bloody events in Welsh history part 1 Abergavenny massacre

Abergavenny massacre
Sometime in the 1160s Henry Fitzmiles, the Norman Lord of Abergavenny, was killed fighting against the forces of Sytsylt ap Dyferwald, a native Welsh ruler of the area, in 1172 The same Welshman besieged and captured the Norman castle at Abergavenny but was soon returned to the Normans.
With Henry dead there was no male heir to take over the de Balun lands so these passed to the evil Norman lord William de Braose, a court favourite of King John of England, a man who was said to be the most vicious of all the Marcher lords.

At Christmas 1175 de Braose invited Sytsylt, his son Geoffrey and all of the leading chieftains from Powys and Gwent to a feast at Abergavenny Castle. The intention, he declared, was to meet and spend the Christmas period in each other's company, They would feast and celebrate and make a lasting reconciliation following the death of Henry Fitzmiles.
Unsuspecting, Sytsylt accepted the invitation, happy to bring peace to the land, but William de Braose had other intentions. Reconciliation was the last thing on his mind.
With weapons stacked outside and the ale flowing, the doors to the great hall were suddenly locked and a massacre began.
Sytsylt and all his allies, his son and his followers, were callously cut down in an act of vengeance for the death of Henry – Aware that Seisyll’s youngest son and wife had not attended the gathering and such was his thirst for revenge, William gathered his men, located their whereabouts and killed the boy as his mother tried to protect him in her arms. The night had been bloody and brutal and it earned William the nickname of The Ogre of Abergavenny.
Amazingly, his actions were forgiven as he was favoured by King John of England and he later took up the post of Sheriff of Herefordshire.

In 1182 Siesyll's death was avenged in  Hywel ap Lorwerth, lord of Caerleon, in a campaign where Abergavenny Castle was stormed and set took Abergavenny castle and burnt it to the ground. William was said to have fled to Ireland and was later seen in France where he lived out the remainder of his life dying in exile there. His wife and son were taken to Corfe Castle and are said to have starved to death in the dungeons.

Llywelyn the Great also attacked de Braose lands in Brecon and Abergavenny and Gower. Abergavenny Castle had to be rebuilt as a result, infact it was another William de Braose, (grandson) who was executed by Llewellyn Fawr, King of Gwynedd, upon being caught in the bedchamber of Joan, Lady of Wales.

He was captured by the Welsh forces of Llywelyn the Great, in 1228. William made an alliance with Llywelyn, arranging to marry his daughter Isabella de Braose to Llywelyn's only legitimate son Dafydd ap Llywelyn. 

However, it became known that William had committed adultery with Llywelyn's wife, Joan, Lady of Wales, and Braose was taken at his own home and transported to Wales. 

Llywelyn had William publicly hanged on 2 May 1230, at Crogen, near Bala,