Celtic Princes of Wales from Gwynedd

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 dynasty, Owain Lawgoch in 1378. In Latin, they were called Princeps Walliarum. The Welsh of Gwynedd started a title that was taken over by foreigners in the 14th century and has since been held by 23 successors over 700 years as of 2023. It was during the foundation of the English House of Tudor in the late 15th century, that the Welsh descendants of the final ruling dynasty of Aberffraw, in Gwynedd, specifically the first monarch officially recognised as Prince of Wales by the English Crown was Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn II, d. 1283), who had intermarried with the English Royalty, also being the great-grandson of King John of England, thus sealing a genealogical link between the Celtic Welsh Princes and English Anglo-Saxon Kings. These English Princes of Wales today also claim German ancestry from the Royal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the current Prince is William Mountbatten-Windsor. Mountbatten is a German name derived from the Battenberg family, and Windsor is named after an English castle. William himself is also a descendant of the self-proclaimed pretender Prince of the 15th century, Owain Glyndwr, by the way of an Anglo-Dutch family, via a Scottish Earldom (Cavendish-Bentinck), and through marriage into the British Royal family during the 20th century.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Sodacan, Coat of Arms of Aberffraw of Dafydd II & Llywelyn II.

Family tree of the Celtic Princes of Wales.

The key is '|' generation, '-' for a sibling, '=' for marriage, 'italic' for women (female line) and underline for listed Prince of Wales; official or unofficial (note: Owain to Iorwerth is 1 generation) between the 11th and 15th centuries. However, the family tree does not show every sibling born e.g. Owain Gwynedd had about 25 children.

                            Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (d.1075) 

                                         |

                                 Cadwgan

Gruffudd ap Cynan        | 

|                                 Madog     

Owain - Gwenllian          |

|                |                 Meurig 

|             Lord Rhys         =

Iorweth - Dafydd  I - Gwenllian - Cynan

|                                                          |                

Llywelyn I (1173-1240)                  Maerdudd 

|                                                          |

Gruffudd - Dafydd II                       Llywelyn 

|                                                          |

Rhodri - Llywelyn II - Dafydd III   Maerdudd

|                        |                                 |

Thomas         Catherine                  Llywelyn

|                        |                                 |

Lawgoch       Eleanor Goch           Madog

                         |

                      Elen

                         |

          Owain Glyndwr (1354-1415)

The native (Celtic) Prince of Wales family tree is explained by the direct line of succession of Gruffudd ap Cynan. In some sources, Gruffudd is considered a Prince of Wales (Tywysog Cymru), but officially only a King of multiple Welsh Kingdoms (Ceredigion, Dyffryn Clwyd, Gwynedd Meirionnydd), and all members were descended from the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the House of Aberffraw in Gwynedd, except Lord Rhys (Rhys ap Gruffudd) who was from the House of Dinefwr in Deheubarth, but a descendant of Aberffraw. The royal title in the list applies to Welsh monarchs of Welsh Kingdoms, not including the current day English title of the monarch England (1301-), whose heir apparent (1st inline) is the Prince of Wales, and Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay amongst other lesser titles. However, before the official title of Prince of Wales, there were predecessors to the original Prince in Wales (Walliarum Princeps in Latin), Owain Gwynedd in the 1160s. The space of Wales was once inherited by the King of Powys and Gwynedd, Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (d. 1075). Bleddyn gained Wales as its territory in use today from his half-brother, Gruffudd ap Llywelyn who in turn was King of Wales in 1055 until his assassination ordered by Harold King of England in 1063. For a brief period, Bleddyn inherited all of Wales as a country and a respective Prince of his realm, controversially making him the first Prince of Wales, but unofficially, as he was never formally acknowledged by the English crown as the ruler of all of Wales after his brother in law died, nor did he claim to own the possession of the land as a country through inheritance. Instead, the spoils of war were shared after the King of Wales' death, Bleddyn and his brother Rhiwallon shared Gwynedd and Powys (North Wales), whilst the south was given with the House of Dinefwr by the King of England. Bleddyn would go on to found the House of Mathrafal, a dynasty that would rule Wales once again under Prince Owain Glyndwr in the 15th century (1400-1409/1415). The rest of the family tree (known as Aberffraw senior line) is of Gruffudd's immediate descendants and heirs in the 12th and 13th centuries. Owain was bestowed the title of Prince instead of King by the Angevin King Henry II as a peace accord, and he used the title in correspondence during 1165 with Louis II King of France. Owain was also considered the final King of Wales (Rex Waliae written in Latin).

The title of Prince officially passed to Owain Gwynedd's grandson, Llywleyn I, and then to his son, Dafydd II, who self-proclaimed himself without the authorisation of the English crown, and then to Dafydd II's nephew Llywelyn II. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (I, the Great) was granted the title of Prince by King Henry III of England in 1218 at a treaty in Worcester, this was after his declaration post expedition of Wales in 1215 where he conquered all the lands of Wales. He was also supported by the Kingdom of France and the Pope (Innocent III)in the Vatican. The conquest affected mostly descendants of Norman Marcher Lords, but also his own Welsh kin in some cases. Llywelyn I proclaimed his ascension at a treaty with his fellow Welsh Princes at Aberdyfi in 1216. This was after his confirmation in 1215 in the signing of the Magna Carta with the English barons against his father-in-law, King John of England. The next confirmed Prince of Wales from the King of England, and last officially bestowed was Llywelyn II, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth 's grandson. He was granted the lands of the whole of Wales at a treaty in Montgomeryshire in 1267. But unfortunately was killed in action without an heir in 1282. This last time would signify the end of the male line lineal gavelkind succession of the Kingdom of Gwynedd and the House of Aberffraw when Llywelyn II's brother, Dafydd III was committed for treason, hung drawn, and quartered in Shrewsbury on the 3rd of October 1283. 

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Sodacan, Coat of Arms of Dafydd III, Prince of Wales.

Despite the death of the leaders of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, there was a growing sentiment about the mistreatment of the Welsh Royal figures there were two more rebellions to come. Firstly in 1294-95, a distant Aberffraw family member from a cadet branch in Meirionnydd, Madog ap Llywelyn would proclaim himself Prince of Wales, and rebel against the English crown in Gwynedd. This forced King Edward I to build Beaumaris castle on Anglesey to protect his business interests on the island. Madog was unsuccessful at the battle of Maes Moydog and was deemed a traitor and captured by a Welshman, Lord Ynyr Fychan of Nannau. Madog was then kept in captivity for the rest of his life. 

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Il Dottore, the scene of the death of Owain Lawgoch.

There would be one final lineal successor of the Celtic Princes of Wales. He was the great-nephew of Llywelyn II, Owain Lawgoch (literally Owen with a red hand). Lawgoch was a mercenary fighting as a captain of Welshmen for the French crown against the English after his grandfather (Rhodri ap Gruffudd) officially renounced his rights as a royal member of the Aberffraw dynasty. Owain was raised in a family manor in Tatsfield, England. He was aware of his Princely heritage and was proclaimed Prince of Wales in Montgomershire in 1363. Returning to France, he plotted a coup d'etat against the English with a naval fleet unsuccessfully from La Rochelle in France in 1372. Lawgoch was assassinated near Cognac, France by A Scotsman named John Lamb who was working for him in 1378. As far as the King's family tree went, Lawgoch was the final direct male line descendant of Cunedda a millennium earlier, thus closing the gavelkind succession of the House of Aberffraw and the Kingdom of Gwynedd. 

Then, there was one final twist in the tale, with another Owain, who used the same coat of arms as Lawgoch, as well as the Golden Dragon. Owain Glyndŵr was a direct descendant and heir of all three of Wales' Principalities' Royal Houses: Aberffraw, Dinefwr, and Mathrafal. However, his connection to Aberffraw via Llywelyn II, the first Prince of Wales (via female line) and the final generation of rulers of Gwynedd in the 13th century was controversially recorded because of a potential error when recording the genealogical descent of Glyndwr regarding his grandmother Elenaor Goch, the daughter Eleanor of Bar (daughter of Edward I of England). The claim of Owain Glyndŵr being the then heir of Aberffraw has been challenged by modern historians as he was in some cases noted as being a descendant of Gruffudd ap Cynan (d. 1037), or even Llywelyn I, and not Llywelyn II (d. 1282, 3x grandson of Cynan, and grandson of Llywelyn I), but it seems to be a legitimate source of knowledge that Llywelyn II did have a daughter named Catherine, who has descendants today. Academic scholars such as the Welshman John E. Lloyd refuted the claim of Catherine's existence, that was because historically Llywelyn II was recorded as having one child, Gwenllian, who had died childless in 1337. But later age genealogists such as Bernard Burke, the then Ulster King of Arms had in 1844 proven Llywelyn II and his wife Eleanor De Montfort, who died in childbirth giving birth to Gwenllian in 1282 did have another child, a first daughter named Catherine. Therefore, the legacy of the final ruling family of Gwynedd is indeed living centuries later, despite the controversy surrounding whether or not the final ruling brothers as Princes of Gwynedd had children or not.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Sodacan, Coat of Arms of Owain Lawgoch & Owain Glyndwr.

The Welsh War of Independence was between 1400-15 and did change the laws in Wales and put nationalism back on the agenda and has done so ever since. To date, his proclamation day of the 16th of September from 1400 is remembered as Owain Glyndŵr Day in Wales. And his legacy has lived on in the shape of a statue, naming institutes, trains, a hotel, and pubs named in his honour, then also a rugby team in Wales, being, RGC 1404 (Rygbi Gogledd Cymru, English: North Wales Rugby). Also, the 14th century medieval coat of arms was used by both Owain's, and is used as an unofficial banner at sports venues representing Wales as part of a continution to Welsh medieval heraldry. Glyndwr ends the official list of medieval Celtic rulers of Wales.

Welsh medieval Coats of Arms have been adapted and used in these modern times in flags, modern coats of arms, insignia's, standards etc. For instance, the Royal Standard of the Prince of Wales in Canada is a modern adaptation of a medieval heraldry which is only used for the Prince of Wales' visits to the country Canada, (image shown below), the flag contains a representation of the United Kingdom's four countries (top left, England; top right Scotland; middle left Ireland; centre Wales) and France through it's formerly colony Quebec in the middle right and the bottom 1/3 is the Canadian maple leaves. The Canadian British Monarchy standard has variations for different royalty figures descended from Queen Elizabeth; Prince William (Wales); Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and also a variation for other royals. The standard shows the Prince of Wales' feathers in the centre, a heraldic motif adopted by the English Princes of Wales from the early 14th century (A plume of three ostrich feathers argent enfiled by a royal coronet of alternate crosses and fleur-de-lys or). The current badge in it's modern form was first used by Arthur, Prince of Wales, c. late 15th century, himself a descendant of Llywelyn II of Wales. The quote under the coronet is 'Ich Dein' in German, or 'I serve' translated into English . The 3 feathers Prince of Wales motif has also been used in sports by the Welsh Rugby Union team as their logo (second image below). Perhaps the Welsh have so much passion about sports and rugby in particular that in general they see their national team like an assembly of medieval lords replicating the ancient tradition of convening councils of tens of thousands of warriors and going to battle against their neighbors or common enemies.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Sodacan, Royal Standard of the Prince of Wales in Canada.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Benstown, Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) logo of 3 feathers and a coronet.