Raging in his fury: the trials of Madog ap Llywelyn (1)

Madog ap Llywelyn was the eldest son of Llywelyn ap Maredudd, a prince of the House of Aberffraw and direct descendant of Owain Gwynedd via one of the latter’s many sons, Prince Cynan, lord of Meirionydd. He thus inherited yet another long-standing feud between the senior branch of Aberffraw and rival claimants. 

In December 1256 Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, lord of Gwynedd, summoned Llywelyn ap Maredudd to join forces with him. The prince had just conquered the Lord Edward’s lordship in the Perfeddwlad and now wished to extend direct control over Meirionydd. Llywelyn ap Maredudd refused and instead fled into England with his family. He wrote a letter to Henry III, commending himself as one who preferred fidelity to unfaithfulness, and asking for money from the royal exchequer. The king put him on a pension; in this respect Henry’s successor, Edward I, did no more than copy his father’s policy of granting asylum to useful waifs and strays from Wales.

Madog was the eldest of four sons, the others being Dafydd, Maredudd and Llywelyn. On 25 May 1263 their father was killed in a fight at the Clun. His death was mourned by Welsh chroniclers:

"On 25 May at Clun there were killed nearly a hundred men, among whom was Llywelyn ap Maredudd, the flower of the juveniles of Wales. He indeed was strenuous and strong in arms, lavish in gifts and in advice prophetic and he was loved by all.” (Annales Cambriae)

It is unclear whose side Llywelyn was fighting on. The Lord Edward campaigned in North Wales in this year, and a later inquisition of 1308 discovered that Llywelyn re-occupied Meirionydd at the same time. While he rode off to his death at Clun, his four sons were left in possession of the commote of Ystumanner. Immediately after he was killed, Prince Llywelyn invaded Meirionydd and drove Madog and his brothers into exile. This sequence of events would appear to confirm that Llywelyn ap Maredudd was on Edward’s side, and died at Clun fighting alongside the Marchers.

Once Meirionydd was firmly in his grasp, Prince Llywelyn relented a little. He granted the vills of Llanllibio and Lledwigan Llan on Mon (Anglesey) to Madog and Dafydd, but nothing to the two younger brothers. They presumably had to live off the charity of their elder siblings.