Dafydd ap Gruffydd

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Dafydd ap Gruffydd (c. 1235 – 3 October, 1283) was Prince of Wales from December 1282 until his capture in June 1283. Following the death of his brother, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, he was the last free Welsh ruler of Wales, except for periods of rebellion.

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Early Life

He was a prince of Gwynedd, a younger son of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and his wife, Senena, and thus grandson of Llywelyn the Great. In 1241 he is recorded as having been handed over to Henry III of England as a hostage together with his younger brother, Rhodri, as part of an agreement. In 1253 he was called upon to pay homage to Henry.

In 1255 he joined his brother Owain in a challenge to his other brother, Llywelyn, but Llywelyn defeated them at the battle of Bryn Derwin. Dafydd was imprisoned, but Llywelyn released him the following year and restored him to favour. In 1263 he joined King Henry in an attack on his brother. After Llywelyn was acknowledged by Henry as Prince of Wales in 1267, Dafydd was again restored to Llywelyn's favour, but in 1274 he joined King Edward I of England to challenge Llywelyn once again.

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Prince of Wales

Dafydd had been promised lands in North Wales by Edward in return for his help. He received some lands but they were much less than he had been led to expect. In March 1282 he attacked Hawarden Castle, therby starting the final conflict with Norman England, in the course of which Welsh independence was lost. The last prince of Gwynedd and Wales, he ruled only for a few months after Llywelyn's death, effectively an outlaw seeking refuge from the English forces in the mountains of Gwynedd.

After he ascended the throne Dafydd was unable to garner the same support his brother Llywelyn had. Initially he retreated into the mountains possibly to Dolwyddelan Castle. Following the fall of Dolwyddelan to an English force on 18 January, 1283, Dafydd retreated again, this time to Castell y Bere. Castell y Bere was besieged by over 3,000 men and the small Welsh garrison surrendered on 25 April. Dafydd, however escaped yet again, this time to Dolbadarn Castle. In May 1283 he was forced to move from this stronghold to a mountain hideout.

By the last week of June, probably on the 22nd, Dafydd was betrayed by "men of his own tongue". He was captured on the slopes of Cadair Idris alongside his younger son Owain and, seriously wounded, was brought to King Edward's camp at Rhuddlan that same night. Dafydd was quickly taken from here to Chester and then on to Shrewsbury. On June 28, Edward issued writs to summon a parliament to meet at Shrewsbury, to discuss Dafydd's fate.

After the arrest of Dafydd and Owain, followed over the next few days by the arrest of his wife and seven daughters, orders went out for the primogeniture of Dafydd to be apprehended, his firstborn Llywelyn ap Dafydd. He was reportedly arrested on June 29. Welsh resistance to King Edward`s invasion was at an end.

On 30 September he was condemned to death and is identified by some sources as the first victim to be punished for a new crime, high treason. He died via disembowelment, having his intestines seared with a hot iron, hanging, and drawing and quartering on 3 October, 1283.

Dafydd had been married to Elizabeth Ferrers, daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby. Their legitimate daughter Gwladys, like her cousin Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, was sent to a convent — Gwenllian to Sempringham and Gwladys to Sixhills, where she died in 1336. Their sons were both imprisoned at Bristol Castle; Llywelyn died in 1288, while Owain is last found living in August 1325. It is said in some geneological sources that Dafydd had another (illegitimate) son; Dafydd Goch who survived this holocaust.

One cadet member of the ruling House of Cunedda definately survived, Madoc ap Llywelyn, who was to raise the people of Wales to the banner of Gwynedd one last time.

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