The wars of Gwenwynwyn (3)

In 1197 the Lord Rhys of Deheubarth - ‘the unconquerable leader of all Wales - died and left a brood of quarrelsome sons to fight over their inheritance. One of them, Maelgwn, had fled Deheubarth while his father was still alive and taken refuge with Prince Gwenwynwyn in southern Powys.

Powis Castle

As soon as the old man was dead, Gwenwynwn gave Maelgwn an army and sent him to attack his brother and Rhys’s heir-designate, Gruffudd. Maelgwn blazed through Ceredigion, capturing Aberystwyth and all the other castles in the region. Finally he seized Gruffudd and handed him over to Gwenwynwyn, a fairly clear indication that he regarded the latter as his overlord. Gwenwynwyn sold his prisoner to the English in exchange for the castle of Carreg Hofa.

The lord of Powys was playing a blinder: he had expanded his territory, got rid of an enemy, reduced the English presence without provoking a response, and conquered Ceredigion without lifting a finger. He was now well on his way to challenging the rulers of Gwynedd and Deheubarth for supremacy in Wales.

Some evidence of his aspirations is found in surviving charters. In one he styles himself ‘prince’ and in another three ‘prince of Powys’. In another he uses the style ‘Prince of Powys and Lord of Arwystli’: Arwystli was a cantref and kingdom sometimes associated with Powys, but not integrated with it. In another charter, an agreement between Gwenwynwyn and the monks of Strata Marcella, he is ‘princeps W’. This looks like an abbreviation of Princeps Walliae or Prince of Wales (although, strictly speaking it should be Principem or Principis). If this was an announcement of Gwenwynwyn’s claim to the principality, it was a very muted one. Being a canny sort of chap, perhaps he chose to keep his powder dry until he could properly enforce the claim.