Bonds and sureties

A letter from Cynan ap Maredudd ab Owain, a lord of Ceredigion, to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd:

“Letter, informing the prince that he has bound himself as surety to him for Cadwgan, Cynan’s foster-son, with respect to the latter’s paying £27 sterling in the prince’s mercy of suitable terms fixed by the prince; Cynan is also surety for Cynan’s constancy and fealty to the prince. He therefore prays the prince to end all anger which he has against Cadwgan. He sends this letter to ratify the above, and attests that he is a surety to all who see and read it.”

As Llywelyn used the title ‘Prince of Wales and Lord of Snowdon’ from 1262, this letter is datable to the period between the death of Maredudd in March 1265 and Cynan’s submission to Edward I on 2 May 1277.

This is another example of Llywelyn’s methods of control in Wales. Cadwgan, Cynan’s foster-son, had evidently offended against Llywelyn in some way. The prince’s standard tactic was to oblige a kinsman or neighbour of the offender to stand surety for the latter’s good behaviour. No previous ruler in Wales had used bonds and sureties on such a massive scale, and it appears to have caused outrage among the Welsh polity. The upshot was 1276, when the majority of those Llywelyn had extracted money from defected to the English crown.