On Palm Sunday 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffudd launched a surprise attack on Hawarden and Rhuddlan castles, succeeding in capturing Hawarden. This bold strike against English-held fortifications proved to be the opening act of what became the second war of Welsh independence. The attack gave other Welsh princes the opportunity and the impetus to rise in rebellion against English rule, transforming what might have been an isolated raid into a wider national uprising.
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Dafydd's elder brother and Prince of Wales, initially hesitated before joining the rebellion. His eventual decision to commit to the war proved fateful, as he was killed by the English on 11 December 1282 at Cilmeri. Dafydd then succeeded him as Prince of Wales, holding the title for a little more than seven months before his capture in June 1283. Archbishop John Peckham attempted to broker peace during the conflict, proposing that Llywelyn accept lands in England in exchange for surrendering to Edward I and that Dafydd go on crusade at the king's expense, but both princes rejected the offer outright.
The rebellion that Dafydd ignited with his Palm Sunday attack ultimately ended in total defeat for the Welsh. Edward I surrounded Dafydd's stronghold in Snowdonia with a massive army, systematically reducing Welsh resistance. Dafydd was eventually captured on 22 June 1283 in a bog at Nanhysglain near Bera Mawr, seriously wounded in the struggle, and subsequently tried and executed on 3 October 1283, becoming the first person known to have been tried for what would thereafter be defined as high treason against the king.
On Palm Sunday 1282, Dafydd ap Gruffudd struck at Hawarden and Rhuddlan castles, capturing Hawarden, in an audacious assault that shattered the uneasy peace between the Welsh princes and Edward I's England. The attack was the spark that prompted other Welsh princes to rise in rebellion, and drew Dafydd's hesitant brother Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales, into a conflict that would ultimately cost both men everything.
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