Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

DAVID AP LLYWELYN, THE FIRST PRINCE OF WALES WHILE scholars still await a new history of Wales in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is clear that J. E. Lloyd's views need to be substantially reconsidered. It is no longer acceptable to end a history of medieval Wales with the Edwardian Conquest of 1282 and date a new beginning from that year. Welsh society had changed fundamentally already, as is now generally recognized.! Feudal arrangements were introduced by Welsh princes, not by the English monarchy. This feature is most evident in the creation of the prince of Wales, a title which was adopted by the princes of Gwynedd. This title and its governmental implications were alien to the earlier non-feudal nature of Welsh society. The study of their introduction into Wales itself throws some light on the transition of Welsh society in the thirteenth century, if only at one specific point. It is well known that in 1267 Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was granted the title 'prince of Wales' by King Henry III. The treaty of Montgomery (September 1267), by which Llywelyn was able to secure the gains which he had made during the English civil war,2 included the conferment of the title: Ceterum dominus rex Anglie uolens prefati Lewelini magnificare personam et in eo ceteros honorare qui sibi hereditario iure succedent, dat et concedit prefato Lewelino et heredibus suis Wallie principatum, ut idem Lewelinus et heredes sui princeps Wallie uocentur et sint: insuper fidelitatem et homagia omnium baronum Wallie Wallensium, ut dicti barones a prefatis principe et heredibus in capite teneant terras suas .3 Llywelyn had adopted this title as early as 1258, and it may be legitimately asked whether his earlier title had the same connotation as the later one. Some light on this question may be drawn from an earlier period: from the reign of Llywelyn's uncle, David ap Llywelyn (124(k46)A_one original document has been preserved in which David styles himself 'prince of Wales', princeps Wallie.4 It 1 Sir J. E. Lloyd. A History of Wales (2 vols.. 1911); the innovations of the century before the Edwardian Conquest have so far been discussed most thoroughly in the rather conservative field of law, cf. T. Jones Pierce, 'Social and Historical Aspects of the Welsh Laws'. ante, Special Number, 1963; 'The Welsh Laws', pp. 33-50. 2 Cf. T. F. Tout, 'Wales and the March during the Barons' War', Collected Papers. II(1934). 47-100. 3 J. G. Edwards (ed.). Littere Wallie (1940), p. 2; also ibid.. p. xxxvi. J. G. Edwards (ed.). Calendar of Ancient Correspondence concerning Wales (1935). PP. 49f. The instances in which David is called princeps Wallie in the chronicles (cf. infra. n. 19) are of no relevance in this context.