page_title: History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages
section_title: Dafydd II, the Buckler of Wales; 1240–1246
hierarchical_section_title: History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages / History / 13th century / Dafydd II, the Buckler of Wales; 1240–1246
caption_attribution_description: The River Conwy as seen from a tower in Conwy Castle. The river is at low tide; looking closely you can see a few boats grounded on the sandbar in the middle. David Benbennick took this photo on May 14, 2005 at 10:19 AM (9:19 UTC).
context_page_description: The history of Gwynedd in the High Middle Ages is a period in the History of Wales spanning the 11th through the 13th centuries. Gwynedd, located in the north of Wales, eventually became the most dominant of Welsh principalities during this period. Distinctive achievements in Gwynedd include further development of Medieval Welsh literature, particularly poets known as the Beirdd y Tywysogion associated with the court of Gwynedd; the reformation of bardic schools; and the continued development of Cyfraith Hywel. All three of these further contributed to the development of a Welsh national identity in the face of Anglo-Norman encroachment of Wales.
  Gwynedd's traditional territory included Anglesey and all of north Wales between the River Dyfi in the south and River Dee in the northeast. The Irish Sea lies to the north and west, and lands formerly part of the Powys border the south-east. Gwynedd's strength was due in part to the region's mountainous geography which made it difficult for foreign invaders to campaign in the country and impose their will effectively.
context_section_description: Dafydd II succeeded his father with ease as he had the support of his father's chief advisors and the principality's leading magnates, including support from Ednyfed Fychan, Bishop Hywel of St. Asaph, and Einion Fychan. Dafydd's half-brother Gruffydd was closely guarded, and his supporters were all but silenced with the exception of his wife Senena and of Bishop Richard of Bangor who spoke publicly on Gruffydd's behalf. Shortly after his ascension, Dafydd attended the royal court in Gloucester where he performed homage for his inheritance and wearing Gwynedd's talaith, or coronet, the special symbol of his rank, according to Lloyd.
  However, though Dafydd's rule began auspiciously and in "peace and security", there were plots devised to reduce his and his house's influence, both in Gwynedd and over the whole of Wales. Claimants to the lands Llywelyn incorporated into his expanded principality petitioned the English king for redress. Diplomatic and legal battles ensued throughout 1241 as Dafydd agreed to put the matter of the disputed lands to a committee of arbitrators, partly English and partly Welsh, and headed by the pope's legate Otto. Collectively the arbitrators were deputized to adjudicate on the legal possessors of the lands in question. However, Dafydd subsequently failed to appear at three of the designated hearings, which delayed the proceedings. Patience exhausted, Henry III gathered a host and prepared to invade Wales in July and August in direct violation to the church sanctioned arbitration agreement. In the face of the military intervention before him, Prince Dafydd was almost bereft of any allies. Gruffydd ap Madog of upper Powys (son of Madog, who had been an ardent supporter and vassal of Dafydd's father Llywelyn), Maredudd ap Rhotpert, and Maelgwn Fychan all deserted him. Additionally, Henry III granted the petition of Senena, wife of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, to force Dafydd to release her husband from confinement and to be restored to a portion of Gwynedd as was due his inheritance. With the summer of 1241 remarkably dry, Dafydd found himself abandoned of yet another ally which, as Lloyd wrote, "rarely failed a Welsh chief in his hour of need, the Welsh climate." Marshes dried up, rivers became fordable while lakes shrank into shallow pools, and the natural obstacles which usually made campaigning in Wales most difficult all but disappeared. Within four weeks Henry was at Rhuddlan and Dafydd agreed to submit before him.
  Henry would allow his nephew to retain the title and rank of prince, but otherwise the treaty terms were harsh. Gruffydd and his son Owain would be turned over to the king with the plan to have Gruffydd established as an independent ruler somewhere in North Wales as a counterweight to Dafydd. All of the conquests of Llywelyn, including of Meirionydd, Maelienydd, Mold, and of lower Powys, were returned to other claimants; and all homages of Welsh vassals were to be transferred back to the English crown. Dafydd was to pay for the expenses of the war (eventually having to cede Tegeingl and Deganwy, both in lower Gwynedd, to England to cover war expenses) and lost his inheritance of Ellesmere in England, his late mother's marriage dowry. Henry III repossessed Cardigan and Carmarthen in Deheubarth, while John of Monmouth occupied Builth, Dafydd's wife's dowry. Dafydd's ally Maredudd ap Rhys Gryg was forced out of Kidwelly and Widigada. Most importantly, however, Henry III insisted that Gwynedd would pass to the English crown if Dafydd II were to die without an heir.
  Though Henry III did initially intend to install Gruffydd ‘somewhere’ in North Wales as a counterweight to Dafydd, in the end Henry "spared [Dafydd] the last humiliation" of dividing Gwynedd to share between the brothers, and Gruffydd and his son Owain were installed instead in the Tower of London, "trading a Welsh prison for an English one", wrote Lloyd. Gruffydd remained popular amongst some traditionalist Welsh, and a ‘legitimist’ faction had emerged to promote his rights above those of Dafydd. Henry III thought to keep Gruffydd
caption: Deganwy as seen from Conwy Castle, 2005. From near Aberconwy Monastery, Dafydd II's perspective looking east across the river to Henry III's army at Deganwy. At low tide, both armies crossed the sands to skirmish
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