Deadly war

In 1240 Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn swore homage and fealty to Henry III for his right to North Wales. This should have removed any source of conflict, but then a row blew up over the border fortress of Mold, some five miles to the west of the Dee.

The remains of Mold Castle

Via the peace of Gloucester, Dafydd’s right to the castle was reserved. In October 1240 the matter was submitted for arbitration to a team of English and Welsh judges. The English side included the papal legate, while the Welsh side included Ednyfed Fychan and the bishop of St Asaph, two of the most powerful elder statesmen of Wales.

Dafydd refused two summons to appear before the commissioners. This was an eerie foreshadow of later events, when his nephew Llywelyn ap Gruffudd refused to appear before Edward I. In Dafydd’s case, the context turned on a subtle point of feudal law: Henry III had originally agreed to submit the issue of Mold to arbitration. In March 1241, contrary to the terms of peace, he treated the matter in dispute as though it fell within his jurisdiction. In plain language, it was no longer a dispute between equals, but between a lord and his vassal.

This struck at the heart of the problematic relationship between the English crown and the princes of North Wales: were Llywelyn the Great and his heirs heads of state in their own right, albeit owing homage to the king, or were they merely tenants-in-chief?

Dafydd’s mistake, later repeated by his nephew, was to refuse to appear to argue his case. Judgement went against him by default, and when he failed to appear a second time Henry took action. The king gained the approval of the other Welsh princes by promising to satisfy the claims of Dafydd’s prisoner, his brother Gruffydd.

There was certainly more sympathy for Gruffydd than Dafydd in Wales. Gruffydd ap Madog, lord of Bromfield, expressed the prevailing view when he promised the king everlasting support:

“if he would invade Wales, and make deadly war against the false Dafydd and his many wrongs.”

Dafydd also incurred the censure of the church. In July 1241, after his attempt to persuade the prince to release Gruffydd failed, Bishop Richard of Bangor excommunicated Dafydd and went to Henry demanding military action.