Gruffudd landed on Anglesey with an Irish force, and with the assistance of troops provided by the Norman Robert of Rhuddlan first defeated and killed Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon, an ally of Trahaearn who held Llŷn, then defeated Trahaearn himself in the battle of Gwaed Erw in Meirionnydd and gained control of Gwynedd.

Gruffudd and his ally Cadwgan ap Bleddyn retreated to Anglesey, but then were forced to flee to Ireland in a skiff when a fleet he had hired from the Danish settlement in Ireland accepted a better offer from the Normans and changed sides.

Gruffudd ap Cynan retreated to Anglesey, but then was forced to flee to Ireland when a fleet he had hired from the Danish settlement in Ireland changed sides.

Gruffudd started his acting career at the age of 13 in a Welsh television film called Austin ( 1986 ) and then later moved on to the Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm ( People of the Valley ) from 1987 to 1994. He also played football with the Pobol y Cwm football team Cwmderi FC alongside co-stars Hywel Emrys, Gwyn Elfyn and Ieuan Rhys.

As Llywelyn then captured and held all the territory from the River Arth to the River Aeron, he conferred Dinerth on the sons of Maelgwn's brother Gruffudd as was rightfully due.

Records in the late 11th century relating to the then King of Gwynedd, Gruffudd ap Cynan state that a ferryman was employed there and ferry houses at both locations have been recorded throughout history.

Gruffydd formed an alliance with Gwynedd, and later in 1136 the sons of Gruffudd ap Cynan, Owain Gwynedd and Cadwaladr ap Gruffydd, led an army to Ceredigion.

However tension between Gruffudd's Danish-Irish bodyguard and the local Welsh led to a rebellion in Llŷn and Trahaearn took the opportunity to counter attack, defeating Gruffudd at the battle of Bron yr Erw above Clynnog Fawr the same year.

When Robert was killed by a Welsh raiding party in 1088 Hugh took over these lands, becoming ruler of most of North Wales, but he lost Anglesey and much of the rest of Gwynedd in the Welsh revolt of 1094, led by Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had escaped from captivity.

From his base in Pembrokeshire he was a mainstay of the English campaigns against Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and later Dafydd ap Gruffudd ; in the war of 1282 – 3 that led to the conquest of Wales he negotiated the surrender of one of Dafydd's last remaining castles, Castell-y-Bere, with its custodian, Cynfrig ap Madog.

However, problems with resupply in the event of siege and its destruction by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales in 1263 to prevent it falling in to King Edward's hands, led to a new castle being built across the water in Conwy town.

Having imprisoned Gruffudd, his ambitions were curbed by an invasion of Wales led by Henry III in league with a number of the captive Gruffudd's supporters.

Llywelyn Bren ( died 1318 ), or Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ap Rhys or Llywelyn of the Woods ( English ), was a nobleman who led a revolt in Wales during the reign of King Edward II of England in 1316.

Rhodri died in 1195, and his lands west of the Conwy were taken over by Gruffudd and Maredudd while Llywelyn ruled the territories taken from Dafydd east of the Conwy.

The Welsh border situation was still unsettled, and security grew significantly worse in the next few years, as the Welsh prince Llwelyn up Gruffudd conducted numerous raids into English territories.

* Gruffudd, born about 1375, was captured and confined by the English in Nottington Castle and taken to the Tower of London in 1410.

At the meeting Gruffudd was seized and taken prisoner.

Hanmer himself had married into another prominent Welsh family when he had taken as his bride Angharad, a daughter of Llywelyn Ddu ap Gruffudd ab Iorwerth Foel, one of the most prominent Welshmen in nearby Chirkland.

Humphrey technically regained his lordship from Clare in 1270, but by this time these lands had effectively been taken over by the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, who had taken advantage of the previous decade's political chaos in England to extend his territory into the Marches.

Gruffudd made his first attempt to take over the rule of Gwynedd in 1075, following the death of Bleddyn ap Cynfyn.

Owain and Cadwaladr in alliance with Gruffudd ap Rhys of Deheubarth gained a crushing victory over the Normans at Crug Mawr near Cardigan in 1136 and took possession of Ceredigion.

Gruffudd was imprisoned by Earl Hugh in his castle at Chester, but it was Robert who took over his kingdom, holding it directly from the king.

He was imprisoned together with his father in Criccieth Castle in 1239 by his uncle Dafydd ap Llywelyn, and accompanied his father to England two years later when Dafydd was forced to hand Gruffudd over to King Henry III of England.

That Owain Glyndŵr had another brother Gruffudd is likely ; that he possibly had a third, Maredudd, is suggested by one reference.

In 1282, Llywelyn was killed during Edward I of England's invasion of Wales, possibly by Sir Anthony de Tipton, who was knighted by the King of England afterward, and although his brother Dafydd ap Gruffudd succeeded to the Welsh princeship, issuing documents as prince, his principate was not recognised by the English Crown.

In 1081 Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had just won the throne of Gwynedd from Trahaearn ap Caradog at the Battle of Mynydd Carn was enticed to a meeting with the Earl of Chester and Earl of Shrewsbury and promptly seized and imprisoned, leading to the seizure of much of Gwynedd by the Normans.

Ankst was a Welsh independent record label formed in 1988 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth by Alun Llwyd, Gruffudd Jones and Emyr Glyn Williams.

It was directed by Martin Jarvis, and featured Michael York, Joanne Whalley, Ioan Gruffudd and Ian Ogilvy.

Gruffudd laid the foundations which were built upon by his son Owain Gwynedd and his great-grandson Llywelyn the Great.

Rhys had been attacked by Caradog ap Gruffudd of Gwent and Morgannwg, and had been forced to flee to the St David's Cathedral.

Gruffudd this time embarked from Waterford with a force composed of Danes and Irish and landed near St David's, presumably by prior arrangement with Rhys.

He was joined here by a force of his supporters from Gwynedd, and he and Rhys marched north to seek Trahaearn ap Caradog and Caradog ap Gruffudd who had themselves made an alliance and been joined by Meilyr ap Rhiwallon of Powys.

The History only mentions one invasion by Rufus, which could indicate that Gruffudd did not feature in the resistance to the first invasion.

With the death of Hugh of Chester in 1101 Gruffudd was able to consolidate his position in Gwynedd, as much by diplomacy as by force.

Faced by overwhelming force, Gruffudd was obliged to pay homage to Henry and to pay a heavy fine, but lost no territory.

The see had been effectively vacant since Bishop Hervey le Breton had been forced to flee by the Welsh almost twenty years before, since Gruffudd and King Henry could not agree on a candidate.

Gruffudd died in his bed, old and blind, in 1137 and was mourned by the annalist of Brut y Tywysogion as the head and king and defender and pacifier of all Wales.

In 1547 he published a collection of Welsh proverbs made by Gruffudd Hiraethog ( d. 1564 ), Oll synnwyr pen Kembero ygyd.

** Gruffudd Hiraethog-Oll synnwyr pen Kembero ygyd ( posthumous collection of Welsh proverbs made by William Salesbury )

The Normans were obliged to evacuate Anglesey, and the following year Gruffudd returned from Ireland to take possession again, having apparently come to an agreement with Earl Hugh of Chester.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a raid by Gruffudd ap Llywelyn on Leominster in 1052 resulted in the Battle of Llanllieni, between the Welsh and a combined force of Normans and English Saxons.