Edward sent Ealdred after the death in battle of Bishop Leofgar of Hereford, who had attacked Gruffydd ap Llywelyn after encouragement from the king.

In his later years Rhys had trouble keeping control of his sons, particularly Maelgwn and Gruffydd, who maintained a feud with each other.

This action was criticized by Giraldus Cambrensis, who describes Gruffydd as " a cunning and artful man ".

* Maelgwn ap Rhys ( died 1231 ), who was the eldest son but illegitimate, refused to accept Gruffydd as his father's successor.

In 1055 Gruffydd ap Llywelyn established himself as the ruler of all Wales, and allied himself with Ælfgar of Mercia, who had been outlawed for treason.

In the south, Gruffydd ap Rhys was killed in 1137, but his four sons, who all ruled Deheubarth in turn, were eventually able to win back most of their grandfather's kingdom from the Normans.

When John was forced to sign Magna Carta, Llywelyn was rewarded with several favourable provisions relating to Wales, including the release of his son Gruffydd who had been a hostage since 1211.

Dafydd was forced to agree to a treaty greatly restricting his power and was also obliged to hand his half-brother Gruffydd over to the king, who now had the option of using him against Dafydd.

Their sons included Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, who for a period occupied a position in Wales comparable to that of his grandfather, and Dafydd ap Gruffydd who ruled Gwynedd briefly after his brother's death.

He was known as Owain Gwynedd to distinguish him from another contemporary Owain ap Gruffydd, ruler of part of Powys who was known as Owain Cyfeiliog.

As Penman explains: '“ After I ’ d finished Here Be Dragons, I knew I wanted to continue the story .... At first I ’ d planned to write one book in which Simon de Montfort would share top billing with Llewelyn Fawr ’ s grandson, Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, who later wed Simon ’ s daughter.

The conflict between the Welsh prince Llewelyn ap Gruffydd who is the grandson of Llewelyn the Great of Here Be Dragons, and England's King Henry III is one subplot.

Queen consort Anne Boleyn descended directly from Gruffydd II ap Madog, Lord of Dinas Bran through his daughter, Angharad who married William Le Boteler of Wem, Shropshire.

He restored the principality of Powys Wenwynwyn to Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn who had suffered at the hands of Llewellyn, and he and his successor Owen de la Pole held it as a marcher lordship.

In The History of Gruffydd ap Cynan, written in the late 12th century, the family asserted its rights as the senior line of descendants from Rhodri the Great who had conquered most of Wales during his lifetime.

Trahaearn seized the throne but was soon challenged by Gruffydd ap Cynan, the exiled grandson of Iago ab Idwal who had been living in the Hiberno-Norse stronghold of Dublin.

Gruffydd I ap Cynan ( b. c. 1055 – 1137 ), who grew up in exile in Hiberno-Norse Dublin, regained his inheritance following his victory at the Battle of Mynydd Carn in 1081 over his Mathrafal rivals then in control of Gwynedd.

In 1101, after Earl Hugh's death, Gruffydd and Cadwgan came to terms with England's new king, Henry I, who was consolidating his own authority and also eager to come to terms.

The invasion left a lasting impact on Gruffydd, who by 1116 was in his 60s and with failing eyesight.

Owain's strategy was in sharp contrast to Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of Deheubarth, who in 1162 rose in open revolt against the Normans in south Wales, drawing Henry II back to England from the continent.

England's king, who only the prior year had pardoned Rhys ap Gruffydd for his 1162 revolt, assembled a vast host against the allied Welsh, with troops drawn from all over the Angevin empire assembling in Shrewsbury, and with the Norse of Dublin paid to harass the Welsh coast.

Gruffydd is also said to have persuaded his father to annex the lordship of Cemais and its chief castle of Nevern, held by William FitzMartin, in 1191.

* 1283 – October 3 – Death by drawing and quartering is first used as a form of capital punishment ( for the newly created crime of high treason ) by King Edward I of England in his execution of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last ruler of an independent Wales.

* The first recorded Welsh Eisteddfod is held by Rhys ap Gruffydd at Cardigan.

* October 3 – Death by hanging, drawing and quartering is first used as a form of capital punishment ( for the newly created crime of high treason ) by King Edward I of England in his execution of Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last ruler of an independent Wales, at Shrewsbury.

He is believed to have commissioned the propaganda text, The Life of Gruffydd ap Cynan, an account of his father's life.

His legendary biography is found in several late renderings ( see below ), the earliest surviving narrative being found in a manuscript chronicle of world history written by Elis Gruffydd in the 16th century.

The monastery, which was founded by Rhys ap Gruffydd in or about 1185, is in the care of Cadw.

In the centre of Builth Wells there is a 1000 feet square mural depicting the final days of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, the last native Prince of Wales.

As his son Gruffudd was supposedly born c. 1055, the date of death " 1039 " is doubtful ( Gruffydd died 1137 ).

The earliest known reference to Nefyn in documents dates from the latter part of the 11th century, where it is mentioned as a landing place of the Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Cynan.

He was a firm Calvinist, and although it is tempting to classify him as Evangelical ( see also his fellow Welsh Christian scholars Bobi Jones and R. Geraint Gruffydd ), he distanced himself from the pietistic evangelicalism that rose from the ashes of the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival.

Professor Emeritus R. Geraint Gruffydd ( born 9 June 1928 ), MA DPhil DLitt FLSW FBA is a scholar of Welsh language and literature.

This Nest is identified as the daughter of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn by his wife Edith of Mercia, herself granddaughter of Leofric, Earl of Mercia possibly by his wife Godiva ( or Godgifu ).

The castle was razed by Gruffydd ap Rhys but probably rebuilt, as it is known to have been destroyed again by Owain Gwynedd in 1136.

He had not gone far when on 15 April he was ambushed and killed by the men of Gwent under Iorwerth ab Owain and his brother Morgan, grandsons of Caradog ap Gruffydd, in a woody tract called " the ill-way of Coed Grano ", near Llanthony Abbey, north of Abergavenny .. Today the spot is marked by the ' garreg dial ' ( the stone of revenge ).

According to historians interpreting the writings of Walter Map, it is likely that Beachley was the site of an unprecedented meeting around 1056 between the unchallenged ruler of Wales, Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, and the king of England, Edward the Confessor, to establish each one's areas of control.

It is thought to have been compiled in the late 12th century when this area came under the rule of Rhys ap Gruffydd ( The Lord Rhys ) of Deheubarth.

Though King Harold II is said to have lawfully married Edith of Mercia, the widow of the Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn whom he had defeated in battle, that marriage in spring 1066 is seen by most modern scholars as one of political convenience.

Llewelyn ap Gruffydd is buried near the altar in the nave.

* 1283 June, he is summoned by writ to Shrewsbury, for the trial of Dafydd ap Gruffydd.

He is also said to have had Norman arbalisters in his army, but at the Battle of Mynydd Carn, north of St David's, that year both Trahaearn and Caradog were killed, and Gruffydd ap Cynan took over the rule of Gwynedd while Rhys ap Tewdwr was restored as prince of Deheubarth.