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Gruffudd ap Llywelyn was Wales' greatest king. Ambitious and battle-sure, he succeeded in doing what no Welsh king before him was capable of: he ruled all Wales as a united and independent state. He went further by turning the Viking threat to his realm into a powerful weapon and conquering border land that had been in English hands for centuries. Having emerged as a war leader, Gruffudd also proved to be much more: a patron of the arts and church, with the trappings of a king who was respected and feared on the European stage. His eventual murder at the hands of his own men narrowed the country's political ambitions and left Wales in chaos on the eve of the arrival of the Normans. Those who betrayed Gruffudd were the forebears of the famous princes who would dominate Wales until the Edwardian Conquest, meaning that the former king left no one to tell of his glory. As a result, 1,000 years after his birth, the would-be nation builder is all but forgotten. Here, Sean and Michael Davies reveal the king in all his glory, telling for the first time the story of one of Wales' greatest figures and exploring the full implications of Gruffudd's rule. For, without Gruffudd, the fate of King Harold and the outcome of the Battle of Hastings would have been very different ...… (meer)
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
To our parents, Monica and Jim Davies
Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Introduction
Gruffudd ap LLywelyn came closer than any other man to becoming the figure for the Welsh that Alfred is to the English, that Charlemagne is to the French and that Kenneth MacAlpin is to the Scots, yet today — on the 1,000-year anniversary of his birth — the would-be nation builder is largely forgotten. Gruffudd united all the territories that comprise modern Wales, conquered land across the border that had been in English hands for centuries, forged alliances with key Anglo-Saxon dynasties and turned the Viking threat to his realm into a powerful weapon in his hands.
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The Early Years
The earliest years of Gruffudd ap LLywelyn's life are shrouded in obscurity, but an educated guess would date his birth to c. 1013. Gruffudd was still aminor when his father met his untimely demise in 1023, indicatin that he was not born earlier than c. 1007. Gruffudd is LLywelyn's only known son, but Gruffudd had a sister and two younger half-brothers, Bleddyn and Rhiwallon.
Citaten
Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
Epilogue
The conquest of 1066 meant disaster for the proud noble lines that had dominated souther Britain since the fall of Rome. Those dynasties, both Welsh and Anglo-Saxon, were soon living under the Norman yhoke. In 1093 the last pretender to Gruffudd ap LLywelyn's position as King of the Britons, Rhys ap Tewwr, was killed in battle by the Norman Bernard de Neufmarché, who was the husband of Gruffudd's granddaughter. The death of Rhys, the son of Gruffudd's old rival Hywel ab Edwin's cousin, opened the way for the Normans to cut a swath across Wales to the Irish Sean and, in the words of the native chronicle, 'then fell the kingdom of the Britions.' The calamity was described in a Latin poem composed by a Welsh cleric from a distinguished and learned family, writing at Llanbadarn Fawr c. 1094-95. Rhigyfarch ap Sulien describes himself as 'born of teh famous race of the Brition' and his 'Lament' is a fitting epitaph to the world of Gruffudd, and to that of the men who had treacherously engineered his death;
Why does the earth not consume us, nor the sea swallow us . . .
One vile Norman intimidates a hundred natives with his command, and terrifies (them) with his look . . .
Families do not now take delight in offspring; the heir does not hope for paternal estates; the rich man does not aspire to accumulate flocks . . .
Our limbs are cut off, we are lacerated, our necks are condemned to death, and chains are put on our arms,
The honest man's hand is branded by burning metals. A woman (now) lacks her nose, a man his genitals . . .
O (Wales), you are afflicted and dying, you are quivering with fear, you collapse, alas, miserable with your sad armament . . .
An alien crowd speaks of you as hateful . . .
Patriotism and the hope of self-government flee; liberty and self-will perish.
Gruffudd ap Llywelyn was Wales' greatest king. Ambitious and battle-sure, he succeeded in doing what no Welsh king before him was capable of: he ruled all Wales as a united and independent state. He went further by turning the Viking threat to his realm into a powerful weapon and conquering border land that had been in English hands for centuries. Having emerged as a war leader, Gruffudd also proved to be much more: a patron of the arts and church, with the trappings of a king who was respected and feared on the European stage. His eventual murder at the hands of his own men narrowed the country's political ambitions and left Wales in chaos on the eve of the arrival of the Normans. Those who betrayed Gruffudd were the forebears of the famous princes who would dominate Wales until the Edwardian Conquest, meaning that the former king left no one to tell of his glory. As a result, 1,000 years after his birth, the would-be nation builder is all but forgotten. Here, Sean and Michael Davies reveal the king in all his glory, telling for the first time the story of one of Wales' greatest figures and exploring the full implications of Gruffudd's rule. For, without Gruffudd, the fate of King Harold and the outcome of the Battle of Hastings would have been very different ...
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