“In that year Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was released from prison, after he had been there six years.” Gruffydd’s father, Llywelyn the Great, had thrown his eldest son in prison in 1228. This was apparently done for no other reason than to get him out of the way for a while, so Llywelyn’s second son Dafydd could secure his grip on the patrimony.
After his release, Gruffudd was able to expand his powerbase from Llyn to include Arwystli, Ceri, Cyfeiliog, Mawddy, Mochnant and Caereinion. These lands were probably granted to him by Llywelyn, or at least acquired with his father’s consent. Llywelyn seems to have revived his earlier plan of giving Gruffydd a large share of Powys to compensate for Dafydd inheriting Gwynedd.
Gruffydd had suffered too much to let bygones be bygones. In the words of Matthew Paris, he had ‘endured his father’s heel’ for long enough. Possibly he was also driven by a desire to avenge his mother, cast aside and treated like a prostitute for the sake of dynastic gain. In 1237, when Llywelyn suffered a stroke that left him partially paralysed, Gruffydd rose in arms against him.
In desperation, Llywelyn pleaded with his old enemy, Henry III of England, for aid. According to Paris, he promised to:
“place himself and all his men under the power and guardianship of the king of the Engilsh to settle the dispute, and of him he would hold his lands in faith and friendship, entering into an indissolvable treaty. And if the king might go on an expedition, to campaign by foot and horse, and with his treasury, attended by his forces, that with his faithful men, he himself [Llywelyn] faithfully would move forward in support.”
Paris added a rhetorical flourish. Of the nobles of Wales, he remarked:
“I fear Danaans, even when bringing gifts.” Danaans were the besiegers of Troy, usually claimed to have been Greeks.
The chronicler also added a quip from Seneca:
“You are never safe when making a treaty with the enemy.”
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