Rhys ap Gruffydd
By the 1150s, Matilda's son King Henry II of England had set upon fighting back, leading his first expedition into Wales in 1157. He met with heavy and humiliating defeat, particularly in the Battle of Ewloe at Coleshill / Coed Eulo, where Henry was entirely unsuccessful and was almost killed in the fighting, his army routed and fleeing. He moved against his British adversaries again in 1163. Later sources related how he gained an unclear form of homage from the two most powerful princes of Wales, Rhys ap Gruffydd and Owain Gwynedd, along with the king of Scotland. This was the catalyst to revolt in Wales; Henry II met with humiliating defeat in 1165 at the Battle of Crogen by the Berwyn range. Henry never successfully invaded Wales and he was obliged to seek compromise with Rhys ap Gruffydd for control of the south.