Llywelyns and the Prince of Wales title

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 same name who rebelled against the English during and after the Edwardian conquests of around the 13th century. Both Llywelyn Bren (d. 1317), and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Fychan (d. 1401) were captured and killed as traitors part of conspiracies against the English crown. Bren led his own rebellion in 1316 with his fellow Welshmen against English controlled castles in Wales, he was subsequently executed for his role as the leader of the rebels. Whilst Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Fychan was executed for his role in fighting against the English in the Glyndwr rebellion, during which he sided with the then future Prince of Wales, Owain Glyndwr.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Ham II, statue in honour of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Fychan in Llandovery.

The 13th century Aberffraw Llywelyns were:- Llywelyn I, Llywelyn II and Madog ap Llywelyn.

Llywelyn I- grandfather

The 13th century saw Gwynedd's demise as the final sub-Roman Kingdom still intact. Llywelyn ab Iorwerth (1173-1240, Llywelyn I, the Great) was trained in the art of warfare from a young age, 1199 he considered himself the Prince of North Wales, based on his family's land gains in the region, and also his personal triumphs in battle against his own kin, some of which were collaborators, all the while protecting the Welsh against the English threat. Llywelyn I had married the Siwan (Joan) the illegitimate daughter of King John of England (as well as a Welsh woman). This alliance with England gave him an even further advantageous position in Wales. Llywelyn's immediate descendants from this marriage with Lady Joan would become some of the most prominent Welsh members of royalty outside of Gwynedd. His daughters married into the Scottish Clan of Mar and multiple Anglo-Norman baronies in England. Some of Llywelyn's descendants would marry into the English monarchy, specifically Edward of Woodstock the Prince of Wales, and King Henry IV of England (both in the 14th century). Then, another Anglo-Welsh branch married and were living on the European continent in what was the Duchy of Brabant, today in Belgium. Otherwise, his descendants through his first wife, Tangwystl Goch, a Welsh noblewoman, would be remembered as his lineal descendants of the Aberffraw dynasty in Wales. 

By 1209 Llywelyn used his position with England in his favour against his rivals in Wales. By 1211, John his father in law stepped in to help Powys reclaim lost lands to Gwynedd and went as far as to invade Llywelyn's territory, however Llywelyn at this time was supported at home in Wales and abroad with the backing of Pope Innocent III in the Vatican and the Phillip II King of France. This was the beginning of the successive battles as part of a war between Wales and England in the 13th century. Then, in 1215 he completed an expedition to conquer all parts of Wales after years of warfare. Llywelyn achieved the recognition of his English counterparts who rebelled against King John and forced the King to sign the Magna Carta, a royal charter of rights protecting Llywelyn and his family and promoting the rights of the English barons. In 1216, Llywelyn organised a council of Welsh Princes at Aberdyfi and proclaimed himself overlord of the Welsh people and the Princes as his Lords who would pay homage to him in the newly formed Principality of Wales. This was the closest he would come to being proclaimed the Prince of Wales, a title he never claimed but has been credited with by historians based on his actual territorial gains of conquering all of Wales. By 1230, Llywelyn styled himself as the Prince of Aberffraw and Lord of Snowdon. The land mass accumulated by Llywelyn was confirmed by John's successor and son Henry III at a treaty in Worcester in 1218. The newly created Principality was a territorial border carving Wales into west and east, or more importantly, the lands conquered by the Anglo-Norman Marcher Lords on the border of Wales and England including south and southeast Wales, and then, the Kingdom that was not absorbed by the English, being; Gwynedd, Powys (most) Meirionydd, Ceredigion (Cardigan) and Carmarthenshire, although the shape of Principality variably changed several times in the 1200s. As for Llywelyn's Princely title, his grandfather, Owain Gwynedd had styled himself as the Prince of Wales, a title used for the very first time as bestowed to him by Henry II of England by 1165, however, Llywelyn himself would forgo the use of the title in favour of his son Dafydd ap Llywelyn (Dafydd I, David) who was a self-proclaimed Prince of Wales, but never acknowledged by the crown of England. Due to warfare with England, Dafydd lost most of his father's territorial gains for his rule after Llywelyn I's death in 1241 and Gwynedd remained pacified by the English until Dafydd died childless in 1246. 

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Ham II, drawn 1259, depiction of the death of Llywelyn with his sons Gruffudd and Dafydd.

Llywelyn II- grandson

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to John22Monks, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales.

Born in the 1220s (1223 or 1228), Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the last, in Welsh- ein llyw olaf), grandson of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth was of an illegitimate marriage of his Llywelyn I and the second son of his parents. His father was given lands in the Kingdom of Gwynedd at Meirioneth and Ardudwy, however, he was not the farming type and forfeited the holdings due to mismanagement, he followed in his grandfather's footsteps and again Wales went to war with the Anglo-Normans. Llywelyn II's father, Gruffudd was arrested and imprisoned as a consequence of warring against the English in 1223 but was released after 5 or 6 years. He was then given different lands on the Llŷn peninsula, but imprisoned again, this time by his brother, Dafydd ap Llywelyn (son of Siwan) who had inherited the Kingdom as the Aberffraw Prince of Gwynedd. This next time he was taken to the Tower of London and died trying to escape in 1244. By 1246, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd lost a father and an uncle and inherited the Kingdom through the Welsh inheritance custom of gavelkind. The decades to follow were part of the first official era for the Prince of Wales in the newly formed principality. Llywelyn II proclaimed himself Prince of Wales in 1258 and was formally recognised by Henry III of England at the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267.

Image courtesy to Wikimedia Commons, attributed to A455bcd9, map of Wales in 1267, Principality in Green, Llywelyn II's vassals in blue, his conquered lands in purple, Lordships and England in yellow, orange, and red.

The treaty ratified Llywelyn's exposure in Wales as the head of the Principality. He would continue to raid into English territories and defend his Welsh kin who would often request assistance against the English who had become increasingly hostile towards the Welsh. Sometimes peace treaties were put into place with assistance from the Pope in the Vatican who acted as mediator in the war, sometimes he would war against his own brothers, who had their own allotted segments of Gwynedd given by the English crown. However, Llywelyn's Welsh subjects would cite grievances that forced Llywelyn II into war with his brothers against the English. Then was the battle of Moel-y-Don on the Menai strait between mainland Wales and Anglesey, Llywelyn's forces successfully defeated the English on the 6th of November 1282. After the battle, the Archbishop of Canterbury tried to mediate between Llywelyn and England, and the Prince of Wales was offered an estate in England, whilst his brother, Dafydd II would be sent on a crusade to the Middle East for the rest of his life (unless recalled). Llywelyn's response was that his ancestors protected Wales for over 2,000 years since the days of King Kamber, son of Brutus of Troy, and he rejected the offer of peace. It proved to be his downfall and death on the 11th of December 1282 when he was killed in action by an Englishman who didn't know who he was before a potential battle at Cilmeri. His brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd (Dafydd III) proclaimed himself Prince of Wales and went to battle like his predecessors, only to be captured, hung, drawn, and quartered in England on the 3rd of October 1283. Dafydd III's death marked the end of the direct lineal succession of the Kingdom of Gwynedd, the last surviving post-Roman Kingdom from 401. There were no other immediate male heirs who would carry the mantle for Gwynedd and Wales against the English. Although a few distant Aberffraw members would continue the rebellions to try to reclaim the Principality.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Hogyncymru, English parliament 1277, Alexander III of Scotland (left), Edward I of England (centre), Llywelyn II Prince of Wales (right).

Lords of Meirioneth & Madog ap Llywelyn- cousin

Through Owain Gwynedd (Llywelyn I's grandad) and his father, Gruffudd ap Cynan, the Kingdom of Gwynedd had acquired lands further southwest in Meirioneth (Meirionnydd in Welsh). His son, Cynan of Aberffraw established a minor dynasty in Meirioneth, Eifionydd, and Ardudwy as vassal Lords of Gwynedd. Their holdings were to continue and change variably in size between Meirionnydd, Eifionydd, and Ardudwy in the northwest of Wales near the Snowdonia mountains. His family would hold their claim for over a century from the 1100s until 1256. During this period they had fought in the civil war that engulfed Gwynedd of brothers cousins and fellow kin who vied for supremacy for the title of King, but they were fighting for different sides during the conflicts. Then, by the reign of Llywelyn II, the Lords sided with his brother Dafydd III and subsequently lost all their lands and titles in 1256 after what was considered insubordination against the future Prince of Wales by supporting Dafydd at the battle of Bryn Derwin during June 1255. 

The Lords of Meirioneth were Cynan (son of Owain Gwynedd), Maerdudd, Llywelyn Fawr (Mawr in Welsh, big or great in English), Maerdudd, Llywelyn Fychan. It was Fychan's (junior) son, Madog ap Llywelyn who would never inherit the title, but he made a name for himself by starting a rebellion from 1294 for a year until 1295. Madog was living in Meirioneth but had no income from the lands, unlike his ancestors as Lords. In 1277, Edward I lent money to Madog to sue Llywelyn II for the return on his family inheritance. After Llywelyn died in 1282, Madog was given lands by the King of England on Anglesey. Not much is known of the following decade, but by Michaelmas (29 September) 1294, he is the head of an army starting a rebellion in Wales. The attacks had been planned for months in advance and were directed towards Anglo-Norman-controlled castles all over Wales. During this period, he self-proclaimed himself as the Prince of Wales, as a cousin of Dafydd III, and as a potential heir because of his male line descent from Owain Gwynedd. Afterward, he was deemed a rebel of England and was captured by a Welshman named Ynyr Fychan, 6th Lord of Nannau during the summer of 1295. Madog was imprisoned for the rest of his life and was noted as being in captivity in London in 1312. After the rebellion, Edward I decided to employ builders to construct Beaumaris Castle to protect his investments in Anglesey, although the building was unfinished and abandoned by the 1320s, it is still considered one of the finest examples of a concentric castle in Europe. The castle would mark the end of construction for the Ring of Iron surrounding the Snowdon mountains to finally pacify the Welsh people, a world-renowned network of castles awarded as heritage sites. 

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, attributed to Llywelyn2000, a stone memorial to Madog ap Llywelyn, Gresford, Wales.