The tragedy of Dafydd (6)

Prince Dafydd spent two years in exile at the court of Edward I, apparently doing very little. His Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn, who had fled with him into England, was much more pro-active and set up headquarters at Shrewsbury. From here Gruffudd and his sons led frequent raids into their former territory in southern Powys, now occupied by the armies of Prince Llywelyn.

When war broke out between Edward and Llywelyn in 1276, Dafydd was sent to join the royal army gathering at Chester under the Earl of Warwick. He served with his retinue or 'teulu' of two hundred Welsh horsemen, among hundreds of English knights and men-at-arms. All we know of Dafydd's actions is an order from  the king addressed to him and Guncelin de Badlesmere, justice of Chester, ordering them to 'receive to the king's peace' the Welsh of Bromfield, the district corresponding to the southern part of the present county of Denbighshire. This order was dated 26 December, so Dafydd spent a busy Christmas and New Year forcing his countrymen in Bromfield to submit to Edward's will.

This was followed by a general advance upon Llywelyn's position in the middle Dee, in which Dafydd again probably served as Warwick's army drove back the Welsh from the immediate west of Chester. Meanwhile feudal army stores and men continued to pour into the town, which would serve Edward as a main base over the summer. Orders survive for companies of workmen and crossbowmen sent up to Chester ahead of the king's advance.

We know more of Dafydd's actions in the spring of 1277. On 12 April 1277 he and Warwick advanced into Powys Fadog and forced Gruffudd ap Madog to partition the lordship between himself and his brothers, or be permanently disinherited. Apart from some lingering resistance at Castell Dinas Bran, this removed Llywelyn's last ally outside Gwynedd and left him isolated west of the Conwy, surrounded by royal armies and navies. Faced with starvation, he submitted in November.

Dafydd did not get all that he wanted from the king's war. In August, at Flint, Edward had promised that he would restore to Dafydd and his brother Owain half of Snowdonia, Anglesey and Penllyn, with the Lleyn peninsular, if he defeated Llywelyn. Alternatively , should Edward decided to keep the whole of Anglesey, the rest of Gwynedd would be divided between Dafydd and Owain. Llywelyn would be left totally disinherited.

In the event, Edward decided to force terms on Llywelyn rather than destroy him: the total defeat of the prince required an invasion of Snowdonia, and the king was too cautious a military commander to take that risk in the dead of winter. Dafydd was therefore granted the land of Hopedale and two of the Four Cantreds, Dyffrwyn Clwyd and Rhufoniog: this was, in fact, a renewal of the original grant Edward had made to Dafydd when the latter initially defected in 1263. So Dafydd could have his cake and like it.

But Dafydd wanted more cake. MORE CAKE FOR DAFYDD!