Dafydd ap Gruffudd (died 3 October 1283) was Prince of Gwynedd and Prince of Wales from the death of his brother Llywelyn ap Gruffudd on 11 December 1282 until his capture on 22 June 1283. He became a fugitive after waging war against the English occupation of Wales, but was captured, and then hanged, drawn and quartered on 3 October 1283, which were on the orders of King Edward I of England. He was the last native Prince of Wales before the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1283.
Contents
Early life
Dafydd was a prince of Gwynedd, the third of four sons of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn and his wife, Senana, and thus grandson of Llywelyn Fawr. In 1241, he was handed over to Henry III of England as a hostage with his younger brother, Rhodri, as part of an agreement to secure the release of his father, Gruffudd, who had been imprisoned by his half brother, Dafydd ap Llywelyn. His brother, Owain, made him captain of his household troops when Dafydd came of age, and in 1252 Owain invested him as lord of the commote of Cymydmaen, at the western end of the Llŷn Peninsula. In 1253, he was called upon to pay homage to King Henry III of England, where he received an offer of support from Henry, should he secure himself claims to a greater portion of the territory of Gwynedd. This, however, was opposed by his brother Llywelyn.
In 1255, he joined his brother, Owain, in a challenge to their brother, Llywelyn, but Llywelyn defeated them at the Battle of Bryn Derwin. Dafydd and Owain were imprisoned, but Llywelyn released Dafydd the following year and restored him to favour, bestowing on him landholdings in Perfeddwlad, an area recently captured from Henry. Dafydd thus acknowledged Llywelyn's right to bestow these lands, aligning the interests of the two brothers. Dafydd served his brother loyally until, in 1263, secret negotiations with Henry's son, Edward, persuaded Dafydd to join Henry in an attack on his brother. The following year, Henry found himself under siege from a group of his rebellious barons, and Llywelyn used the situation to assert his status as Prince of Wales in 1267. Henry acknowledged him as Prince of Wales. Dafydd was again restored to Llywelyn's favour, but in 1274, he conspired with Gruffudd ap Gwenwynwyn to kill Llywelyn. Llywelyn was alerted to the plot and called Dafydd to answer charges of treason, but he fled to the court of Edward I, who had succeeded Henry in 1272. In 1277, following the Treaty of Aberconwy, Dafydd was reconciled, finally, with his brother.
