page_title: History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages
section_title: Brother versus brother; 1246–1255
hierarchical_section_title: History of Gwynedd during the High Middle Ages / History / 13th century / Woodstock, Montgomery, and Pipton 1246–1265 / Brother versus brother; 1246–1255
caption_attribution_description: English: The situation in Gwynedd following the division of 1247 on map of the cantrefi, principal forts and political centres of Gwynedd at the kingdom's maximum extent, based on the historic borders of "between Dyfi and Dee". Map based on freeware outline from welshgraphics.com. I have used the maps found in J.Beverley Smith's "Llywelyn ap Gruffudd" (1998) as a visual guide. It has taken me days.
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: As soon as he heard word of his uncle Dafydd's death, Owain the Red raced to Gwynedd to press his claim as prince as the senior dynast of the House of Aberffraw. According to Hurbert Lewis (The Ancient Laws of Wales, 1889), though not explicitly codified as such, the edling (or heir apparent) was by convention, custom, and practice the eldest son of the prince, who would inherit the position of head of the family. Owain was the eldest son of Gruffydd the Red, himself the eldest son of Llywelyn the Great, and thus had standing supporting his claim for the Crown of Gwynedd. However Llywelyn, the second son of Gruffydd, was already present in Gwynedd and had been raised in the household of his grandfather and uncle, and Llywelyn had attracted a loyal following who promoted him as the heir to the legacy of Llywelyn the Great and Dafydd. Leading Welsh magnets, those who had served as counselors for Dafydd and his father Llywelyn (amongst them was undoubtedly Ednyfed Fychan "rendering his country a last service ere his death," suggested Lloyd) advised the brothers to wait until after the war to divide the commotes between them, as Welsh inheritance laws stipulated. And there were other claimants to the principality as well, for according to the 1241 treaty between Henry III and Dafydd II, if Dafydd failed to produce a legitimate heir then his lands would pass to the English crown.  Additionally, there was the claim under Marcher law of Ralph II Mortimer of Wigmore, husband of Gwladys the Dark (and later their son Roger II), who pressed Gwladys' claim to the principality as she was then the nearest living legitimate descendant to Llywelyn the Great and a full sister of Dafydd II. The brothers agreed to put the matter of division aside and for the remainder of the conflict they acted in concert.
  From the fall of 1246 through to the spring of 1247 no royal army attempted the hazards of Henry III's last campaign, but a Marcher vanguard led by Nicholas of Meules, seneschal of Cardigan and Carmarthen castles, pressed into Gwynedd. The two brothers fortified themselves in the Snowdonia mountains, but were compelled into truce negotiations in the late fall and early spring of 1247. With the Peace of Woodstock, 30 April 1247, the two brothers rendered homage to Henry III and were recognised as the rightful rulers of upper Gwynedd in exchange for the services of twenty-four knights and one hundred foot soldiers, but had to abandon all claims to lower Gwynedd; namely the four cantrefs of Rhos, Rhufoniog, Tegeingl, and Dyffryn Clwyd; and also to Mold. Lastly, all homages of the minor lords of Wales were released. Of the treaty, Matthew Paris wrote in 1247 that Wales had been pulled to nothing.
  [The purpose of the Treaty of Woodstock was to] demote the status of Gwynedd so that that lordship would conform in all matters of one of the ordinary lordships of the kingdom of England.
  — Beaverly Smith as quoted by John Davies, History of Wales, pg 144.
  The Peace of Woodstock was a painful humiliation for Gwynedd, but the sacrifice of the Middle Country was necessary; if the main body of the province was to retain its independent life, and the ruthless surgery was ultimately followed by a complete recovery of strength.
  — J.E. Lloyd, From the Norman Invasion to the Edwardian Conquest, pg 237.
  With the Woodstock treaty, royal and Marcher authority had been reasserted and expanded upon in almost all corners of Wales, with significant gains for the English crown in Northern Ceredigion (particularly around Llanbadarn Fawr), Cardigan, Carmarthen, and Builth. In North Wales, Henry III fortified his positions in lower Gwynedd, and made Deganwy a chartered borough signifying the expansion of royal authority on the Creuddyn peninsula. Additionally, Henry III retained the earldom of Chester reassessing its strategic importance as a royal springboard into Wales. In 1254 Henry IIII invested his16-yearold son Prince Edward with all the crown possessions in Wales. John Davies wrote, "Henry III made strenuous efforts to strengthen his hold upon Wales, efforts up
caption: Division of Gwynedd in 1247, dark gree Owain, light green Llywelyn, gold Dafydd (from 1252)[120]
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