bloody events in Welsh history part 1 Abergavenny massacre
Abergavenny massacre Sometime in the 1160s Henry Fitzmiles, son of Hameline de Balun, the Norman Lord of Abergavenny, was killed fighting against the forces of Sytsylt ap Dyferwald, Sytsylt was a native Welsh ruler of the area, 1172 The same Welshman besieged and captured the formidable Norman castle at Abergaveny but was soon returned to the Normans. With Henry dead there was no male heir to take over the de Balun lands and these consequently passed to the evil Norman lord William de Braose. Abergavenny Castle was now in the hands of a man who, the most vicious of all the Norman Barons At Christmas 1175 de Braose invited Sytsylt, his son Geoffrey and all of the leading chieftains from Powys 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