Welsh law, usurpers and civil war

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 was Hywel Dda (Howel the Good) in the 10th century, he was a grandson of Rhodri Mawr, King of Gwynedd, and son of Cadell, the founder of the House of Dinefwr. Hywel would become King of Wales and rewrite the Molmutine laws for a more modern medieval Wales. Hywel's laws (Cyfraith Hywel in Welsh) were written regarding the criminal code, classes, the law of women, land law, inheritance, etc. The laws were of a Celtic nature and deemed Volksrecht (people's law), similar to the Irish laws of Brehon, and not too dissimilar to the medieval laws of England and Scotland. Three books were made containing the law in the possession of Hywel's family, one for Aberffraw, one for Dinfwr, and another for Powys (later Mathrafal). The key part of the law for the Kings of Wales was the system of inheritance called gavelkind. It was a land law similar to that used in Kent, England, and simply put was an inheritance system for landowners, being men to pass on their inheritance to their sons equally. So, in the case of the Kings, they could nominate any legitimate son to continue the title of King without having a line of succession where the eldest gains the throne, unlike today's monarchy of the United Kingdom. The laws would stay in place until the new regime of the English monarchs would rewrite the system in 1284 with the Statute of Rhuddlan.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Jason.nlw, proclaiming the laws of King Hywel Dda.

By the 11th century, Wales had been shaped into a Kingdom worthy of its kin. Multiple borders divided the land, and the people were treated fairly. However, within the walls of the palaces was unrest, and Wales' Kings would continue to battle internally like the sons of the King of Gwynedd, Rhodri Molwynog had done in the early 9th century. After Hywel had united Wales as one country, the Kingdoms were divided once more. Hywel's death in 950 AD left a void in Wales and Gwynedd, and the country fell into a conflict that saw brothers and cousins battle for the title of King. There was battle after battle in which the ruling Kings and their families were eliminated from succession, imprisoned, or killed by their own kin. Within 90 years (950-1039) there were 11 rulers of Gwynedd, and in all of Wales, 35 rulers were killed by their own family or kin in the same period up to 1066. The insecurity of the throne was caused by a civil war-type scenario within Wales. However, by then, the Viking invasion was in full swing and Wales was having to contend with internal strife as well as external forces attempting to loot and pillage the country. After a century of infighting, there was one King who was to unite all factions, his name was Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, son of Llywelyn ap Seisyll the King of Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth and also King of the Britons. Llywelyn had killed to become King of Gwynedd, and his son would conquer all of Wales as a usurper. Gruffudd ap Llywelyn battled and claimed the crown of King of Wales as its overlord, and was the only individual to conquer all of Wales as its territory today, thus making him the only legitimate King of Wales (1055-1063) as a modern country. After the reign of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, the Normans took possession of Gwynedd and another Gruffudd would change the course of history once more. Gruffudd was the son of (ap in Welsh) Cynan, his father was killed by his own men (supposedly) when Gruffudd was only an infant. However, Gruffudd ap Cynan was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and escaped the new era of war against the Anglo-Norman force then occupying Wales. After Gruffudd returned to Gwynedd by the 12th century, he successfully battled the Normans to claim his inheritance of the throne of Gwynedd. The infighting between Welsh Kings temporarily ceased due to the distractions of the Norman conquest of Wales from 1067 until 1081.

After the Norman invasion, peace stabilised the country for a century, until another civil war erupted between the sons of King Owain Gwynedd (Great, or in Welsh; Mawr) after his death. But during Owain's lifetime, he managed to repel the Normans with his forces from Gwynedd and North Wales. Owain died as King in 1170 and was buried in Bangor Cathedral, Gwynedd. His son and heir Hywel ab Owain Gwynedd succeeded him but was duly killed by his half-brother, Dafydd (David in English), at the battle of Pentraeth shortly after his ascension in 1170. Dafydd was assisted by his full brother, Rhodri ap Owain Gwynedd. Dafydd I of Gwynedd usurped the throne of Gwynedd and became King by force. He was an heir by his father using Welsh law of gavelkind, but the church made him illegitimate because Owain married a family member, Cristina, a cousin (one of 2 wives of Owain Gwynedd). Medieval Welsh law (Cyfraith) recognised children who were born out of wedlock or were illegitimate as potential heirs. Owain was excommunicated by the church, yet stayed defiant with his stance on Welsh law. By 1173 Dafydd imprisoned all of his brothers (from 21+ siblings) except two, Maelgwn and Madog. Dafydd's brother, Maelgwn ab Owain Gwynedd had been granted amnesty and was given Anglesey which he ruled as Prince for 3 years after the death of their father. Maelgwn was then forced to flee to Ireland to escape Dafydd's wrath, later that year he was jailed in Gwynedd by his brother. Dafydd continued to eliminate his rivals in battle, he would defeat and kill two more siblings in battle during 1174. From that occasion, one of Dafydd's nephews, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (the Great) would avenge his father at the battle of Aberconwy in 1194, and Dafydd himself would be imprisoned for a year and died six years later in 1203. 

Meanwhile, another son of King Owain Gwynedd, Prince Madoc/Madog, also escaped the imprisonment of the Princes of Gwynedd. Madog ap Owain Gwynedd had fled the Kingdom of Gwynedd during the civil war of the late 12th century. He took with him a small fleet of ships to sail to the 'New World' on 2 separate occasions. Leaving Llandrillo-on-Rhos in North Wales in 1170 with his brother Rhirid and 5 or 6 ships, they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and duly discovered North America. Landing in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida in USA, he returned leaving 120 men. Upon his return to Wales, Madog persuaded some of his countrymen not to fight the English or kill one another, but to join him and leave Wales. The third voyage of Madoc set sail from Lundy Island in the Bristol channel with 10 or 11 ships and 300 men. They returned to Mobile Bay in Alabama in Southern USA. There is speculation as to which Native American tribes are descendants of the Welsh medieval settlers, these include the Mandan, Padouca (Commanche & Apache), also the Cherokee, whose tribe the Monacan people spoke a language closely resembling Welsh. In 1608, Peter Wynne a Welsh settler in America translated between the Monacan tribe and other settlers speaking about the Moon-Eyed People, who were short, bearded, blue eyed men only appearing at night in the Appalachian Mountains in the East of America, the lore is connected to Madoc's fellow voyagers. The legend was Madoc returned to Wales and was buried in the Traeth Mawr area of Gwynedd at what is today Porthmadog. However, the folklore has been debated. Madog's migration from Gwynedd to North America predated the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus for over 300 years. The story of Madoc coincides with the legendary ancient tales of the three disappearances from the British Isles in the Triads of Britain. The first was the story of Gavran and his men who went in search of the Green Islands of the floods. Then, secondly was Merlin's disappearance around the 5th century, supposedly also to America, and thirdly Madog's disappearance in the 12th century. These oral traditions were stories that were passed down through word of mouth from one generation to the next until they were finally documented in between the 16th and 18th centuries in Wales. It was even in the past century that Welsh school children were taught the tradition of Madog and his voyages across the Atlantic Ocean, albeit only a nursery rhyme.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Titus Gold, Madog ap Owain Gwynedd's ship discovering North America.

The civil war of Gwynedd would reshape the monarchy in the Kingdom, but there was still enough stability for the Kingdom to last another few centuries. The Kingdom of Gwynedd was the final ruling royal family of Wales. The end of the Kingdoms of Deheubarth and Powys was due to the Norman invasion and subsequent land grab by the Anglo-Normans from England. During the reign of Owain Gwynedd's grandson, Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (Llywelyn I, the Great) acquired the recognition of Prince of Wales between 1216 and 1240. Gwynedd and Wales had regained control internally to fight the common enemy, the Anglo-Normans. The Welsh pooled together as a unit to fight the invading English armies 21 times between 1081-1267. Eventually, Llywelyn I formed an alliance with the English Crown through his marriage to Siwan, an illegitimate daughter of King John of England. Before peace, Llywelyn had turned his interests internally in Wales. He defeated the land-grabbing settlers of the Norman invasion, by then, many Norman descendants were Marcher Lords living on the border of Wales and England. But Llywelyn sometimes went after his own vassals, primarily the remnants of Deheubarth. His conquests from 1194 would ultimately lead to his proclamation and subsequent confirmation as the Prince of Wales in 1216. However, by 1230 he would use the titles of Prince of Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon. Llywelyn was officially the second Prince of Wales (Walliarum Princeps in Latin) on paper. This was after his grandfather, Owain Gwynedd confirmed his position in signing a document to the King of France in 1165. Owain stated his newly acquired Welsh title of Prince and this time not as a King, this was bestowed to him by King Henry II of England. The title of King of Wales ended with Owain after 400 years from its first mention in 710. Llywelyn I was acknowledged as a Prince by the Crown of England, the Kingdom of France, and the Pope in the Vatican. The royal title would later be adopted by the English crown at the start of the 14th century. As of the 16th century, the title is still in use today via a descendant of Llywelyn I of the Kingdom of Gwynedd.