Page "Llywelyn the Great" Paragraph 23

Following King John's death Llywelyn concluded the Treaty of Worcester with his successor Henry III in 1218.

This treaty confirmed him in possession of all his recent conquests.

From then until his death Llywelyn was the dominant force in Wales, though there were further outbreaks of hostilities with marcher lords, particularly the Marshall family and Hubert de Burgh, and sometimes with the king.

Llywelyn built up marriage alliances with several of the Marcher families.

One daughter, Gwladus Ddu, (" Gwladus the Dark ") was already married to Reginald de Braose of Brecon and Abergavenny, but with Reginald an unreliable ally Llywelyn married another daughter, Marared, to John de Braose of Gower, Reginald's nephew.

He found a loyal ally in Ranulph, Earl of Chester, whose nephew and heir, John the Scot, married Llywelyn's daughter Elen in about 1222.

Following Reginald de Braose's death in 1228, Llywelyn also made an alliance with the powerful Mortimer family of Wigmore when Gwladus Ddu married as her second husband Ralph de Mortimer.