gwynedd (Aberffraw) against the Norman dynasty (c.1100), the Princes of Wales against the Angevin empire (c.1200), and the subsequent Welsh rebellions against the Kingdom of England (1287, 1294, 1316, 1378, c. 1400). The aspiring rulers were now called Princes and they rebelled against English rule to try and control their family inheritances of the Kingdoms in Wales. Again it was through medieval warfare just like King Gruffudd ap Llywelyn successfully accomplished in the 11th century, but that was before the subsequent 11th to 15th centuries when English Kings consecutively invaded Wales, and then the 17th century civil war led by parliamentarians which began the devolution of the monarchy in Britain. Some princes were successful in rebelling and thus achieved the status of overlord.

Medieval literature sources list the two last Kings of Wales through warfare as Gruffudd ap Cynan, King of all the Welsh, and his son, Owain Gwynedd. Both of them intermittently gained the title between 1081 to 1171. Gruffudd defended Wales and won back his inherited Kingdom of Gwynedd from the Norman invasion of Wales between 1067 and 1081, he was also a direct descendant of the Vikings of the Kingdom of Dublin. Gruffudd used Norse and Irish Viking mercenaries from his position in exile to recapture his homelands of Gwynedd. His son, Owain Gwynedd (Fawr) repeated the feat of defending Wales against the invasions of Normans and subsequently English Kings.

The ruler of all of Wales was to be repeated by the members of the Royal House of Aberffraw (Gwynedd) and once of the House of Dinefwr (Deheubarth), a dynastic cousin. This final time it was as Princes and not Kings. Owain was recognised as the first Prince of Wales, it was King Henry II of England who had agreed to change Owain's style from King to Prince, and in a letter written to Louis VII of France in 1165, Owain Gwynedd styles himself as 'princeps Wallensium' in Latin. Later Owain Gwynedd was titled the leader of the British nation. Gwynedd, a medieval tribal leader became a feudal lord after the Norman invasion, he went to war dominating the landscape of Wales to call it his own, the Kingdom was his family's inheritance.
De facto Princes of Wales, 1165-1197, 1216-1283 AD. 

Before the King of England's creation of the royal title Prince of Wales, it was the Welsh Prince who were bestowed the title as lineal descendants of Gruffudd ap Cynan. Besides Owain Gwynedd being deemed a Prince of Wales, the only Celtic ruler (de facto) outside of Gwynedd to gain the title of Prince of Wales (Prince of the Welsh) was 'Lord Rhys' (yr Arglwydd Rhys in Welsh), Rhys ap Gruffudd, Prince of Deheubarth, grandson of both King of the Welsh, Gruffudd ap Cynan and Rhys ap Tewdwr who was the last King of the Deheubarth due to the Norman invasion, and also the upholder (King) of the Britons. In two charters, one of them dated to 1184, Rhys was noted as being given the title of Prince of Wales, presumably from 1171 when Owain died until he died in 1197.
Gwynedd's position as the final ruling Kingdom of Wales meant a special dispensation from the Kingdom of England to Gwynedd's House of Aberffraw. However, treaty agreements between England and Wales meant temporary peace, but Wales as a country would have to wait centuries more for internal strife to end. It was Llywelyn's family in the 13th century who had dominated the Principality's landscape through warfare and became Princes as the rulers of Wales. Llywelyn I was also titled the Prince of Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon. The final Aberffraw rulers were:
Image courtesy of Wiki Commons, attributed to Camdeti, Coat of Arms of Wales, Llywelyn II.

The final Welsh dynasty from Gwynedd were the original 'de facto' Princes of Wales, granted by the crown of England for the years, 1216- 1283, this was during the beginning of the Principality of Wales until 1542. The title was bestowed by the King of England and confirmed by the Kingdom of France, and also the Pope (Innocent III) in the Vatican City. Owain Gwynedd's grandson, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (the Great) was the first officially recognised by England as the original de facto Prince of Wales (modern). The Prince acted as Overlord and had conquered all the lands of Wales through warfare against the Norman occupation of the marches, Llywelyn I also sometimes fought his own kin. Llywelyn I battled against his father-in-law King John I of England, and subsequently he was rewarded for his conquests as the ruler of all of Wales in the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. He was then paid an homage by fellow Celtic Welsh Princes at a council in Aberdyfi in 1216. The title of Prince and his lands were then confirmed at the Treaty of Worcester in 1218 by John's successor, Henry III. The next to be officially recognised as Prince was Llywelyn's grandson Llywelyn II. He was officially given the title of Prince by King Henry III at the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267, and he held the role until his untimely death in 1282. Intermittently Llywelyn I's son Dafydd II was Prince after his father died in 1240, and also Llywelyn's grandson Dafydd III in 1283. Both Dafydds (David) were self-proclaimed Princes through warfare but were not fully acknowledged by the crown of England, unlike the two Aberffraw Llywelyns.

Post Kingdom Claimants

As well as the crowned Welsh Princes of Aberffraw lineage were two more self proclaimed entries attempting to relindle the then dissolved Kingdom of Gwynedd. A distant cousin of Aberffraw, descendant of Gruffudd ap Cynan was Madog ap Llywelyn, heir of the Lordship of Meirioneth. Madog self proclaimed himself Prince of Wales before his rebellion in 1295, which led to his demise in jail. And secondly, another dynastic cousin, Owain Lawgoch, who's grandad had actually renounced his rights to Llywelyn II and the house of Aberffraw was a descendant of Llywelyn the Great. Again a Welsh nobleman self proclaimed himself as Prince of Wales, this time in Montgomeryshire in 1363. Lawgoch was raised in England and lived and died in France in 1378. The Prince of Wales claimants:
Both their claims as lineal successors to the crown of Wales were unsuccessful, unlike the final attempt at Welsh independence through Owain Glyndwr. It was Glyndwr who raised Lawgoch's coat of arms of four lions in red and yellow on the battlefield.

Prince of Wales 1301- (English title).

Finally, the last Welshman crowned as ruler was a direct descendant of the Celtic Welsh and of the final rulers of Wales' three Royal houses (Aberffraw, Dinefwr, Mathrafal). Owain Glyndŵr, the self-proclaimed Prince from the 16th of September 1400 began a revolt that would see guerilla warfare in Wales last for over a decade. Glyndwr led the rebellion until 1412, the year of his disappearance. He was said to have hidden as a religious chaplain to the Scudamore family whilst pretending to be Jack Kent (or Siôn Cent) in Ewias on the England/Wales border. The rebellion continued until he died in 1415. 
In between the lineal descendants as Welsh Princes from the beginning of the Principality of Wales was the new title of Prince of Wales, it emerged in 1301 AD. The title is still in use today by the 23rd holder, Prince William (b. 1982), heir to the title of King of the Commonwealth Realms, i.e. 15 countries including England, Australia, and Canada. The royal title was first started by Edward II of Caernarfon, the then-future King of England and Prince of Wales. Ever since it has been held by the male heir of the King of England, as in, the eldest son, or relative. Edward's family were of Western European origins, but throughout the age of the Principality, until 1542, the Norman descendants in the Kingdom of England forged alliances with Welsh folks. The Principality ended when the House of Tudor emerged, the Tudors were from Wales, England, and France. The  Tudor's royal house members were direct descendants of the Welshman Owen Tudor, a family member of the Tudors of Penmynydd, Anglesey. Through medieval warfare, marriage alliances were made. Thus, the current Prince of Wales does have a claim of Welsh medieval origins. William is also a descendant of Glyndwr through the Anglo-Dutch Cavendish-Bentinck family, thus making him a descendant of Llywelyn I. But controversially, there was a moment of confusion in history when genealogists made an incorrect claim that the Prince was a descendant of Llywelyn II.

Image courtesy of Wiki Commons, attributed to Magnus Manska, Red dragon banner lifted by Henry VII of Wales, 1485.

The creation of the Kingdom of England included Wales from 1542 to 1707. During that era there had been the creation of many minor royal titles, such as Barons, Earls, Dukes, and Marquesses, some of these are still in effect today. An example would be the Marquess of Powis which began as a Baronial title in 1629, then an Earldom before a Marquess, and then finally the title reverted to the Earl of Powis in 1804. This continuation of a royal title is a dedication to the final rulers of their respective Kingdoms. In this case, the Princes from the former Kingdom of Powys are currently ruling as Earls today. The spelling of the title has since changed from Powys to Powis, but, they are lineal descendants from the same family. Therefore the Marquess started in 1804, however, the origins of the family of Powys are from the 5th century.

Modern-day UK political leaders from the former Welsh historic county of Caernarfonshire (Kingdom of Gwynedd).

The transitional period from medieval warlords into modern-day politicians was finally set after the Kingdom of England and Wales in 1707. Since then, Wales has been controlled by the government in England. Today we still see the effects of the sole country in the education boards of England and Wales, and also in sports such as cricket where the two countries combine as one team. In the 18th century, the creation of Great Britain led to the British Empire, which was a quarter (1/4) of the world's landmass, and up to 52 nations. Today the former empire is known as the Commonwealth of Nations and is 56 nations. The era of the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1801) was when today's official lead government position of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom & Ireland was first created. Gwynedd's ancestral dominance as the King of Britain is again on display through prominent politicians who came from North Wales in the former Caernarvonshire constituency (1536-2005) of the counties Merioneth (former), Gwynedd, and Anglesey. Caernarvonshire was one of 13 historic counties of Wales up until 1974. Members of Parliament (MP) from respective counties serve in the House of Commons at today's Palace of Westminster, London, England. Also, as of 1999, Wales has its own Welsh government which had been founded through the process of devolution of moving some political powers from London to Wales' capital, Cardiff, United Kingdom.

The medieval Kingdom of Gwynedd's regions today are a part of the counties Gwynedd and Anglesey. In these modern times, the counties have produced leaders for the political cabinet representing the United Kingdom, as well as senior serving MPs. For instance, Robert Vaughan, 2nd Baronet of Nannau, Vaughan served 44 years successively in the British parliament, however, he was forced to retire in 1836. William Bulkeley-Hughes, the 1st baronet of Plas Coch, Anglesey was an MP until he died in 1882 at 85 years old as 'father of the house'. There was also, Sir Robert Williams 9th baronet of Penrhyn, both MPs from Anglesey held their seats for almost 40 years intermittently. Then a century ago, in the town of Llanystumdwy near Criccieth in Gwynedd came an MP who served for 55 years, he was also Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1922. It was David Lloyd-George who became the father of the house and also gained the royal family titles of Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor and Viscount Gwynedd. Lloyd-George as Prime minister changed the geographical boundaries of the Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1922) by partitioning Ireland and creating the country of the United Kingdom & Northern Ireland, which we still see today. An example of this generation is Lord Dafydd Wigley of Caernarfon. He was an MP and former member of the Welsh Assembly (Senedd) for 29 years. Wigley is an honorary president of his political party, Plaid Cymru. In 2011, Wigley was appointed a royal title of a lifetime peerage by Queen Elizabeth II as Baron Wigley, PC (Privy Council) in the House of Lords in London, United Kingdom. In these cases, if they weren't already titular royals, then through their accomplishments they were elevated to the stature of a royal, e.g. Baron etc. The higher regarded titles of Prince of King are solely reserved for direct descendants of the British royal family. However, most politicians are not royalty and they do not need a title to compete in politics.

Today's politicians are leaders in their own right, and their ascension to power is from a political voting system, this is unlike the medieval dynasties who fought through warfare to control Kingdoms. The medieval supreme ruling families as monarchs in Britain were replaced as leaders by politicians who aren't necessarily lineally descended family members, but they are competitive individuals from different boroughs throughout United Kingdom. Although there is still a royal family, the monarchy of the United Kingdom, it now only exists symbolically and ceremonially and does not have any official powers in government today, but they have the final say in who controls government. Today, the British government's controlling powers are reserved for the politicians. This has been the system in place in the UK and has been since Britain became a constitutional monarchy in 1689. To conclude, in today's Britain, the politicians are emulating a once-powerful land of leaders as Kings and Princes.

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