CHAPTER XVIII - THE CYMRY AND THE NORMANS, A.D. 1169—1194

Summary

… If we tried

To sink the past beneath our feet, be sure

The future would not stand.

E. B. Browning: Casa Guidi Windows.

§ 1. Gwladys ferch Llywarch ab Trahaern was the first wife of Owen Gwynedd, and lorwerth, their only son, would have succeeded without opposition to the sovereignty of his father, if a broken nose had not marred his aspect, and rendered him, in the opinion of the people, unfit to reign. He therefore contented himself with a private station and a share of his father's property, and took up his residence in Castell Dolwyddelan. His wife was Marred, a daughter of Madog ab Maredudd, prince of Powys, and they had a son named Llewelyn, who was then a child.

Howel, the second son of Owen Gwynedd, although his mother, Pyfog, was an Irishwoman, had gained for himself a reputation so brilliant as a statesman, a warrior, and a bard, that, without much difficulty, he obtained possession of the throne, and for two years he ruled the land in perfect peace.

The death of his maternal grandfather then summoned him to Ireland, and while he busied himself there in securing the heritage which had fallen to him, his half-brothers in Gwynedd broke out into fierce contention. Dafydd, the chief of them, being the eldest son of the marriage of Owen Gwynedd with Crisiant ferch Gronow ab Owen ab Cadwgan, seized with a strong hand upon the throne.