Llywelyn the Last

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LLYWELYN THE LAST

KEY STAGE 3

Medieval Wales was a place of warring kings who often met violent deaths, sometimes at the hands of members of their own family! These struggles were usually over local power and inﬂuence. All these rulers thought of themselves as Welsh, but their main concern was usually their own small kingdom (and staying alive long enough to help it ﬂourish).

The fortunes of these different Welsh kingdoms had risen and fallen over time, but in the thirteenth century the land of Gwynedd in north-west Wales became particularly powerful under the leadership of Llywelyn Fawr (‘Llywelyn the Great’). A skilled military leader, he defeated many rival Welsh rulers and at his death controlled much of Wales. Gwynedd’s power would reach its height, however, under Llywelyn Fawr’s grandson, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (‘Llywelyn the Last’).

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd conquered several Welsh kingdoms, and soon claimed to be ruler over the whole of Wales, calling himself ‘Prince of Wales’. Many Welsh leaders swore loyalty to Llywelyn and recognised his authority, although even now some Welsh lords opposed him. The troubles experienced by a weakened English crown at this time saw Henry III sign the Treaty of Montgomery in 1267 which recognised Llywelyn’s title as Prince of Wales and ensured it would be passed on to his successors. ‘Wales’ now had a leader and a hereditary ofﬁce he could occupy.

Llywelyn had squeezed concessions out of Henry III who was a relatively ineffective English king, but the next king, Edward, was a different prospect. Edward I came to the throne in 1272.

Llywelyn fell behind in payments due to Edward I. He did not attend Edward’s coronation, and also failed to swear loyalty to him when asked to do so. Even more worrying, Edward I gave protection to Welsh plotters who planned to assassinate Llywelyn. These plotters even included Llywelyn’s own brother!

This breakdown between Llywelyn and Edward eventually led to full-scale war. Llywelyn tried to rally supporters behind his cause by describing the conﬂict with Edward as a national battle. He claimed the Welsh were ﬁghting for their very survival. The English, meanwhile, said that the Welsh people were ‘full of treason’, and that Llywelyn came from a ‘family of traitors’.

The ﬁghting was brief but bloody, and Wales lost its ﬁrst and last native prince in December 1282. His head was sent to London, crowned with ivy and placed on a pole at the Tower of London in a demonstration of English superiority over the Welsh rebels. Llywelyn’s supporters saw this as a catastrophe for Wales as well as for themselves, with some asking whether the end of the world had come.

Edward I was determined to deal with the problem of the rebellious Welsh. After Llywelyn’s defeat, Edward began a remarkable programme of castle building around north and west Wales to watch and control the Welsh. Native English men and women were settled in these castles to rule the area on behalf of the king and ensure rebellion did not break out again. In 1301,

Edward I bestowed onto his own eldest son the title of ‘Prince of Wales’ — the title that had been Llywelyn’s. Large parts of Wales now looked like an English colony. Llywelyn’s decision to represent his struggle as a national war meant that his defeat felt like a deadly blow to Wales, and not just to the rulers of Gwynedd.