Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda | |
---|---|
King of Gwynedd, Dyfed and Powys Prince of Seisyllwg and Deheubarth | |
Reign | 942–950 |
Predecessor | Idwal Foel |
Successor | Iago ab Idwal |
Died | 950 |
Spouse | Elen ferch Llywarch (893-943) |
Issue | |
House | Dinefwr |
Father | Cadell ap Rhodri |
Hywel ap Cadell,commonly known asHywel Dda,which translates toHowel the Goodin English,[1]was a Welsh king who ruled the southern Welsh kingdom ofDeheubarthand eventually came to rule most ofWales.He became the sole king ofSeisyllwgin 920 and shortly thereafter established Deheubarth, and proceeded to gain control over the entire country fromPrestatyntoPembroke.[2]As a descendant ofRhodri Mawrthrough his fatherCadell,Hywel was a member of theDinefwrbranch of the dynasty. He was recorded asKing of the Britonsin theAnnales Cambriæand theAnnals of Ulster.
Hywel is highly esteemed among other medieval Welsh rulers.[3]His name is particularly linked with the codification of traditionalWelsh law,which were thenceforth known as theLaws of Hywel Dda.The latter part of his name (Dda,lit."Good" ) refers to the fact that his laws were just and good. The historian Dafydd Jenkins sees in them compassion rather than punishment, plenty of common sense and recognition of the rights of women.[3]Hywel Dda was a well-educated man even by modern standards, having a good knowledge ofWelsh,LatinandEnglish.[3]
The office building and original home of theSeneddis namedTŷ Hywel( "Hywel House" or "Hywel's House" ) in honour of Hywel Dda. The original assembly chamber, now known as Siambr Hywel ( "Hywel's Chamber" ), is used for educational courses and for children and young people's debates. Thelocal health board of south-west Wales,covering an area roughly corresponding to the kingdoms of Dyfed and Seisyllwg of which Hywel was King, also bears his name.[4][5]
Early life
[edit]Hywel was the son of KingCadell ap RhodriofSeisyllwg.[1][6][7]He had a brother,Clydog ap Cadell,who was probably the younger of the two. Hywel was later reputed to have marriedElen ferch Llywarch(893-943), the supposed heiress ofKingLlywarch ap HyfaiddofDyfed,[1][7]which connection was subsequently used to justify his family's reign over that kingdom.[citation needed]
Hywel's father Cadell had been installed as King of Seisyllwg by his father,Rhodri Mawr(Rhodri the Great) ofGwynedd,following the drowning of the last king in the traditional line,Gwgon,in 872. After Gwgon's death, Rhodri, husband to the dead king's sisterAngharad,became steward of his kingdom.[citation needed]This gave Rhodri no standing to claim the kingship of Seisyllwg himself, but he was able to install his son Cadell as a subject king. Cadell died around 911, and his lands in Seisyllwg appear to have been divided between his two sons Hywel and Clydog.[1][7]
Reign
[edit]Hywel probably already controlled Dyfed by the time he assumed his father's lands inCeredigion.No king is recorded after the death of Llywarch in 904, and Hywel's marriage to Llywarch's only surviving heir probably ensured that the kingdom came into his hands.[8]Hywel and Clydog seem to have ruled Seisyllwg together following their father's death and jointly submitted toEdward the ElderofEnglandin 918.[8]However, Clydog died in 920, evidently leaving the whole realm to Hywel. Hywel soon joined Seisyllwg and Dyfed into a single realm known asDeheubarth.[8]This became the first significant event of his reign.[9]
During the year 928 Hywel made a pilgrimage toRome,becoming the first Welsh prince to undertake such a trip and return, Hywel's wife Elen (death maybe 948 or 951), the daughter of Llywarch (d. 903), and granddaughter of KingHyfaiddof theKingdom of Dyfed,died the same year.[7][1][10]Upon his return he forged very close relations withÆthelstanof England. From the outset Æthelstan's intention was to secure the submission of all other kings in Britain; unusually, Hywel embraced submission to England and used it to his advantage whenever possible.[7][11]In 934, Hywel supportedÆthelstan's invasion of Scotland.Later in his reign, he was able to leverage his close association with Æthelstan and the English crown to great effect in his ambitions within Wales.[12]
In 942 Hywel's cousinIdwal Foel,King of Gwynedd,[1][7]determined to cast off English overlordship and took up arms against the new English king,Edmund.Idwal and his brother Elisedd were both killed in battle in 942 against Edmund's forces.[1]By normal custom Idwal's crown should have passed tohis sons,but Hywel intervened. He sent Iago andIeuafinto exile and established himself as ruler over Gwynedd, which also probably placed him in control of theKingdom of Powys,which was under the authority of Gwynedd. As such Hywel became king of nearly all of Wales except forMorgannwgandGwentin the south.[13]
A single coin in Hywel's name is known. It was produced by theChestermoneyer Gillys in about 946. As there is only one, it is unlikely that it is the sole survivor of a Welsh coinage and it was probably produced as a gesture by the English to the Welsh king.[14]
Legacy
[edit]Following Hywel's death in 949 or 950, his kingdom was soon split into three. Gwynedd was reclaimed by the sons of Idwal Foel,IagoandIeuaf,[15]while Deheubarth was divided between Hywel's sons.[citation needed]
Hywel's name is associated with the laws of medieval Wales, which are commonly known as the Laws of Hywel Dda (Welsh:Cyfraith Hywel). None of the law manuscripts can be dated to Hywel's time, but Hywel's name is mentioned in the prologues to the laws, and are also known as theCode of Dyfed.These describe how Hywel gathered expert lawyers and priests from each commote in Wales together in theWhite Landin Dyfed (Welsh:Tŷ Gwyn ar Daf)[a]in order to revise and codify the Laws of Wales.[1][7]The story in the prologues lengthens with time, with more details in the later versions of the prologue. It seems highly unlikely that this meeting actually took place, with the purpose of the prologues being to emphasise the royal and Christian origin and background to the laws, and that in the face of criticism of the laws from outside Wales especially duringJohn Peckham's period asArchbishop of Canterbury.Nevertheless, his name continued to be associated with Welsh law which remained in active use throughout Wales until the appointed date of implementation of theLaws in Wales Acts 1535–1542of KingHenry VIIIof England who asserted his royal descent by blood-line fromRhodri Mawrvia Hywel Dda.[16]
Opinions vary as to the motives for Hywel's close association with the court of Æthelstan.J. E. Lloydclaimed Hywel was an admirer ofWessex,[17]whileDavid Peter Kirbysuggests that it may have been the action of a pragmatist who recognised the realities of power in mid-10th century Britain.[18]
AWelsh-languagepoem entitledArmes Prydein,considered by SirIfor Williamsto have been written inDeheubarthduring Hywel's reign, called for the Welsh to join a confederation of all the non-English peoples of Britain andIrelandto fight theSaxons.[19]The poem may be linked to the alliance of Norse and Celtic kingdoms which challenged Æthelstan at theBattle of Brunanburhin 937. No Welsh forces joined this alliance, and this may well have been because of the influence of Hywel. On the other hand, neither did he send troops to support Æthelstan.[citation needed]
Children
[edit]Hywel and Elen had the following children:[6]
See also
[edit]- NLW MS 20143A– the Welsh-language manuscript of the laws of Hywel Dda dating from the middle of the 14th century
- Cyfraith Hywel
Notes
[edit]- ^which is thought to have been close toWhitland,Carmarthenshire
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghWilliams 1959
- ^Davies 1999,p. 85.
- ^abcDavies 1999,p. 86.
- ^"Tŷ Hywel event spaces".senedd.wales.24 September 2020.
- ^"Hywel Dda University Health Board".hduhb.nhs.wales.
- ^ab"Hywel Dda ap Cadell, King of the Britons".geni.com.2 November 2023.
- ^abcdefgTout 1891,pp. 105–107.
- ^abcLloyd 1912,p. 333.
- ^Lloyd 1912,pp. 333–334.
- ^Lloyd 1912,p. 334.
- ^Lloyd 1912,pp. 335–336.
- ^Lloyd 1912,p. 336.
- ^Lloyd 1912,pp. 337–338.
- ^Blunt, Stewart & Lyon 1989,p. 138.
- ^Pierce 1959,p.[page needed].
- ^Davies 1999.
- ^Lloyd 1912.
- ^Kirby 1976,pp. 1–13.
- ^Williams 1972,p.[page needed].
Sources
[edit]- Blunt, Christopher;Stewart, Ian;Lyon, Stewart (1989).Coinage in Tenth-Century England: From Edward the Elder to Edgar's Reform.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-726060-9.
- Davies, John (1999).Hanes Cymru[History of Wales].Penguin books.ISBN0140125701.
- Kirby, D. P. (1976). "Hywel Dda: Anglophile?".Welsh Historical Review(8 ed.): 1–13.
- Lloyd, John Edward(1912).A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest.Vol. 1 (2 ed.).Longmans, Green & Co.
Lloyd history of Wales
- Pierce, Thomas Jonas (1959)."IAGO ab IDWAL FOEL (fl. 942–979), king of Gwynedd".Dictionary of Welsh Biography.National Library of Wales.
- Tout, Thomas Frederick(1891). .InLee, Sidney(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 28. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 105–107.
- Williams, Ifor(1972).Armes Prydein: "The Prophecy of Britain", from the Book of Taliesin (Welsh – Mediaeval and Modern Welsh Series).Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.ISBN0901282561.
- Williams, Stephen J. (1959)."HYWEL DDA (Hywel the Good) (died 950), king and legislator".Dictionary of Welsh Biography.National Library of Wales.
Further reading
[edit]- Chronicle of the Princes,p. 20–25, atGoogle Books
- Thornton, David (2004). "Hywel Dda (d. 950)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13968.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- "Hywel dda centre".hywel-dda.co.uk.
- "Peniarth 28: a Latin text of the Laws of Hywel Dda".library.wales.Retrieved19 December2021.
- Wade-Evans, A. W.(1909). .Oxford: Clarendon Press – viaWikisource.
- Hywel 2atProsopography of Anglo-Saxon England