Meanwhile in Wales...

 

In 1298, while all hell broke loose in Scotland, Gascony and Flanders, Wales was at peace. Or, at any rate, as peaceful as it got. Three years previously much of the country had been in revolt against Edward I. Now it was becalmed, possibly because the king had taken so many fighting men out of Wales to serve in Scotland and Flanders. 

One Welsh family was moving up in the world. The roll of household expenses for the Bishop of Kington record that, on 27 May 1298, His Grace was entertained by Philip ap Hywel to dinner at Hergest (now Hergest Court, pictured). Philip was the eldest son of Hywel ap Meurig, a crown loyalist who had bitterly opposed the late Prince Llywelyn. 

After his father's death in 1281, Philip emerged as a prominent royal official. In 1290 he took custody of the lands and castles of the rebel Rhys ap Maredudd, for an entire year for a fee of £200. In the following years he served as the steward and tax officer of Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford. In 1297, Philip foiled an attempt by the king's agent, Morgan ap Maredudd, to undermine Bohun's power in Brecon. Somehow Philip remained in royal favour and was commissioned to raise men in West Wales and the March for Flanders. In 1299 he was appointed constable of Builth castle for five years. He must have been one smooth-tongued operator. 

During the reign of Edward II, Philip was made directly responsible for the defence of Wales against the threat of invasion from the Bruces. If Edward Bruce had tried to land in Wales from Ireland, he would have been confronted by a royal army led by Philip ap Hywel and his brother Rhys. As it was, Bruce lost his head at Faughart, and the crisis passed.