CHAPTER XXI - THE ANGLO-NORMANS AND THE CYMRY, A.D. 1246—1276

Summary

The sun goes down,

Far off his light is on the naked crags

Of Pen Maen Mawr and Arvon's ancient hills,

And the last glory lingers yet awhile

Crowning old Snowdon's venerable head

That rose amid his mountains.

Southey: Madoc, part i. § I.

§ 1. Dafydd being dead, the principal landowners of Gwynedd assembled together and elected Llewelyn and Owen, the two elder sons of the late Prince Gruffydd, to the joint sovereignty of the realm over which Dafydd had reigned. The news no sooner reached Prince Owen than he at once cast aside the luxurious temptations which surrounded him in King Henry's court, and hastened with speed which defied overtaking to present himself before his loyal subjects.

Nicholas de Myles, seneschal of Caermarthen, together with Maredudd ab Rhys Gryg and Maredudd ab Owen, was at this time commissioned by King Henry to seize upon the lands of Maelgwn Fychan, while the Earl of Gloucester simultaneously possessed himself of the lands of Howel ab Maredudd in Morganwg. Maelgwn fled to Meirionydd, swiftly pursued by Nicholas de Myles, who being joined on his march by Gruffydd ab Gwenwynwyn, pressed onward to Tyganwy, whence the Princes Owen and Llewelyn fled to their unassailable fortresses among the mountains. Maelgwn found it expedient to surrender himself, and returning with his pursuers into Deheubarth, he obtained from the king a grant of Geneur Glyn and Iscoed, which formed parts of his former possessions.