Royal Welsh Lineage in the Late Middle Ages

** Owain Gwynnedd was the last ruler to be called a king, and after his death, the crown was fought for by his sons and grandsons until Llywelyn the Great took over from his uncle Davydd I.

Owain Gwynedd 1100-1170 r. 1137-1170

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Iowerth

** Joanna's marriage was supposed to have kept Wales from rebelling against the English crown. Though Joanna often interferred on her husband's behalf against her father, Wales was far from being passive.

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** Llywelyn the Great was also called Llywelyn Fawr or Llywelyn ap Iowerth

Joanna, daughter of King John 1191-1237

Llywelyn the Great 1173-1240 r. 1194-1240

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**Gruffydd spent half of his life in a prison, first by his father, to keep Davydd's inheritance, then by Davydd himself, then by the English King Henry III where he died trying to escape out a tower window.

illiget.

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Gruffydd 1196-

! Davydd II 1208-1246 r. 1240-1246

! Elen b. 1207

** Senena was such a loyal wife, that she actually invited the enemy English king to rescue her husband from Davydd's prison (only to unknowingly exchange him for an English one.)

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m.

Senena 1201-

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John the Scot Earl of Chester

Isabella de Braose

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! Owain 1219-

! Davydd 1238-1283

! Llywelyn ap Gruffydd 1128-1282 r. 1246-1283

Eleanor, grand- daughter of King Henry III 1252-1282

m.

** Like his father, Owain spent most of his life imprisoned, this time by his brother Llywelyn in an attempt to keep all power from him. He too died in prison.

** Davydd's varying loyalty to the English, his brother Owain, and his brother Llywelyn left him with the reputation of a treasonous turn-coat, who's loyalty always had to be tested.

**The marriage between Llywelyn and Eleanor is something of a tragic love story.  They had been pledged to marry  since Eleanor was 13 years old, but the death of her father, Simon de Montfort, put an end to that. 10 years later, in defiance of the English court, Llywelyn finally sent for her, but she was captured by her cousin Edward I and kept in a prison for 2 years before he would allow them to wed.  Her job was to give Llywelyn a son.  Instead, she died 3 months before her husband, after giving birth to a daughter.

In the end, he fought with Llywelyn in his brother's last final defeat, and as a reward was praised by the Welsh people, and given a trator's death by King Edward I. His family too was torn apart.

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