Gruffydd ap Llywelyn :: King History Kings Wales Essays

Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was undoubtedly the dramatic Welsh ruler of the 11th deoxycytidine monophosphate and the most distinguished prince to emerge since the days of Hywel Dda. He reigned from 1039 to 1063, still was an unthought-of contender for power. By 1039 he was probably established in Powys, and in that year Iago ap Idwal of Gwynedd was murdered by his own men, perhaps with Gruffydd as an accomplice, and emerged as the claimant for the northern kingdom. He was totally ruthless, his hands stained with the blood of rivals and opponents, provided in retrospect his reign was seen as a period of outstanding achievement. For fifteen years he fought a hard struggle to bring forth himself ruler of the southern kingdom of Wales, but he was thwarted by two determined kings, and not until 1055 could he claim to dominate the entire of Wales. His first target was Deheubarth, and in 1039 he drove Hywel ap Edwin in race from the kingdom. When Gruffydd took over sou th Wales he assumed an aggressive policy towards the English. In 1055, Aelfgar, son of the earl of Mercia, was the victim of a political flame, and an attempt was made to take on him exiled. He found Gruffydd ap Llywelyn a valuable ally, and supported by a Scandinavian force, he was reinstated. A successful combined attack on the English forces at Herefordshire, contributed much to Aelfgars success. That defeat cause Harold, earl of Wessex (later King Harold I), to intervene directly, mustering a large army and arranging a settlement. Harold at that stage did not produce any permanent defence for the frontier, but instead used a number of different tactics over the next a couple of(prenominal) years. A new bishop of Hereford was appointed, Loefgar, one of Harolds priests, a chaplain with a whole taste for military matters. He attempted a surprise attack in Wales which went disastrously wrong, and which Gruffydd ap Llywelyn repulsed, leaving the English army with heavy losses. To re-establish tranquility on the frontier was no easy task, and defence was entrusted for the time be to Aldred, bishop of Worcester, a more diplomatic and more pugnacious churchman. in 1058 the in-person conflict between earl Harold and Aelfgar, who by then had succeeded as earl of Mercia, was renewed, and the pattern of 1055 was repeated, but Aelfgar could not be removed from the scene. Slowly events moved to a crisis point.