Gwynedd seemed to be the most powerful of Welsh kingdoms

-

 Throughout medieval times Gwynedd seemed to be the most powerful of Welsh kingdoms, there were times when Deheubarth took the crown , for example hywel dda and Rhys ap Gruffydd but for the vast majority of times it was Gwynedd.

Why though? Was the population of Gwynedd higher than the other kingdoms, so they had bigger armies? 


Rhodri Mawr gwynedd


Hywel Dda


Maredudd ab Owain

Llywelyn ap Seisyll


Gwynedd, Powys, and Deheubarth


Bleddyn ap Cynfyn
Gwynedd
1063–1075
Powys
1063–1075

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn
Gwynedd
1039–1063
Powys
1039–1063
Deheubarth
1055–1063

Comments

Post a Comment

popular posts

**UPDATED** WELSH BATTLES, WARS AND REBELLIONS FROM 616 to 1409

-
WELSH WARS, BATTLES AND  REBELLIONS FROM 616 TO 1409. ****IF YOU FIND MISTAKES LET ME KNOW. ****   There is an article on wiki called 'list of anglo Welsh wars" it doesn't cover most of the conflicts, battles, wars that involve the Welsh so iv always intended on adding to it, but for now, I decided to put as many as I can find in one place.  All I'm doing (doing because iv not finished) is searching through the lives of the Welsh princes, primary sources, secondary sources, various articles and adding whatever I can find and trust me, the list as easily five or six times bigger than the wiki list so far. There are many medieval writers who describe the Welsh as brave and vicious fighters who dont often stick by the rules of war. They would often come out of nowhere and attack an invading army and disappear before the invaders knew what hit them. quote from Itinerarium Cambriae 1191 "My Lord King, this nation may now be harassed, weakened and deci
Read more

Medieval churches and other religious sites built by the native Welsh rulers and/or the native Welsh people

-
For the last year or so I have been making an interactive map of all the churches in Wales with links to the medieval period. Throughout all this, I have come across people who claim that nearly all historical Welsh churches were built by the Normans (English). This isn't even close to being true. The majority of the most historical sites seem to have been built by the Welsh themselves. The Welsh kings and princes were very active in building religious sites and many still stand today. Here are some of my favourites that were built by the Welsh. I will add more at a later date Llewelyn’s Church Llanrhychwyn "Llanrhychwyn's main claim to fame is its parish church, which many claim is the oldest in Wales, marking the site where Rhychwyn originally established his church in the 6th century. The church is known locally as Llewelyn’s Church, and the oldest part dates from the late 11th century. Llywelyn Fawr, Prince of Gwynedd and de facto Prince of Wales, had a
Read more

Welsh battles that all Welsh folk should know about.

-
*************WIP************** In any other country, the heroes of these battles would be remembered. The Welsh were nearly always outnumbered but still won many battles that shouldn't be forgotten. Please share what you feel should or shouldn't be on this list. 1257 Battle of Cadfan Who? Welsh from Ceredigion and Ystrad Tywi vs the English Result Welsh victory numbers several thousand on each side Casualties and losses The English had up to 3000 casualties, the Welsh very few The Battle of Cadfan was two engagements, one was at Coed Llathen and the other at Cymerau. The word Cadfan translates to 'place of battle'. ****WIKI**** "In the years before the battle, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd prince of Wales had been rapidly gaining power. Llywelyn had received support from the lords of Deheubarth, and as a reward for their loyalty, he gave them land that he had stripped from their nephew, Rhys Fychan (who was a supporter of the English king). P
Read more

Wales, where the saints came to learn in one of the world's oldest colleges

-
In 395 AD a college of priests called Cor Tewdws was founded at Llantwit Major. Some say Cor Tewdws was the earliest school in Britain, and arguably the oldest college in the entire world. After the Romans left Britain in the early 5th century the college was left to defend itself against raiders, and in 446 AD Irish pirates burned the college to the ground. One story says that St Patrick was kidnapped from Cor Tewdws by the pirates. After the sack of the College of Theodosius, the site lay barren for 62 years, until it was re-established by St. Illtud c. 508. Accor ding to the Book of Llandaff, St. Dubricius commissioned Illtud to re-establish the college. It was once a seat of learning that was unrivaled anywhere in the western world. ''At its height had more than 2,000 students. Apparently, the place was graced with at least six separate halls and was able to boast around 400 teaching houses and places of accommodation'' 'Many well-known Celtic saints are said
Read more

Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, the often forgotten king of ALL Wales and a bit of England too.

-
By Dr Sean Davies Gruffudd ap Llywelyn was the most formidable, King of Wales. Having emerged as king of North Wales in 1039 he waged a bloody war to conquer the south-west of the country, while consistently pursuing a policy of aggression and expansion on his eastern border with England. By the 1050s, only the obdurately independent sub-kingdom of Glamorgan in south-east Wales lay outside his control, an area controlled by one of its most powerful leaders, Gruffudd ap Rhydderch. But the reign of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn should never be simply viewed within a Welsh context. In his rise to power he had needed to master formidable sea raiders from Ireland, the western isles and Scandinavia. Soon after he became king in 1039, Gruffudd won a major victory against the forces of Anglo-Saxon Mercia at the Battle of Rhyd-y-groes (near Montgomery and Welshpool). In 1047 he allied with Earl Swegn Godwinesson to subdue his rivals in south-west Wales, and a devastating attack made by Gruffudd on nort
Read more

When a Welsh kingdom conquered Saxon Northumbria

-
  Cadwallon ap Cadfan    Historia Regum Britanniae We all know of the English invasions of our little old Cymru. The Saxons invaded a few hundred times and the Normans took 200 years of invasions to subdue the Welsh. However, the traffic wasn’t always one way. On numerous occasions, the Welsh have taken the fight to the English/Saxon/Norman’s on English/Saxon/Norman soil. I will cover many of these in future posts but I want to concentrate on what is probably the most successful (sadly very brutal) Welsh conquest. It is the invasion and occupation of the kingdom of Northumbria by King Cadwallon ap Cadfan. To the ancient Welsh, this occupation was hugely symbolic as to them it was the native Britons taking back land that belonged to them before the Saxons invaded. Cadwallon was remembered as a national hero by the Welsh, naturally, the Saxons saw him as a brutal tyrant. The invasion took place around 633 where Cadwallon joined forces with King Penda of Mercia, to defeat King Edw
Read more

When 3000 Welshmen beat an English army of 30,000

-
King Henry (who ascended to the throne in 1154) decided to invade Gwynedd to halt the recent expansion of Owain Gwynedd into the lands of Powys, and to expand his empire into northern Wales.  Henry led a large army of 30,000 men into northern Wales and sent a fleet (led by Henry FitzRoy) to capture Anglesey to cut off Owain's supplies. Owain responded by raising a Welsh army of around 3000 men. Owain's army made camp at Basingwerk to block the route to Twthill at Rhuddlan. Henry split from his main army with a smaller force that would march through the nearby Ewloe woods to outflank Owain's army. Sensing this, Owain sent a large army led by his sons Dafydd ab Owain Gwynedd and Cynan ab Owain Gwynedd into the woods to guard Owain's main force from Henry's outflanking army. Owain split his army and decided to personally lead an extra 200 men into the Ewloe woods to reinforce his sons' armies. When Henry's outflanking force advanced into the wood, they wer
Read more