Battle of Gwenllian near Kidwelly (1136)
Who Fought
History & Significance
Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd was a 12th-century Welsh rebel. The daughter of Prince of Gwynedd Gruffudd ap Cynan and member of the House of Aberffraw, she married Gruffudd ap Rhys, the Prince of Deheubarth, and led a "patriotic revolt" with him during the Great Revolt of 1136 until her death at the battle at Kidwelly Castle.
Her death would serve as a rallying cry for Welsh rebels, and she became a symbol of Welsh independence. There are several notable artistic depictions of Gwenllian, often depicting her with a sword in hand, or riding a chariot into battle in the style of Boudicca. She is sometimes confused with Gwenllian ferch Llywelyn, who lived two centuries later.
Gwenllian was the youngest daughter of Gruffudd ap Cynan, Prince of Gwynedd, and his wife, Angharad. She was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, High King of Ireland.
Gwenllian grew to be strikingly beautiful. After Gruffudd ap Rhys, the Prince of Deheubarth, ventured to Gwynedd around 1113 to meet her father, Gwenllian and Deheubarth's prince became romantically involved and eloped. She married Gruffudd ap Rhys shortly after 1116.
Gwladus ferch Gruffudd (between 1120 and 1130, Carmarthenshire – after 25 July 1175)
Nest ferch Gruffudd (between 1120 and 1130, Carmarthenshire – after 25 July 1175)
Gwenllian joined her husband at his family seat of Dinefwr in Deheubarth. Deheubarth was struggling against the Norman invasion in South Wales, with Norman, English, and Flemish colonists in footholds throughout the country. While the conflict between the Normans and the Welsh continued, the princely family were often displaced, with Gwenllian joining her husband in mountainous and forested strongholds. From here, she and Gruffudd ap Rhys led retaliatory strikes, aka "lightning raids" against Norman-held positions in Deheubarth.
By 1136 an opportunity arose for the Welsh to recover lands lost to the Marcher Lords when Stephen de Blois displaced his cousin, Empress Matilda, from succeeding her father to the English throne the year prior, sparking the Anarchy in England. The usurpation and conflict it caused eroded central authority in England. The revolt began in South Wales, as Hywel ap Maredudd, Lord of Brycheiniog, gathered his men and marched to Gower, defeating a smaller Norman force there at the Battle of Llwchwr, killing 500 Normans. Inspired by Hywel of Brycheiniog's success, Gruffudd ap Rhys hastened to meet with Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd, his father-in-law, to enlist his aid in the revolt.
While her husband was in Gwynedd seeking an alliance with her father against the Normans, Maurice de Londres and other Normans led raids against Deheubarth's Welsh and Gwenllian was compelled to raise an army for their defence. In a battle fought near Kidwelly Castle, Gwenllian's army was routed, she was captured in battle and beheaded by the Normans. In the battle her son Morgan was also slain and another son, Maelgwn, captured and executed.
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Gwenllian near Kidwelly (1136) lies on Millstone Grit Group [See Also Migr], bedrock that formed in the Namurian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
The field north of Kidwelly town where the battle is believed to have taken place is known to this day as Maes Gwenllian, the Field of Gwenllian. Within it lies a spring named after her, said to well up on the very spot where she fell. Local tradition holds that the field is haunted by her headless ghost, a potent image that has kept the memory of her defiance vivid across nine centuries and speaks more directly than any chronicle to the shock her death caused among the Welsh people.
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- Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd · Wikipedia
- Battle of Llwchwr · Wikipedia