Life of Gruffudd ap Cynan (One of the most important men in Welsh history)

 

What a film this would make :) 

Gruffudd ap Cynan  1055 – 1137

His father was  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.

(Had a number of children, one went onto be a very successful. King Owain Gwynedd (c. 1100 – 1170) and the other Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd (1100 – 1136) who married Gruffydd ap Rhys, Prince of Deheubarth who was the son of her fathers ally Rhys ap Tewdwr .) 

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

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

‘’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’’

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.

ARRIVED 

Gruffudd landed on Abermenai Point, Anglesey with an Irish army, and troops provided by the Norman Robert of Rhuddlan . He 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.

RUN TO IRELAND 

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

RETURNED

in 1081, he returned and made an alliance with Rhys ap Tewdwr, prince of Deheubarth (the father of Gruffudds 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 affect 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.

KING AGAIN

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

KIDNAPPED

At the meeting Gruffudds guard were 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.

RESCUED 

He was rescued by Cynwrig the Tall who come across Gruffudd in fetters in the market-place at Chester.  When the guards were in a tavern. He picked Gruffudd up and carried him out of the city on his shoulders

RUN TO IRELAND

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

Killed Robert of Rhuddlan

on 3 July 1093; according to chronicler Orderic Vitalis there was a skirmish with a force led by Gruffudd ap Cynan which resulted in Robert's death. He 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 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.

RETURNED

Another revolt had begun in 1094 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 the fat man of Chester joined with Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury in another attempt to recover his losses in Gwynedd.

RUN TO IRELAND

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.

RETURNED

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..

King Henry to invade 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

. 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.

Crug Mawr

Gruffudds sons Owain and Cadwaladr, in alliance with Gruffudd ap Rhys of Deheubarth, gained a crushing victory over the Normans at Crug Mawr near Cardigan in 1136 killing 3000 Normans and took possession of Ceredigion. 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".

died

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.

His son Owain Gwynedd went onto be one of the most successful kings in Welsh history and his daughter Gwenllian have her own stories, maybe not as eventful but every bit as dramatic.