Gruffudd ap Cynan's remarkable life (would make a great movie/documentary )

Welsh history is always ignored by the likes of the BBC, Netflix, Amazon, and others.

You will find dozens of movies or documentaries covering Scottish or English history but nothing covering the eventful history of Wales. 

Wales isn't short of events or people that would make great documentaries. In fact, it's a crime that they haven't been made already. 

The first person that comes to mind who would make a fascinating tv show is Gruffudd ap Cynan.

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Here is a summary of his eventful life. 

Gruffudd ap Cynan (c. 1055 – 1137

Had a number of children, one went onto be very successful in their own right.

These include:

king Owain Gwynedd (c. 1100 – 1170) Who Had a number of successful battles against the Normans, almost killed an English king.

Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd (1100 – 1136) who married Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth who was the son of her father's close ally  Rhys ap Tewdwr .

She died while leading an army while her husband was visiting her father to ask him to help in his own war against the Normans.

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Gruffudd ap Cynan was born in the Hiberno-Norse Kingdom of Dublin and reared near Swords, County Dublin in Ireland.

He was the son of a Welsh Prince, Cynan ap Iago

Gruffudd's mother was Ragnailt ingen Amlaíb, a granddaughter of King Sigtrygg Silkbeard and a member of the Hiberno-Norse Uí Ímair dynasty.

‘’Gruffudd received considerable help from Ireland, from the Hiberno-Norse at Dublin, the Isles, and Wexford, and from Muircheartach Ua Briain, because he was also descendant through his mother from Brian Boru, High King of Ireland’’

He three times gained the throne of Gwynedd and then lost it again, before regaining it once more in 1099 and this time keeping power until his death

Gruffudd first attempted to take over the rule of Gwynedd in 1075, following the death of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn Trahaearn ap Caradog had seized control of Gwynedd.

Gruffudd landed on Abermenai Point, Anglesey with an Irish army, and troops provided by the Norman Robert of Rhuddlan first defeated Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon, an ally of Trahaearn who held Llŷn, then defeated Trahaearn himself in the battle of Gwaed Erw and gained control of Gwynedd.

 Gruffudd then led his forces eastwards to reclaim territories taken over by the Normans and despite the assistance previously given by Robert of Rhuddlan , he destroyed Rhuddlan Castle

However tension between Gruffudd's Danish-Irish bodyguard and the local Welsh led to a rebellion in Llŷn, and Trahaearn took the opportunity to counterattack, defeating Gruffudd at the battle of Bron yr Erw above Clynnog Fawr the same year.

Gruffudd fled to Ireland but wasn’t going to give up what he saw as his right to the throne. 

in 1081, he returned and made an alliance with Rhys ap Tewdwr, prince of Deheubarth (the father of Gruffudd's famous daughters husband)

Rhys himself had been attacked by the ruthless Caradog ap Gruffudd of Gwent and Morgannwg, and had been forced to flee to St David's Cathedral.

Gruffudd left Waterford Ireland with a force of Danes and Irish and landed near St David's where he met with Rhys and his army.

He was also joined here by a force of his supporters from Gwynedd.

He and Rhys marched north to seek Trahaearn ap Caradog and Caradog ap Gruffudd who had also made an alliance and been joined by Meilyr ap Rhiwallon of Powys.

The armies of what was in effect the rulers of all the kingdoms of Wales met at the Battle of Mynydd Carn

Gruffudd and Rhys were victorious and Trahaearn, Caradog and Meilyr were killed.

Gruffudd was then able to seize power in Gwynedd for the second time.

He wasn’t in power for long before the Normans started showing interest in his kingdom.

Gruffudd  was enticed to a meeting with Hugh, Earl of Chester and Hugh, Earl of Shrewsbury at Rhug, near Corwen by a traitor called  Meirion Goch

At the meeting, Gruffudd's guard was killed, and he was seized and taken prisoner.

Gruffudd was imprisoned in Earl Hugh's castle at Chester for many years, some say 12 others say 16 years.

At times he was paraded though Chester for people to throw things and spit on the fallen Welsh king

After all those years He was rescued by Cynwrig the Tall who come across Guruffudd tied up in the market-place at Chester.  The guards were in a tavern, eating and drinking.

He picked Gruffudd up and carried him out of the city on his shoulders

Gruffudd again took refuge in Ireland but returned to Gwynedd to lead the assaults on Norman castles such as Aber Lleiniog

According to chronicler Orderic Vitalis, in 1093 there was a skirmish with a force led by Gruffudd ap Cynan which resulted in the dear of Rhuddlan,  Rhuddlan was enjoying a noontide nap in his castle at Deganwy when the news was brought to him that Welsh raiders had landed in three ships underneath the Great Orme and pillaged his lands. Some sources say that these raiders were led by Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had recently escaped from captivity in Chester. The raiders had beached their ships and were busy loading the plunder. Robert despatched messengers to gather his troops and hastened to the Great Orme, where he found that the rising tide was about to allow the Welsh to refloat their vessels and get away with the loot before Robert's troops could appear. In a fury, Robert rushed down the slopes to attack them, followed only by his armour-bearer. He was killed by a volley of javelins, and the raiders sailed off with his head attached to the mast of one of the vessels.

Robert's lands in Gwynedd were now taken over by Earl Hugh of Chester, 

The Welsh revolt of 1094 begun and by late 1095 had spread to many parts of Wales

 This induced William II of England (William Rufus) to intervene, invading northern Wales in 1095

 King William mounted a second invasion in 1097, but again without much success

 In the summer of 1098, Earl Hugh of Chester joined with Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury in another attempt to recover his losses in Gwynedd.

Gruffudd and his ally Cadwgan ap Bleddyn retreated to Anglesey but were then forced to flee to Ireland in a skiff when a fleet he had hired from the Danish settlement in Ireland accepted a better offer from the Normans and changed sides.

Everything changed by the arrival of a Norwegian fleet under the command of King Magnus III of Norway, also known as Magnus Barefoot, who attacked the Norman forces near the eastern end of the Menai Straits.

Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury was killed and the Normans fled Anglesey.

The following year, Gruffudd returned from Ireland to take possession again.

With the death of Hugh of Chester in 1101, Gruffudd was able to consolidate his position in Gwynedd.

By 1114, he had gained enough power to induce King Henry to invade Gwynedd in a three-pronged attack, one detachment led by King Alexander I of Scotland. Faced by overwhelming force, Gruffudd was obliged to pay homage to Henry and to pay a heavy fine but lost no territory.

By about 1118, Gruffudd's advancing years meant that most of the fighting, which pushed Gwynedd's borders eastward and southwards, was done by his three Cadwallon, Owain Gwynedd, and later Cadwaladr.

. Another invasion by the king of England in 1121 was a military failure. The king had to come to terms with Gruffudd and made no further attempt to invade Gwynedd during Gruffudd's reign.

Gruffudd was now powerful enough to ensure that his nominee David the Scot was consecrated as Bishop of Bangor in 1120. The see had been effectively vacant since Bishop Hervey le Breton had been forced to flee by the Welsh almost twenty years before, since Gruffudd and King Henry could not agree on a candidate. David went on to rebuild Bangor Cathedral with a large financial contribution from Gruffudd.

In 1136 Gruffudds daughter Gwenllian was killed in battle, by now she had married Gruffudd ap Rhys of Dehibarth, Gruffudd went north to try and get his wives father (Gruffudd) to join him in fighting the normans. while he was away the Normans under  Maurice de Londres were attacking her lands so she along with two of her sons raised a army and went to face him, she was killed and beheaded along with her sons.

Gwenllians brothers Owain and Cadwaladr, along with Gruffudd ap Rhys her husband got revenge and gained a crushing victory over the Normans at Crug Mawr near Cardigan in 1136 and killed 3000 Normans. 

The latter part of Gruffydd's reign was considered to be a "Golden Age"; according to the Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan Gwynedd was "bespangled with lime-washed churches like the stars in the firmament".

Gruffudd died in his bed, old and blind, in 1137 and was mourned by the annalist of Brut y Tywysogion as the "head and king and defender and pacifier of all Wales". He was buried by the high altar in Bangor Cathedral which he had been involved in rebuilding.