Llywelyn Bren

Llywelyn Bren (died 1318), or Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ap Rhys or Llywelyn of the Woods (English), also spelt Llewelyn Bren, was a nobleman who led a 1316 revolt in Wales in the reign of King Edward II of England. It marked the last serious challenge to English rule in Wales until the attempts of Owain Lawgoch to invade Wales with French support in the 1370s. Hugh Despenser the Younger's unlawful execution of Llywelyn Bren helped to lead to the eventual overthrow of both Edward II and Hugh.^[1]

Lineage[]

Llywelyn Bren was a Welsh nobleman of the minor royal house of the cantref of Senghenydd (previously Cantref Breiniol) and a descendant of Ifor Bach, his great-great-grandfather. His father was Gruffudd ap Rhys. Llywelyn is thought to have been born before 1267, as Gruffudd was dispossessed of the lordship of Senghenydd in that year by Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and then imprisoned in Ireland. There is no record of him returning to Wales. Llywelyn married Lleucu (died 1349). They produced at least seven sons, who also took part in the revolt.

Background[]

Before the outbreak of Llywelyn's revolt in 1316, there had been violence in Anglo-Norman south-east Wales. The death of at the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314 of Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, the Lord of Glamorgan and the most prominent landowner in the south, left a regional power vacuum. The heavy-handed response of the English Crown to overseeing De Clare's lands, combined with the death of several hundred men of Glamorgan at Bannockburn, raised a revolt in the lordship in late summer that year. Llywelyn seems not to have taken part. It appears to have ended when the King Edward II of England appointed Bartholomew de Badlesmere as royal custodian in Glamorgan.

Revolt and siege of Caerphilly Castle[]

In 1315, Edward II, as guardian of the three sisters and heiresses of the estate of Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, replaced de Badlesmere with a new English administrator, Payn de Turberville of Coity, who persecuted the Glamorgan people, who were then, like many in northern Europe at the time, in the throes of a serious famine. Llywelyn in defending his people incurred the wrath of de Turberville, who charged him with sedition. Llywelyn then appealed to King Edward II to call off or control his self-interested agent. But Edward ordered Llywelyn to appear before Parliament to face the treason charge. The king stated that if the charges were found true, Llywelyn would be hanged. He then fled and prepared for war.

Llywelyn's revolt began on 28 January 1316 with a surprise attack on Caerphilly Castle. He captured the Constable outside the castle and he and his men captured the outer ward but could not break into the inner defences. They burned the town, slaughtered some of its townsfolk and started a siege. The revolt quickly spread through Glamorgan and Gwent. Kenfig Castle was sacked, as was that of Llantrisant, and several others were attacked, including St Georges-super-Ely, Tregrug Castle at Llangibby and Dinefwr Castle. Towns including Cardiff were raided and buildings burned. Edward ordered the revolt to be crushed by Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Lord of neighbouring Brecon, who gathered overwhelming forces supported by men of the chief Marcher Lords like Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. Troops came from Cheshire and north Wales, and some Welsh soldiers from west Wales. In March, forces advanced from Cardiff and in a brief battle at Castell Morgraig forced Llywelyn and his men to break off the Caerphilly siege after six weeks. The Welsh retreated higher up the north Glamorgan plateau, while Hereford and his men were moving south from Brecon.

Betrayal and death[]

Realising the fight was hopeless, Llywelyn surrendered unconditionally to the Earl of Hereford at Ystradfellte on 18 March 1316, but pleaded that only he should be punished and his followers spared. This gallant behaviour earned him the respect of his captors, including Roger Mortimer, one of the witnesses to his surrender. Hereford and Mortimer both promised to try to intercede on Llywelyn's behalf. Bren was sent as a prisoner first to Brecon and then to the Tower of London along with his family. Hereford and Mortimer urged the King to pardon Llywelyn and it seems likely that their influence won a pardon for many of Llywelyn's men.

In 1318 Llywelyn became the prisoner of the ruthless Hugh, the younger Despenser, one of King Edward's favourites at court, who had become Lord of Glamorgan in November 1317 and so the largest landowner in South Wales and a great rival of Mortimer. Without the king's direction, he took Llywelyn Bren to Cardiff Castle, where he had him hanged, drawn and quartered without a proper trial. After parts of his body had been exhibited in various parts of the county he was buried in the Grey Friars at Cardiff. Llywelyn's lands were seized by Despenser. The action was condemned at the time and later used as example of the growing tyranny of Despenser, who also imprisoned Lleucu and some of her sons in Cardiff.

The aftermath[]

As antipathy to the Despensers grew, Llywelyn's death united the native Welsh and Marcher Lords. In 1321 a baronial revolt arose. Barons under the earl of Hereford and others like Hugh D'Audley and Roger D'Amory petitioned the king to dismiss Despenser; the murder of Llywelyn Bren was prominent on their list of complaints. When the king refused, an alliance of local Welsh men and Marcher Lords raided Despenser's lands in Glamorgan for some ten days. This may have been when Lleucu and her sons were freed — certainly Hereford took all Llywelyn's sons into his service about that time. Edward had to exile the Despensers until he gathered forces to defeat the barons at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322, where the Earl of Hereford died.^[2]

With the Despensers' return to Edward's court, Lleucu and her sons were again imprisoned, this time in Bristol Castle, but their actions soon aroused more resistance. In October 1326 a successful rebellion led by Roger Mortimer gave the Despensers and Edward further cause to regret their actions in Glamorgan after being forced to flee there. Their attempts to raise troops locally were an unsurprising failure. It led to their capture in November. Hugh, like Llywelin, was then hanged, drawn and quartered.

With the overthrow of Edward II, the estates in Senghenydd were restored on 11 February 1327 to Llywelyn Bren's sons – Gruffydd, John, Meurig, Roger, William and Llywelyn. The Earls of Hereford (sixth creation) continued to pay at Brecon an allowance to their mother Lleucu until 12 April 1349.

References[]

Notes

Bibliography

• Ian Mortimer, The Greatest Traitor. (March 2006) Thomas Dunne Books ISBN 0-312-34941-6
• R. A. Griffiths, Conquerors and Conquered in Medieval Wales (1994)
• Craig Owen Jones, Llywelyn Bren (2007), Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, Llanrwst. ISBN 978-1-84527-098-8