Wales and its History

Caradog's father was Gruffydd ap Rhydderch who after receiving the Lordship of Caerleon in 1031, also inherited Glywysing, and became King of Deheubarth in 1045, in the same year as Gruffydd's second cousin, Cadwgan ap Meurig, inherited the Kingdom of Gwent from his father Meurig ap Hywel. Both of them were co-descendants of Owain, son of Morgan Hen "the Old", the last ruler of a unified Kingdom of Morgannwg. Gruffydd ap Rhydderch was a powerful king who resisted raids by the Danes and attacks by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. However in 1055 after many attempts, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed him in battle and took Deheubarth which enabled him to unite the whole of Wales.  In 1057 Gruffydd ap Llywellyn was recognized as King of Wales and Caradog was given Caerleon in Gwent, he also added  Morgannwg early on in his career.  After the defeat of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn by Harold Godwinson in 1063, old lineages were restored, with Caradog becoming ruler of Glywysing at about the same t...

The Battle of Mechain is one of the hundreds of relatively unknown battles that have taken place in Welsh history. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was a ruthless king who conquered all the Welsh kingdoms to unite Wales under his rule.  ( " Speak not of killing; I but blunt the horns of the offspring of Wales lest they should injure their dam. ") In 1055 Gruffydd marched on Hereford and defeated a force led by the Earl of Hereford, Ralph the Timid,  They then sacked the city and destroyed its motte-and-bailey castle. Harald Godwinson (1066) was given the task of rebuilding and fortifying Heriford.  In late 1062 Harold Godwinson obtained the English king's approval for a surprise attack on Gruffydd's court at Rhuddlan. Gruffydd was nearly captured but was warned in time to escape out to sea in one of his ships. In the spring of 1063 Harold's brother Tostig led an army into north Wales while Harold led the fleet first to south Wales and then north to meet with his brother's...

  The murder of the Norman noble Robert of Rhuddlan Rhuddlan was enjoying a 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 King 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 armor-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.'  from the north side according to Dextra Visual Ednyfed Fychan Ednyfed Fychan was a warrior who became Seneschal t...

Look at this 🙂 AD 1258, 18th day of March Transaction: Agreement of mutual confederation and friendship between men of Scotland and Wales; that they shall not make peace with king of England without mutual consent and agreement Document 4/42/2 (Foedera, i, I, 370) Walter Comyn, earl of Menteith, Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan, justiciar of Scotia, etc., have made an agreement of mutual confederation and friendship with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, etc.; they bind themselves to make no separate peace with the king of England, to give him no aid against the Welsh and to encourage trade between Scotland and Wales. It also has a list of 48 nobles from Wales and Scotland who witnessed the agreement 🙂 https://www.poms.ac.uk/record/factoid/47422/

Upon the death of Llywelyn,  longshanks   did all he could to get rid of any sign of  A Welsh nation. Firstly, he dismantled most of llywelyn's halls and took over his castles.  He then tried to kill off the lineage by ensuring Llywelyn's only child  Gwenllian along with the daughters of her uncle Dafydd ap Gruffudd, were all confined for life in remote priories in  Lincolnshire  and never allowed freedom.  Dafydd ap Gruffudd   was dragged through the streets of Shrewsbury by a horse, hanged, revived and then disembowelled, He was the first recoded noble to be hung drawn and quartered.  Edward also took from the Welsh Llywelyn’s coronet, the matrix of his seal, the crown of Arthur and a sacred  cross that contained a  piece of the t rue Cross  known   as Y Groes Naid.   It is recorded that  ''Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales and Lord of Aberffraw had deposited this crown (W...

To many in Wales at the time, the death of Prince Llywelyn was the end of the world, the death of the idea of a Welsh nation. His death also confirmed great Welsh princely dynasties were now fully extinguished.  Names like Owian Gwynedd, Llywelyn the great, Gruffudd ap Cynan , Caradog ap Gruffydd, Rhodri the Great, Hywel Dda , Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, Rhys ap Gruffydd , Cadwallon ap Cadfan will never be seen again.  The most valuable symbols of Welsh independence like Llywelyn’s coronet, the matrix of his seal, the jewel or crown of Arthur, and, above all, the most cherished relic in Wales, the piece of the True Cross known as Y Groes Naid was stolen. Some words from the time " Is it the end of the world?’ (Oes derfyn byd?),''  ''Ah God, that the sea would drown the land!’ (Och hyd atat-ti, Dduw, na ddaw mor dros dir!) '' ''And then all Wales was cast to the ground’ (Ac yna y bwriwyd boll Gymru i’r llawr)'' ''Perfect the lad killed by h...

A time in Welsh history that deserves more attention is the 11th and 12th centuries , from the campaign to unify Wales under a single king to the death of Owain Gwynedd around 1170. These 115 years saw the biggest battles on welsh soil, lots of Welsh victories against all the odds, the appearance of the longbow cutting down Normans without mercy We see a ruthless king of Wales who killed anyone who stood in his way, he took the fight over the border sacking Saxon towns including burning Hereford, the last Saxon king of England and his brother led raids into Wales to kill him, but he was betrayed, and his head was presented to the English. , after his death his kingdom was once again split and former royal households returned , this allowed the Welsh to get back to the tradition of trying to nick each other's kingdoms, We then see Kingdoms being seised which lead to one king sailing from Ireland to take what he saw as his, which was the kingdom of Gwynedd, He won the battle ...